Thailand Time

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Hey,

We arrived in Thailand with no trouble at the border, which was a bit of a releif with everything going on. Our first stop was Bangkok, havn't got that much to say about the place as we only spent 1 whole day there. We went around in a Tuk Tuk for free as we argued with the driver about trying to take us to a market stall so he could get some free petrol, so we got out and got another one.

Our journey took us to see the art museum which is a little expensive for what it is especially because most of it is being renovated! Our next stop was to see the standing Buddha which was no where near as impressive as the giant sitting Buddha in Hong Kong. We then climbed the 300 steps up mount gold which revealed quite nice views of Bangkok showing the amount of temples in the surrounding area.

If you walk around Ka san road you will find the offer of many 'ping pong' shows or 'sexy dance' shows we weren't really up for that as most of the Thai people we see are actually lady boys so that image really scarred in my mind so it was easy to refuse.

The following day we went to an Island called Koh Tao. This place is stunning, white sandy beaches surround the island and dense forest dominate inland. However the scenery does come at a price not only in monetary terms but also culturally. You will find the Island to be a bit more expensive than inland but still not too bad, Brodders managed to get a open water 4 day course for under 200 pounds, and a free dive was only about 15 pounds. However, the place is full of westerners so if your looking to have a party but with no cultural experience you will have no problems here.

We stayed in Koh Tao for 4 nights and during that time we managed to get in some amazing dives. The best one for me was a Chompohn visability was at least 25m and it was teeming with wildlife, and we were even filmed so I got the dvd to gloat to people when I get back!!

The best thing I witnessed under water was a sea snake which we watched for about 10 minutes going in and out of the coral. We did all our dives through New Way diving. They are the best, on the Chumpohn day we went out before any one else and there was only 3 divers on the boat who could ask for more, in addition if your learining you get that near one to one teaching experience. There are loads of dive schools on the Islands so competition is tough, so if you going do your research I would advice not to go with the big dive organisations and go for one that goes early in the morning!!

We left Thailand to go to Malaysia first to Penang,

I'll update again soon,
Mark

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