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Published: March 11th 2006
Jim, Malin and me
Overlooking Whitesand BeachIts been a long time...
Yeah I know, what can I say? Although I have been in Thailand over two months and whilst I have been stuck on a perfect tropical island most of the time I have not just been anchored to a beach for the entire duration. That is not strictly true but I will try and relay what I have been up to on this this strange little island to the best of my abilities!
I have only been to two places so far in Thaliand, Bangkok for 2 days and Koh Chang for the rest of the time. On the outset Koh Chang is a very mellow place that really caters for everyones needs. So apart from trying to go brown on the beach (for those of you who know me this is near impossible) which I have not been doing much of, Koh Chang was until about 3 weks after I arrived a very relaxing experience. A summary of the highlights up until then include meeting up with Jim and Malin and Garin, my original travel friends and a former work colleague respectively and having a very sunny Christmas and New Year, a little
Long Beach, Ao Salek
Well worth the 2 hour motorcycle ride different from England! At the beginning of the year Garin and I earned ourselves our PADI Open Water Scuba Diver qualification, the course was great fun and hard work at the same time but ultimately very rewarding as the sea is very clear and full of many colourful fish and corals. I have been elephant trekking (sounds great, but was not), the elephants are not treated very well and have to work very hard. I attempted to explore the jungle which covers 90% of the island and failled miserably, getting lost trying to navigate after a trail just stopped in the middle of nowhere! The beaches are of course excellent, the water a cool blue and very warm, with temperatures of up to 30 celcius! The only way to get around cheaply is on motorbike, the roads are fun and taking a bike was the best way to explore the whole island properly. We go there and come back. Ah yes, The Herbal Sauna, I almost forgot, a fantastic experience in the jungle and very good after a hard day at the beach. According the proprieter "our Swedish friends can spend up to a week in there!" There is a
Dta and me on my 24th birthday
Anything is possible in Thailand including chocolate cake! Dta is the excellent cook where I was staying. lot to do here and at the same time very little if that is what you want. It is still possible to find good and cheap accomodation and food on Koh Chang, just avoid the first resort, Whitesand Beach.
So, as even paradise becomes boring after a while, why did I decid to stay here so long? After enjoying the diving course so much I decided I wanted to do more, a lot more in fact. Shortly after Jim, Malin and Garin left I enrolled in a Divemaster Course with The Dive Adventure which basically equates to a lot of diving, reading and studying over about two months which I have now finished! It has been an interesting and different experience packed with fun and very challenging however it is not something I planned or ever imagined I would do when I left. Diving aside, it was more challenging actually staying in the same place for such a long time. Although Koh Chang is Thailand's second largest island, it may as well be its smallest as sometimes it feels like being part of a small village community where there are eyes and ears everywhere!
Am back in Bangkok
I'm a Divemaster now!
60 logged dives.
Open Water Diver, Advanced Diver, Emergency First Responder, Rescue Diver = Divemaster and a lot of money for PADI! at the moment and heading north tomorrow to visit Sukothai, the old capital of Siam.
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Jane Sherlock
non-member comment
Glad to see that you are still having a fab time. Isn't diving great? Have jsut booked a trip to the red sea to do some myself. Christmas in such a place must be out of this world.