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Published: April 21st 2006
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So yes I'm still here! It's REALLY hard to leave this place. But don't worry, there's a reason. I've decided to do my open water dive course here since I've heard nothing but great things about it. More about that later!
The last few days here have been amazing.
As I said, and stuck to, I went kayaking to the little islands. It was a great and much needed work out. We had a great snorkel and saw many fish (tons of sea urchins and parrot fish). The first island we got to was beautiful at a distance and you’d think it was this amazing pristine private beach, however, up close it was covered in debris - cans, bottles, garbage, and more garbage! - shitty really. But the next island was much prettier and cleaner!
That night I met a couple from Belgium through Carla (also a belgian) and they only had a couple of days left so they had some great plans that I had the opportunity to join! The couple, Eric and Michelle, have been living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for the past 3 years and I got to ask them a million of questions about everything so it
was really great and I’m even more excited to get over there.
The next day we all rented motorbikes and drove all the way around the island (really not that far, but far enough for the legs and bum!) and it was just amazing! The road ended at one point but it was hard pack dirt so we were able to continue on until you hit a new resort that was very empty. So it really was surreal as we chilled out on a deserted beach (called Long Beach - although nothing like the long beach back home!). The road over really was the highlight though. Because it's so hilly, the views are spectacular and the colors are so vivid. The phots really don't do it justice (as always with my photography skills!). It was an extremely fun day and I had my first solid sleep that night! Finally.
The next day we got a sweet deal and got a ride on the dive boat (who I'm diving with currently) to Koh Wai which is about a 30-40 minute boat ride from Bang Bao, which is a fishing village in stilts (very cool). The island is super quiet and has
great coral just off shore so we had a very nice snorkel, despite the random plastic or rice bags you’d run into (it sucks how much garbage is floating around - not to mention it scares the hell out of me when I run into them!)
All my Belgian friends have left now! 😞 Quite sad. But I am very distracted by the new challenge at hand! I started my dive course yesterday. The first day was all theory and pool work, but jesus was it scary! I knew I’d have a problem with it, since I’ve always thought it’s very wrong to breathe underwater. Anyways, sure enough I felt very panicked at first, but forced myself to tough it out. It’s really crazy how when you panic you become extremely unrational. I was in a metre deep pool for god’s sake and I was panicking?! Ha, so you can imagine how nervous I was for the open water dive today! But really it went really well. SO much easier than the pool. I had a bit of trouble clearing my ears but by the end of day I felt very comfortable and didn’t want it to end. As I’m
sure anyone who’s been knows, it’s UNBELIEVABLE! I really loved it and I am so glad I experienced it. I’m very lucky though, because it’s low season, I have private instruction! Which is pretty sweet and I think it makes it a lot easier.
Fish wise, we saw a ton of Sting Ray, parrot fish, a big trigger fish, a puffer fish (pretty cool!), and lots of massive schools, and of course very cool coral.
I’m stoked for tomorrow’s dives. The dive company is great. It’s a Belgian woman who started it (friend of Carla’s) and she’s turned one of the stilt houses in Bang Bao into the dive shop and it’s just got a great feel to it. The dive Boat was converted from a thai fisherman boat. Krystel, the owner and my instructor, is fantastic and super safety conscious, with 10 years of dive experience. So I am in good hands for any of you who worry (mum!).
Well that’s about it for now. Hope you like the pics! More to come since I’ve finally figured it out!
Take care everyone,
Love S.
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Rebecca
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Keep the pictures coming!
Hey Zan! I love the blog and all the pictures. I'm so jealous! It sounds amazing. Koh Chang was the first island I visited and remained one of my favourites. I'm so glad you are getting a chance to spend time there. So do we get to scuba together in Australia? You'll have to re-train me! Miss you tons! Wish I could be there with you. Love R xoxo