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Published: January 31st 2007
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Diving with Mathew
Mathew - the dive master - brother.
I was so happy to be diving with him my first dives. Traveling with Mathew is an experience to remember. He doesn't go by any books, but just follows his nose. He will talk to other travelers and use his instincts, and somehow always lands on his feet looking glorious. Where you will end up is like rolling dice. And where we ended up was Koh Lanta. "Koh" means "Island" and that is where we were. A small island with nothing to do. I so far cannot understand how people can go somewhere to do nothing.
In Koh Lanta, this was a little sanctuary for people to wake up, eat, drink beer, smoke pot, enjoy the view of the beautiful ocean, lay in their hammock, spend time with the other travelers drinking beer, eating, smoking pot and start all over the next day. Their life goals include staying here in this fantasy for as long as possible without having to think about their real life. This island you can drive from one end to the other in half an hour.
Mat and Kendra and I stayed at "Charley Barley's" which was 50 feet from the sea, and run by a husband and wife. Charley built the place himself, and since it was Christmas
eve, they had no rooms available. We ended up on the floor upstairs with a simple mattress, pillow and mosquito net. There was a lovely breeze from the ocean, and I was happy as can be. I was paying 50 Baht per night which was less than $1.50. Infact, when a few days later when a room opened up, while Mathew and Kendra took a room, I was offered one as well, and I said, "nope, the floor is fine with me!"
With two and a half weeks in, and only a week and a half of my vacation to go, I was getting antsy. So Mathew and I booked a three day package to scuba dive.
It was amazing with a super posh boat complete with hot showers, gifts given, breakfast, fruit, teas, and an amazing lunch.
Mathew has been diving on six different countries, and said that this was the best diving he's ever done. I felt so happy about this since this was my first diving, and I got my scuba license specifically for the purpose of this visit.
I even used less air than my dive-master brother, and he was so proud. Here he says,
Diving with Mathew
I used less oxygen than both Mathew and the other dive master. This seemed to make Mathew SO proud. Do yoga before diving!! The diving is insanely better than in Koh Tao; the sea appears healthier and the fish far more numbered. The visibility on a poor day here is at least 15 meters, which is like diving in a swimming pool. I've seen Giant Morays like never before, puffer fishes galore, and leopard sharks resting along the sandy bottom unscathed by our bubbling exhalations. Unfortunately and fortunately, Joni cannot compare this diving to much else; she knows it's great, but doesn't know just how great. The trumpet fish, lion fish and huge schooling barracuda also have no idea that she's a novice, as her buoyancy, breathing and underwater appearance are better than some divemasters I know. To consolidate three days of diving into one sentence is hard, because my excitement becomes contained, but I'll try. The islands off of Koh Lanta (also the dive sites shared by Koh PiPi) have provided the best diving I've experienced, both for variety of fishes and sheer number of fishes. I've only been diving in six countries, which, to those who make diving a priority vacation activity, is few, but I can safely say this is the best I've seen. Here was our diving:
Koh Haa - the Cave
Koh Haa - Lagoon
Koh Bida
Hin Bida
Hin Muang
Hin Daeng
After the diving was over Mathew and I went over to a visit a ritzy Hotel that was not cheap. Infact, the rooms were 65,000 Baht per night which is almost $2000.oo per night. Mathew and I walked around this lovely hotel. I leaned into Mathew and whispered, "if only they knew what I spent on
my accomodations last night." And people come back year after year...
It was time to leave Mathew and Kendra. I'm glad I stayed with them since it gave me confidence to travel alone. People often asked me how I travel throughout Thailand. It's simple. This is Buddhist country. People are big believers in Karma, and people take care of you. Of course, you don't want to leave yourself open to thievery, and we lock up our passports, cash, etc... But there's not a whole lot to fear out here.
If you want to go from Point A to Point B, then you walk into any hotel, tourist center, internet center and say, "I would like to get to Point
B" and they will ask when. "Tomorrow I would like to leave," you will say and you pay. Everyone has the same exact prices, so there's no worry about negotiations or being cheated. Then, they will simply tell you to be here tomorrow at X time ready to go. And you go there the next day at X time, someone takes you to another place (a boat or a bus), and boom, you are at Place B. Easy as Pie...
Not knowing where to go, I just took off. Mathew rubbed off on me, and I was traveling by instinct. I will tell you, that it takes a lot of trust, and can be scary sometimes. No Plan, you just go.
A few days earlier, a woman told me to go to Koh Phangnang. There was a place called, Hat Yien and "the Sanctuary" where there was world famous Yoga (apparently). I wrote this down, and put it in my pocket and forgot about it.
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