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Published: August 22nd 2007
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After leaving Chiang Mai i heading up to Pia a lovely little place in Mae Hong Son Province. It had a very chilled out Atmosphere full of bars and restaurants many with live music performance and bands where i met some lovely friendly swiss girls who was keeping an eye on me as i had a bit of a stalker (A thai guy, seemed very friendly but he obviously wanted more).
To see Pia most people hire bikes to visit the surrounding areas but me being a chicken decided to play safe and get a bicycle instead, decided to head up to the Yunnanese Village and waterfall which was 8km away.
This was another beautiful day all by myself, the cycle up to the village and waterfall was continually uphill. It was definitely tough going up i had to stop several time but there was nothing better than having a nice fresh mango shake to cool u down and rest.. they are so tasty and when you have the beautiful view to enjoy it with, it was all Ok.
Finally made it to the waterfall there wasn't really anyone there what a pleasant surprise, well after my long
Delicious Mango Lasse
and with a view too :) struggle up i all i wanted to do was jump in and so i did...ahhhh it was great!! Soon after i had a few people join me, must admit i was in one of those mood didn't really want to make conversation with anyone just enjoyed my own company. LOVELY AH!!!!
The Journey back down was pretty cool, didnt have to do much as it was all downhill so i can relax and enjoy the view as i speed down the hill... It felt great!
After a long day cycling , i deserved a treat so i treated myself to a foot massage (was told they are amazing as all the muscles are connected to the rest of the body) before meeting up with the Swiss girls for dinner. She started with being very gentle, I've been walking around for the last 3 months and my feet needed a good massage so trying not to offend her i asked her to be a bit more tougher on them. Ah it was great she really prod that wooded stick into my foot it was very painful but i didn't want to show it as i wanted her continue at that
pressure...NO PAIN NO GAIN!!!..ahhhhh...After my whole body felt so much lighter, i was literally bouncing about I so needed that.
Would have liked to stay longer up here but as usual i never plan ahead so all the cheap domestic flights back down to Bangkok was fully booked for a next few days so that meant i would have to either catch a train or bus back.
2 Solids days it took me!!!!... My bus from Pai to Bangkok was fine very comfortable and was pretty spot on time. Whereas for my bangkok to Chumpon it broke down so we was stuck waiting for another bus to come for over 3 hours and then i had to catch a night boat... now that was interesting, nothing fancy simple a mattress on the floor and surrounded by goods such as eggs and veg.
I was so tired that i was actually able to sleep on it...arriving to Koh Tao again not making any reservation beforehand, i ended up in a bungalow up in the hills, very nice and quite but was at less 15-20 mins walk and at night its totally dark and the
Bribing the 7 elevens staff
for a bottle of Whiskey and headed back to room to finish off....hmmm it really wasn't enough for 5. taxi was extortionate so i needed to quickly find a place at the beach. Luckily the two German girls in my diving course had a room which had a spare bed so i ended up sharing with them.
OPEN WATER DIVING COURSE. This is great, ok the first day is pretty boring watching videos and you have to do some homework but oh yeah going down in the water for the first time was absolutely amazing.I was the first down and had to sit at the bottom waiting for everyone to come...was kinda strange at first the visibility was pretty poor and i couldnt really see much, but then i felt something nibbling at my legs.. cleaner fish they eat your dead skin and i had some lovely scabs from my bicycle when i freaked out as some dogs started barking at me in Pia...DAMN DOGS...they really can sense my fear. I had this experience before in Japan when i went to the onsen, you stick your feet in the pool and the fish will come and nibble away but here in the deep waters and your down there all alone it was definitely an inteesting experience
for that split moment.
Underwater for the first time i kinda struggle a little with one of the task - filling up your mask with water and then clearing it up whilst still in the water at 12 metres. I was supposed to used my nose to blow all the water out but after the first time not being able to remove it and trying again i was out of breathe and started panicking a little...my instructor calmed me down and as soon as i got my breathing pattern back it was so easy after that.
Ah we was a little unlucky...the diver the day before had spotted a whale shark and so the news quickly spread so at the sight there must have been at less 4/5 boats full of diver hoping to catch a glimps of it too. It was definitely fun doing it especially after a few dives you spend less time worrying about your bouyancy and etc you can actually enjoy the beautiful world under water.
I think i have fallen in love!!!...discovering a new world it really is breathtaking, literally, it would have been amazing to see the whale shark but
maybe next time...im still hmmming and harring about doing a advance course so i can dive deeper up to 30M...Budget budget...still so many other places to see.
After the course we had to have a celebration drink with our fellow students and instructors... A great night!!!...lots of dancing and drinking wooohoooo!!!
The next day Till, offered to show me around the rest of the Island...so we did a little trek through the forest and then climbed up to the view point rock to see all the neighbouring island and Mainland. What a lovely day again i'm hooked with all these adventures, climbing rocks and diving to the bottom of the sea bed...what more can i ask for?....REALLY?!!!.. Im having such a great time im constantly planning my next trip...
Today i had to say goodbye to my fellow German Roomies... Sonja(aka WHAT!!!) & Laura. They are heading over to Australia so hopefully we be able to catch up there too when i fly over next week.
Koh Tao is very chilled out and i can see how easily you can get stuck here but i think its time for me to move on
too, so im off to Krabi and kho Phi Phi tomo hopefully to do some climbing (Till gonna join me and show me how its done..should be fun) and also get some more diving and snorkling if possible.
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