My overall impressions of Thailand and Cambodia: We loved both countries, though I think we enjoyed our time in Cambodia more than Thailand. Maybe it was the slower pace, maybe it was because it was so much more of an emotional experience, I'm not sure. I can't say I would recommend going to Thailand for the diving.... I would have liked to have gone even further north and visited Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle, even into Laos. On our guides: tong is a powerhouse! She has endless energy, makes sure you get the most out of every experience, and is [View Full Entry]

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Woke up with some weird looking cyst inside my bottom eyelid...it's anyone's guess what it could be. Maybe a sty, I could have gotten sand in it from the dive boat, who knows? All I do know is it hurts like hell. I grab a couple Ibuprofen and decide not to let it bother me too much. I'll deal with it when I get home. We finish airing out all the dive gear (don't want any extra water weight!) and pack everything up for our flight home this evening. we've decided to just stay at the bungalows for the day, they [View Full Entry]

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Up at 6 to get ready for our first dive at 7. Still not impressed with the diving here- I don't know if it's always been like this, or if the tsunami is the cause. All I know is we've been on much better dives in Florida nad the Caribbean than this. Back up from the first dive, and have breakfast. Poached eggs, bacon and sausage...more of a normal breakfast, but way too much food to have right before diving. I opt for toast and tea, and are introduced to the wonders of Nutella. Tastes like a Milky Way bar... Go [View Full Entry]

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The taxi comes to pick us and several others from the bungalows up for the ride to the dock. All of them are either German or Dutch...this should be interesting! When we get to the dock there is another taxi full of divers, and we all board the boat for the long, bumpy ride out. We're staying overnight on the boat,so we'll have the opportunity to dive 4 times today and 3 times tomorrow before we head back. it's a real mixture of people, some older, some young, all are either German or Dutch. One very large man has spread [View Full Entry]

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My original plan before we left was to book a sea canoe trip with John Gray. But I really didn't know whether we'd have time or not, and opted to wait. We'd asked the dive shop (which is also owned by Gerd-Noi) if they had diving day trips, but apparently all the trips, even the daily ones, go out to the Similans. So, basically you leave at 7 a.m. drive 20 minutes to the bost dock, take an 1 1/2 -2 hour boat ride (depending on where their going) dive twice and take the boat ride back. No thanks... We went [View Full Entry]

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Ponheary picks us up for the hotel at 8:30. She's sad, Lori has left yesterday to fly home for a couple months, and it was especially hard for her. She's also concerned about Fifi- he's still pretty sick and the recovery he had yesterday was short-lived. She tells us next time we come we should stay two weeks, and help out at the schools...then we'll all go to southern Cambodia where's there's good scuba diving! Said our goodbyes, gave Ponheary some more money for medicine or whatever she needs, then wait for the plane. This time we get an airline called [View Full Entry]

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Day 11- Our last full Day in Cambodia Ponheary picks us up at 8:30, and we head to Tonle Sap Lake. She tells us she's tired today, Fifi was up sick with a fever all night. The water hasn't dried up yet, Poheary says she thinks it will take another couple weeks. We clamber aboard our boat (and NO- I did not fall out!) paid our $11 each and we're off. We pass a few schools along the way- Ponheary says they've been paid for by the Korean Government. One is basically a floating basketball court...must frustrate Ponheary immensely. Some of [View Full Entry]

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Today was a blur of temples - all beautiful. We saw Preah Khan, Ta Som, Neak Pean in the morning. Of those I think Preah Khan was my favrite. When we get back to the room I mark them in my Dawn Rooney Book (I'm trying to keep track of the temples we saw on the trip) and we head to Cafe Indochine for lunch. It seems to be our restaurant for lunch- we've been there every day this week! we keep trying different things, but keep coming back to the Carmel Pork! I'd love to get the recipe! Back to [View Full Entry]

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Day 9- Bantay Srei Country School and Wat Bo school. Ponheary was to pick us up about 7:15, but it';s more like 7:45...apparently the baker hadn't finished all the bread! With Ponheary today is her nephew Fifi, who is 4 and very shy. (or at least he was with me...he seemed to really like Bill) Our first stop was Bantay Srei...and in the early morning light the temple is even prettier than I would imagine during the day! After the temple we head to the country school down the road from Bantay Srei. When we pulled up the kids seemed pretty [View Full Entry]

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Day 8- Cambodia. Up at 4:30 for pick up to the airport. We planned to go a little early for our 7:30 flight in case immigration gave Bill a hard time about his passport. He had a little trouble, since his departure card was pretty much a mess from washing it, but after a few minutes of paperwork we were through and waiting for the plane. Which didn't take off until 8:20...Bangkok Air cannot certainly be known for their promptness! Our e-tickets says we're to leave at 7:30 and get there at 8:30...but it really only takes a half hour to [View Full Entry]

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