sylvi

Before Nic and Garath left, Gareth drew us an awesome map of New Zealand, with all the places we should visit marked clearly on it, along with descriptions of the areas and what things there are to do there. It was pretty comprehensive. In fact it is so comprehensive that we have decided it is the only map we are going to take on our 4 week camping jaunt around the North and South Islands. As there are no roads marked on Gareth’s map, we are allowed to use sign posts, the compass on my watch that is now Mal’s,and also to ask directions locally to specific attractions or addresses. That is all. No other maps. Having rejected Mal’s suggestion that I get the map tattooed on my back, we decided instead to guard it with ... read more

Today was supposed to be a day of little excitement. We were waiting to hear from the dive company in Borneo to see if there were spaces on the boat for us next week with Nic and Gareth. If so, our itinerary goes out the window and we make an unscheduled ten day detour to Borneo - with 3 days diving on one of the worlds best dive sites, followed by a three day jungle trek. It was too tempting a suggestion to pass up. However, we will only be going if we can get on the dive boat and secure the permits required to go to Sipidan - of which only 120 are issued a day - with only a weeks notice. Once the excitement of deciding to go had given way to the reality ... read more

It’s true that then backpacking routes of South East Asia are well trodden. But bearing in mind there are hundreds of different possible ways in which to see the numerous countries, and in those countries thousands of places to stay we are still surprised to bump into Aussie Jared with the frequency with which we do. We first encountered him at the Bangkok/ Cambodia border - he was in front of me in the immigration queue - but got sent to the back because he hadn’t filled in his Visa form correctly. We had planned to ask him and the British guy he was travelling with at that point to share a cab with us to Siem Reap, but by the time they eventually made it to the taxi office, we had already arranged to share ... read more

It was great to be getting back under the water again, almost four weeks after our last dive. As the alarm went off at 7, I peeked through the curtains to be greeted with blue skies and minimal wind, which offered hope that it was going to be an easier boat ride for me than any I had endured on Koh Tao. Along with Nic and Gareth, we were joined by 3 other divers and a couple who were planning to go snorkelling. We all clamboured into the minibus for the 10 minute ride to the port and were soon greeted by a chaotic shanty of huts lining the dock. The wooden jetty weaved through the maze of fisherman’s houses, ending abruptly at our home for the day - a thoughtfully converted fishing boat. Freshly painted, ... read more

It was with glee that we skipped out of the worse than average, but cheaper than most, Spring guesthouse into the throng of waiting tuk tuk drivers and asked to be taken to the FCC. Tonight was our night of luxury - of air conditioning and soft furnishings and having the chance to get properly clean for the first time in ages. We checked into our room, and having got over the disappointment that there was no bath, settled into our new surroundings - quickly changing into the complimentary robes and slippers provided. This was a far cry from the ant infested 5th floor sauna room we spent the last three uncomfortable nights in. Which is not really surprising as it cost ten times as much as the last place which was a paltry US$6 a ... read more

The next three days were spent viewing the temples of Angkor. I do not want to take anything away from their majesty or beauty, but after a while they do all seem to merge into one mass of falling down stone and you start to suffer temple fatigue. The ‘ancient’ temples of Angkor are an incredible proposition - the first time Angkor Wat appears in front of you, it is breathtaking, and the scale of the ruins - littered over 120sq kms of countryside is impressive to say the least - it’s just that they’re not very, well, ancient. Much is made of the age of the temples, but the oldest ones were built circa the 10th century. Now, my mother works in a hotel which is a castle which was built around that time and ... read more

Finally we could leave Bangkok. Whilst we were over the moon to be getting out of the city again, not least as we had exhausted all reasonable movie watching options, there was a little bit of apprehension about the journey ahead. We had read that it could be a little bit of a tricky one. Getting to the border was easy enough - a 5 hour train journey from the central train station, which was just a few minutes from our current guesthouse, albeit a journey that began at 5am. The anticipated difficulty was to begin at the border, with scammers and pickpockets hindering jostling to empty/relieve us of our wallet before a 150km taxi ride into Siem Reap. The 150km had been reported to have taken up to 12 hours in the rainy season and ... read more

So we finally wrenched ourselves away from our island paradise. Having said goodbye to our new friends the afternoon before, we spent the morning of departure cheering ourselves up with some new t-shirt purchases. It’s not that we didn’t want to move on to new experiences, adventures ands memories - it’s just that everything about our time on Koh Tao was so perfect, and we had just learnt this new skill that opened up a whole new world to us, and for the time being at least, it was over. For the seventh day in a row, we boarded a boat. But this time there would be no buddy checks, no mask and fins and no giant steps into the deep blue. Mercifully for me, there would also be no sea sickness either as the weather ... read more

The next week went by in a flurry of learning - what was to be four days training, turned into six as we decided to embark on the advanced course, and by the end of the week we had not only been given the tools to enter a whole new world we’d only previously been able to glimpse from the surface, but also made two new friends, who we would dive with again just a few weeks later. There were originally six in our group but it was obvious from the start that it was unlikely that Monique would make it to the end of the course. The first warning sign sounded when she reacted badly to the 6.30 start the following day. She was horrified at the time she would have to get up, bearing ... read more

Koh Tao is littered with coconut trees - they’re everywhere and it has been my concern for a while that I might be prematurely skittled off this mortal coil by a falling nut, especially since the weather turned a bit windy - windy enough for a couple of trees to have been blow over on the beach near the dive resort where we are now resident. It had perplexed me how they got the coconuts down, what with the trees being quite so high and their being little evidence of tall ladders and a distinct lack of tall people. Well today, to my childish delight (so childish, I do believe I let out a squeal) we found out - - it’s monkeys! Well perhaps it’s not always monkeys, but here, where we are staying right now, ... read more