Snorkelling and the aftermath

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I set the alarm on my iPhone to 6.30 this morning and had a good night's sleep until then. I put on just sandals, swimming trunks and sandals and wandered down to the village for breakfast carrying a bag with my camera, sun block, ventolin inhaler, just in case, and anti insect cream - they didn't bother me during the night so far as I know, but I think there's sometimes a delayed reaction to stings.

I had breakfast at a cafe in the same street as Adventure Club and got ther just at quarter to eight. Everything was ready and I was quickly kitted out with optical mask and snorkel, flippers and a wetsuit. The wetsuit was recommended even though it was just snorkelling as there were apparently some fish where we were going which liked to give your skin a nasty nip. There were five of us altogether plus Pamela, the tour guide, who pronounced her name Pamella. I was surprised as she seemed to be Spanish and I hadn't realised that the name Pamela, which was invented by an English writer in the sixteenth century (the chap who said "Your need is greater than mine" as he gave away his last drink of water) had spread out of Englisdh speaking countires. There were also three Australians from Darwin and a chap from Chile.

We got onto a wooden longtailed boat and sailed out past teh rocky outcrops of the the island to a small lagoon for a bit of snorkelling training. It took me a while but I eventualy got the hang of breathing through the mouth and sealing the mouthpiece. There wasn't much to see, few fish and no coral and it was really just for practice and the pleasure of immersing yourself in water on ahot day. Then we cruised on past the Vikings' Cave.

This is a large cave which actually has nothing to do with Vikings but was named because there are paintings on the cave's walls whch do look like Viking longboats. In fact, though, they are paintings of Chinese junks made about five hundred years ago. We couldn't go into the cave but could take photos from outside.

The cave is important in the local economy because little white birds known as swiftlings make their nests there. We saw some flying around. They use their spittle to bind the nests' material together and local families take the nests (once they have been abandoned - the birds migrate annually and build new nests each year) and use them to make Birds' Nest Soup. This is a very expensive delicacy amongst Chinese, so the families can make a good living from this seasonal work.

We went on to a sheltered lagoon reached through a passage in the rocks. There was an island in the middle of the lagoon and we could snorkel around this and come back to the boat. There were loads of fishes here!

The first ones I saw I thought of as Tiger Fish, though I don't know their real names. They had mauve heads and bodies that were striped orangs and black. There were schools of larger fish all swimming together and lots of other brightly coloured fish swimming in what appeared to be random directions. There were some very small fish that just seemed like flashes of light and which I could only see briefly as they turned their bodies in one direction.

It started to rain now but the fish did not seem at all concerned and the visibility was unaffected. I could see more clearly under the surface than if I raised my eyes above it.

The fish seemed unconcerned by my presence and to be going about their normal business, but if I exptended a hand in front of one it would quickly swerve out of my way. So they were aware of us, I think, just ignoring us until we disturbed them.

Sometimes it was hard to tell what were living things and what inanimate. Spongelike creatures lay on rocks, making the whole rock seem alive. I saw starfish and what I think was a crab. Someone else said they'd seen a sea snake.

Once we had circumnavigated the rocky island we climbed back aboard the boat, and I found thi a bit more difficult than I had the time before. Once again I was out of breath and found it hard to get my breath back. I had a puff on the inhaler but it didn't help and I didn't feel like I was having an astmha attack. Then I was sick over the boat's side.

Our next stop was Maya Beach - The Beach - where the film was made. I really wanted to see this but by now I couldn't open my eyes and was still hyperventilating. My hands and feet felt odd, stiff and as if they had pins and needles. And, I never saw this but I have been told it, my legs turned yellow!

The others very sportingly decided to take me back to the local hospital rather than continue and, after being sick a few more times, I soon found myself lying on a bed there. The treatment, which I think was quite the right thing to do, consisted of taking my blood pressure, which was very high at first, and then leaving me to lie on the bed until it went down to normal.

In the efficient Thai manner I hadn't been there above twenty minutes before someone turned up carrying my passport and medication (two large carrier bags full) which they'd got from my bungalow and asked me if they were mine. Then the doctor went through each one with me checking what they were for and how many I took each day and whether with food or before food etc. He spoke English very well.

I got up to go to the toilet and, as I leaned down towards the bowl, the left lens fell out of my glasses and into it. I felt in the water to pick the lens up, but it had smashed into several fragments. I hope my new glasses - which should have been ready before I went to Thailand - have been sent on to Krabi. I they have, I should be able to pick them up in about three days.

I returned to the bed and, perhaps surprisingly, my blood pressure was back to normal at the next check and the doctor said I could leave. He gave me some Diazepan (Valium) tablets to take, but I'm not sure if I should.

The bill was 2,000B (about GBP40). I had 1,000B in the back pocket of my trunks and left that as a deposit. They trusted me for the rest (unlike the hospial in Israel that wouldn't let me go until they'd been paid in full).

Unfortunately, although I now had my passport, my medication and some Diazepam, I no longer had my sandals or the bag of stuff including my camera and now my watch which had been left on the boat. The staff at the hospital thought it would have been taken to my bungalow by the same guy who'd brought the medication and passport back. They lent me some flip flops (a bit too big) and, as I could only see properly out of one eye, sent someone with me to take me back to the bungalow.

For most of the way I kept my left eye closed, but eventually it seemd easier to suffer the blurring and double vision and look through both eyes. Once we got back I gave my guide 100B for himself and 1,000B for the hospital and also the flip flops to take back.

The bag of my stuff wasn't there so I decided I'd have to go back to the Adventure Club.

I drank a bottle of green tea I still had and the people from the resort kindly brought me a bottle of water and asked how I was. I showered and got dressed and tried to put on contact lenses for the first time in Thailand.

I haven't had a lot of practice at this. I only got them a few days before I left. It took me about 25 minutes and just as got the second one in the chap from the hospital came back with my receipt!

Then I started down to the village. The steps looked different through contacts than they had through my varifocals and I was very careful as I went down to the road. My stuff was, indeed, at the shop and I changed back into my sandals and took it away, apologising for haveing disrupted the trip. They were all very nice about it.

I was still thirsty so I had an apple fruitshake and went to find an internet cafe to do this blog. I was planning to get something to eat and then have an early night when whom should I bump into but Chris and Richard, the two Canadians who had shared my truncated trek. They'd just arrived in Phi Phi which is their last stop before going home. We chatted for a bit and they invited me to join them for some drinks at the Reggae Bar this evening where they show Thai Boxing. If you want to fight one of the boxers yourself, you get a free bucket! I'm not sure . .

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