Dive, Dive, Dive

---

Hello! How's it going? I do hope you're all well. Chris goes on doesn't he. Jeez. I'm back for the time being anyway for the latest update and it promises to be a much shorter read as apart from the big things we've done, the rest of the time has mostly been spent on one beach or another.

How is February in Britain by the way? I heard Leeds had snow...

So as Chris signed off last time he mentioned the Full Moon party on Ko Phan Nyan and that seems as sensible a place to start as any.

Basically it is mental. Unfortunately I couldn't really enjoy it as much as I'd been hoping that I would as I was ill throughout the day leading up to it. however, I was still able to go for a bit and I'm very glad of that. Plus I didn't have to stay in bed until half 3 in the afternoon, recovering. Like somebody I know. The party basically consists of the main beach on the island being taken over by differnet stages and bars and people selling dubious buckets of alcohol and catering for the thousands of people who descend on it underneath the glow of an impressive full moon. Everyone there is really happy and seems to have a great time and it's basically just like nothing I've ever seen or been to before.

So that was Ko Phan Nyan, from there, 2 days later we hopped on our boat over to Koh Tao, a smaller, but equally backpackery island north of Phan Nyan.

One of the main purposes of our visit was to do our SSI Open Water dive course. As some of the more intelligent of you may have deduced from this blogs title.

The first day consisted of watching a 2 hour video explaining everything that we needed to know. The second and third days we were taught everything by our instructor in the mornings and were out diving in the afternoon. The fourth day was made up of two 18 metre dives. Now we are certified to dive wherever we want aty depths up to 18 metres. Which is cool.

A part of the course was also passing an exam based on all the theory we had learned. I got a 94% which I was delighted with. Probably the first time since about year 7 I've bettered 90% in anything. Obviously Chris got 100%. Any ex Llanfylliners reading will be pleased to know that some things never change...

Diving itself is ridiculously cool. It's one of the best things I've ever done and I honestly couldn't recommend it enough. There's so much going on at the bottom of the ocean and you get an awesome feeling from knowing that you're not really supposed to be there. I'm not to sure what it says about me, but I also found that humming along to 'Under The Sea' from The Little Mermaid whilt you are down there really added to the occasion.

Unfortunately, despite racking my brains I can't think of any moments of Chris Ellis idiocy to treat you to this week so I'm going to have to step up to the plate.

I went kayaking. Due to a lack of alternatives my bag had to go on the back of the kayak. My phone and camera were in it. My phone and camera got wet. My phone and camera now don't work. Bad times indeed.

Anyway, this has ended up being a lot longer than I was expecting. Hope everything is OK at home. we're leaving Koh Tao later today for Krabi on the other coast, where we hope to be joined by Chris's new cashcard. He doesn't owe me too much...

Speak soon,

Si

P.S. Happy 80th birthday to my Grandad Botley for Tuesday!!!!!!

---

Comments

[jackie ellis]

hi simon. how much interest are you charging the young scoundral?!! anyway. hope you're not too much out of pocket or are you going to do austrailia on a very thin, frayed and worn out shoe string?! i was going to say dont let him leave the country.....! many thanks for helping him out. a true friend indeed. it all sounds fabulous and hoping is living up to expectations. hows the tan? fed up with those white sanded crystal clear water beaches yet? anyway, keep the blogs coming. theyre brilliant and you do have quite a following! also happy birthday to grandad botley too!

[mum]

"Under The Sea"!
Hey Si the diving sounds awesome, camera and phone not so good!!!! Nothing exciting to report here still very cold and we are now even into March with no improvement - so enjoy that sunshine. Speak soon. Mum xx

[Nan & Grand-Da R]

The undersea world of Si n Chris
You make it sound fantastic, we all eagerly await the next installment. Shame about the phone and camera, hope you are still managing to get some photos, tis always worth while having a few plastic bags in your bag!!! I'm so glad that I'm not a beach person otherwise I might have been very jealous, Did I hear a yeh yeh to that. Our new caravan arrived on Wednesday, so even though the temperature is still in single figures we are starting to think "SUMMER" we just hope that we get one this year! So, soon you will be on your travels again, Malaya and Singapore. One wonders does Chris have a plan "B" for the Indonesian leg of the trip? Si I've just read a blog on the trip "Cairns to Sydney" sounds good, and it can be done quite cheaply if you have a "tent" there are some great camp sites along the way. Anyway we hope you both continue to have a ball, good luck to you both, do take care and get the next installment on line. NnG.