Blogs from South-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 913

Naa har jeg kommet meg til Koh Samui. Dette skal vaere den store partyoeyen i Asia, saa det kan jo bli kjekt aa se om det stemmer. Dro til en annen strand paa Koh Pha Ngan paa soendagen sammen med Heidi og Karoline (to danske piger), Casper, og Alex og Christian (to tyske gutter). Stranda var saa godt som folketom, og det var veldig goey. Bodde oppe paa en aaskam som stakk ut over havet, og utsikten der var bare helt fantastisk!! De to guttene som jobbet i restauranten der var kjempehyggelige, og inviterte stadig oss til aa synge i mikrofonen... Noe som var skjult kodespraak for reoyke en bong - og jammen var det en voksen bong og da... Naa skal det nevnes her at jeg ikke sang i noens mikrofon da - i tilfelle ... read more

naa har jeg tatt Advanced Open Water, og det var kjempeartig!!! Vi hadde fem dykk: naturalist (hvor man laerer aa kjenne igjen forskjellige fisker og koraller under vann), navigation (dykke rundt om kring med kompass), deep dive (ned til 30 meter, vi var bare nede paa 28 meter, men det er rimelig dypt det da... ), multilevel dive (dykking paa forskjellige dybder i samme dykk), og night dive. paa navigationdykket sendte dykkeinstruktoeren oss ut i hytt og pine, og saa skulle vi finne tilbake ved bruk av kompass. det gikk for det meste greit, og vi var like mange naar vi kom tilbake til baaten som naar vi forlot baaten. men, det er veldig lett aa svoemme seg vill under vann. man sier gjerne at en visibility paa 25-30 meter er veldig bra... men det er ... read more

General observations of the Samui Archipelago: 1 - If Thai folk generally drive like madman then the islanders need sectioning. 2 - The long haired locals are suspiciously laid back. 3 - If bungalow construction continues at the rate it is then in 10 years time that is all there will be. Ko Samui is Ko Phangan's older and bigger messed up brother. If Phangan was Jonny Depp, liked to binge but essentially too cool to warrant problematic, then Samui is a drunk from the old school, someone like William Holden or Oliver Reed. Lamai for example is made up of Hua Hin rejects, tattooed skinheads and lascivious men with a penchant for Thai girls. It's only marginally eased by a steep beach that induces impressive waves abetted by the sudden storms that often creep in ... read more

Sanut Thani is a return to the polluted ravaged mindset that is Bangkok but without the fun. Its only real use is as a stop off point prior to getting the ferry to Ko Phangan or Ko Samui. You can't even really get drunk in Sanut Thani such is the shortage of bars or suitably inspiring vistas. It does however lie upon a river and the opposing bank seems to be made up off nothing but palm trees. This low rise scenery is actually quite impressive as it gives the impression that for about a 1000 miles there is nothing at all but vegetation. Then you turn around and realise that you are in one of the most mundane towns Thailand has to offer. Thailand is a dichotomy. The people are extremely warm and friendly and ... read more

I did it! After 4 days of "work", an exam, and $170, I am now a fully certified open-water diver! I am on Ko Tao Island at the moment, one of the cheapest places to get certified in the world. The first two days of the course were a bit of a pain as I had to spend the mornings sat in a classroom studying all the theory side of diving. On the second day we did our first dive in the sea, in a shallow sandy bay so we could do all the "skills" required for the certification - clearing the mask, emergency procedures, taking inflator jackets on and off under water etc etc. The last two days were the best though, as there was no theory, only cool dives. Each day we did two ... read more