Advertisement
Published: April 27th 2012
Edit Blog Post
So, it’s been a while since we’ve blogged last, we’ve just been so busy travelling! A lot is new, so I’ll try to make it brief (starting from after the trek):
Not much happened for the next two weeks after the trek, due to a terrible stomach bug that hit us both at the same time. Ashley had it worse, though, resulting in a visit to the travel clinic and 4 liters of IV fluids. Being stuck inside the hotel for about a week, we had no choice but to improve our resumes and sit on the rooftop garden of our guesthouse. Ash could only leave for a few hours until she felt dizzy and sick again. By Monday, when we were at the verge of reaching full health, it was too late to explore other cities in Nepal, since our flight out was Thursday morning.
Near the end of our journey in Nepal, I started to develop a warm liking to this little country. Although at first I couldn’t stand being hassled by street hagglers, I slowly learned how to deal with them, and I began to enjoy bargaining with them. I also found that outside
of the busy and chaotic Thamel, Nepali people were extremely kind and helpful. I started to like the ‘old-school’ feel to Nepal. Opposite to the modern architecture and sharpness of Bangkok, Kathmandu had a more rustic vibe. At first, dirt roads, 30+ year old stone buildings, and 20 year old taxis with makeshift horns, mirrors, and seats came as a scary shock… but after a while for some reason it was great.
However, having said this, we were happy to be in Bangkok again. After a painful transfer in India (We would recommend that this be avoided at all costs) and a 5 hour flight to Bangkok, we felt like we were at home (away from home), using the little Thai that we know to order our favourite meals, and giving some travel advice to a fresh-off-the-plane English couple. We stayed in our favourite airport hotel for the night, and headed off the next morning for Koh Tao. Travelling to Koh Tao took an airport transfer shuttle, 2 sky trains, A minibus, an 8 hour V.I.P double decker bus (which I will talk about in detail below), a motorcycle taxi, another 45 minute double decker bus, an hour
Ashley and Koh Tao
The drive to this viewpoint on the scooter was interesting.. The scooter didnt have enough power to get us up most of the hills (since the inclines are so ridiculous)... so one of us had to end up walking and a half catamaran ferry, and another truck taxi to the resort in Koh Tao. In total, it was a 24 hour nonstop journey, but it was well worth it.
Koh Tao was much different from any of the other Islands we had been to. It’s one of the least expensive and best places in the world to obtain a SCUBA certification, and because of this, it drew in our kind of crowd – young, cheap travelers. The island had a very relaxed vibe, likely due to the fact that people there are more interested in diving than partying. Morning diving means you had to be up and ready at 7am. Most of the diving instructors were westerners (I think Australians were the most prominent). Our instructor was Australian, and she was great. Ash and I were so impressed with the whole thing that we ended up doing our advanced open water course, allowing us to dive up to 30 meters and giving us the opportunity to dive 5 more times. We did a night dive, a wreck dive, navigation dives, and search and recovery. We saw a ton of different aquatic life, including great barracudas (hunting at
night), small barracudas, octopus, blue spotted sting rays, a variety of snappers, puffer fish, scorpion fish, hermit crabs, clown fish, eels, etc, and a ton of different coral plants and creatures. We ended up falling in love with the island, and contemplated the idea of coming back and living there, completing our Dive Masters, and becoming instructors.
* During our time at Koh Tao was the Sonkran festival, the biggest water fight in the world, which occurs all over Thailand every year. We bought water guns and had them ready every time we left the hotel. Likewise, every time we left the hotel, we got soaked! The Thai kids would put ice water in their guns to enhance the effect… but I didn’t mind, since I was constantly sweating in the 40 degree heat. Ash, on the other hand, would shriek every time she got sprayed :P. However, this wasn’t all there was to Sonkran: Thai families and foreigners alike would line up on the streets with huge 20 liter pales, buckets, and hoses, and soak everything and anything that went by. Motorbikes, trucks, cars, and bicycles were constantly under attack, and pedestrians didn’t even have a chance.
Our diving Crew
Tamara (left) was our instructor Our resort, like many other groups, let us cram 12 of us in the back of a pickup truck with 2 huge pales of water and perform drive by attacks throughout the island. We all felt like we were 8 years old again, but we didn’t care. This was one of the coolest holidays we had ever experienced.
Once we finished our course at Koh Tao, we headed to Krabi, and met up with some old friends from Angthong. Near the main beach in Krabi, we hiked to a lagoon surrounded by limestone rocks, which also shot up randomly out of the ocean and on various parts of the beach. This is what makes Krabi famous for rock climbing, and many climbers (including a Canadian couple we met from Victoria) head there to tackle the cliffs (with varying levels of difficulty). After a little peer pressure, Ash convinced me to try it out, and we ended up loving it! Our highest climb was to 30 meters, but it seemed like 100. Once up there, the belayer told us to let go, hang there for a bit, and enjoy the prestigious views of Krabi and Railey beach. It was
a little nerve-racking, but it was fun.
Finally, after we completed rock climbing, we decided to move to the cheaper, quieter, and backpacker friendly island of Koh Lanta. Here, we met up with some good friends from the TESOL course in Phuket. The sunsets from this island were amazing; you could watch and be mesmerized by it for hours every night. Because of this, around 6 pm was the most important part of the day. Due to off season, Ash and I would be able to walk to expensive resorts and still enjoy their beachfront lounge beds, sunset views, and cheap cocktails.
And that was it! Ashley left Koh Lanta on Friday, and is now safe and sound back in Barrie Ontario (she has an interview at McMaster this week for Occupational Therapy), and I’ll be hanging out here until May 30
th as originally planned. Starting yesterday morning at 11:30 am, I took a motorcycle taxi, a 2 hour mini van, a small bus, and a 10 hour double decker bus to Bangkok, and right from there I took a taxi, a skytrain, and another motorcycle taxi to the bus station, and now I’m on a
An underwater shot
Tamara was cool enough to bring her underwater camera down for us and take some shots double decker bus heading to Chiang Mai, Thailand’s northern capital. It’s currently 10:34 am on Wednesday morning, which means I’ve been travelling for 23 hours without a wink of sleep, and I have another 8 - 9 hours to go. Because of this, I decided to treat myself in Bangkok to another VIP bus, and for an extra 3 dollars/ 87 baht, I have the absolute works. Complete with AC, a personal touch screen T.V. with satellite, a gaming controller (which I haven’t figured out how to use yet…) an outlet to charge my laptop, a meal, snacks, OJ, bottled water, and last but not least, a massage chair (Yes, a massage chair in each and every seat on this bus, with 3 massage options), the bus was 605 baht, or about $20!
I’m missing everyone at home. I’ll be fine for the next month; I’m getting around quite easily here. I’m excited to come back home and see everyone again. Tty all soon,
Alex
Advertisement
Tot: 0.132s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.095s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb