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Published: February 28th 2007
Hello Everyone,
Well here it is, my very last blog on foreign soil. That's right, I am coming home.
I apologise it has been a while since my last blog, but I have been having a relaxing time in the South of Thailand... which has included me becoming a qualified Scuba Diver (more on that later).
So I left Bangkok on Wednesday 14th February. I got the night train from Bangkok station to Surat Thani in the South. And I tell you... that was an experience! It left at 7pm and arrived 7:30am the following morning. The night train had beds which folded down from the walls. Was a strange experience sleeping on a train... but it felt kind of comfy. Once I had arrived in Surat Thani, I immediately got onto a bus which took me to the Ferry port. Here I then got the ferry to Koh Samui.
Koh Samui is an island off the South East coast of Thailand. It was very beautiful, and was good to just have 3 nights there to relax. I spent most of the days on the beach topping up my tan and reading my book (I have read
8 books since I have been away!) And I would stay on the beach until the sun set, which was really nice to do. I felt the most relaxed I had been in weeks (Bangkok, Hong Kong, Sydney etc. were just so manic and had very little time to chill out).
Then on the Sunday (18th February) I got the Ferry back to the mainland, and went to Krabi. Krabi, I had heard was really beautiful with some great diving. But the accommodation I was in orginally in was actually located in Krabi Town, and the 'place to be' was Ao Nang (20 mins away). But I went to Ao Nang one day to book my Scuba Diving course and accommodation for later in the week. And I went back to Krabi town for a couple more nights to start my studying for my Scuba Course.
I moved to Ao Nang on the Wednesday. I got a nice little chalet with en-suite only for 6 pounds a night, which was cool. And I was able to finish most of my studying before I started my course on Thursday morning.
Those of you who don't know much about
Scuba Diving, the most popular company is PADI to do your qualifications through (as it is the most recogniseable throughout the world). And most scuba diving companies use PADI. Their first qualification is called 'Open Water'. This enables you to dive with a buddy (without an instructor) with the same or greater qualification as you have. So basically you are qualified to dive upto a maximum of 18metres (most divers don't even go down this far, because the 'viz' gets worse the further down you go because you lose colours and most of the best things to see are around 10/12 metres.
There are 3 stages to the course to become qualified. They are: Theory, Confined Water Dives and Open Water Dives.
The theory is actually quite tricky, and I was surprised at how difficult some parts were. It consists of having to read a big book and answering questions in that. And then you get extra exams set by your instructor and then at the end you have the main big exam with 50 questions. Some are quite scientific (as you have to learn about you buoyancy under water, and learn about how to keep your body
safe - as there are lot of dangers underwater... like decompression sickness - so basically learning how to prevent all these) and some questions are mathmatical (because you have to plan each dive, and then make sure you have the right surface interval between dives relating to your pressure groups etc. - all this is vital that it is done correct, or it can be very dangerous to your body... and could even cause death or lung injuries if you get it wrong. So that's why PADI make sure you get it right) and then learning how to use your equipment and how to put it together etc.
Then there is the confined water dives... which I did in a swimming pool. Most of the time students do these over 2 days.... but I managed to complete these in only 1 day! Which was cool. My instructor said I was a fast learner. In the pool you learn how to stay buoyant along with lots of other skills... such as removing your whole equipment underwater, if you run out of air - learning how to use an alternate air source, taking your mask off underwater and re-fitting it and
then clearing it all underwater, swapping between the snorkel and ventilator at the surface... and alot more! They even turn off your air underwater so you can experience what it feels like to run out of air, then you have to either use your buddy's alternate air source or buddy breath (which is using one air source between you and taking it in turns to breath) and even coming to the surface with no air source at all.
This was all great prep for the open water dives. Over the next 2 days we then went out on the boat and had 4 open water dives in the sea, going down to a max 18 metres. You may remember that I went diving in Fiji, but this was amazing! Because I actually knew alot more about what I was doing, and having to do all those skills 18 metres underwater really is a challenge. Because you know that you cant just go to the surface if you get it wrong. So things like removing and replacing the mask underwater is actually really tricky, having to clear it using your nose and also not breathing in through your nose. But
it is pretty amazing the things I can now do. I can navigate underwater with a compass... I can remove my entire scuba gear underwater, I can basically do everything there is to do.
I am so glad that I decided to do it, because it is something that has been an amazing experience. And I feel that I have learnt so much!
The company I did the PADI course with was called 'Scuba Addicts'. And it's run by some English guys. My instructor was from Thailand though, he had really good English... and he truly was a legend. His name is Champ (quality name don't you think?). And we got on really well. He was 26 years old and had done over 2500 dives!! Maybe one day I will get to that many? I wish...
Check out the video of my first open water dive! It was filmed by a South African guy who I met on our boat. He owns a website called The Aqua Planet... which is basically an Underwater You Tube. And he edited the video for me to include fish from our dive also. He does it all for free! Really nice
guy... so it would be cool if you all checked out his website to get the ratings up. Also if you sign up (for free), that will make him very happy.
www.theaquaplanet.com (search 'Mike' to see my video)
The diving was pretty awesome. We went to an island called 'Phi Phi'.. which is where some of the world's best diving is located. We got to see, Sea Horses, Pipe fish, banded butterfly fish, moorish idols, lion fish, sea snakes, dragon fish, shrimps, flute fish... the list goes on. And of course saw some amazing coral and underwater plant life. But the sea horses were by far my favourite!!
After we had finished diving for the day, me and Champ would have a pool comp in the pub behind scuba addicts. We were pretty much the same ability, so it made it interesting.
During my course I was unable to drink, so when I qualified on the Saturday, we all went out celebrating in the evening. I say all... it was Me, Champ, Karen (remember? From Fiji, NZ and Aus), and then 2 Swedish girls.... Sofia and Maria. Maria had been a previous student of Champ and
Sofia is Maria's friend. Both are really nice girls.... especially Sofia!
We went to this bar called 'Hippies', which had fire throwers... which were pretty amazing as they did it in time to the music while they danced. Then we went to another bar which was locted on the beach. And then we pretty much chilled beneath the stars on the beach until sun rise at 6:30am. So it was a looooong night... but it was really nice.
The same day (after 1 hours sleep) I got the bus to Phuket. It was only 3 hours so wasn't too bad. And I stayed in Phuket (at Ao Nang beach) for 2 nights (Sunday and Monday Night). I got to watch the Carling Cup Final in a bar.... and yes Chelsea won!!! On Monday night I went into the centre of Phuket to meet up with Sofia and Maria. We found a nice little restaurant. Afterwards we went looking for a bar. We couldn't find one (as the centre of Phuket isn't where the tourists go much) so we asked these guys at the side of the road. They took us to one in their truck... but we got
a shock when we arrived. All the people inside the bar were basically men... and then at the side there were rows of women (all waiting to be picked I think). So we quickly left that place. We then thought we would try a hotel bar (because hotel bars are normal right?) but when we entered the bar... just men playing pool and sitting down... and then another shock.... there were about 15 women lying down behind some glass... again waiting to be picked. Each woman had a number... not even a name! So once again we left that place.
We eventually found a normal-ish bar which we stayed at till around 2am. The next day I got a bus from Phuket back to Bangkok. It was a 12 hour journey, but it wasn't too bad as it was fairly spacious with air con.
So I am back here in Bangkok. I leave early Friday morning, so I am just going to relax before then.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Oh and also... there are lots of pictures of me and firends etc. that I haven't shown you... due to other people having them on their
cameras. But they are going to send them to me and I will do a blog when I get back with all the unseen pictures (many are from drunk nights out... especially in Sydney!!) And Karen has most of them. She even has some of me scuba diving. So look forward to all of those to come!
I also just want to say thank you everyone for reading my blog. It makes it so worth while doing when I read your comments and emails you send me! THANK YOU! Remember to check out my scuba video at: http://www.theaquaplanet.com
Click here to be directed to my video (if this link doesn't work, visit theaquaplanet.com and search 'Mike')
Take care and see you all soon.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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kingba
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ween machine
''Sofia is Maria's friend. Both are really nice girls.... especially Sofia!'' I think Maria would be disappointed at this comment, you said they were both really nice girls, should have left it there. Champ sounds like a dog's name. These bars sound odd, are they gay bars then with prostitutes on the side for those who are only 'curious'? Don't come home. The Dogs are waiting at the airport to give u beats for ruining their careers. Bring me back a tiger....alive......i want to kill it myself. Safe journeys etc, kingba