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Published: August 23rd 2005
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Room in Chumpon
Keith doing all the research again!! Can't believe we have been on this island already for 4 whole days... We have totally lost count of dates, times and days of the week, which is grand until you have to fill out some form or the other and the instructor looks at you strangely when you realise you don't know what day it is.... The train trip from Bangkok to Chumpon (6,5 hours) on the mainland was quite a pleasant experience. Left Bangkok station on the 0745 on a train with just 2 carriages. We were in second class, which meant we got air conditioning, reclining seats , and to our amazement - free food! The first meal offered to us we politely declined until the hostess told us it was free! Nevertheless, Lisa didn't get to eat anything except dry rice (with salt and pepper) as it was all meat or fish. Keith had a healthy double portion!
There is nothing much to Chumpon - we found a room for 200 baht (FAME guesthouse) which was basically a mattress on the floor, but at least we got pillows and towels and it was very clean. We wandered the town for a little while and walked through
Sairee Beach
Long boat used to ferry us to dive boats. Our resort is somwhere in the background. the night market but it was really hot so we had a drink at the Farang bar - disappointing. We then had dinner at the guesthouse and crashed in to bed.
Woke at - 430am on Saturday morning, walked to the train station and caught a hairy ride on a bus, which was more like a cattle truck - 15 kms to the port where we boarded a catamaran cruiser for the 1 and a half hour speedy journey to the island of Ko Toa. It was an amazing sight to see the palm fringed island as we arrived by water. We jumped in to yet another cattle bus for a ride to our dive resort - Big Blue on Sairee beach. We were lucky to get a room and splashed out for air con. The beach is not so good for swimming in this particular bay as there is a lot of coral and the tide goes right out during the day. We saw the full moon and the sunset on our first night was amazing. Since arriving we have spent every evening having dinner on the beach. No one wears shoes, make up or anything fancy and
Sunset on Ko Tao
We are blessed with these every night we have felt so at ease and relaxed. Most restaurants have low tables and people laze around on cushions looking out to sea. The restaurant staff even have a kip mow and again on the cushions and no one cares! Coconut features in lots of the drinks and dishes. The food is awesome and really cheap. We have tried some interesting fruits that we have never seen before (some them are good and some not so).
Started our 4 day Open Water Diving course on Sunday. Our instructor is Jued - a mad Thai who speaks very simple English and has us guessing at some of his pronunciations of things like Nitrogen and regulator. He is great fun and doesn't stop talking all day. He has been diving for 16 years and has taught over 2000 people to dive. He studied Marine Biology in Bangkok for 7 years and then did a thesis on Ko Tao and got "stuck here" he says. One can see why. It is such a laid back place, the sea is beautiful and the diving opportunities great. Yesterday and today have been two half days of theory and then hours spent in the sea using SCUBA gear. We have been giving home work every night which is pretty hard to do in a place like this. It is a pretty amazing experience, quite scary at times and yet the sea you see below the surface is beautiful. We have two days left to dive and hopefully pass our course! Keith is then planning to do his Advanced Open Water course which lasts another two days. We will then be heading south on a speed boat to Ko Pha Ngan, an island a couple of hours away.
Just had dinner on the beach and thought we had better check in and account for our last few days of our trip. It is so easy to lose track of the time. We don't want to forget any of this! Thanks to all of you who sent messages, glad you are enjoying the blogs, sorry if we ramble at times!
Wanted to add more photos but the modem crashed three times. Can't really complain! Off to do our homework so until next time...
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mom and dad
non-member comment
fabulous
so envious what an experience to see below the sea. wish i could do this some day. Mauritius looms ahead for us and we cant wait so excited. so looking forward to your next adventure to read about. pics superb. how is your thai. happy that you are both well and enjoying trip luv u