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Published: January 18th 2009
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Our next stop after Ko Tarutao was another island on the west coast of Thailand, Ko Lanta. Lanta is a well developed island in comparison with Ko Tarutao, and we were looking forward to relaxing on the beach and exploring the island.
Our first adventure came when we rented a moped from our guesthouse. Berm did a few test rides along the dusty road and proclaimed it safe, and so I hopped on the back for the trip into town. We did a bit of shopping and organized a day of diving through a local company, and then decided to head back to our guesthouse to find a restaurant along the beach for dinner. On the way back to the guesthouse, we discovered that we were running low on gas, and stopped at a gas station to refuel. We did what we would have normally done at home - we chose the lowest-priced gas and filled the tank. Everything was fine until a few kilometres down the road when the throttle started to get sluggish and the bike began to belch blue smoke. Apparently, no one had mentioned to us when we rented the bike that we would need to
buy a specific type of fuel, one that is a fuel and oil mixture. So we found ourselves stranded halfway between town and our guesthouse, with a full tank of the wrong gas. Berm pushed the bike along the road until we found a little gas station - consisting only of a fuel barrel with a hand crank pump on the top of it. The little Muslim lady running the place spoke no English, so we embarked on a half an hour of charades to try to explain to her what had happened, and what help we were hoping for. With the help of Kym's excellent miming of the events leading up to that moment, we finally had the necessary breakthrough in cross-language understanding. The lady grabbed Berm's arm, and they headed off to a housewares shop, returning with a plastic hand pump. A few minutes later we were pumping the wrong gas out of the tank, and then refilling it with the right fuel. When we gave her the equivalent of 6 dollars (probably about double what the fuel was worth) she hugged each of us individually as though we'd all known her for years. And so we were
back on the road.
The next few days passed with less drama, as we spent two days driving up and down the island looking for the best places to eat tasty seafood curries, visiting the national park, hanging out with the bats in the Mae Kiaw caves, and stopping at any nice beach that we drove by for a quick dip. Finally, we spent one day scuba diving on reef islands near Ko Lanta, refreshing our skills after the long hiatus since our last diving adventures in Honduras.
This was important preparation for our next stop as we continued to move farther north to Khao Lak. Here our group met up with another friend from Vancouver, Ty, and embarked on a 3 day liveaboard diving trip to the Similan Islands, which are ranked among the top 10 diving sites in the world. Despite some fairly considerable waves on the way to and from the islands we had a fantastic time, and Berm, Monk and I are all completed our Advanced Diver certifications. Berm and I particularly enjoyed our night dive; the tiny bioluminescent creatures that are visible only at night lit up the dark water in an eerie
We like diving...
but let us back on the boat! way, and it was fantastic to see strange nocturnal creatures like giant lobsters and tiny spherical jellyfish. The other highlight of the trip was our first wreck dive, which was an incredible sight as we descended through the murky open water, not sheltered by any island, until the wreck appeared out of the dark water below us. Boomsung wreck acts as an articial reef and attracts an incredible variety and number of fish and other creatures. We were so enthusiastic after the wreck dive, which was our final dive of the trip, that we even talked about diving in the murky and cold waters of the Pacific Northwest once we are home. We'll see how our resolve holds up! Our thanks go to Wicked Diving (Tuk, Church and Ricky) for a great trip and for promoting ecologically friendly liveaboard diving in the Similans, and to the other guests on the liveaboard who made it such a memorable trip.
After returning to dry land, we parted with Ty and boarded a night bus for Bangkok. We said goodbye to Kym and Adam in the bus station, and Berm, Monk and I headed for the ruins of the ancient city of
Sukhothai, which is about half way between Bangkok and the northern city of Chiang Mai. We spent two days biking through rice paddies and cane sugar fields to visit each temple, Berm taking great pictures along the way!
Stay tuned for news on our adventures in Chiang Mai, and at the Elephant Nature Park, where we're volunteering for a week as 'Elephant Helpers'!
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alicia
non-member comment
wicked!
love the updates :) looks and sounds like you are having many adventures and congrats on the diver certifications!