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Published: April 18th 2009
Whale Shark
This is the world's largest shark. This one was only 6 meters long!It’s been 3 months since we last spoke. No excuses, no apologies.
We flew out of the Philippines in late January and landed at the airport outside of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We caught an express bus to KL Sentral (mid city bus terminal), not really where we had intended to go. We had sent our Lonely Planet guide book back home because we were so familiar with the city, or so we thought. Well, instead we were let off at the train station, a place we had not been before so we had no idea where we were. We ended up taking a taxi to a guest house we had stayed in a few months before and were back on track again. One night in Kuala Lumpur, and a bus ride later, we were in Penang, Malaysia. Back on familiar turf again, we arranged our 60 day Thai visas, picked up a few necessities (vodka), made some transportation plans and readied ourselves for a return trip to Thailand.
We encountered a new immigration “issue” while attempting to cross the border. In most Asian countries, you depart one country, cross a no man’s land or buffer zone, and then arrive
in the next country. This is something we have done many times before, with relatively few problems. This crossing unexpectedly took the help of our bus driver and a display of a whole lot of cash. We did not have to pay anything, just show the immigration control we had enough to live on while in their country. A new situation for everyone on the bus and something no one else had encountered. Just a little blip and we were on our way. Remember you are always at the mercy of immigration and border control agents, just keep cool, show no disrespect, and things can usually be worked out.
We were still lucky enough to catch our next bus and make the ferry to Phi Phi Island, Thailand (it’s pronounced Pee Pee). If you remember from our previous entries, this is probably our favorite place in all of Asia, maybe the world, so far.
Busy! That’s what everyone had told us to expect. And it was, but not crazy like we thought it could be. The prices are definitely up (it is high-season) on the rooms and the goods, but it’s still the same for beer and food. We
found a long term rental at Chunut House, a place we have stayed three times now and moved in.
The last time we were here I became a PADI dive instructor. Since getting back to the island I decided to start my MSDT Instructor Rating (Master Scuba Diver Training Instructor). So, I have been instructing students on how to dive. I have taught people in a number of languages I don’t speak (Chinese, German, Thai, French or anything else); luckily everyone speaks English (we only speak American and some English, a bit of Australian, and enough South African to get by). This has been a lot of fun so far, diving with people from all over the world, in an absolutely beautiful environment. The aquatic life varies from the elusive ghost pipe fish (8 millimeters long) to the equally elusive whale shark (7 meters long). The pros in the dive shop come from Canada, Chile, Brazil, England, Germany, Japan, France, Spain, Turkey, South Africa, Sweden, Australia, Hungary and the USA (me!).
The diving has been really good here. I swam with a whale shark. The King Cruiser wreck has been insanely good and it also been quite a
challenge. Shark Point ain’t called that for nothing, with the Leopard sharks lazing in the sand. Bida Nok and Bida Nai with their own Leopard sharks and Black Tip sharks cruising the reef. The octopus who wants to be left alone, the Nemos who are so feisty, lionfish who dare you to touch, the turtles who really are not that slow, the frogfish and the seahorse hiding in plain view sometimes. Phi Phi Lay with its jaw dropping beauty, the backdrop for the cult movie “The Beach”. Dropping in at Malong and catching a ride with a current to Palong North drifting along with the turtles and Black-tip sharks. Oh yeah. I swam with a 6 meter whale shark!!! The Thai captain shouted “Whale shark” and all us staff were flying from all over the boat to reach some kind of gear and hit the water before it decided to makes its own dive. It let us swim with it for about 10 minutes and then took off.
On my last day at the dive shop and I finished a course with Dustin (he is also from Louisiana and we met him here). He asked Ruthie and me if
we would join him on a longtail boat for diving and snorkeling. Of course we couldn’t say no to a deal like that, so I grabbed some dive gear for us and off we went. We motored in and around the island through hidden bays surrounded by vertical walls of rock and to remote sandy beaches. Between the snorkeling, diving, and catching the sunset on the way back, we all passed a good time. Thanks Dustin!
Ruthie spent a couple of hours each morning with the staff at our guest house. They had tons of fun teaching each other English and Thai. She was the official liaison for Westerners and the Thai staff over matters concerning breakfast, tour bookings, internet and reservations. She did all this for free internet, some Thai food and 14 cups of coffee a day, but she will probably say on a resume that she was an “International Business Consultant”.
After spending six weeks on the island, we took a break and went to Phuket to get a visa extension for an additional 30 days in Thailand. We booked a room in Kata Beach and loved our swank hotel. We had air-con, warm water
for the shower and cable TV with four English channels - everything we don’t have at our place on Phi Phi. The hotel was full of foreigners buying condotels (timeshare hotel room). Once again we are the youngest people around. There were three nice pools on the grounds but your mama in a bikini and your dad in a Speedo ain’t something you want to see. A few days around Phuket and we were back on the island for our last month.
Strange stuff happens here. Yesterday was National Burn Your Trash Day, at least here on the island. Our neighbor had three fires in his yard. They try and burn everything, paper, plastic, foam, cans, tin, metals, everything. Small explosions are the norm from batteries, paint cans, coconuts, etc. Two fires were burning next to his seasoned bamboo house, with the 3rd one underneath a tree. Why under a tree? Because it was too hot in the sun. Oh yeah, it has not rained all month and there is no fire department here.
A lady got hit in the head by a falling coconut.
A lady hurt her bum when she cliff dived from 18 meters.
A
lady was brought home at 6:30 am in a luggage cart by Thai guys (too drunk to walk).
A lady got bit by a monkey.
A lady had to be pulled out of path of a curious 6 meter whale-shark.
Another lady got bitten by a monkey.
A man’s favorite monkey dropped a coconut on the man’s head and killed him (was this his first try?).
A monkey is eating a mango in the tree outside our window.
I lost my shoes. Again. Actually, this time they were Ruthie’s shoes. The first misplacement was maybe two months ago. I happened to have a similar pair as two other guys in the shop. By the time they took off, I ended up with a size 11 and 13, I wear a size 10. Someone else borrowed my shoes the other night and so I started wearing Ruthie’s shower shoes, which really didn’t fit me. Three days later I left the shop with the same color shoes but once again two different sizes, and they were not even Ruthie’s. You gotta remember everyone here takes their shoes off at the door, so ten pairs of black flip flops look the same.
Snorkel test
Rite of passage for those who become dive professionals. Ruthie actually lost a pair, so she wore someone else’s for a week before she found hers again. A lot of people here don’t even bother to wear shoes, just because it’s so hard to keep them.
On one of our last mornings we decided to take a trek over to Long Beach so we could swim with the sharks. Our 20 min. trek took us over the beach rocks at low tide and through some of the maritime forest. We arrived at “Shark Point” and found where Ruthie had said there would be “baby sharks” swimming around. After a few minutes I knew we in the right spot when I watched Ruthie get all holy and try to walk on water. She was saying, “They’re supposed to be babies they aren’t supposed to be this big.” The little ones were 1 meter (3 ft) and the bigger ones were 2 meters (6 ft) and they were not just swimming around; they were in their morning feed. Swimming with sharks before breakfast is a great way to start the day.
With our time on the island coming to a close, we had some new decisions to make. The
political situation here is somewhat tense at the time and with us catching a flight out of Bangkok, we have to be flexible with ways into the city. Some of the roads have been blocked off and parts of the city shut down. We decided to spend a few more days down in the south of Thailand, before doing a quick in and out of Bangkok on our way to Nepal.
Leaving the island has been bittersweet. It is really exciting to be travelling again but kinda sad to be leaving this special place and our friends here. While it is touristy, to those who stay here it’s a small community where you may not know everyone’s name, but you know who they are. We have met so many others that have decided to make a lifestyle change. You give up the cable TV for sunsets. You give up the car to walk a sandy path. You give up the 3 bedrooms and two baths for one open room and a porch. You give up the business suit for a swimsuit and flip-flops (your new uniform). It’s time to continue our travels but we will really miss this place
and those we met here.
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Candyann
Candyann
Whale Shark
Congrads on the whale shark sighting. Are you going to submit your whale shark picture to the data base? Maybe you already know about it? Just google whale shark data base. The info (picture and location) you submit will be used to help with the global conservation of these threatened creatures. :)