We’ve seen all we needed to see at Patong beach on the island of Phuket. There’s really not much to see actually. 1-2 days max is plenty. And so having maxed out or stay, we hopped in a cab to the other side of the island to grab a ferry ride…
…to another island. The beautiful island of Phi Phi.
We came to this island with a mission. That mission, was to obtain our open water scuba diving certification. We’ll be in Australia at the Great Barrier Reef within a couple weeks and due to certain flight restrictions we won’t have a ton of time there. So we want to get the training and tests out of the way now, so we can focus on fish once we are there.
Our first day of lessons involved watching the first 2 chapters of the PADI DVD and then taking a couple of quizzes. Pretty simple stuff. The next day we watched a couple more chapters and then had some hands on practice with all of the equipment. Learning how to breathe out of the regulator, attaching our B.C.D. (buoyancy control device) to the tank, testing the tank levels, etc, etc… With a couple of practice runs on dry land, we suited up and hiked down to the beach in all of our gear for some first hand experience breathing under water — in shallow water.
Breathing under water certainly takes some getting used to! A very cool feeling once you embrace it and learn to trust your regulator, but it’s definitely a foreign feeling so it does take some time to embrace it. Once you come to the realization that that regulator is the only thing keeping you alive under water, breathing through it really becomes second nature. Funny how that works.
The next day we woke up bright and early for an 8am dive. Our gear was packed, and we headed down to the dock to board our vessel.
After a short ride out towards Bida Nai the captain of the boat killed the engines where we would make our first dive to 12 meters below sea level!
Our chief instructor Walter gave us a mission briefing on deck, and then we prepped our gear.
Same as the day before… attach the BCD to the tank, attach the regulator to the tank…
…open the air valve, test the air quality and pressure, test the regulators, test the BCD, put on the wet suit, strap on the weight belt, climb into the BCD/tank/regulator setup and then check your buddies gear after he checks yours. Finally you strap on your mask, snorkel, and fins…
…and you’re ready to go!
As a newbie, I didn’t wanna preoccupy myself with taking underwater photography (breathing was slighly more important) so you’ll just have to take my word for it when I tell you we saw trumpet fish, lion fish, a moray eel, black diamond sea urchins, brain coral, long arm feather stars and plenty of other stuff I can’t name. After 42 minutes under water we surfaced and inflated our BCD as the boat came around to pick us up.
We survived our first dive with only minor injuries…
…from fins that were too tight.
After a lunch and some R&R back on the boat we made our way to the second dive spot of Phi Phi Lay. Again 12 meters down, for about 45 minutes. This time the visibility was much better and we spotted a plethora of mini jellyfish, clown fish, butterfly fish, and even a hawksbill turtle!
And again, we survived! Aside from the toe injury and Jay’s nausea it was a highly successful first dive! Tomorrow we get to do it all over again too! Awesome!
Authored by: Digital Knowmadd on December 11, 2008.
Filed under: Asia,Thailand,Travel | Comments Off on Scuba Doobie Doo!
Despite Thailand being a bit unstable at the moment due to the political unrest, we’ve managed to migrate from the northern part of the country, to the island of Phuket on the south western coast. Phuket was one of many regions that was swallowed up by the ocean during the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.
Since then, most of the businesses have sprung back up…
…and the city is a bustling tourist destination again.
Almost too much so. The Patong beach area for example is sort of like a cross between Las Vegas, Tijuana, and Bangkok. A party town that can get you in a lot of trouble if you’re not careful.
They should almost have another set of guidelines posted…
…educating tourists on how best to avoid the prostitutes, lady boys, and knock off brand name merchandise.
At least they support Obama here! So it can’t all be bad.
Luckily we’ll be out of here in just a couple days to somewhere more remote and laid back.
Authored by: Digital Knowmadd on December 7, 2008.
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Well this really blows.
We had planned to be in Vietnam and Cambodia by now. But with all the red shirts and yellow shirts feuding, and both of Bangkok’s airports shut down due to civil unrest, we were sort of stranded in Chang Mai. Not a bad place to be stranded mind you, but we had plans to see Angkor Wat! We had our malaria pills ready and everything! We could have taken busses and boats to Laos, and escape from there, but that really didn’t seem that appealing to be honest.
So instead we waited it out and grabbed the first available flight to Phuket. The crazy thing is, all flights route through Bangkok. Check out the ghost town of an airport.
This is one of the busiest airports in all of Asia, yet there were hardly any planes on the ground and even fewer people in the airport.
It’s crazy to think that just a few days ago this place was over run by several thousand protesters! What a site that would have been to capture on film!
The trip must go on however. We have to make it to Sydney by New Years, and that’s less than a month away! So we’ll just have to make the best of it.
Authored by: Digital Knowmadd on December 6, 2008.
Filed under: Asia,Thailand,Travel | No Comments »
Wicked! We were playing a nice relaxing game of 8-ball today at a nearby bar and about halfway into the game Jay decided his best shot would be the 6 ball in the side pocket. As he stepped up to the table to line up the shot and peer down the cue stick, his right foot slid forward so fast that it appeared as if he had suddenly broken out in an Irish Jig. My first reaction was to laugh hysterically. My second reaction was to scream out “JAY, LOOK OUT! THERE’S A BABY DRAGON LATCHED ONTO YOUR FOOT!!!” But I was too slow. It all happened so fast!
Out of nowhere this MASSIVE centipede had appeared and bitten Jay in his ankle! No joke!
[view it in full size]
When I say MASSIVE I’m not even exaggerating. This sucker was easily 15 inches long!!
After it punctured Jay’s ankle flesh, it scurried off towards the bathrooms like a serpent. Blegh!
*shutter*
With no idea if these things were poisonous or not, I snapped a picture of it in case we needed to show it to someone for identification. Heck we weren’t even sure if it was a centipede at all since it seemed to be missing 58 of its legs! Later research confirmed centipedes really do only have 42 legs. False advertising if ya ask me.
Anywho, the people in the bar started to panic, all confirming our worst fears that it was indeed poisonous. So they grabbed a shoe string and tied off Jays leg at the knee. You know, in case they needed to amputate the foot, might as well get most of the leg too while they’re at it. Another person at the bar grabbed a pair of tongs and bravely captured the critter and double bagged it for safe transport to the hospital. I commandeered the hostess of Rick’s Pizza shop and we had her drive Jay and his centipede to the nearby hospital for evaluation. Jay was diagnosed with obsessive dyslexic attention phobia of the compulsive cerebral cortex disorder. The centipede however, according to doctors, should make a full recovery.
While Jay was being whisked off on the make-shift two-wheeled ambulance, I pulled out my ipod touch and started googling to find the worse case scenario. Is he going to die? Will he be able to walk? Should I call his parents? What about his fantasy football team? Who will take over? OH THE HUMANITY!! I’m so ill prepared for situations like this.
After about a half hour, and what seemed like several hours of discussion with a visiting Belgian man who’s friend was also once bitten by a centipede, Jay came hobbling back with a bag of meds in hand and a bandaid over the wound.
The doctors had cleaned the wound, prescribed him some anti-itch pills and passed the bag-o-legs around the hospital for everyone to gawk at.
Turns out Jay will be just fine, and both his feet will be reattached in the morning.
Only in Thailand.
Authored by: Digital Knowmadd on December 4, 2008.
Filed under: Asia,Thailand,Travel | No Comments »
Thailand is such an interesting country. You can be walking through a city like Chang Mai and tucked between a 7-11 and a massage parlor you’ll find an a old pagoda.
You really have to stay on your toes and keep your eyes peeled to uncover some of the hidden gems of the city (or look at a map I guess).
I didn’t have a map when I peered down a narrow walkway that led to the 600 year old Wat Chedi Luang.
Is it just me or do Buddah’s always look hyper-relaxed? Is that an oxymoron?
Speaking of morons… have these guys ever heard of safety harnesses?
I was scared for my life just walking down the sidewalk as these guys performed their high wire rebar act while arc welding with complete disregard for the flammable humans below.
See that’s what I’m talking about. The Thai people see a task at hand, and they do whatever is required to accomplish that task. By any means necessary. If someone says to put a roof on a building, you put a roof on the building. So what if there just happens to be a tree in the way!?! You don’t ask questions, you just build your roof around the tree.
So long as at the end of the day, there is a roof over your head.
Authored by: Digital Knowmadd on December 3, 2008.
Filed under: Asia,Thailand,Travel | No Comments »
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