Hangover That!

Jan 30th - After getting back at about 3am, I feel pretty dreadful and am having a day off everything. Got up for lunch then went back to bed - roused myself and had a proper Thai massage to try and sort out my aches and pains from diving to get myself ready for the advanced course which starts tomorrow. Had a cool meal and said goodbyes to the others in the diving group. We will bump into them again in Australia hopefully.

Beach Party

29th Jan. Experienced my first beach party, Thai Style - was great to celebrate qualifying as a diver. Have decided to do my advanced qualification as well. We had a meal in a restaurant on the beach and then hit a few bars whilst walking down the beach. Definitely got the day off tomorrow so time to enjoy it. Out of the 6 who started the course, 3 of us qualified - it is amazing how much more comfortable you feel the more dives you do.

Pictures

Top Left (Me and Jenny my diving buddy)

Top Right (Martin decides enough is enough and has a snooze on the beach)

Above (The dive group)

PADI Open Water Course Day 5

Final 2 dives today then we are qualified SCUBA divers (At the most basic level). The boat ride was a bit choppy so was let hoping the motion sickness pill would help and eating a light breakfast. We left at 7:30 and we have a videographer with us who is filming us above and below water. They then show this in the bar at the end of the day. There were a couple of skills to do as well.

First dive was down to 18metres - visibility not great but saw some cool fish - it is fantastic how you just descend down and the fish swim around you - really beautiful. No vomit so far!!

Second dive the video guy was swimming with us - we mucked around a little as well which was cool - this involved Jenny dancing with the instructor and me having a play fight with Justin as well when he 'punched' me and I did a back somersault in slow motion. Also, we had to do our mask off for the video and we put some shades on and chill. Hope it looks good on the big screen. Had a brief heave on surfacing but was OK. I guess I will get used to it the more I do it.
We will be having a party tonight and I have to decide if I want to do the advanced course. It is such good fun that I want to dive as much as I can. I am a bit sore and stiff though - might have to go for a Thai Massage to unknot my muscles (From a reputable establishment before you say anything!!)

PADI Open Water Course Day 4

First 2 open water Dives today, I was so nervous about doing this and having 12metres of water above my head but we had got ourselves ready and done all the skills in the pool first so we were all OK - Martin dropped out before the dive so we were down to 3 people.
I am not a big fan of boat journeys so it wasn't the best start but got in the water OK and we descended slowly down to 12metres. It is surprising how often you have to equalise the pressure in your ears - every few feet - failing to do so would mean your ears would pop.

We saw some cool fish - Clown Fish (That's Nemo to most people!) and just practised our skills. On reaching the surface I had a major bout of motion sickness and was puking up my breakfast. Not a great end to the dive but I was OK.

2nd Dive was a bit shallower and we practised some skills again and saw some more cool fish, On surfacing I chucked again - was a bit more relaxed this time about it - just led on my back and let rip. Felt bad for the people who were right behind me, but once you pop you can't stop!

Great first days proper diving - so much fun and we were all quite relaxed in the end despite the newness of it all.

PADI Open Water Course Day 3

Final exam today - the previous evening was spent having beers and pizza - there was no way we were hitting the books. The bar at the resort place is really nice and relaxed and the selection of places to eat is good too.

Final exam was as Christopher Reeve once said about horse riding 'A piece of p!ss'. Back in the pool in the afternoon to finish off what we started - Unfortunately we have lost a couple of people - Amanda's Chest infection and Asthma means she can't really dive.

We had to swim for 200metres in the sea and float for 10 minutes without any SCUBA gear on - I have never swam more than 50metres in my life as I really hate swimming - made it OK but was absolutely shattered at the end.

PADI Open Water Course Day 2

More videos and text book stuff in the morning and I forgot to say that we had homework last night - we read a couple of chapters and did the knowledge tests - bit odd for a holiday but we went out and had a cool Thai meal last night.

The afternoon we finally got our SCUBA kit on and jumped into the training pool. All a bit scary and there is a big mental hurdle to get over in the sense of breathing underwater. We had all the skills demonstrated on land before and then went through and tried them in the pool. My mask was a bit rubbish and kept filling up with water so I had to keep emptying it myself (this is one of the skills we would do later but I had to sort this out before trying any of the others).

Other skills we did were getting our reguators back in if they were knocked out, Mask coming off completely and an air out/buddy breathing situation. We didn't quite finish this so will be back in the pool tomorrow for some more fun.

PADI Open Water Course Day 1

First day of our dive course today (25th Jan).

Started at 13:30 and basically was like being back in school - we watched a couple of videos and went through chapters in the text book and did knowledge reviews at the end. Interesting switch from holiday mode anyway. There are 6 of us in the dive group and all are cool.

Koh Tao

We are staying in the main town where the port is, so we only had a few minute ride from getting off the Ferry to get here. Our room is a little basic and and a massive step down from our luxurious hotel in Bangkok. Better get used to it quickly as it is going to be more like the norm from now on. Seeing as it is so hot I am not too bothered about having to have a cold shower.

Diving starts today, the 1st 2 sessions are in a classroom before we are let loose in the pool and then off into the open water.

Heading to Koh Toa - 'Sleeper' Train

We are on the sleeper train tonight heading south to one of the Islands by the middle of Thailand. Koh Toa is the smallest one and has a population of 5000 people. It will be a massive change of scenery to come from Bangkok (A city of 6 million people) and head out to somewhere a bit more remote.
God knows how comfortable this train is going to be, they are meant to change the cabins over to beds at about 20:00 - We are on the train till about 04:00 where we get a bus to the pier and then catch a boat to the Island itself. Thankfully we have the rest of the day free after that so I may need this to recover from the boat trip and any sea sickness that may occur.
After that we are back to school and learn to dive for 4 days. Should be fun and can't wait.

Picture - My Top Bunk bed that I attempted to sleep in on the train.

Vertigo (Literally)

After a day of seeing some shopping centres and trying to get our plans sorted out for our next destination we got the Sky Train and went to a bar called 'Vertigo'. It is aptly named as it sits on top of the Banyan tree hotel and is 59 floors up and is open air. It offered fantastic views of the city at night although the drinks were rather expensive (By Thailands standards anyway). We sat there and enjoyed the view, and got a taxi back to the hotel, the cabbie tried to rip us off by saying that is was 70 baht each (210 for 3) but we insisted he start the meter. The fare came out at 40 Baht. (Thats about 60p).

The picture on the far left is the view from the top - and the left one is the hotel where the bar is located

Bangkok - Patpong (Nearly including the first arrest of the trip)

We left the Hotel to get the Sky Train to Patpong (Red light district) and Amanda was having a cigarette on the way there. After climbing the stairs to the train an eagle eyed policeman had spotted her throwing away the butt and she got a stern ticking off. Thankfully we were allowed on and got the train to Salah Daeng or destination.

There is a massive market at Patpong and it is a strange mix of normal shops, bars and then the notorious clubs with names like "Super Pussy". No surprises what goes on there - men hang around outside trying to get you to go inside and offer a 'menu' of the activities that the ladies can perform with certain parts of their anatomy. Smoking cigarette was one of the items - I wonder if they get arrested when they 'discard' their butts and god only knows what a Pussy Rainbow is.

We carried on walking and got a Tuk Tuk back to the hotel and had a few drinks in the slightly more rarified atmosphere of the Hotel bar.

Bangkok - Wat Arun

Located on the other side of the river to the Grand Palace is one of Thailands oldest Temples (It dates back to the 16th Century).

After visiting this temple we got the boat back and Sky Train to the Hotel for a well deserved nap after such a hard days sight seeing.

This was required to prepare us for our foray into Patpong - the infamous Red Light District

Bangkok - Wat Pho

Wat Pho is located outside the grounds of the Grand Palace and features a large temple which contains the 'Reclining Buddha' (Pictured Left).

The size of the Buddha is impressive and it has intricate Mother of Pearl carvings on the soles of its feet.

Bangkok - Grand Palace

Situated in Wat Phra Kaew, The Grand Palace is a mass of beatiful old Buildings packed closely together which people still go to worship. We visited the temple of the Emerald Buddha as well.

You must not point your feet at the Buddha as this is highly disrespectful.

It was an interesting mix - tourists having a look and also the locals praying to their gods.

Far Left - A Cheddis stands guard.

Left - One of the Temples in the Grand Palace

Bangkok - River Boat

After a night on the Khao San Road, it was time to take in some of the more historic places that Bangkok has to offer.

We took the Sky Train to the Central Pier and got a river boat up to the Grand Palace.

Left - Random Temple from the River Boat

Bon Voyage

The day has finally arrived and we are flying off to Bangkok tonight. I wish someone would've told me how much of a nightmare trying to pack is for 7 1/2 months. I am packing pretty light but even still my rucksack is full up.

Thanks to everyone who has wished me a safe journey, I will do my best to return in one piece.

Lots of people have been telling me their stories of the slightly more seedy side of Bangkok, I wonder if I will hear the immortal words like my friend Leon of a guy advertising his establishment with the line "Sausage, Banana, Ping-Pong"

Unemployment

I am Free!!!! - My last day at work was Tuesday. I had given 8 years of my life to my job and it is such a relief that it is all over and I can concentrate on my travels.

MRI Scan Results

Got the results back of my MRI scan on my Hip - It has been giving me problems for quite a while now but it is all Clear. There were a few nasty things that could of been wrong but they have been ruled out.

I am still baffling medical science but there is nothing to worry about.