Advanced Certification at Koh Tao

The overnight train was an easy journey yet unusually sleep did not come easily to me therefore I arrived at Chumpon at 5am sleep deprived and anxious to find my bus so I could get to the ferry and attempt more sleep. I had read some horror stories about the company I was crossing with but my worries were unfounded. I was able to stretch out and rest though sleep was still eluding me. Therefore on arrival at the island I was glad to jump in a taxi with two other girls who managed to negotiate my 150 ride to a 100 Bhat ride. I’ve yet to have any success negotiating, I don’t think I have the conviction needed to make it work so I always admire those who can.

Once I had checked in to my hostel I ignored the comfy looking bed and went to organise some diving! I spoke to several dive companies but as usual it was the smaller ones that were the friendliest and most appealing to me. My favourite company couldn’t do my advanced certification so I booked some fun dives with them for my second day and went to my second favourite company for my first day when I would do four dives, two of which would complete my advanced open water certification. .  It sounds easy but it took a few hours of walking about to achieve this so once everything was booked I found a nice restaurant that served a decent Pad Thai. It was a good thing I had a lot of diving planned as I would need to work off some of the food I had been eating!

Back at the hostel I managed a quick Skype home before it was time to do my homework. I had to read the relevant chapters in the dive manual before I could do my certification dives. Once I had swatted up I could finally go to bed, where I again failed to do much sleeping. I guess the excitement of the next day was just too much for me.

6am the next morning I was back at the dive shop and ready to go. Despite my lack of sleep and 7-11 breakfast I was excited that soon I would be back in the water. Before we could dive we had to drive to the beach to find our boat.  The taxi’s here are modified Ute’s which meant that when we crested the last hill of a very narrow road we could see all the way down, it was a great view but not for the faint hearted.

On the boat we were left to put our gear together. At had been just under six months since my last dive which meant I was spared the expense of the refresher required after a 6 month break. It soon became apparent that I could have done with that review. After one of the crew helped me assemble my gear the right way round I was good to go in the water. Before long I felt like I remembered what I was doing again and the nerves were replaced by the pure joy of being a diver once more. As expected the reef wasn’t as colourful as the Great Barrier Reef nor was there the diversity of animal life. However it was amazing to be underwater again and there were manmade blocks which were starting to attract marine life.

I was in Koh Tao in the off season so the weather wasn’t the best. For our second dive the bad weather forced everyone to same spot so there was a lot more diver traffic. Due to the traffic we stayed close to our guide but still saw some interesting marine life.  Once we emerged I got straight out of the water only to be asked why. My limited experience in the reef has always ended with us going straight to the boat so I guess it was habit. Therefore I removed my BCD and jumped straight back in with my snorkel to enjoy the fish massive shoal of fish near our boat. I stayed on the surface though as 1) my free diving is terrible and 2) we were warned never to free dive after a scuba dive and I value my health.

On Koh Tao the boats don’t go out for the day only the morning or the afternoon therefore we returned to the mainland for lunch before I was back at the dive shop ready for my certification dives.

Before going out again myself and three other divers practiced using our compasses on land. One of the girls took a while to get a hang of the use of the compass during our dry land trials but I suspect this was a translation issue. The one guy in our group tutted a bit and his impatience was obvious. I thought it was quite unfair as different people get different things more easily than others. Fortunately our instructor was very patient and went over it with both girls until he was sure they understood.

On the boat it was time to gear up again and thanks to my morning dives I had no problems getting everything in order and even managed to help one of the other girls. Eventually we were all geared up and it was time to get back in the water. As soon as we descended my mask fogged up! It was new and I had used toothpaste on it in an effort to prevent the fogging but I fear one night was not enough. Before long the trainee dive master pointed out to me that I needed to do it again and motioned for me to clear my mask. I doubt anyone who reads this remembers but clearing my mask was my least favourite task when doing my original open water certification. Our instructor made me do it time and again and I appreciate why but I hate it because it involved filling the mask with water and I’m afraid I’ll lose a contact so keep my eyes closed and then I can’t see. Not to mention I always get water up my nose. Anyway I did it, badly it turns out. Later on I happened to see the OW video and realised I really had forgotten some real basic things. This was one of them but at least next time I would be better prepared.

During the dive I was paired with the impatient guy who turned out to be an annoying dive buddy. The good news was that I managed the navigation tasks easily and once they were complete we had a lovely dive.

Next was buoyancy. This is my weakest and most desired skill: to gracefully float through the water and even sit in perfect harmony with the ocean. Yes. Well. Here I found out just how much I had forgotten. I had forgotten about using my BCD to change my buoyancy. I get the theory easily enough but in practice. I’m up and I’m down. I’m floating away. I’m bumping in to people. It is extremely frustrating. This would be why love brings suffering as Buddha says. I love diving but I desire to be better than I am and I suffer because I fail to meet my own expectations. However my love outweighs my suffering though on this dive it was hard to remember why. My mask made it hard to see and for some reason when I tried to clear it I often ended up floating up. I later learned from our instructor that I have a bad habit of kicking when I clear it so now I know hopefully that won’t happen again (much). Anyway since I was quite tired by this point I really struggled. I managed the basic stuff but the more advanced was beyond me. There was also a task I was unable to do because I didn’t know what it was. Our instructor had demonstrated and other had gone before me but my visibility was so low I had no idea what they were doing until the last person did it. I shrugged my shoulders and tried to get this across but there is only so much you can communicate underwater and I don’t know how to sign "I’m sorry I didn’t see what you did and I can barely see you cos my mask is fogged up. Actually I could now but I'm tired, frustrated and feeling very unsuccessful." However I did enough to pass and that (as well as being the story of my life) is the main thing. I might have been tired and feeling a lot stupid but I had actually learned a great deal. It is true that you learn more from your mistakes and that dive I really think I learned a whole lot.

Finally it was over and though I was by no means in perfect harmony with the ocean I had done enough to pass my certification. Back on dry land the girls returned to their hostel to get their dive books so there would be a wait to fill out the details from our day. I decided to stay and help rinse the rest of the equipment as really I wanted to shower before I ate. Eventually I went looking and though I didn’t find them I did find the dive master from our morning dive and was able to get the details of our dives from him. Over an hour after the girls had said they would return I found our instructor and told him I needed to go get some money but I would be right back. By this point I was extremely hungry and if you know me you know that isn’t pretty. The only slight consolation was that he seemed just as annoyed as me at the non-arrival of the two girls.

 I took the opportunity to collect my washing which turned out to be a wise move as on my return to the dive bar the rain started. I ordered a burger and I swear it was the best burger I have ever had, did I mention I was extremely hungry?! I’m sure my instructor didn’t believe I was just hangry as he was quite concerned about me but as always once I had eaten I felt my mood improve and I was once again able to form sentences and be almost sociable. As there was no sign of the girls we finally filled out my dive book and completed the paper work for my certification. He went off to check on it since I was being awkward by splitting my advanced only to discover I was not on the system. I did not have a tantrum at this point and much to his credit neither did the instructor. Thankfully I had my card and my log book so he could see I should be in the system and promised he would sort it. I have to say I did feel sorry for that instructor; he earned his money that day with the four of us! I know I for one I was more than happy to call it a day. I felt for sure there was no way I wouldn’t sleep well that night and I was right. It took me a while to clam my mind and drift off but once I did I was out for the night. The power of sleep had returned to me and not a moment too soon, after all I was only half way through my diving.

Ayutthaya

My final day in Bangkok my friend had to head back to her current home so I decided to get out of the city and visit the ruins at Ayutthaya. My friend told me about them and informed me I could easily get a train there and back and see it in one day. I was intrigued about spending the day away from the city and happily postponed my planned trip to the art gallery. I got to the station quite early but I was glad as it meant I was one of the first on the train and managed to secure a seat for the 2 hour journey. One woman did decide to use my arm rest as a seat but when she kept shifting further and further back I had enough. I refused to move my shoulder and the lady beside me nodded approvingly. The woman didn’t get the hint so the approving local lady had a few words and she moved on! I was very grateful and happy I could at least say thank you in Thai thanks ot my Thai friends at the meditation house. Therefore when a few stops later a man got on with three children and she made room for the littlest one of them to sit I was more than happy to shuffle the other way. Before I knew it I had a small girl leaning her head on me sound asleep. Now I’m not overly fond of children as in hospo I’ve seen them at their worst but this little girl sat quietly and ever so properly until she fell asleep making it impossible to mind and did my best to stay still so as not to wake her up.

At the end of my journey I followed the crowds across the road and dug out my phone. Right enough they were heading in the direction I wanted to go according to google maps and trip adviser. I’d had two hours on a train and had made good use of them planning which spots I might want to visit. 5 Bhat got me across the river but I decided against hiring a bike as cycling is not a joyful activity for me (spry bro, I know you consider that blasphemy). I happily walked along the streets happy to meander along to the first set of ruins. I was heading to Wat Mahathat but decided to visit the ruins beside it first because they looked interesting but also nice and quiet. It didn’t take me long to investigate but the day was heating up and I had had a long journey so I though it would be a good idea to get a cold drink and some more water. I crossed the road to a cafe thinking that if I sat I would have time to reapply my sunscreen. After burning my back in Malaysia I had been applying it religiously every morning but horror of horrors I had forgotten it! I was extra glad I had applied it well that morning before leaving the hostel and decided not to let it ruin my day. I cooled down  with a very tasty fruit freeze which looked and tasted like some kind of frozen smoothie/fruit salad combo.

Rested and re-hydrated I headed back out to find the rest of the ruins. Wat Mahathat was busier than the neighboring ruins as it had the famous Buddha head in a tree. I’m not sure what I was expecting but as different as it was I don’t think it ranks as one of the most interesting things I’ve ever seen. The rest of the temple was interesting though and it was worth the 50 Bhat they charge you to get in. Also being Wat Mahathat there was a beautiful park which I walked through to get to Wat Phra Ram and the historical park. The park itself had the odd ruin and by the time I got to the park I was more interested in Wihan Phramongkhon. This was a working temple and as well as being beautiful I was drawn by a familiar chant. They were chanting in Pali and I recognised the words from my time at the meditation house. The temple was busy with worshipers and tourists so I didn’t stay long but it was interesting to see a temple being used as a temple not a tourist attraction.

My next stop was Wat Chai Watthanaram which was an hours walk away. At this point you might think I was wishing I had hired a bike but my day was costing me very little so I gladly paid a tuk tuk driver to take me there. At Wat Chai Watthanaram it was easier to see where the temple would have been and to imaging what it may have looked like long ago. Even though they were ruins I still felt that these were special places, though maybe that was the lack of people. Don’t get me wrong there were people about but nothing like the crowds I had become accustomed to in Bangkok. Yes, getting out of the city was indeed a brilliant idea. I splashed out on another tuk tuk to take me to see the Reclining Buddha. It was difficult to compare it to the one I had seen the day before but it looked just as huge even though this one was out in the open and the stone not decorated. From there I walked back to Wat Chai Watthanaram and from there back to the station. According to the internet I had made it back in time for the rapid train but was told no, next train was actually in an hour. Oh well, that gave me time for dinner then. Across the road from the station 40 Bhat bought me enough Pad Thai to feed a small army. The lovely cook and I had one of those stilted conversations I was becoming used to when we are both trying to be friendly but neither of us speak the others language so mostly there is just a lot of smiling. I don’t know if it was this or she thought I needed feeding up but tasty as it was I struggled to finish it however I did because it was delicious and I will not waste good food. I bought some fruit and water for the long journey home and went back to the station to try figure out where my train would come from. On arrival I figured the platform with all the backpacker looking people would be a good bet.

I wasn’t as lucky on the way home and had to stand for most of the journey but my boredom was alleviated by my discworld audiobook (my iPod was such a good last minute investment) and my fascination with the case the boy sitting near me had. I could see there was something alive in there and it looked like a case you’d carry a pet in but I never did figure out what it was. So ended my day out of the city; a completely successful and interesting day indeed.

Peace in the City

We had planned on visiting the famous Chatachak market but since we had spent the day before at various other markets we decided to give it a miss. I had a feeling that this was a city I would be seeing again so I was happy re-think our day. This time I went on the breakfast run soon we on our way to Lumphini Park where we hired a paddle boat and went out on to the lake. It was a nice change of pace and I was glad we made the effort to go. However the park was quite small and I felt there was only so much we could do there. I was still keen to see the reclining Buddha but my friend wanted to a lazy day in the park so we happily decided to go our separate ways and meet up for dinner in the evening.

Once at the temple I was glad I had made the effort. The Buddha was huge and though busy I was able to get a few shots that I hoped might convey just how big. I also paid a 20 Bhat donation to drop coins in the 108 bowls along the wall behind the Buddha which is meant to being good luck. I’m fairly sure I was meant to wish for something but I didn’t feel the need so just enjoyed the sound of the coins dropping into the bowls and hoped for general good things to keep occurring in my life.

Once through the temple I put my shoes on and went for a walk. The grounds were peaceful and felt larger than any I had walked though before, though being me I was probably going round in circles a lot. Many people look at the Reclining Buddha and leave so the surrounding grounds were peaceful and there were times when it felt like I had the whole place to myself. As well as being the home of the reclining Buddha Wat Pho is the home of many, many Buddhas. I think I read that they had been collected from all over Thailand in order to be restored. Whether or not I recollect correctly there were a lot of them. As well as the lines of Buddha statues there were four temples. One was quieter than the rest and I took the opportunity to attempt to meditate. Though I was keen to keep practicing my meditation I was finding it difficult to find suitable places. The temple was quietish and with a guard keeping an eye out so I put my bags on my crossed legs and with my hands on top of them I felt it was safe enough to try. I wasn’t sure how appropriate it was but I noticed on my way out a Thai lady was doing the same thing so I reckon I was ok in trying.

I continued my explorations of the many Buddhas and the architecture then when I realised I still had plenty of time before I was due to meet my friend I returned to the quiet temple and attempted to mediate once more. After my second more successful meditation I felt very peaceful so when I looked on my map and saw there was a park close by I decided to go have a look. Saranrom Park was originally a Royal Garden so it is nicely landscaped and still well maintained. Though it’s close to two major attractions it was blissfully quiet. There were a quite a few Thai people and the odd tourist like myself but we were all well spread out. There was a stone pagoda which I noticed looked nice and cool. A group of Thai people were practicing their massage techniques and a likely looking backpacker was having a snooze but I reckoned there was room for me to relax too. Since the group practicing were discussing their efforts I felt comfortable enough to dig out my phone and practice my Spanish in the park. I rested my legs a while then decided to see what else the park had to offer. It’s not large but a very pleasant place, I can see why the local people would be drawn there to run or practice Thai Chi. 

It was a very peaceful and restful day but I was still happy to return to the hostel before meeting my friend for dinner as I had walked around the temple a fair bit before exploring the park. Depsite having to take them off at repeatedly I was glad I had chosen to wear my Merrells and not my flip-flops that day! I made it back to the hostel just in time before the rain started and was happy to take a quick nap before getting ready to return to the Sukhumvit area where we would be meeting for dinner. My friend had found an Irish bar that served good ol’ English food and had live music. The food I could take or leave but the music interested me. Most importantly though it was inside and close to the BTS!

On arrival I found us a table and looked at the menu. Whilst I hadn’t been overly bothered about the food the menu did look good and I was soon looking forward to a sausage sandwich and a glass of wine. The food turned out to be good, even the fries which I happily poured vinegar all ove. The music turned out to be worth a listen. As well as being a good guitarist  the bloke also had a nice voice and sang lots of old favourites. We happily sat for a few hours discussing our separate days activities before heading towards Soi Cowboy to see what all the fuss was about. Neither of us are big drinkers so we were only planning to go look but even then I felt bad. The old men hanging on the young girls seemed wrong to me and the large groups of scantily clad girls outside the clubs just made me feel sorry for them. I was happy when my friend said she had seen enough and we were on our way back to the hostel.

Market Day

Our first day had been a full on day of walking and exploring so a lie in the next day was very welcome. We considered going to see the reclining Buddha but decided that since we had a late start we would go straight to Chinatown instead. The dock was as crowded as the day before but they managed to squeeze us all on to the ferry and by late morning we were in Chinatown. As expected it was a very crowded and busy market but also full of interesting food. I gleefully bought some corn off of the first vendor we saw and happily munched it as we took in the sights. I struggled to choose my next item but eventually decided to try some coconut pancakes which were not quite as delicious as the one I had tried in Kuala Lumpur but still pretty tasty; they were more fried and less fluffy in case you’re wondering. We walked in and out of many streets lined with stalls selling everything from clothes to souvenirs to fruit to spices to loose tea to toys and of course street food!  After a couple of hours we felt we had seen enough and I had eaten enough though I am sure there was plenty we didn’t see.

From Chinatown it was a much less crowded boat ride further up the river to Koh San Road. Straight away there were tourist orientated market stalls with all the typical tourist print trousers, skirts, tops and shorts which I happen to love by the way. I’m proud to be a tourist I am and they had so many elephant prints I loved it. The streets we walked up on the way to Koh San were quite pleasant. There wasn’t much touting and the stalls were quite spread out but Koh San itself was busier and not as pleasant. It was much more crowded and I felt less comfortable browsing through the stalls. I did try a full Thai massage but the lady giving my massage didn’t have a lot of power and despite repeated requests the massage was a lot lighter than I was used to. Still it knocked out a few of my knots and it made me happy to stick to the tried and tested foot massage in future.

After our full on day the day before and a late start we were both feeling a bit run down so we decided this would be a good time to try the cinema again. We go the boat then train to Siam and went to the Paragon Complex to see Antman. This was a film I was not keen on when it was first released but as more and more of my friends posted positive reviews ( such as https://eddielucasreviews.wordpress.com/2015/07/16/ant-man-2015/) I became more interested. It was the right decision as it was a very funny film and we left feeling refreshed and good about life. As it was after 7pm we stopped at the Siam market to see if there was any food and since we were there we had a look at the clothes stalls since it had turned in to a market kind of day. We didn;t find anything worth buying so ended our market day with a quick stop at a stall and the ever handy 7-11 to get some snacks before heading to bed to recover and rest so we could do it all again the next day!

Bangkok City Tourists

On our first day as tourists together my friend woke up before me and went on a breakfast run returning with some orange juice and biscuits to keep us going until we could find some proper food. Since I am not a very good human being until I have eaten this was a stroke of genius, it soon transpired she was exactly the same so we were very much on the same wavelength regarding the importance of regular feedings! We left early to go to the Royal Palace as my friend had been told that the earlier the better as it is a very popular place and I am so glad we listened. We were up and out by 8am and even then the express boat was very busy. We got off a stop early and though it meant a walk we did manage to avoid a lot of the crowd as it seemed the palace was the most popular destination. As we walked into the palace I was stunned by the opulent beauty of the place. There were people everywhere and we soon joined a crowded queue to enter the main palace grounds only to find that we should have purchased our tickets further back, oops. We did a reverse struggle through the crowd and purchased our tickets with surprising ease, not only that the crowd had died down a lot so getting back to the entrance was a lot easier than we expected. Once inside the palace I was struck by all the shininess, there were gold and glittery buildings everywhere. It was  one of the most colourful places I have ever been and like the other few hundred people around us I immediately tried to capture some of it with my camera. I don’t know how they fared but I feel I failed. I was just so big and there were so many buildings and there were so many people everywhere! Even at 10am the temperature was heading past 30 degrees C so I was again thankful for our early start. We picked up one of the free guide pamphlets each and soon discovered they made great fans as well as having some interesting information contained within them.

Not to be deterred by the crowds or overwhelmed by the number of large buildings I started to concentrate my photography on the smaller details and statues. I was delighted to discover that my friend as well as being a happy subject was also a willing accomplice when it came to positioning Zack in (in)appropriate places. By 11am we had walked around and photographed everything we cared to and felt it was time to head off. Whilst we had planned to concentrate our efforts in separate areas each day to minimise transport costs we changed our minds for a few reasons. Next on our list for that area was Wat Pho, the temple of the reclining Buddha. Since it was a religious holiday the temple of the emerald Buddha had been closed to the public so we thought this might be the case for Wat Pho as well. We did consider looking but it was getting hotter and we felt we had seen enough elaborate buildings for one day. Instead returned to the lovely air-conditioned shopping centre I had visited the day before. On her last visit to Bangkok my friend had been there and been very impressed with the cars and variety of shops and food available. They have a Maserati
(or something similar) and a couple of Rolls Royce cars on one of the upper floors, as you do. Also she was keen to see a film in English as her only English speaking entertainment recently had been Masterchef Australia.

In the end we didn’t go to the cinema but we did manage to find some Indian food in the food court. It was mediocre and they did get my order wrong but it turned out what they brought me was better than what I asked for so I was happy enough and it was a change from the thinner Thai curry my friend was used to. At this point you can be forgiven for thinking we were the kind of foreigners who only eat ‘our’ kind of food. I can assure you this is not the case. My friend lived on Thai food and was enjoying a welcome change and I am always happy to eat whatever. I enjoyed the street food but was equally happy to try the Thai versions of more familiar food too.

The aircon was muchly appreciated as it always is in humid countries but there are only so many shops and food courts I can wander around and soon enough we decided it was time to head back to our hostel. There was a restaurant that had been recommended to my friend as being a bit expensive but with wonderful and traditional Thai street food, since it was raining we decided this was a good night to try it. We freshened up and with the help of google soon found it. It was exactly as advertised. We were sat at the bar as we hadn’t booked but it was a lovely little place and the food was indeed excellent as was the service. There was a mix-up wit h my drink but when I questioned them on it they immediately sorted it out with the bar tender doing the universal “Doh, I misread it guestures”. My only complaint was that the portions were quite small. I noticed that the people around us ordered a few dishes but we were too cheap to do that and decided one dish each and some rice would do us. All in all it was a lovely night out and a good end to our first day exploring and it is somewhere I would definitely go if I were in Bangkok at the end of my trip and looking for a last splash out meal before heading home.