Hi everyone,
I'm writing this from an island in the Gulf of Thailand called Koh Samui. When I left Laos, I spent two nights in a row on buses to get to Khao Lak, where our live aboard dive cruise was leaving for the Similan Islands. The first bus went from Vientiane, Laos to Bangkok, Thailand with a stop at the border where they gave me a 15-day stamp. I don't know how many of you have been to Thailand before, but 15 days is nothing - you really can't do much. So I'll have to make a "visa run," which is what they call it when you travel to the border of another country to cross it, turn around and enter the original country again. It's perfectly legal and there are even visa run "tours" organized by tour companies. In Bangkok, I said goodbye to Matt and hopped on the second bus with Lauren to Khao Lak. Once we got there, we found the most comfortable beds in town and got a good night's sleep before our trip the next day.
Our 4-day, 4-night live aboard dive cruise left at 5P on Feb 3. During the day, we spent most of our time relaxing and preparing for our trip - repacking bags and getting our rental gear in order. Our first night on the boat was spent in transit to the Similan Islands. Lauren and I shared a 4-bed dorm style room with Tom, a freelance underwater photographer who'd been on many trips with the company (Similan Diving Safaris which I highly recommend by the way). Our first dive was just after 7A the next day. We knew we were in for a treat, but wow! The diving was amazing and I had a lot of firsts, including my first sea snake, lionfish, leopard shark, cuttlefish, nudibranch mating, lionfish hunting, and giant moray eel hunting. Some of you may have heard of a Giant Moray Eel known as "Emma" who is used to being fed by divers and bit off the thumb of one unlucky (and none too smart) diver who was feeding her hotdogs of all things. There is video footage of it on YouTube and it has also been shown on TV. Anyway, I swam past her (our dive company was very eco-conscious and forbids feeding wild animals whlie diving). She is still alive and happy in her little rock. There were 14 dives total during the trip, including 3 night dives and I did all 14 dives. We met a bunch of great people on the boat and were fed extremely well 5 times a day. It was some of the best diving I have ever done and I am strongly considering another trip near the end of my travels, contingent upon funds. The total cost of the trip was $508 and that includes everything (park fees, accommodation, meals, snacks, water, electrolyte beverages, and gear). We got a 10% discount because we have professional certifications, but it still would've been a fantastic deal at full price. I love SE Asia!!
After the boat trip we had plans to meet up with several other travelers we've met along the way at the Full Moon Party on Haad Rin Beach on Koh Phang-nan (an island in the Gulf of Thailand). We managed to persuade two of the guys we met on the boat, a Canadian (Jedd) and a German (Nico), to come with us. An estimated 15,000 were to attend the Full Moon Party, so we decided to stay on a nearby island (Koh Samui) where rooms are a little cheaper and guaranteed on short notice. We met up with Ashleigh, an American girl we met in Laos, on Koh Samui and the 5 of us took a ferry to the Full Moon party with a few other folks from our guesthouse. At the party, we also met up with an English girl we'd met in Laos and 2 Swedish girls Lauren and Ashleigh had met in Thailand. It was great fun and I danced all night. There were definitely thousands of people there, and we managed to stay together until about 2A when most of us lost each other. Luckily, everyone made it back safely to the ferry dock. The party was craziness and I'm not sure I would recommend it, but it is an experience . . .
Tomorrow, Jedd, Nico, and I are heading slightly north and west to Ranong, where Nico will part ways and Jedd and I will do a border run to Burma before meeting up again with Lauren and Ashleigh in Krabi, a beach town near the southern border of Thailand. Burma is pretty unstable at the moment, but border runs are generally safe (and very common) and both of us are curious to see what it's like over there. Anyway, I've now spent FOUR hours on the internet today (and you thought it took a long time to read this), so I'm gonna go get some air. I hope you are all doing well. Here are the links to the photos from the dive trip:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2679537&id=8369089&l=b77c2
and
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2679539&id=8369089&l=6fb43
Sierra
