5/26/2008

Krabi here we are!

by DeuxSS

Hotels2thailand.com

Hi y'all! It's been a while, but here we are still alive and well. We spent 2 weeks in Koh Lanta yet again and it's beginning to feel more like home everytime. Who knows it may actually be home some day soon... when opportunity knocks! We just arrived in Krabi today and plan on going to Bangkok tomorrow. After a few days there shopping, we are heading to Cambodia or laos by bus. We will decide in a few days which one first. I'm leaning towards Laos 1st, then Cambodia. It will be a few long bus rides but hopefully worth it. We have now many pets all around the world, just too bad we can't bring them all back home.
We are eating more and more western food as we go along, it's pretty easy to get anywhere we go and not too expensive. Diving seems to be finish for now as the season is slowing down and the weather isn't as nice. More rain and big surf, so visibility not so great. We have some pictures from Bali to put up finally. Enjoy living through our eyes. Talk to you guys soon. OK! It's been months since we
DSCF1985 were able to post pictures properly. Here are pictures from Ko Raya or Ko Racha Thailand, Bali and perhaps a few from Ko Lepi.... If anyone want's to know what's what feel to ask...


5/07/2008

Krabi - Island hopping in Southern Thailand

by The Wanderers2008

Hotels2thailand.com

Hi,

How is everyone? I hope that you're all well.

We've been quite busy since our last blog so here goes....

On 22nd April we took part in an environment Save the Earth day which was great fun. I decided to try to save the Earth one coral at a time by diving to clean the corals and examining them. We had to check the colours of the corals and record them on our underwater writing boards and later pass this information onto Marine Researchers who could input the data to see how much damage the coral is receiving. I did this with my diving friends Nik (from America) and Renana (from Israel) whilst Stu did some snorkelling. It was a great day and really made everyone aware of how easy the corals do get damaged by accident. Later on we got the opportunity to go and see some baby turtles who were soon due to be released into the sea. In order to see them we had to scramble across some very sharp rocks and many people ended up getting cuts (including myself) but it was worth it. There were approximately 40 of them and it
was lovely to just watch them swimming in the man made enclosure in the sea.

After I had enjoyed the Open Water PADI diving course, I was very excited to be starting the Advanced Open Water course the next day (23rd). In order to complete and become a certified advanced diver I had to do 5 more dives each with its own specialty. Two of them were compulsory which were the Deep Dive (30metres) and the Navigation (using underwater compasses). The last three I got to chose from a long list. The first one I chose was the underwater photography course which was fascinating. I never realised there was so much to photography! I was really lucky on the day of the dives and I ended up with a DVD full of underwater pictures. Unfortunately I can't open the DVD to put any of the pictures on this blog.

Anyway, the second dive I chose was the Peak Performance Buoyancy (Andy and Abbie will understand what I'm talking about!) which helped improve my buoyancy under the water meaning I'm not sinking when I don't want to and likewise I don't keep floating to the surface. The last dive

On the beach in Koh TaoI chose was a Night Dive! I was slightly apprehensive about this dive as anyone who knows me will know that I'm not a great fan of the dark! However, I decided to do it because I thought it would be a lot more challenging. It was strange enough getting on the boat in the pitch black, let alone jumping into the water! We each had little torches and compasses to find our way around the corals at the dive site. As we descended into the dark waters it was a very bizarre feeling. As soon as we were around 12 metres down we spotted lots of sting rays with the torches and it was amazing. There was a lot more nocturnal sea life than I'd realised and I really enjoyed this particular dive. Ascending to the surface and looking up to see the sky full of stars really made this dive special.

The next day we decided to check out some of the beaches on the island now that I'd completed both diving courses as we hadn't had the chance to do so. We ended up on a lovely beach called Shark Bay and relaxed for the day...it's

a hard life!! We reluctantly left Koh Tao the next day and set off for our current destination of Krabi, Southern Thailand. It took us 3 boats, 2 buses and a broken toe (Michelle's) to get us here...it was certainly an experience. Krabi town itself doesn't have much to offer but it's surrounded by hundreds of tropical islands.

Yesterday we took a trip in a speed boat to visit a few of the these islands. It was a very fun day. Each island was like a little piece of paradise (or "little pieces of heaven" as Gareth would call them!) We went from beach to beach just relaxing and snorkelling. Many of these islands were hit by the tsunami in 2004 and as we looked around at the picturesque views it was very hard to try to imagine what it must have been like for the people caught up in that terrible disaster. There is very little evidence of the tsunami today apart from the odd "Tsunami evacuation route" signs dotted around.

During this trip we visited Maya Bay which is where the film "The Beach" was filmed...although it was a lot busier than in the movie thanks

to Leonardo! We also visited Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Ley Islands where the water is really clear and turquoise. Our favourite islands though had to be Bamboo Island and Tup Island.

Tomorrow (3rd May) we will be on the move again, on our way to Koh Lipe which is a tiny island very close to Malaysia. We're hoping to relax on the beaches here for a few days before crossing the border into Malaysia.

We hope that everything is okay in the U.K. Keep the comments and messages coming :-)

Also, I'd like to wish my Grandma Bury a big Happy Birthday for the 5th. I hope that you have a great day and I will be thinking of you.

Lots of love, Michelle & Stu xxxxx



Pileh Bay, Phi Phi

Maya Bay
This is where the film "The Beach" was filmed! Gorgeous!

Stu having lunch on Phi Phi Don
It was hard to imagine what it must have been like when the tsunami hit this paradise island

Phi Phi Don Island
We got around the islands on one of those speed boats, great fun!

Tup Island
Michelle relaxing on the beach...the water here was so warm it was like getting into a bath.

Stu making friends with the locals!