Sensational SCUBA in Koh Tao

Thailand has been a beautiful and relaxing addition to the trip thus far. Wonderful stay of a few days in Phuket Town, which has easy access by bus to various beautiful beaches and a fabulous backpacker hostel with all the amenities and, again, an extraordinarily helpful and friendly staff. Spent day 1 lounging the beaches getting into Tolstoy's massive tome, "War and Peace". Despite its large size, it is a really accessible read. Day 2 involved a pleasure cruise to Phi Phi and other islands in the Andaman Sea. As always, great to be on the water, although the size of the waves made sitting in the bow of the boat a challenge to the stomach (and the butt) at times! Great fun on that ride with some Kiwis and Iranians as we rode the boat to various relaxing places for excellent snorkling and napping!

That night a bunch of us from the hostel went out as well, and ended up at a few places frequented by the locals and much fun ensued. Some new English facebook friends, and it was funny hearing the soon-to-be dentist proclaim that the dentistry profession has the highest suicide rate in the world, only to be countered by the veterinarian that dentistry has the highest attempted suicide rate but it is actually vets who have the highest successful one. Just more of the usual random on-the-road conversations.

Photos from Phuket already uploaded here.

From Phuket, it was off by combination boat-taxi to the Gulf of Thailand islands via Surat Thani the night before the famous full moon party in Koh Phanan. Thought about putting in an appearance, but ultimately passed due to delays and the desire to ensure enough time for the scuba diving course.

Just as well. The 4-day PADI Open Water SCUBA course was magnificent, and certification as a diver is now another accomplishment of this trip, as I can dive the world! We did a lovely 4 dives as part of the course, and I got to see bat fish, trigger fish, butterfly fish, the very cool symbiotic relationship of the goby fish and shrimp in action, and even a sweet turtle! There is nothing like the sensation of breathing underwater, achieving a neutral-level of buoyancy and then floating gently up and down as you breathe in and out. Very happy that I had no problems whatsoever equalizing the pressure in the ears throughout. Truly a unique and spectacular experience, and definitely looking forward to my next dives in Bali at the end of the month!

That's all for now, as I wrap up a few things in Koh Tao tonight before heading off to Bangkok to meet up with Alison for a two week adventure. As this ridiculousness continues. Packing up my bag tonight, I see that I have: a toothbrush from Rome, toothpaste from Spain, deodorant from London, soap from Beijing, diarreah medicine and mosquito repellant from Seoul, and suntan lotion from Phuket. What a wonderful world.