January 2009 Archives

Hey guys,

Hope you are all well. I last left you just as we were about to leave Ko Pha-ngan for Koh Tao after the hangover from hell following the Full Moon Party!

I'm delighted to inform you all that i've now done something a little bit more productive with my time other than sunbathing and drinking whisky out of a bucket and i'm now a qualified Advanced Open Water diver.

I've developed a new love for the ocean and diving is one of the most amazing things i've ever done. So much so I have decided to come live out on Koh Tao early next year and do my dive master training.

My love for diving didn't hit me immediately though. We arrived in Koh Tao on Monday morning two weeks ago. We had just about enough time to check into our rooms at Crystal Dive Resort, and get some lunch before we had to spend the whole afternoon in a classroom.

We then had to meet at 8am the following morning for more classroom work and tests. That afternoon we were taught how to set up all our equipment and then spent two hours in the bottom of a swimming pool learning skills such as how to clear your mask underwater.

By this point, i was dying to get in the sea and just go diving. Wednesday 14th was Sarah's birthday and we had to meet at 7am (that was pretty tough!) for more swimming pool skills and had an exam that afternoon! I was quite pleased with my 85%!

As part of the Open Water qualification you have to do four dives and we did our first two dives on the Thursday afternoon. There was a small group of six of us plus our dive instructor Justin and Dive Master Trainer (DMT) Jase. I must admit I didn't really enjoy my first two dives and by the end of the day was thinking maybe diving wasn't particularly for me.

The following morning however, I did a complete U turn. I did two great dives and absolutely fell in love with it. Since then, I can't seem to get enough of it. The dive sites here are great and the ocean at the moment is so calm and clear.

So, after qualifying we then decided to sign up for the Advanced Open Water course. That ran over two days and basically just needed to do five more dives. Justin taught us for that course again and it was brilliant. One of our five dives included a night dive which we did last Monday evening and also a deep dive, diving down to 30 metres.

The Open Water qualification only takes you to 18 metres. We also got to take a camera down on one of the dives which no doubt you'll be able to have a nosey at of few of them on this blog.

The Advanced course is by far the better course so it's definitely worth doing if you were ever to do the Open Water. There are a lot of skills you've got to learn in the Open Water course, which can get a little bit boring, whereas the Advanced course is just about the swimming around and looking at things. We've seen some amazing fish and coral. I'm yet to see a whale shark though which would be pretty cool.

Since finishing the courses Sarah and I have been on a few fun dives. Just got back this morning from a fun dive with Jase and a dive master called Andy (altough he's Justin Lee Collins to me and Sarah as he looks so much like him!)

When I come back next year I either want to work as an underwater videographer or a dive instructor. At the moment I'm leaning more towards the underwater videography as I already have most of the experience; all i'd need to learn is how to film underwater! The underwater videography course is a 4 week course after you have completed the Dive Master training so my plan at the moment is to come back out here next January to get the rest of my qualifications and hopefully get a job! I quite like the idea of being a dive instructor too so that couple be one to think about for the forseeable future.

We're finally tearing ourselves away from Koh Tao on Wednesday I think. We're going to head to Phuket for a couple of days and then to Ko Phi Phi. I've heard the diving on Phi Phi is pretty amazing so really looking forward to that, although i'll be gutted to leave Koh Tao.

Speak to you all soon xx

Well, after spending a week in Koh Samui we decided to leave for Ko Pha-Ngan, a small Island about 20km from Koh Samui.

While we both really enjoyed our time on Koh Samui we were both ready to leave. It is so busy with tourists, and although the nightlife is good, it started to remind me a bit of Malia or Ibiza.

For a quiet and relaxing holiday, Koh Samui is definitely not the place to go.

We arrived in Ko Pha-ngan not having a clue where we were going to stay. This normally wouldn't be a problem but with the Full Moon Party just a few days later we were a little bit worried everywhere was going to be fully booked.

Luckily, we got handed a flyer for a place called Harmony Beach Resort; a private resort about a 10 minute drive to the centre of Ko Pha-ngan.

It was also well within our price range, 500bhat per night which works out about 5 pounds each a night. The resort is absolutely stunning and we can't believe we're paying so little for it. Harmony is owned by an English guy called Dave and has a private beach, a world away from the beach on Ko Samui.

We went to a pool party on Thursday 8th evening which was a good crack - met some very funny French guys. Then Saturday night of course was the infamous Full Moon Party.

Sarah and I arrived there not really knowing what to expect, we had heard mixed reports and were unsure whether it would be our cup of tea, but as it turns out we had a fantastic night! We both got suitably drunk and danced the night away in an R&B bar on the beach.

Ko Pha-ngan has definitely been my favourite place so far. I think it will suit all tastes and all ages and as well as the gorgeous beaches, there is quite a lot to do and see.

On Saturday morning Sarah and I visited one of the island's main waterfalls and got some really beautiful pictures from the top.

While the centre of Ko Pha-Ngan is very busy with tourists there are plenty of private resorts out of the centre which are beautiful if you are just looking for a relaxed and chilled time on the Island. If you come out here to party then definitely time it for the Full Moon party as it really is a great night - just be careful of the lethal whisky buckets!

Our next stop is Ko Tao were we will be heading early on Monday morning. We have booked to do a four day diving course so by my next update i will be a qualified diver!

We left Bangkok at around 6.45 New Year's Eve morning to get our flight to Koh Samui. By 10am we were checked into our bungalow on the beach.

It is asolutely gorgeous. The island is stunning, so idyllic, and although the weather hasn't been particularly great so far, you can't help but fall in love with the place.

We have definitely landed on our feet with our accomodation. We have a beautiful little bungalow just by Chaweng beach, possibly the most popular beach in Koh Samui, boasting clear blue water, plenty of water sports, and plenty of nightlife along the main road.

We spent the day exploring the island before getting ready for the New Year's Eve celebrations.

I attempted to use Sarah's hair straighteners for the first time since I've been here, which proved a complete waste of time and I ended up having to tie my hair back after 5 mintes because of the humidity!

We went to the hotel restaurant for dinner where we were greeted with a whole range of cocktails to choose from. We enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner, but decided to leave shortly afterwards as there were far too many couples for my liking! So we headed out to find the younger and singler people!

Our first choice of bar wasn't so good and turned out to be a prostitute bar!

We quickly downed our whisky bucket and headed to an Irish bar which a friend had recommended. There we met two other girls, who we ended up celebrating the new year with.

One of the girls Megan was from my home town of Wakefield and her dad taught at my high school! Such a small world!

We went to the beach just in time to see in 2009. It was so much fun. We watched a fabulous firework display while we sat on the beach drinking....... yep - you've guessed it, a whisky bucket!

Our next destination is Ko Pha-Ngan for the full moon party on January 10th. Until then, we'll be taying in Koh Samui and really hope the weather gets better before we leave so we can make the most of the beaches!

After a long 16 hour journey we finally arrived in Bangkok on Sunday evening.

Our first stop was to the D&D Inn in the heart of Bangkok's main street, Koah San Road. My first thought when I arrived was, this is madness! I have never seen anything like it - everything was so chaotic and busy!

The street was packed with endless bars, restaurants, clothes shops, jewellery stalls... everything you could think of was on Koah San Road. Great fun though, and you're guaranteed to meet lots of fellow travellers from all over the world.

The D&D Inn was a great place to stop and even had a pool on the roof, which Sarah and I took full advantage of!

I would definitely recommend it and even though the rooms were pretty basic; it had everything you needed, was clean and pretty cheap.

We spent most of the 29th trying to arrange a flight to Koh Samui for New Year, which proved harder than we'd anticipated.

It transpired everyone in Bangkok was wanting to get to Samui for new years eve, and athough we had the option to jump on a bus for 15 hours, we opted for a flight, which although more expensive, only took an hour!

The flight meant we had to stay in Bangkok for an extra night. We celebrated day 1 of our 8 month trip by getting far too drunk on buckets of whisky and Red Bull!

They are lethal! But since I don't like beer, that's pretty much all there is to drink out here so what can you do!!

That night we got chatting to a Canadian guy called Matt. He had been out here a month and was leaving the following day so he gave us some good tips on where to go.

By that point, we'd had a few more whisky buckets, smoked a sheesha and finally rolled into bed a few hours later!

The following day, feeling slightly fragile, we spent the day relaxing by the pool. Unable to stomach much food or drink, we looked round the shops that evening and managed to find myself 2 dresses for about 4 quid each..... bargain!

I was extremely impressed with myself!