May 2007

Our journey began, being taken to Banphe, on the coast of Thailand. A really smart minibus took me, Lou & the Martins to the port, where we would get the ferry across to Koh Samed. 3 hours of driving, and we were there.

We decided to grab a bite to eat before the ferry, so went to a local 'cafe' for lunch. I had a HOT Tom Yum soup (it hurt both ways) and Lou, unlucky with food as she's turned out to be, had a gewoosenam salad, or whatever it was. Either way, I thought I was used to Thai food now. Apparently not. That and a rocking boat made me a bit 'off colour' for a few hours, and the associated ailment with hot food.

For those of you who don't know, the three golden rules of Thai food are:

1. 1 SPICY - their average spice is hot! And I like hot stuff!


2. 2 Ginger & Lemon Grass - it dominates as flavour in most dishes.


3. 3 Cheap - The best bit. Noodles & Rice are cheap, and in a poor country, it's only 50p-ish and you're having more food than you've hd before!

We dropped off the Martins at the Si Kaew resort (the Eastern side of the island) and went off to the western side, to the Ao Prao Resort.

A little background here. Koh Samed. Our planned beach paradise, where we could relax in the sun, be treated like royalty, and chill out getting a tan. Our few days where we knew we could just chill out, being pampered to when needs be.

Ha!

Partly true. The island is awesome, really quiet (it's a national park), and the Ao Prao Resort is amazing. On a secluded beach in a cove on the western side of the island, palm trees, white sands, hot, sea, clouds, rain, thunder & lightning. You get the picture. A week that could have been so perfect, unfortunately... well, wasn't.

The resort is top notch, and I couldn't find a flaw with it. All of the staff are really friendly & efficient. Our room was gorgeous, in our own chalet on the hill, just a minute's walk through beautiful tropical plants to the beach. A top class restaurant. It's own water sports activites. And not touristy!

Also, it now actually felt cool (a feeling we haven't had in a while, being only about 32C, Lou needed a jumper! A slight step down from the 44C a week ago!)

All it needed was the sun. It was not to be. It rained, it poured, it drizzled, it stormed. So, what do you do in storms. You go SCUBA diving!

Diving turned out to be what made our week. In the rain, water sports was all we could do! It was either diving, or learning to wind-surf. I really did want to, but weirdly enough, in these crazy storms, there was very little wind. Not good when you want to WINDsurf.

So, diving. Louise's dream since she was 11, and yes, she did it!
She found that she had problems with her ears a few years ago, and was told by the doctor that she probably wouldn't get the chance to scuba dive - EVER!

Sod that idea. We spoke to Andy, the diving instructor, and he said he would love to test whether she could or not. So, out we went. I didn't dive on this one, as not a proper dive. A health and safety dive, as Andy put it. (Incase you're wondering why 'Andy' in Thailand, becase: Andy is English, but lived in Thailand for the past 5years, with his wife and 2month old twins. The other 'crew' were all Thai: B'oh, Dong, and whatever the others were called)

Turns out that Lou CAN dive! We now know that all it takes, is longer to descend because it's harder for her to equalize. Ha! Onwards to doing the PADI SCUBA Diver course!

Obviously, already being qualified, I then had the chance to snorkel a bit, do some reading, talk to others at the resort, and watch Lou learn.

I did join in, though, snorkelling in the pool for a bit when she did her shallow water exercises. And did 2 fun-dives when she went in after that. And, well, that was an adventure for me too, nevermind someone who hadn't dived before!

Out on the boat, to the south of the island, the best place for diving, at Koh Chan. However, when the waves are 3m high, one rogue wave crashes over the boat, and the look on Lou's face, it's not a good idea to dive. So, we went on to the coast of Koh Samed again. Into the water, with 2feet of visibility, and a current that took me and the 2 other Thai staff divers a good 40m before we could tell (we couldn't see the floor). 10 minutes later, we got back onto the boat, and round a bit more coast, to Laem Ruatek. We got here, into calmer seas, and all of a sudden: I was feeding the fish, vomiting over the edge of the boat. I hadn't felt sick, and had loved the waves, but obviously my stomach didn't. A minute after being sick, I was fine again, and ready to dive. Bizarre... Ah well. We had a good dive here, much calmer waters, better visibility, got to see a Lion Fish, as well as dive through a tunnel.

That night we went to the other side of the island, to Si Kaew beach, because we knew there was more to do there in the bad weather. A bit more touristy, with more beach bars, and restaurants, but good touristy. We met up with Lloyd, Anthea & Jess again for a drink, then had a nice meal, looking out to sea (we were watching a storm coming in the horizon). Another reason for going to this side of the island - cheaper! Nice as our hotel is, it's not cheap. And on a budget, we needed a cheaper night! We went off in our taxi again at about 11pm, across the bumpy, dirt roads (deja vu from Tanzania) to Ao Prao.

That storm that we saw on the horizon - it arrived. Thunder that shook the minibar so everything rattled, and making things fall from the bedside table. It was immense. All of the fishing boats came back in, a military battleship had to come back into shelter. It rained a bit too.

So, more diving planned for today, before we left. Today, just in Ao Prao bay beacuse of the rough sea beyond. Still cool though. We saw a large porcupine-puffer fish, and a beaked-copperbanded-coral fish. But most of all, Lou passed her SCUBA Diver, and so is now, officially, a qualified diver! Now I have a dive buddy for Cambodia & Viet Nam!

So, not too disapointed with our paradise stop, we departed, back to Bangkok. Ferry and minibus again, back to D'Ma Pavillion.

We've just eaten, and now intenetting. Tomorrow, Bangkok for the third time.

Wish me luck!