From the start of the trip we knew we wanted to do our PADI Open Water Certificates in Koh Tao. The first island on the East coast of Thailand from Bangkok is the dive capital of South East Asia. With over 60 dive schools on the island it is a must do.
We chose to do our course with New Way Diving, a dive school with rave reviews on TripAdvisor. We sent them an email the day before we were meant to arrive and received an email back almost straight away. They offered us a deal we couldn't refuse - the 4 day course with 5 nights accommodation on the beach for 20 000 baht (£420) between us!
We arrived on an over-night bus/ferry ride from Bangkok and were greeted by a sign reading NAT before being taken on the back of a pick-up truck to New Way diving HQ. We were still a little dazed from a restless night travelling but completed some medical forms and signed some other necessities before we were taken in a moped sidecar to our home for the next 5 nights.
Safe to say we hit jackpot with this accommodation!! A modern, sparkling clean apartment which was a stones throw away from the beach. We spent the rest of the morning napping, eating and having a dip in the sea before we went for our first theory lesson at New Way.
It was then that we met the rest of the newbies, 6 Quebecens, 3 other Brits and 1 Brazilian. We were then split into smaller groups, Nat and I being grouped with Mathias the Brazilian whom had spent the last year living in Germany. Our instructor was Rafal, a Polish ex-pat who had spent 8 years living in South West England during which he had learnt to dive in Weymouth! We were given a textbook to work from plus a worksheet of questions to answer. After each topic we were given a test to prepare us for the final exam at the end of the week. The first afternoon consisted of watching a two hour video and answering questions on the topics - simple enough!
The next day was an 8 AM start with 3 hours of theory, sizing up for wetsuits, fins etc and a lesson on how to set up your equipment before an 11AM lunch break. After, it was our first time in the water. Some dive schools take you to a shallow swimming pool to practise basic techniques but New Way chuck you in at the deep end (literally) and take you to a shallow beach. The boat ride was a rocky one and Lots filled up on Sturgeon as a precaution! We put on our wetsuits, flippers, BCD (breathing apparatus), weight belts, mask and snorkel, did our safety checks and proceeded to the leap of death.
The leap of death - a big step off the side of the boat sounds easy but with all the equipment on which is extremely heavy outside of water, is much harder than it seems! The boat was not an actual diving boat, but an old fishing boat which means climbing up the side and jumping from a greater height. When it came to Lots turn, she was helped up, put in the right position (left hand on weight belt, right hand covering the mouth regulator and mask) but refused to jump in. After a countdown from Rafal, there was still reluctancy to enter the water so a friendly push from the Thai captain helped quicken proceedings.
The afternoon was spent learning all the basic techniques required to be able to do the first dive such as taking equipment off and back on in the water, emergency breathing, clearing the mask (Lots favourite) and a horizontal version of a controlled emergency ascent.
Once back on solid ground, we were tired from a challenging first day of diving, but it was not too end there! More theory once back at the centre as well as a maths lesson from Rafal (to Lottie's dismay), by 8 we were free.
By luck, this weekend was Koh Tao Festival 2013. An annual celebration on the island, a nearby field was decked with copious amounts of food stalls, games, displays and two performance stages. We enjoyed the local schools hip hop performance (?!) and a DJ set before we made our way back home for a much needed sleep.
The next day was d-day, dives 1 and 2... no going back now! But before, the theory test. The two of us and Mathias all passed (phew) so we were good to go. Another rocky journey to Lighthouse Bay and we were kitted up, safety checking and stepping into the water. We made our first descent down the mooring line. The sensation of being weightless in water with so much equipment on is a unique one but an amazing one too. We reached a depth of 10.7 metres and were down for 39 minutes. This time consisted of practising underwater skills, buoyancy and some exploring. Dive 2 was a short boat ride away to Mango Bay. This time we only went a depth of 6.8 metres but spent the majority of time swimming around and enjoying the marine life on offer. There were plenty of Clownfish (Lots favourite) to keep her happy plus the odd Triggerfish thrown in for fun... a fish that will attack if you get to close in its proximity, it rears a horn on the back of its neck if it is feeling defensive, safe to say we steered well clear from them!
First day of diving complete, back to HQ to fill our log books in and enjoy a beer with Rafal. That night we went back to the festival where Nat proceeded to consume two spicy pork kebabs, one corn on the cob, one beef kebab, one chocolate chip ice cream and a slice of chocolate cake, washed down with a Chang... All this diving makes for a healthy appetite!
Dives 3 and 4 the next day were truly spectacular. Waking up at 5 and being out on the water by 6 meant we were the first dive school out there. It was well worth the early morning as being the only ones in the water is hard to come by on an island housing over 60 dive schools! We rode out about an hour to a bay called Chumpon, close to the mainland. We felt like we could really relax and enjoy the diving whilst taking in the colourful coral and it's surroundings. Visibility was clear and there were no currents to fight with so we swam to a depth of 18 metres for 45 minutes where we mingled with some Yellow Fin Barracuda. The final dive was similar, except Rafal gave us compasses so we could navigate ourselves, something Nat was a genius at due to his practise on ships.
The rest of the day was spent consuming beers, filling in log books, getting our certification and saying our goodbyes. Diving was truly wonderful and we would recommend it to anybody heading to the South Islands. New Way diving and Rafal were welcoming, friendly yet professional and made our first diving experience memorable.
Now for filling our logbooks with 100 more dives!!
Sunday 30 June 2013
Saturday 15 June 2013
Glowing plankton, one bad belly and a WONDER of the world!
During our stay in Phnom Penh we decided that we couldn't miss out on visiting Myanmar (Burma) so we applied for our visa's at the embasy. The whole process takes around four working days, but as we went on a Thursday we ended up having to wait a day short of a week!
What to do with six spare days in the capital of Cambodia. We headed down to the coast on a relatively short bus journey to Sihanoukville. This is what can only be described as the party town of Cambodia and is full to the rafters with young travellers. We stayed here for one night and decided to quickly move on to what we thought was going to be an idilic island, Koh Rong, but what it actually turned out to be was "So Wrong" (Lots, 2013). Back to basics, limited electricity and beach bungalows, mixed with a huge hippy population. We stayed at a place called Coco Bungalows, otherwise known as "Nono Bungalows" (Lots, 2013).
Koh Rong did have one very cool feature. At night, if you went swimming about fifty meters from the beach, you were then surrounded by bio luminescent plankton. If you thrashed your arms and legs around the water would light up around you. It was one of our favourite experiences.
After a two night stay we decided to head back to the mainland, to a place called Otres Beach and stayed in some bungalows in the shape of Mushrooms. It was a great place, but unluckily lots had food poisoning so we didnt get to make the most of the beautiful beach.
Next it was time to head down to Siem Reap to explore the temples of Angkor Wat, a must see if your visiting Southeast Asia. We enjoyed our time here the most as the town has a great night life, with good food and places to drink, as well as having a wonder of the world on its door step!
We decided to explore the temple sites for three days and hired a tuk tuk driver named Walter. He was great and made the trip a sensational success. We started off the first day visiting the temple that was used to film the first Lara Croft film. Unluckily it was under reconstruction and there was scaffolding in places. The temple directly nextdoor was beautiful, we spent the better part of an hour wondering around and soaking up the atmosphere. For the rest of the day Walter took us around stopping off at interesting sights, including the Eastern entrance to Angkor Thom. This is where you pass over a moat on a bridge covered in statues of dragons and guardians, then you pass through an ancient gateway, theres no gate anymore but it is still a beautiful sight to see.
We finished the day with a walk along the Elephant Terrace, at the heart of Angkor Thom, along past the Palais Royal and the beautiful Baphuon, finally ending up at the jaw dropping Bayon Temple. Seeing the level of detail in the carvings, the shapes of the spires and the sheer magnitude of Bayon Temple makes the visit to Cambodia in itself worth all the effort!
That evening Walter took Nat to play football with the other local tuk tuk drivers. The game was played on a full size pitch where Nat was the striker, netting a top right hand corner finish. Playing in the same team was our Belgian friend Tom, who was the main force in midfield. Standing at a cool 6 ft 5" he was the tallest on the pitch by at least 5 inches.
The next day we got up for sunrise at Angkor Wat. We arose at 4.30 in the morning and were outside Angkor Wat at around 6 am. Sadly it was cloudy which obstructed our view of the sun rising, although it didn't take any of the beauty out of the temple. The sun shone off the clouds and created a deep purple and blue background to see the temple against. Angkor Wat is the seventh wonder of the world and even though it doesn't quite boast the beauty of Bayon or the serenity found at some of the smaller temples, the complexity of the inner and outer buildings, the moat system and the outer walls, mean the temple of Angkor Wat deserves the title Wonder.
Later that morning we went and visited some of the smaller temples to the North of Angkor Thom. Here is where we actually found our favourite temple of our three day visit. Ta Sohm temple was not the most impressive in size or skill of construction and it hadn't been fully renovated, but it felt more rustic and untouched. Coupled with the feeling of serenity and the fact that we were almost the only people there, the experience of walking around this ancient ruin was unforgettable.
That night we stayed up until 2 in the morning to watch the champions league final. Watching it on a big screen in the street along with plenty of German tourists made for a good atmosphere. But we only made it to half time as it all became a bit too much for Nat and fell asleep in his chair!
The final day was spent mainly enroute to our final temple of the trip, Banteay Srey. Its 37 km out of Siem Reap, but decided to make the effort as we heard it was a 'must visit' if you had the three day temple pass. The temple itself is fairly small, but still very pretty and is surrounded by a moat enclosed in a stone wall. Just outside the temple was a small exhibition highlighting the work undertaken over the decades to restore the complex to its former beauty.
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Siem Reap. Our next stop is the island of Koh Chang for a short break and then on to Bangkok. From there we fly to Burma to experience something that we hope to be life changing.
What to do with six spare days in the capital of Cambodia. We headed down to the coast on a relatively short bus journey to Sihanoukville. This is what can only be described as the party town of Cambodia and is full to the rafters with young travellers. We stayed here for one night and decided to quickly move on to what we thought was going to be an idilic island, Koh Rong, but what it actually turned out to be was "So Wrong" (Lots, 2013). Back to basics, limited electricity and beach bungalows, mixed with a huge hippy population. We stayed at a place called Coco Bungalows, otherwise known as "Nono Bungalows" (Lots, 2013).
Koh Rong did have one very cool feature. At night, if you went swimming about fifty meters from the beach, you were then surrounded by bio luminescent plankton. If you thrashed your arms and legs around the water would light up around you. It was one of our favourite experiences.
After a two night stay we decided to head back to the mainland, to a place called Otres Beach and stayed in some bungalows in the shape of Mushrooms. It was a great place, but unluckily lots had food poisoning so we didnt get to make the most of the beautiful beach.
Next it was time to head down to Siem Reap to explore the temples of Angkor Wat, a must see if your visiting Southeast Asia. We enjoyed our time here the most as the town has a great night life, with good food and places to drink, as well as having a wonder of the world on its door step!
We decided to explore the temple sites for three days and hired a tuk tuk driver named Walter. He was great and made the trip a sensational success. We started off the first day visiting the temple that was used to film the first Lara Croft film. Unluckily it was under reconstruction and there was scaffolding in places. The temple directly nextdoor was beautiful, we spent the better part of an hour wondering around and soaking up the atmosphere. For the rest of the day Walter took us around stopping off at interesting sights, including the Eastern entrance to Angkor Thom. This is where you pass over a moat on a bridge covered in statues of dragons and guardians, then you pass through an ancient gateway, theres no gate anymore but it is still a beautiful sight to see.
We finished the day with a walk along the Elephant Terrace, at the heart of Angkor Thom, along past the Palais Royal and the beautiful Baphuon, finally ending up at the jaw dropping Bayon Temple. Seeing the level of detail in the carvings, the shapes of the spires and the sheer magnitude of Bayon Temple makes the visit to Cambodia in itself worth all the effort!
That evening Walter took Nat to play football with the other local tuk tuk drivers. The game was played on a full size pitch where Nat was the striker, netting a top right hand corner finish. Playing in the same team was our Belgian friend Tom, who was the main force in midfield. Standing at a cool 6 ft 5" he was the tallest on the pitch by at least 5 inches.
The next day we got up for sunrise at Angkor Wat. We arose at 4.30 in the morning and were outside Angkor Wat at around 6 am. Sadly it was cloudy which obstructed our view of the sun rising, although it didn't take any of the beauty out of the temple. The sun shone off the clouds and created a deep purple and blue background to see the temple against. Angkor Wat is the seventh wonder of the world and even though it doesn't quite boast the beauty of Bayon or the serenity found at some of the smaller temples, the complexity of the inner and outer buildings, the moat system and the outer walls, mean the temple of Angkor Wat deserves the title Wonder.
Later that morning we went and visited some of the smaller temples to the North of Angkor Thom. Here is where we actually found our favourite temple of our three day visit. Ta Sohm temple was not the most impressive in size or skill of construction and it hadn't been fully renovated, but it felt more rustic and untouched. Coupled with the feeling of serenity and the fact that we were almost the only people there, the experience of walking around this ancient ruin was unforgettable.
That night we stayed up until 2 in the morning to watch the champions league final. Watching it on a big screen in the street along with plenty of German tourists made for a good atmosphere. But we only made it to half time as it all became a bit too much for Nat and fell asleep in his chair!
The final day was spent mainly enroute to our final temple of the trip, Banteay Srey. Its 37 km out of Siem Reap, but decided to make the effort as we heard it was a 'must visit' if you had the three day temple pass. The temple itself is fairly small, but still very pretty and is surrounded by a moat enclosed in a stone wall. Just outside the temple was a small exhibition highlighting the work undertaken over the decades to restore the complex to its former beauty.
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Siem Reap. Our next stop is the island of Koh Chang for a short break and then on to Bangkok. From there we fly to Burma to experience something that we hope to be life changing.
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