We have been super busy the last few days, and I have had no time to blog at all! Arrived in Singapore on Monday early morning, and had a full on day! Two more long and packed days followed, and I will write a full acount of them eventually! Flew to perth yesterday and slept at the YMCA! Got up early today to pick up our Campervan and we're heading off for a 13 day roadtrip!!! Going up the West coast to a place called Exmouth and back, some amazing stuff to see! Not sure we will have much, if any access to the internet for the next two weeks, so will write the blogs offline and post when we can! Must dash, got to pick up our ride!
Sarah x
The reason we are here is because our Dive Master in Koh Lanta told us he thought this place had some of the best diving. Today we found out he was right! The dive sites are a lot more difficult than those on Koh Tao, and Koh Lanta. There is a LOT more current to contend with, and sometimes some sites cannot be dived at all, so you have to go to plan b. This worried me slightly! However, current = fish, so dug deep for the bravery I have been cultivating and got on with it! Here the dive boat is a lot smaller, and the regular dive boat was full, so a group of us were taken out on an even smaller boat. A new skill for me to learn, getting into the water by sitting on the edge and falling backwards! We had always been on big boats and done a ‘giant stride entry’, basically as it sounds, a big step into the sea! This was a whole different scenario! Managed it fine, and the dive was good. The corals are really good and there are certainly a lot more fish here! When we came up we found out that one group had seen a turtle, and another group had seen a shark! Ben was gutted, as he is desperate to see a shark!
Got back for lunch and then went out on the bigger boat (it’s still small in comparison) for our second dive, still had to enter the water by falling backwards in! The diving was good, like being in ‘fish soup’! But again, we did not see anything big! We saw a trumpet fish which was pretty cool, and a very long moray eel out and about which is unusual!
The next day was Friday and there is a rule, no snorkelling or diving, we think it’s to do with the fishermen. So we used to the time to research and book a place for Singapore. We’re flying back to KL on Sunday, and then hoping to get the night train down to Singapore, as long as we can get tickets on the day! Booked a cheap (cheap for Singapore, which is a very expensive place!) hotel and grabbed some lunch.
This dive was at their ‘most illusive dive site’, where two seas meet and there can be lots of current, so the diving is always ‘conditions permitting’. As we headed out on the boat the waves got bigger and bigger and we were rolling up and down! Got nearer and nearer, and then it was decided that we could not dive there today, so turned around for a different site. The diving there was good again, and our Dive Master gestured that there was a shark ahead, one of the guys at the front saw it, but when we got there it was gone! Ben was gutted! The smaller boat went somewhere different and one group saw 5 sharks!!!!
Had a nice evening and chatted to a Scottish couple who dive in the UK. I think Ben will probably be wanting to take up diving when we get home, and we were talking all about how much kit costs, and how to clean and store it! I think we’ll need a house with a garage and a hose pipe before I can cope with it all, they said their flat is a dump for days after diving, washing and drying out equipment on any available surface!!! We were both surprised to hear how much they enjoyed diving in the UK, however, it is VERY cold!
On Saturday morning we went for my final dive and Ben’s second to last one. We were heading to a different site that was also ‘conditions permitting’, so not certain that we would make it. The waves were pretty high, but it seemed that we were going in! In these places it’s important to descend as quickly as you can to the bottom as the current is less strong there. After a few seconds on decending upright the guide nose dived and I followed suit. I happened to be looking at him as he made the sign for shark, looked ahead into the blue, and there it was! It was like a picture from a postcard, just a dark shark shape ahead in the blue sea! I looked back to get Ben’s attention, but as soon as I turned back around it was gone! I was gutted for Ben, and wished he could have seen it rather than me! We had a great dive, my favourite so far, the dive site was amazing and packed with fish! We saw a lot of big tuna, and a gigantic fish called a Napoleon Wrasse! Getting back on the boat was really difficult and I kept slamming against the side while I was trying to get my equipment off, but managed eventually. Ben lost a wetsuit shoe in the process, really hoping it’s not too much to replace!
After lunch Ben went off for his final dive hoping to see a shark! Unfortunately he did not! It wasn’t the right site for it, but he did get to see an octopus and a new type of anemone and anemone fish that no one had seen before!
Hoping to Skype with my Grandma, Mum and Emma soon which will be great, however, the internet connection here is awful, hence no photos uploaded, so we will see. Really hope it works out!
Leaving on a 7am bus tomorrow, then ferry, taxi, and plane back to KL, then another and hopefully the night train if we can get a ticket, it’s going to be a LONG day!
Sarah x
Posted by
Sarah O'Neill
,
03:20
We got up at the crack of dawn and it was still dark! In a taxi by 7am heading for the bus station. Got our bus to the airport, and were there with plenty of time! Lots of waiting around, but I was pleased as had a coffee in Starbucks, which Ben also did! His first Caramel Macchiato, and he enjoyed it! Our flight was delayed by about 30 minutes, so after even more waiting around, we were finally on our way! Our flight landed at around 1.30pm and we then had to make our way through immigration, as we had left Malaysia and were now in Indonesia. As this part of our trip was unexpected we were not as prepared as usual, and didn’t have ‘the book’! The dive centre we had booked with had been very helpful with lots of information and we knew that Indonesia had recently started issuing visas on arrival. However, we did not know that they cost $25 US dollars, and we had neither dollars or Indonesian Rupiah! The cashpoints were after immigration! They were fine about it, and kept Ben’s passport while he went and got some cash, and then we were able to proceed! In Indonesia we are millionaires! The money here is too crazy and I don’t like it! £1 is 14000 rupiah! As we were the last through immigration they were quite chatty, and when we said where we were diving, he said the man before us was also diving there. We hoped to get a taxi with him to the ferry, but he had already gone.
We got to the ferry and had loads more waiting around to do! There was nothing there to eat and we were getting rather hungry, having only eaten a muffin for breakfast! It left at four, and was a very choppy ride! Got to watch Evan Almighty on the way though, which was fun! We found the guy diving at LumbaLumba and another guy also heading that way and all got a taxi together, which saved us a lot as it was an hour away, and taxi is the only way to get there! I didn’t realise how remote our new location was going to be! The jeep type taxi struggled up massive hills, then back down the, having to avoid cows, goats, monkey and even geese on the roads! Got to the Dive Centre ( called LumbaLumba) which is right on the beach. We were shown to our room, which is a very spacious and new chalet type thing. Found out the hard way that it had a cold shower! Apparently all but one have cold showers! Fans as well, not air con, so a pretty hot time! Signed up for two dives the next day and eventually went for dinner at 7.30pm, we were starving! Hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and we were warned that here the food takes about 45 minutes to an hour to come out! There are about 4 little shacks on the beach all serving similar food. Some of it is available, some of it, we found out, has to be ordered at lunchtime! Things here work a little differently; we literally are in the middle of nowhere!
Posted by
Sarah O'Neill
,
03:20
We decided not to get up early for the Petronas Towers Tickets, preferring to view the outside of the towers, than the view from them, and also preferring to stay in bed past 6am! Got out and about around 9.30, and used the monorail and underground to get to the City Centre. The Petronas Towers are awesome to look at, and Ben took some good pictures!
We spent the day in the area, the City Centre Park is right outside the towers, and is a really nice place to hang out and take some good photos. It’s really nicely landscaped, with a rubberised running track (we even saw crazy people using it, in the impossible heat!), lots of places to sit, and even a kids swimming pool! We really wanted to dip our feet in the pool, which looked like so much fun, more like the Pavillions Pool than your bog standard outside rectangular pool, but there were two lady security guards with whistles, and they weren’t afraid to use them! We didn’t get whistled at, thank goodness, but several people did!
We went to the cinema (in the mall) before dinner and watched ‘Dinner for Schmucks’, which was funny, but not what I was expecting! The cinema was absolutely freezing! They seemed to have gone a bit mad with the air-con, and I sat through the whole thing shivering! When we stepped out of the screen the temperature was so much warmer, and then once we got out to the mall, it was even warmer, even though it was still exactly the same temperature as before when it had been refreshingly cool, but in comparison to the screen, it was hot! Going outside was funny, it was absolutely boiling! We had dinner, and then headed outside to see the view of the towers at night. That was an awesome sight! Ben spent about 45 minutes trying to get the perfect picture, and got some good ones! We headed back to the hotel around 9.30 and packed our bags for an early start!
Got up and packed or bags (again!) today! I am getting to be a pro at packing my bag now, but I have had a lot of practise! It was short taxi ride to the airport, and then the usual waiting around! Flew Air Asia again which is a budget airline, they are waiting for their 100th Million customer, which we figured we might well be as we are flying a few times with them, but then you win 100 free flights, which won't be much good to us as we're leaving Asia soon!
The flight was fine, less than an hour before we touched down in KL! We were going to get a taxi as it seemed like the easiest option, but it was £15, when we found out we could get a bus to the centre and then a much shorter taxi ride all for £6, which worked out great! The hotel is very well situated in KL for the monorail and subway stations, and was cheap and cheerful. We found it on lastminute.com, and checked out the tripadvisor reviews which were all fine. Ben realised that it is the first room we have stayed in that has carpet, first in five weeks! We are really starting to notice the little things after being away so long!
We literally dumped our bags and headed out for an explore. We walked towards the monorail station that goes to the Petronas Towers, (The world's 3rd Tallest Buildings at present), and a large mall that is at the base. We could already see the towers, and after a while of walking we decided to just continue walking as we seemed so close. Got there eventually, it seemed deceptively close being so tall! The towers are amazing, and look very cool. The sun was shining, and they looked magnificent! There is a skybridge between the two towers on the 41st floor (they are 88 floors), and you can get free tickets to go up it if you queue up at 7am. We are deciding whether to or not, as have read a few reviews that say it's not worth the 3 hour wait for tickets as you only get 15 mins! So might go to the KL Tower which you can go to the top of, and that has a great view of the Petronas Towers!
We then explored the mall, and ended up spending the rest of the day there! Each floor is much bigger than Plymouth malls 2 floors, and it has 6 floors! It starts off with the very posh shops like Chanel, Fendi, etc etc, and then gets more towards our kind of shops with Roxy and Quiksilver! There was even a Marks and Sparks! In the M&S was a small food section, and it made me a little crazy! I got so excited to see all the familiar and delicious food that I love! There were all the biscuits and sweets, and they were M&S ones, so looked especially tempting! I must admit, as we walked around I was fantasising about eating it all, I think when we return home I will have to exercise great caution on my first supermarket visit, if this is what I'm like after 5 weeks!
We walked around every floor and had a great time exploring! We will go back tomorrow, if we take our passports with us we can get a tourist privilege card that will get us a discount in some shops. Although we cannot buy anything, our bags are rammed, but Ben needs to replace a pair of flip flops!
We had dinner in Nando's which was also in the mall. I cannot believe that Ben and I had our first EVER Nando's in Malaysia! It was yummy, and the whole meal only came to £9, crazy!
We decided to get a taxi back to our hotel, as it was dark and we weren't sure of the way! There was a sign saying use the taxi rank with metered taxis not taxi men loitering around. So we headed to the rank and found a taxi, however he told us it would be the equivalent of £8 (it is only a five minute drive!) when we had paid £5 to get all the way accross town earlier in the day, crazy! We aksed him what about the meter, and he said no. Moved onto another one, asked him for a metred taxi ride, and he asked where to, when we told him, he wasn't interested! The crazy thing is, that on the side of every taxi there is a sign saying "This is a metred taxi, no haggling, ask for your receipt". They seem to take no notice of this. When the next guy said the same thing, I asked him about the sign on the door, and he sped off so quickly that his wheels screeched and the door was still open! Crazy! We were just about to give up when I found a nice taxi man who seemed to abide by the laws! He was really lovely, talked to us the whole way and was a really nice guy! He restored my faith in KL taxi drivers!
Off to bed now, not sure what tomorrow will bring!
Sarah x
Got up early today and went 'island hopping', we thought it might be a nice way to see more of Langkawi and the surrounding islands. We were picked up at 9.15 and taken to meet the boat. There were lots and lots of people there! Lots of people were taken to their boats, not very big ones, and about 20 people were on each boat. When we were called to ours, it was a nicer boat, still small, but there were only six of us! Much nicer than the crammed ones, weren't we lucky!
It was a very fast boat, and was great fun zipping through the waves, and ge
tting a bit splashed! It seemed all the boats were heading in the same direction. The boat driver stopped the boat and pointed to the view, which is called the island of the pregnant maiden. You can see from the
photo the outline which looks like a pregnant lady lying down! We were then taken to the pier of the island and told we had one hour here. We were greeted by many monkeys! After walking up a hill and then down the other side (I was reminded of the trek and thankful not to be doing that again!), we came to a fresh water lake. Included in our ticket price was a 30 minute ride on a pedalo or canoe. Ben had been keen to get a canoe, but they said they were broken, so we had to have a pedalo!
Before we began our pedalo ride, there was a pool that you could dip your feet into
for a 'cat fish massage'!! Ben got right in there and had a go, I was happy to take
the pics from the side! There were hundreds of cat fish sucking on his feet and nibbling at his dead skin and cleaning any wounds. He made me try it, and I was quite reluctant to say the least! They have these huge antenae things and look so gross and there were so many of them! You can see from the photo that I did put my feet in, but not for very long! It was disgusting, all tickly and I couldn't keep them in! I don't know how Ben left his feet in there as long as he did! Ben laughed that I have done all sorts of scary (for me!) things lately, and I couldn't keep my feet in the water with the cat fish!
We enjoyed our pedalo ride, and the lake was pretty and cool, compared to the heat of the beach! It was very noisy where all the other people were swimming in an area of the lake, but much quieter when we made our way over to the other side!
The scenery was pretty. It was interesting to see that the Muslim women here went into the water fully clothed, including their headcoverings. I'm not sure what they did when they got out, but I can't imagine they were allowed to change behind a towel or anything! It has been quite interesting and strange to us to see couples on the beach, the man wearing standard swim shorts and no t-shirt, and the woman wearing clothes that cover her to her ankles and a headcovering, even a few with a full burka, and the man half naked next to her. Can you imagine that in this heat! The cult
ure here is very different. It makes me realise what freedoms I have and I am grateful for them.
We saw lots more monkeys, and a couple with babies
which was fun to watch! I was amazed looking at their hands and the way they use them, it is so human like, no wonder we find them so endearing! Next we were taken on another
exhilerating boat ride to another island. We stayed on the boat and saw loads of eagles circling above us. There were a few other boats that had got there before us, and th
ey chuck out bread to attract the fish, and then the eagles swoop down and catch the fish. There were so many, it was quite an awesome sight! Our boat driver chucked his bread out, and soon they were swooping down around us too! B
en got some good pictures but was sad that he didn't have his bigger zoom lense with him.
Our next journey on the boat took us to a lovely looking beach, however, when all the boatloads of people descended on it, it got a bit manic! We relaxed and read our books. Ben got a shock when the tide came in on his feet, and it reminded me of those times at Polzeath as a child when the tide would come in so fast, we'd scramble to get all the stuff before it got washed away! It wasn't nearly as dramatic as that though!
After an hour we went back to the boat and sped back towards Langkawi. When we got there we found a lovely souvenir waiting for us! They had taken a picture of us just before we'd got onto the boat, infact I only just realised they were taking it as she did, they didn't even tell us or ask us to pose! They had put the picture on a melamine plate for us! haha, it was tacky and fun, and only £2 so we bought it! I had only been saying to Ben earlier that we had no photos of the two of us together, so now we do!
After we got back and had had some lunch we went to a place called 'chocoffee', which was almost next door to our guest house. It said on the front that you could have a free taster, so we thought we'd have a look and get some free chocolate! It was set out like a normal shop, with shelves each with the different boxes of chocolates on, and a lady greeted us, and showed us around. She opened a little tupaware from the shelf and gave us a taster, and told us what it was, and then moved onto the next type of chocolate, and produced another tupaware with chopped up bits of the various chocolates in. I thought after three when we got to the end of the shelf that that would be it, but no, it continued! All the way around the shop! We think we tasted over 15 different chocolates! She just kept dishing them out! Then we got free coffee tasters too! It was great! I probably would have bought something if we were heading home soon, but since it's super hot and we're away for 9 more months, we decided against it! Left empty handed, but bellies were full!
Tomorrow we will have been away for 5 weeks! We can't quite believe it! We are flying to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow, I am looking forward to being in a big city again, it will be fun! We will only spend 2 nights there, before moving onto Pulau Weh where we will be doing some more diving!
Sarah x
So we got up around 9am, loving not having to get up for work, it makes me so lazy! Then packed up our stuff and got in a taxi to move on to the next beach resort! Got to Zachry Guest House and they had details of our booking etc, but said we couldn't check in until 12, and it was only 10am! Left our luggage there and had an explore. The sun was shining, and it was a super hot and sunny day! The place has a common area with a TV, DVD player, chairs, sofas, and free tea and coffee! It was great to chill out and have a cup of tea before setting off to explore! They had beach mats we could just take and return, and they opperate an honesty box system of you want sodas or beers from the fridge. I think we have found a little gem!
We walked the five minutes walk to the beach, and it was beautiful! We sat under a tree and relaxed on the beach. Read our books, and a little guide booked we picked up about Kuala Lumpur, where we are heading next. It looks like a fun city! We headed for lunch at midday and found a nice little place called Cactus.
Headed back to see our room. It was exactly what we were expecting. A basic room, with aircon, and a clean bathroom. Both of us were much happier and it's still only £13 a night. Had a refreshing shower, and then got bikini on to head back to the beach! Really enjoyed lying in the sun, reading my book, lush! Had factor 30 on, so being sensible! The sea was choppy and there were signs about jellyfish so I didn't really fancy going in, although Ben was brave and did! After a couple of hours we headed back to the guest house.
After we were showered and ready we went for an explore the other way up the road. Found some nice looking restaurants and a few shops. Headed back to an Indian place we had seen and had a yummy curry feast! Not quite as good as my favourite Papa Raj back home, but was good!
Went to the common area, but no one was around, so we put on one of our Dexter DVDs and chilled out! The internet here is a bit hit and miss with the signal, so tried to post my blogs last night, but couldn't, so here they are today! Headed back to the room and slept really well!
Sarah x
Posted by
Sarah O'Neill
,
18:59
Got up early and we were ready and waiting for the bus at 7.30am! At quarter to eight we were starting to wonder where it was, and Ben was starting to panic! I was sure it would turn up, and sure enough it did, rather late at 8am! Oh well! It was another mini-van, and I really think these mini-van drivers expect us to have no luggage! It was a bit of a squash getting it all on, but eventually he slammed the boot shut and it was in, thankfully not on the roof again! Next we had to squash into the van, no joke! It seemed that there was one other couple on the bus and the rest were local’s hitching a lift, so were far too many on the bus! At final count there were 16 people for 11 seats! However, they did make sure the paying customers had their own seats, but needless to say it was hot and overcrowded! The other couple were Dutch, the second Dutch couple we have met so far, the first being on our jungle trek. They were really nice, and were not at all impressed with the mini-van situation, especially when we realised it was going to be for the whole 3 hour journey to Trang! They were talking to us about many things, one of them being the political situation in Holland, which is very interesting and worrying. Funnily enough we saw some news about it on BBC World today! After 3 hours we got to Trang, where we were shown to our taxi that was taking us to the ferry port. We were on the 4pm ferry, but there was one at 1.30, so we asked if we could get on that. They said if we got there on time, so we were really hoping we would! It was a very hot journey, no air con, so windows down, which offered little relief and felt a bit like turning a hair dryer on in your face, for 2 hours! We pulled up at 1.25pm and ran in to see if we had made it, and luckily it seemed we were on the 1.30 ferry! Had to get our passports stamped as we were leaving Thailand and entering Malaysia! The ferry crossing was fine, just an hour and we were there! We knew we had to get to a cash point before we headed to the town we were staying in, as no cash points there, so needed to get plenty of cash for whole visit. The cash point said not enough funds, which was worrying! We then tried a different cash point, and then a different card, and still the same! We were worried we had had our bank account emptied by fraudsters! Saw a Starbucks with free wifi, so sat there to have a look at online banking! Panic over, money all still there, and plenty of it! But worrying that we had no way of getting cash, and we needed some! Had a little, from changing our left over Bahts, but not enough! I tried my other cards, and Ben tried all his, and nothing! Ben was getting super stressed and worried! I was more calm, saying we can’t be the only people who’ve turned up and had a problem getting cash out, so asked the Starbucks guys where the bank was. Unfortunately it was a 20 minute taxi ride away! I had one last attempt at the cash point and tried a lower amount, and hey presto, it worked!!!! Hooray! Suddenly realised we had been trying to take out more than the withdrawal limit! Silly Billies! Panic over, got more cash out and we were on our way!
Got a taxi to the Palms Guest House where we’d tried to call, and she was fully booked! Gutted! As we walked towards her next recommendation we saw a sign hanging on a wall, a room with TV, fridge, air con & hot shower, only £12 a night, so asked to have a look. It was strange, as it was a bit like a flat, a lounge area, a bedroom and bathroom, but it was pretty grotty. The bathroom was awful, and the toilet had obviously not been cleaned in months. It was a basic place and if it had been clean it would have been fine, but it was filthy. Decided to look at the other recommendation, but they were fully booked also. Had to go back to the gross place!
We went out to explore and walked along the beach at sunset, it was beautiful. Quite busy with lots and lots of people around, and many bars and cafes, yay! Not a ghost town like Koh Lanta. We had a drink and watched the sunset, and then headed to a sea food restaurant we had seen on the way. They had regular set menu food, and then also sea food you could buy per 100g, Lobster, huge tiger prawns etc, so we decided to have chicken satay and spring rolls for starters, and then four of the massive tiger prawns with some rice and chicken with cashews. Ben went up to pick the tiger prawns, and came back looking a little sheepish! The tiger prawns had cost nearly £20! We both laughed and hoped they were good!!!! They were absolutely huge, about the size of my forearm, no joke! They were also REALLY delicious! We needn’t have ordered the other food, as there was so much meat on them! It was a really good meal and we enjoyed it! The whole meal including drinks was only £30, all that other food and drink was only £10!
Went back to the grotty place, and got online and skyped for a bit with Carol which was nice, although internet connection was a bit dodgy! We then had a look at other budget accommodation, and decided to move down to the next beach, where there was an excellent guest house in the book, with a great website where we could book online! It was still just a basic looking place, but you know that the ones listed in the book will be well kept and clean. Made our reservation, and slept better knowing we’d be leaving the grot!
Sarah
When we woke up on Wednesday the sun was shining and we made the most of it by heading to the pool for some sunbathing! I was happily reading my book enjoying the sun, while Ben was in the pool trying to break his personal records for holding his breath under water! The day before he had managed 1minute45 seconds, and was hoping to get to two minutes! He spent a long time under the water getting longer and longer, until he finally hit 2mins5seconds! The things you do on holiday!
After a nice morning by the pool we headed into town for some lunch. We headed back to the hotel for an afternoon of planning! We spent about two hours online, and me being Ben's secretary taking notes and writing all the plans down! We booked our bus and ferry for the next day to Pulau Langkawi, a Malaysian island, leaving at 7.30am and arriving at 5pm. We tried to ring ahead to book at a guest house we read about in our guide book, but couldn't get through, so thought we'd chance it anyway. We booked our travel right up until the 17th October,various flights and destinations!
Later on we headed out for dinner at a place recommended by the dive school. They served good pizza and were really friendly. It seems that the beach is starting to come alive at the high season begins, this was infact one of those lovely beach bars we had read about in the book. The lady who served us was really chatty and spent a long time talking to us, her name was 'banana', or glueye in Thai, which translates as banana! The owner was also really friendly, and it turned out he was from Perth, and was able to give us lots of info for when we visit there!
We enjoyed our last evening on Koh Lanta, ready to move on the next morning!
Ben was awake early this morning, and it was blowing a hooley! There was quite a storm raging and we thought the diving was probably going to be cancelled! Got ready anyway, and the weather calmed down a bit and we did go! The boat was great, had free drinks, hot and cold, breakfast on board, and snacks. They had pot noodles after our first dive, and then proper lunch after the second, it was all very nice! Unfortunately the sea was very choppy! The first part of the journey I felt fine, and Ben was feeling a bit rough, but as soon as we had to go downstairs and get our gear on I started to feel rough! Luckily we were getting in the sea and it passed! Getting in was a totally different story than when we dived at Koh Tao, which was always calm and still! The waves were rolling up and down aro
und us, we had to jump off the back of the boat and swim out of the way, and then it was very choppy waiting to descend! It was a very different experience than diving in Koh Tao. The diving was good and I really enjoyed it. We didn’t see anything massive, but it was nice to be just me, Ben and the Dive master, and we were able to stay down for 49minutes as we are both quite good on our air, Ben is a little better than me, but I am not half bad! Getting back on the boat was also very different than in Koh Tao!!!! The waves were huge and the boat was going up and down, and climbing up the ladder was fun! Had lots of help, the captain nearly went overboard next to me, but we were all fine in th
e end!
The second dive was 61 minutes, so I hit my first hour long dive! We saw a real 
nemo, the right colour and everything! We ended up seeing quite a few in the end! We also saw a big crown of thorns starfish,two BIG cuttlefish and a lion fish - see pic (which is really poisonous – so we stayed away, don’t worry Dad!!!!).
We came up and had lunch laid out. At this point I began to feel Really sick! Had to go downstairs as thought I was going to throw up over the side. Did not, thank goodness, but couldn’t stomach lunch! We got back to the dive shop and hung out with the owner who shouted us all a beer. Got delivered back to our hotel and then I finally had time to write the blog, so here we are!
We’re off for dinner in a bit, and then see where the evening takes us! We have decided not to go to Phi Phi, as it seems that the weather will be much of the same, and Rich, our dive master, gave us some good tips! We are hoping to head to an island called Pulau Weh, where the weather should be good and the diving is fantastic! We’re not even sure which country it’s part of, so will have to do some research! We will spend tomorrow investigating our options! Excited to be moving on to somewhere sunnier!
Sarah x
Posted by
Sarah O'Neill
,
06:00
Have now been on Koh Lanta since Sunday, and am just getting round to blogging! In case you are wondering, Koh means island! We have a nice little bungalow, with a terrace balcony with a view of the beach and sea, air con, a hot shower, flushing toilet and a nice infinity swimming pool! Getting here was, shall we say, interesting!
We left our hotel at 8pm on Saturday, and were taken to the pier on the back of a truck. 
The night boat was quite empty as we were early. It was evident that if it filled up it was going to be a tight squeeze! There were just rows and rows of mattresses with small pillows, and numbers painted on the wall above, very close together! If you can make out the mattresses in the photo, it was three to a mattress!!!! It began to fill up more and more, and by nine o’clock, it seemed pretty much at capacity! We both had blokes either side of us, and if you lay on your back, you didn’t even have enough room to put your arms by your side! The man who laid down next to me was like a human radiator, he was emitting heat and I was soooo hot! We both took four of the magic sleeping pills and slept, all be it broken sleep, all the way. At one point I got up for the toilet, and it was such a funny scene, rows and rows of people laying side by side!
The boat docked at 5am, and we had to wait for a truck type vehicle, and they squeezed 11 people plus baggage on it! Short trip to a café, where we then waited for another truck type thing to take us to the bus. We were on the bus a couple of hours, which arrived in the middle of nowhere at a shack, which turned out to be a little rendezvous point for everyone going in their different directions. We then waited for a minibus which took us to Koh Lanta via two ferries!
We got to the hotel, which is very nice, if a little run down and old, but has everything we need and a few luxuries we haven’t had for a while! Soon after we arrived we got to Skype with Ben’s Mum and Dad which was great! Then we asked about what was nearby, and how far it was to walk to the town etc. Unfortunately we seem to be a bit far out, and so the only option was to hire a scooter! Ben and I were both apprehensive about this, and were never intending to hire one at all, but it is the only option here, so had to! We got given a red helmet and a silver helmet, a quick guide on how to use it, and that was it! No need to show driving licence or anything! Ben got to grips with it for a minute in the gravel car park, and then I got on, and off we went! Ben did really well, and was cautious and sensible, and thankfully we survived! We had a little explore and found that a lot of places were shut! It is certainly the end of the low season here, some things are beginning to open, but a lot of it is still closed. We think we came at the wrong time! We walked along our beach later, which the book described as having loads of little beach bars and a really nice atmosphere, but as we walked along, we saw they were all boarded up and hardly anything was open! Decided to go back to the town for tea, and tried to find ‘the Brit café’ who were showing the football, we drove for ages and thought we must have missed it, so turned back, but got all the way back to nearly the beginning, where we had to turn onto the long dark dirt track towards out hotel, when we came to a standstill and realised we had run out of petrol! Thankfully a nice man came to help us, and he was actually selling bottles of petrol on the side of the road, amazing! After he put a couple in our tank, we set off again and went to a real petrol station and filled up completely! We were so fortunate we didn’t break down on the dirt road to the hotel in the dark! Red top and Silver Bullet set off again! We found the café in time for half time of the footy and had some great grub! Headed back to the hotel and had such a good night’s sleep!!!
Had a nice lie in, and then I went and broke the tap in the bathroom! It had obviously been botched fixed over the years and the top just came clean off! They sent some guys to fix it, and as it was raining we sat and read. After they’d left had a shower, and water started spurting out of the pipe, so I had to run to reception and get them to fix it all! In the end we had to move rooms to next door!
We went to the town for lunch, and then checked out a dive place and booked on a dive for Tuesday. We rented a DVD player for the room as there are no English speaking channels, and got the next series of Dexter to watch when it’s raining! Had our dinner in the hotel and later I got to Skype with Mum and Emma, and later Dad! It’s so nice to speak face to face, it makes us feel much closer to home than we really are!
Well, I haven’t blogged since Tuesday, and I am missing it! Although not an awful lot to tell, as we have settled into lazy beach and pool days, when the weather is behaving itself!
Since Ben doesn’t seem inclined to blog again just yet, I can tell you that when he was on his Deep dive, he saw . . . a green turtle!!! I am sooooo jealous! Then, to cap it all, he went to a different dive spot the next day and saw another one! Well, I am not impressed! The photos and videos of it are Amazing! I will try to put up a video, but a photo will have to do if I can’t!
I am writing this blog offline in a word document, and hoping to paste it into the blog when I can get online again. We have finished diving at Scuba Junction, so can’t use their internet anymore, and the new place we’re staying at charges, so we have bought some internet time, but trying to be canny by writing it now, and loading it up later. I hope it works, or this will have been a wasted time!
So, we finally moved out of our wooden shack, and I am gutted as I meant to take a photo, and forgot. We moved just down the road, to another bungalow, still wooden, but with a concrete bathroom. It has a flushing toilet, the sink is plumbed in properly and the pillows are lush! It also has a pool. It is only 3 pounds more a night, and I think all of that is totally worth it! The shower is still cold, and I think we have both become more acclimatised, so the shower is no longer refreshing, it’s just cold! But you can’t have everything! I must tell you that since we moved into our slightly more upmarket place I have seen more wildlife in it, than in the previous bungalow. Nic Boyns, I thought of you last night, when a GIGANTIC spider ran across the floor! I ran out and yelled at Ben to get it, it was right by his flipflops on the floor, and it was HUGE, and VERY fast! He was looking around for something to catch it in, he is always so humane, but I was adamant that it wouldn’t be caught, it was too risky, and needed to be killed! He whacked it once, but it ran, fast and went in his bag. He whacked it again, and it was still alive, and was on his hat in the bag, one final whack and it was dead, splatted all against Ben’s hat! Then I was closing the window and a lizard crawled up the side (inside!), never found it, so had to sleep with knowledge it was in here somewhere!
The last few days have been spent on the beach, or by the pool now, there are even sun loungers, which is fab! Unfortunately the weather seems to have taken a turn, and this last week it has rained every day. Mostly in the afternoons, and very heavy for a spell! The sun usually comes out again, but it’s not nearly as hot as it was here our first week. I am a bit disappointed, as this was the week I was going to sort out my tan! It’s getting there, but all the diving has got in the way a bit, and I still have these lovely tan lines where my wetsuit was on my legs! While I am writing this, it has just stopped raining, and we are sat on the porch of our little bungalow, waiting to go out again!
We are now planning our next move, which is to an island called Koh Lanta, in the province of Krabi, where Ben has found us a rather nice looking hotel, for a very reasonable fee! But before we can enjoy a bit of luxury, we have to get there! So, tomorrow at 9pm we get on a night boat (Ben has seen people’s pictures of the ‘night boat’ and was hoping we wouldn’t need to use one, so if he was worried, goodness knows what I’m going to think!), then at 6am we get on a bus, and then at 9am we get on another boat over to the island and get there about 11am. We are going to ring and make reservations at the hotel today, as they will pick us up from the pier and take us to the hotel.
We aren’t sure what the internet situation is there, but will hopefully be online a bit more! Would love to skype with family and friends again soon, it’s been too long! We are off now to book our journey to Koh Lanta, and then hopefully top up the tan a bit before dinner!
Sarah x
