Bangkok airstrip

Very clean, very colorful, very orderly, quite photo worthy.

 

Rice burger

First the fried chicken bun, now this, why can't someone invent the bacon bun?

Two wheels

Travel around less developed regions is always an interesting and with gas prices high and distances between points of interest short it seems the preference in the Gulf islands is to keep it to two wheels and for $3 a day the scooter reigns king.  The key is to find the 'dirt bike' scooter with dirt tires for those adventures getting lost in the jungle trying to find some undiscovered beach. Also important is finding a tricked out ride with some snazzy decals to help distract you from the fact that you are actually riding a scooter.  No dignity required.

Scuba Steve

Unfortunately I only had the rental camera on two dives of the many over the past two weeks so I was unable to get pictures of many of the critters including octopus, blue spotted stingray, reef crabs the size of basketballs, unicorn fish, titan triggers, scorpion fish, remora eels, moray eels, and jellyfish on the order of size of a sofa couch.  Like the varieties of fish, the dives themselves were all different and all really neat, such as wreck dives, deep dives, and even better... night dives.  Nothing ensures your intestinal fortitude like diving into pitch black water in the midst of night with only the Milky Way shinning light down on you in the Gulf of Thailand.  No need for a flashlight here... in the undersea darkness your movements set off the bio-luminescent phytoplankton that appear like massive LSD induced neon trails following you through the darkness... very cool stuff.  No pics unfortunately.

Underwater in colour

Just for the fun of it, I have left some photos in color, although I much prefer B&W for underwater.

 

 

 

Underwater b&w

Now finished with Open Water and Advanced Diver certifications I set about obtaining an underwater camera  but was disappointed to find all that was available was an older 8MP point and shoot camera in a waterproof housing.  A problem arises since different wavelengths of light travel at significantly different speeds underwater and the slight difference surface refraction makes when you are looking at someone two feet under pool water is amplified by the time you get 50 feet.  By the time you get down 100 feet there is no more red visible in the spectrum and its actual appearance ranges from deep purple to black, which has a terrible effect on the perception of skin tone making your dive buddy look somewhat like a zombie. This leaves terrible conditions for color photography unless you have years to perfect the skill, which I do not.  In comes b&w...

A risky proposition

Pizza... the international delight

So far away, yet so close to home.  Even after making some missteps abroad chasing down a good pie, most notably with some pizza cheese of questionable origin in Peru (consensus being that it was alpaca cheese), I found a little slice of home on Koh Tao at El Gringo's.  Nothing like snuggling up to the “El Gringo” with a mildly chilled Singha and watching some English satellite television after a day of academics at the dive school and learning I was in fact not done with written tests for the rest of my life as I had thought.

Turtle Island

Headed off to address a curiosity for the underwater world.  Koh Tao seems to be the place to be in South East Asia for diving and PADI certifications so I am headed deeper into the Gulf of Thailand via ferry to Turtle Island.  It is a much smaller island than the two other islands in the chain, Koh Phanghan and Koh Samui, and was practically uninhabited 50 years ago but now seems to be a bit of a centerpiece for diving in the region.  Particularly hyped for being one of the only places in the world with around the calendar visits from the largest fish in any sea, the whale shark, the island has nice warm waters of 29C/85F, minimal tide, and surf as calm as a garden puddle.  Staying in Haad Mae on the sunset side of the island which is a nice change from our sunrise side of Koh Phanghan.

 

 

Where I lay may head

Knees a bit shaky flying into Bangkok and from Bangkok down to Surat Thani. You see, we had to fly through that monsoon that just rocked the Phillipines, not once but twice.  Not so much fun when warned before even boarding the flight that you will be flying through 'extreme' weather.  Next we had a long van ride and even longer ferry ride to look forward to, but amazing trip none the less.  Now searching the east coast of the island for a residence for the next month and a half... and finding it amusing that some of my negotiations have come to a head over a quarter off of $9.00 a night 'super special' rates.  Maybe I am subconsciously trying to justify my MBA.... but money is money.

Off on our own separates ways now for some yoga and explore the island and research dive centers.  Beautiful land of the longtail boats...