Swimming with the Fishies

I am officially a certified scuba diver! I spent about a week on Ko Tao, an island a few hours off of the mainland, and spent about 6 days diving. Getting here was a 24 hour adventure--I could have made it home in the same amount of time! Left Joc's apt at 645am and discovered that the 8am train I wanted was full. "Ok, when's the next train?" "1pm." Oops. So I was 5 1/2 hours in the train station, a 9 1/2 hour train ride, a quick moto ride to the pier, then a 6-7 overnight ferry ride to the island. Ooof. But I made it!

I did a 4 day open water course to get certified, meaning I can dive anywhere in the world up to 18meters. Then I stayed on to do the advanced course (because money grows on trees, right?) so now I'm certified to dive up to 30 meters, the limit for recreational diving. 

It was amazing!! I've always loved water and swimming and snorkeling, so after the initial "oh wow this is weird I'm uncomfortable how am i still breathing under water ah my ears are popping wait shit how do I float" etc etc, it was great. And you start in the classroom and the pool, so you feel ready for the sea. Rough life, I had to do homework and take an exam and talk about physics. I'm sure you all feed bad for me. 

I learned to hover upside down and "mission impossible," style (ie on my stomach just above the sand/coral), did a navigation dive (and only got a litttttle lost), a night dive, a wreck dive at an old WWII ship, a deep dive (up to 30m), and saw lots of cool fish and coral. It felt like I was in Finding Nemo--and we did see the only 5 little clown fish at the dive site, so I found him! To be honest, I saw more while snorkeling in the Galapagos than I did diving here, but I guess when you start at the pinnacle, that's to be expected. So I can't complain! 

Diving is a really expensive hobby--of course the only athletics I'm good at are skiing and diving. Why couldn't I be good at basketball?! But even though this took a massive portion of my budget, Ko Tao is actually one of the cheapest places to dive and get certified in the world. I've always always always wanted to scuba dive, so it just made sense to do it here. I'm hoping to dive again in Indonesia for sure, and maybe Malaysia if I can swing it.

Tonight I'm off overnight to Krabi,

on the other coast, where i'll island hop for about 2ish more weeks. 

Summary: I'm tan and happy and exhausted and feeling good! 

Songkran

Happy(belated) Thai new year! You all missed quite the celebration. Songkran is absolute madness--it reminded me of carnaval, but with water guns. At night the streets are like Times Square on New Year's Eve. Songkran is basically a 4 day country wide water fight. Everyone is out, everyone is drunk, everyone is trying to soak you with water and smear this goopy white paste onto your face. Good times. 
Apparently in Thailand its a thing to sprinkle water for good luck, so the water symbolizes good luck in the new year? Or something like that. But over the years I guess it's morphed into a huge crazy party. It was SO nice that I was staying with Joc, my friend who lives in Bangkok. It was a few crazy days, and such a unique experience. Really fun. 

While in Bangkok I made an impulse purchase and flew round trip back to Cambodia for a few days. Had a nice time in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville (beach), and now I have a slightly extended visa for Thailand since I got another 30 days when I flew back. Win.

Also, before Songkran started, I was able to explore Bangkok a little more. I also took a 2 hour meditation course at a Wat, led by a monk, which was an interesting experience. 

I also have my return ticket home now, which feels weird and sad and final--but I'm also really excited! Looks like ill be in NY June 18-29 an Boston until July 3rd. If you're on the east coast, pencil me in! 

Sending big ol hugs and kisses home to everyone!!

So much Asia, So little time

My recent travels: Working my way from the north to central Thailand, then Bangkok and then finallyyyy beaches in the south. Here's where I've been--

Sukhothai: ancient capital, old city with temples, day of exploring said temples in approximately 106 degree heat. Melted. Ate 60cent pad thai for dinner and felt rejuvenated.

Kamphaeng Phet: small little town, stayed in an adorable and super quirky guesthouse set around a lovely garden where I relaxed a lot to beat the heat. Spent a day with a retired Canadian guy who invited me to come along on his bike to see a waterfall about 60k away. (Anything in or near water is always a good idea when it's this hot). We never ended up finding the waterfall we set out for but we did end up (we think) at the correct national park and spent the afternoon by a river. Very much off the tourist map, just lots of thai families spending the day. It was really nice!

Lopburi: another city with old temples; I saw some from the outside for a few minutes and decided I was over it a little. Too hot. Didn't go in. Don't regret it. (The main temple sites here are Sukhothai and Ayuthaya, so I got my fill. Don't need to see them all). The city is mainly known for its monkeys, which are everywhere. They run all over the place and, while cute, are evil and mischievous little shits. Fun to watch them though, from a safe distance...

Ayuthaya: Temples. Are we sensing a theme here? I really love the temples and really, they do each have their own distinct charm and features. But I'm starting to get a bit templed out, they're all starting to blend together. 

I accidentally and so deliciously found a hostel with a little pool, so I spent most of my time there. Don't judge. 

My first night in Ayuthaya I did an evening boat ride that went to 3 temples-much better than walking! Fantastic plan. The next day I went to see 2 or 3 of the main temples with a guy from New Zealand, then we spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool. So not all that much sight seeing, but I couldn't have been happier. Are you sensing how bloody hot it is out here?

Bangkok: Whew. What a city, such a blur of colors and sights and sounds and smells. I like it here, but don't really feel like I know the city yet. You'd need a lot of time to get settled and acclimated. I kept myself occupied with busy nightlife, the Grand Palace and really impressive Wats, walking Chinatown for a bit, visiting a massive weekend market (largest market in Thailand and the worlds largest weekend market, per Wikipedia), and just walking around. 

Esteban, who I traveled with up north, met me in Bangkok, and we then spent a few days on Koh Samet. Yes ladies and gents, I know you've all been concerned so you can rest easy now--I finally made it to a thai island. I even ate pad thai on a thai beach, so cross that off the bucket list. 

Samet is in the east side, pretty close to Bangkok (4 hours bus, 1 hour ferry), and not known to be one of the nicer beaches. (The southern peninsula gets all the hype/postcard pictures). Well, color me impressed. It was gorgeous--white sand, turquoise water, beach bungalows...our balcony was overlooking the sea. No better place to start the day with a cup of coffee. We stayed pretty far away from everything, it was really quiet and peaceful--a great intro to thai beaches!! I worked on my tan quite a bit.

Now I'm back in Bangkok, where ill be for a while to celebrate the Thai new year. 

I'm starting to feel like I'm running out of time! There is still so much left on my wish list, and even my realistic plans are feeling a bit rushed. I know, I know, cry me a river, I may only get to go to some of the beaches I wanted to go to, and I have less time for Malaysia/Indonesia than I wanted. Not such bad problems to have, but still things to plan and think about and decide.

Speaking of...by my next blog post I should have a flight back to New York booked. Eeek! Time is flying!