" No turtles on turtle island you say?"

Sorry it's been a while but we've been rather busy. After staying in Koh Samui for a few uneventful days we took a high speed catamaran past Koh Phangnan to Koh Tao. This small island was the perfect getaway from the mainstream tourist trap that most other places in Thailand have been. It's far up North from Koh Phangnan and uses generators for electricty. This is mainly the reason why for the next 3 days we stayed in an air-con dorm room with 6 other backpackers. All other AC options on the island were out of our budget range. So we initially had our doubts about Koh Tao. Fortunately our doubts were soon put to rest by the beautiful and breathtaking beach paradise we were staying in. For the next 3 days we were the definition of beach bums. After waking up we would make our usual run to 7/11 and then over to, you guessed it, the beach! After a few hours of snorkeling, tossing the nerf football around and catching some rays, we headed back to the room for a brief cool down. We'd then grab some lunch and head over to the local scuba diving school's pool, because we discovered that living in Koh Tao is all about immersing yourself in water as often as possible. After the pool we'd go grab some dinner and then check out the live music at the Lotus bar down by the beach while watching thunderstorms in the distance.

We repeated this strict regime for 3 days before heading down south to the beach where we registered for scuba diving courses at Crystal Dive Resort. I was going diving for the first time and Steve was gearing up to take his advanced open water course. This was probably for the two of us, the highlight of the trip so far. Steve's advanced open water course took him through an array of various dives, deep, navigation, fish ID, buoyancy and the most tense and suspenseful, night dive. Like something out of James Cameron's The Abyss, the night dive turned out to be one of the most exhilirating, epic and creative brainstorm inducing experiences of Steve's life. My experience was something I'll always remember. I was pretty anxious taking the course and learning all the procedures, but once I entered the water for the first time my cares melted away and I was blown away at how amazing an experience it was. It was almost spiritual. Being guided by our Japanese dive master, Kenji Takahashi, myself and the other 7 students clumsily navigated through coral reefs at four different dive sites, while completing techniques and procedures up to 18 meters underwater. I can definitely say I have never done anything as awe-inspiring as scuba diving. The course lasted 4 days and those days went by incredibly fast.

This morning we left Crystal dive resort, somewhat sad to be leaving but also elated that we didn't have to watch the film "Mega Fault" on HBO max ever again. We're on a budget, okay! We boarded our ferry at 10:30 am and shortly after I confessed to Steve that I had a strange and unseasonal craving for egg nog. Funny enough after being in a country with a completely different array of foods and meal choices you start to miss the weirdest stuff!

Here we are now in Koh Phagnan, eagerly awaiting the full moon party that is being pushed back a day due to a buddhist holiday. We're staying at "Happy Bungalows" on the northeast side of the island and once again are enjoying the benefits of air-conditioning. So until we write again, thanks for checking up on us and Steve and I both agree that we never want to see another rooster again in our lives. They don't just crow once at dawn.

PS

Real P.S Apparently there aren't any turtles on turtle island anymore because residences on the beach make it impossible for them to create their nests. I suggested they name the island something else as Koh Tao means "Turtle Island". Perhaps " The island formerly known as Koh Tao"

Two farangs in Chaweng

After Phi Phi our next destination was Krabi, a beachfront community on the mainland. While sitting on the ferry, we booked a bungalow in Ao Nang, which is a smaller town about 15 minutes away from Krabi Town. It was called the Blue Bayou and we settled into our glorious air conditioned bungalow on the beach quite nicely. We relaxed the first, just getting used to the small town. The second day we just went to the beach and had fun, avoiding the small jellyfish off shore. We also booked a long tail boat trip to Railay, an area that is secluded and most easily reached by boat. Railay was beautiful, with lots of dense jungle and cliffs right next to a beach with cool cafes and resorts. We walked through the town and deeper in there was a small house- complex that had been abandoned and the new tenants where a group of twenty or so monkeys. The rest of our time there was spent on the beach. Steve enjoyed his banana pancake and mango lassi. Railay also has some of the best rock climbing in Thailand and or maybe the world, but due to budget and time constraints we did not participate.

The next day we went on an elephant trek further inland at this sanctuary called " Nosey Parkers". We rode the only male elephant in a group of nine ( lucky guy) and each had a turn at the helm. We rode into the jungle on a bit of a path and came back through a field where our elephant went on a feeding frenzy. We didn't have much say on the matter so we let him enjoy his lunch. Afterwards we were given the opportunity to feed the elephants cucumbers and bananas. They're amazingly cool creatures. Later we went back to our bungalows and after a relaxing nap we had an even more relaxing Thai massage for an hour. You'd be surprised at how good a small Thai woman walking around on your back for an hour can make you feel. The next day we left by bus to Surat Thani where we hopped on a ferry to a supposedly more expensive Koh Samui, the second largest island in Thailand.

Upon arriving in Koh Samui we located a cheap hotel room near Chaweng Beach on the west coast of the island and took the inexpensive "bus" ( which is basically a pick up truck with two benches in the back and a canopy overtop). Today we went to the beach, which has significantly choppier waters, but have been kept in for most of the day due to rain. That's what you get when you go to Thailand in the middle of the rainy season. Otherwise we have had some good weather so far and are excited to get up to Koh Tao and Koh Phangnan.

Until then we bid everyone at home a safe journey.

PS

Life's a beach

Here we are, our last night in Koh Phi Phi before we take a ferry to Krabi tomorrow morning and all we can think about is the heat! My God, its hot! Everyone said it would be hot but this heat is the type that someone can't articulate. You need to feel it. We arrived in Koh Phi Phi four days ago and luckily managed to score a cheap bungalow more inland for a couple nights. It's called Uphill Cottage. We ended up liking this island so much we decided to stay an extra couple of days. It seems like this entire place is built around tourism, like the whole community revolves around catering to tourists. It's crazy to see.

The first night we were here we wandered to the beach and walked around taking pictures of one of the nicest sunsets you'll ever see in your life. We were getting thirsty so we stumbled upon this little beach hut called "Stones Bar". Here we discoverd the glory of the bucket! This was an amazing experience, lying on beach matts, drinking our buckets, watching professional fire artists whirl and twirl into the wee hours of the night. In the next few mornings that ensued we would get up early, relax and swim at the beach, grab some lunch, come to our bungalow and escape the mid-afternoon heat, then go back to the beach to watch the sunset and recline at the stones bar. We hung out with a cool Canadian couple from Toronto two nights in a row and have met some other interesting characters along the way.

Yesterday we went on a day tour to various parts around the island including Bamboo island, Mosquito Island, Monkey Beach, and Maya Bay, where they shot the film "The Beach". We got to snorkel at various points in between and on our way back caught a storm on the eastern horizon. Just barely made it to our bungalows before some serious rainfall.

The fun and excitement continues in Thailand, so stay tuned for our next blog and enjoy some of these epic pictures as well.

Next stop...Krabi.

PS

Goin' down South

After having been severed from the internet for two days, we have alot to say. Our first full day in Bangkok was a bit of a bust. Jetlag took the best of us and we both fell asleep at 4:00 fully intending on waking up in a few hours and going out to celebrate the king's holiday with the good people of Bangkok. Before we knew it we woke up almost simultaneously at 5:00 in the morning the next day, to the sound of thundershowers. Luckily the air-con kept us in perfect hibernation. We were now fully rested and were able to delve into the day completely. We started by having breakfast in a little restaurant a few blocks away from one of 5000 or so 7Elevens. The clouds then parted and our day was to be full of sunshine and adventure. We started into the city and of course were bombarded with offers for cab rides, food, "fish" massages and Steve's favourite, suits. After just wanting to walk around initially we decided to take a Tuk Tuk and go on one of the tours every single man, woman and child knows of in Bangkok, I swear they're all in on it!!

We covered most of the monuments, all three buddhas, standing, sitting and high up in the sky, as well as a great silk shop, where we were expected to buy suits. We managed to do all of this, as well as stave off heat stroke, all before catching our 7:00 bus ride to Phuket. We somehow ended up in a small cabin type room on the lower level of the bus, filled with backpackers and cockroaches alike, both trying to survive in the harsh environment. Bangkok to Champon, Champon to Sukurat, and after being told our bus was going to pick us up three hours later, a small van bus ride to Patong, and we had arrived. The close quarters of the van bus had allowed us to befriend a solo German traveller, a Canadian couple bound for Tokyo in a couple of days and a handfull of other characters. The sun followed us to Phuket and decided to turn up the heat. Now, with our ferry ride booked to Koh Phi Phi (pronounced "pee pee") we write this blog from an Internet cafe across from our fairly nice hotel. We're ready to leave the more touristy and definately North Americanized Patong to lie low for a while in white sand beaches and limestone rock formations. We will enjoy some snorkelling, mingling with monkeys, and sippin' on some good old "Chang" in the beautiful landscape this island has to offer. Being here obviously took us completely by surprise at first. The immensely different culture, the new smell every 10 seconds, rapidly changing weather patterns and not to mention the various Thai characters we encountered so far in our travels, has really opened our eyes. We are adapting as best we can and are embracing this unknown world which once experienced, really isn't as intimidating as the world thinks it is.

PS

"It's not possible!!"

Clear skies as we left Vancouver seemed to be a good omen heading towards Bangkok, our final destination. Beijing however had something to say about that. Upon arriving in Beijing after a seemingly fast 11 hour flight, we proceeded to kill some time in the airport. This was difficult as we had no Yen and very little idea as to what to do. Our flight gate was announced an hour after our arrival and as it would later prove, gate "E51" would likely be burned into our memory for the rest of our lives. Initially the flight was on time, set to depart at 7:30. Then the thunderstorm arrived. 7:30 became 8:00 and gate "E51" turned into "E18", which we had no problem with as it was a comfortable place to wait with long benchlike, padded seating. Then 8:00 became 9:55 which was super fun, and we were instructed to go back to gate "E51" where we would board our plane. Little did we know this would not be the last time we had to change gates, nor would it be the last time the flight was delayed. Our 9:55 swiftly became 11:30, upon which we were instructed to go back to gate "E18" and soon after became 2:10 AM. Stephen and I couldn't help but find the humour in the situation, after all we were a bit stir-crazy, having looked at asian advertisements for the past 6 hours or so. We weren't the only ones who felt a little short changed by the whole ordeal. On our last switchover to good old gate "E51" This European guy (Steve's pretty sure he was German) Was flipping his lid and screaming at the gate hostess who was still in the act of making the announcement! As we headed towards the gate we heard him scream "It's not possible!" But we both knew it was possible, as we are now writting this blog from inside an internet cafe, sweating our bags off, right next to Khaosan Road, in Bangkok.

PS

"Eating Pad Thai on Khaosan Road"

T-minus however many hours to lift-off!!

Hello people. I'm writing this because Steve told me to put something cool and inspirational on the blog to sort of commemorate the beginning of the trip. We're anxious, nervous and excited. Even as we Skype right now we are still going over some last minute details. You can never feel prepared enough and always feel like you're missing something on trips like these. Anyways I'm rambling now. Hope this all goes well. Be keeping up with you cool cats and updating you on all the craziness that is about to unfold!!

PS