Living Large in Phuket!

All I can say is Phuket has won me over, though anything would be a great change after Koh Samui! This gem of the Andaman Sea looks like a peninsula on the map, but it is a good size island in the same way Manhattan is an island - separated from the Bronx by a skinny river.




Things got off on the wrong foot here when the deluxe bus I was on dropped me off an hour plus late in Phuket Town. It was a good long crosstown walk, lugging my gear to the local jeepney pickup area, and when I got there, they had stopped running for the night. After being hassled and almost cheated by every tuk-tuk driver and scooter pilot (like I could fit myself, my divebag, and a backpack on the back of a scooter!) in the downtown area, a local woman took pity on me and browbeat them until one relented and gave me a fair price to get across to the west side of the island where I had a reservation at a guesthouse.
Lesson: When you are in a hired vehicle in a foreign country and you think your driver is clueless and lost, just trust yourself. Even though I only had a black and white tiny map in my SE Asia Lonely Planet Guidebook that I could barely catch glimpses of in the passing streetlights, I had a funny feeling I'd been seen some familiar looking buildings and waterfront - it didn't matter because it was a set price with no meter, but after he asked some guy directions for the third time and tried to convince me to get out at the wrong guesthouse twice, it was obvious I needed to take a stand. We wound up at a verrry expensive looking resort hotel and asked the security guard for help, he got the concierge involved and the problem was soon solved. By the time I got checked in it was almost 8:30 and I needed to hustle to find the dive shop that had been recommended to me before it closed. After the delay due to my run-in with the dog, (see Thailand Observations & Musings entry from August 23rd,) I just slipped in the door just a minute or two before they closed and got my diving set up easy as pie.



The diving was very good, vis a little worse than Koh Tao, but they do three dives a day off the boat and give you three square meals to boot!
www.diveasia.com
First day out we went to Koh Phi Phi, (where they filmed Leo DiCaprio's "The Beach") and my next day we went to Racha Yai, south of Phuket. I got buddied up with an Italian named Omar who lives in China (for 15 years,) and imports everything from shoes to steel and we really hit it off. His family owns a vineyard and makes wine outside of Venice so we had a great time talking grape, it's a good thing I got so much enological experience this spring! He is a pretty new diver, just about to start his Rescue Class and we had a good time diving together. There were six of us in the group, and the DM trusted me to lead the last two around after the rest went up when their air got low, so my streak of all 60 minute + dives is still alive. I saw a bunch of lionfish, some green turtles, all kinds of morays, big grouper and three big cuttlefish. The topper was all the octopus (Octopusses? Octopi?) - I don't think I've ever seen so many outside of a night dive, and on one of the Racha dives, there were two about a meter apart! I was in heaven and spent a good chunk of that dive right there.



After the first day of diving, Omar invited me to stay with him in his Villa at the Marriott - and once again I busted up my schedule to have some fun and spent the next four days hanging out with Omar and his Chinese girl-friends. The Marriott has to be one of the nicest places I've ever stayed, the villa had two bedrooms, two baths with big soaking tubs, a full kitchen, huge deck and was decorated lavishly. The resort itself has to be seen to be believed, so here's the website:
http://www.phuket.com/marriott/
When we weren't diving, we drove all over, (well Omar drove, the rest of us just held on! No wonder Italians love F1 so much.) visiting Koh Phang-Nga (site of James Bond's island in "Man With The Golden Gun,") Khao Lak and whooping it up all around Phuket in the evenings. Omar's been visiting Phuket for 15 years and is even friends with all the "entertainers" at the Ladyboy bars. (Where I had a blast, by the way. Don't worry Mom, I somehow resisted them but Omar and I had a hard time believing some were really men!)


Sadly, the road was calling me and after getting some meetings changed, Omar drove me to Krabi (setting a new land speed record along the way,) and we spent the day poking around before he went back to Phuket around sunset.

Two funny Phuket stories, (well there's more, but these are the two I'm telling now...)
Story 1:
On my first night, I was desperately looking for a place to have a Chang and unwind, but every bar was covered with Thai hookers and I knew that as a loner, it would be impossible to just have a beer without getting constantly hassled. Make that harassed. So I walked by a bunch of bars, examining the patrons and debating my options. I figured I'd introduce myself to some total strangers, explain my predicament and ask for some company and cover. There were lots of couples, and I didn't feel comfortable barging in on their possibly romantic evenings, there were several guy with two girl combos and I knew they'd just think I was hitting on the single girl, and all the other groups included the previously mentioned working girls. Finally, I spotted the perfect group - five western girls with lots of empties around. They turned out to be English & Dutch and laughed at my tale then invited me to sit with them and when I bought a round, they promised to "protect" me. Fat chance. Never, ever, drink with anyone from Holland. And then accept a lift home from one on the back of a scooter in an absolute pissing-down, blinding rainstorm.
Story 2:
You might remember from my Bangkok posting, that I've been trying to see the new Bourne movie and I've finally found some success. Walking up the street in Phuket, I noticed Matt Damon pointing a gun at somebody on a small TV and didn't recognize the scene. Is it? Could it really be? Yup, movie piracy at work, depriving hard-working Hollywood millionaires of their royalties, but providing me with the opportunity I'd been waiting for. So 80 Baht later, ($2.40 US,) Omar and I were watching Bourne Ultimatum, and except for someone's head blocking a bit of the bottom of the picture, it was great. Can't wait for the next sequel.

That's all for now, I'm in Ao Nang, near Krabi which is back on the mainland south of Phuket. Tomorrow morning I have an early bus/train to Malaysia and I hope to be in the Perhentian islands off the east coast of the Malay peninsula sometime tomorrow...

Ciao,
Climenze

Koh Samui, meh.

Did a couple of days in Koh Samui and as I was warned - it wasn't really my scene. It's about 2 hours south of Koh Tao by ferry and I arrived around noon and got a cab over to Chaweng Beach, the busiest spot on the island. After staying at secluded Tanote Bay, I felt like being in the center of things for a change. Whoops. It's like I was at the Jersey Shore or Ocean City. It seemed to be all Italians in D&G roaming around being rude. And the Speedos!! Mama Mia!
So I grabbed a day trip to Ang Thong National Marine Park for a day of Kayaking, Trekking, Snorkeling, and an elephant ride. I had a blast on the boat full of fun people from all over. England, Germany, Barcelona (NOT Spain,) Austria, Iran, Canada, Israel, Australia, Czech Republic, Japan and China. And oh yeah, me, the lone American. It was like a mini-UN and really made me feel part of the world.
The kayaking was the best - around and under these huge limestone rocks whose cliffs rose straight out of the water like skyscrapers. At times we had to lie down in the kayak and pull ourselves along with our fingers!



Next was the snorkeling, which after a quick assessment of the vis, I smartly skipped to spend the time diving off the upper deck of the ship with some other guys.
After lunch, we journeyed through the park to Mae Koh island which has a marine lake at the middle - all you have to do is climb a huge bunch of steps almost straight up and then back down, and you are there. Great views too, and it was funny the way two separate groups of people dropped batteries and crawled under the boards to retrieve them...

Then we hopped back on the boat and chugged back to Samui and were herded into minivans for the ride to the elephant compound - witha "quick" stop at a souvenir store on the way. The baby elephants were very cute, but I didn't really like the conditions they were kept under, they were on a pretty short chain in a small enclosure. But, thinking back, I doubt they were kept there all the time - just when people like me came to gawk and feed them bananas. The 20 minute elephant ride was funny, you rock all over the place with no discernible rhythm and just when you get used to it, they go downhill and I was hanging on for dear life again!

I left Koh Samui on the ferry the next morning and headed to Phuket. The funniest thing about the ferry ride was the international red circle with a slash "No Durian" signs on the cabin doors. It's a local fruit that is really smelly but tastes completely different and I guess the management was trying to protect us from rude durian eaters! There's a funny pic of the sign on my flickr page. The bus ride across the mainland to the western side of Thailand was exquisitely beautiful. Huge jungle covered vertical mountains thrust up out of the forests and fields. I have absolutely no idea how they were formed! It had rained heavily here in Phuket the previous few days and I arrived as the weather broke and the green of the wildlands shone and glowed in shimmering wet wonder. Such beautiful light, I wish I had the camera skills to capture it.



I'll write more about my Phuket experiences in a few days, right now I'm off to the beach!
Ciao,
Clemente

Thailand Observations And Musings...

Here are some musings and amusings I've collected so far roaming around Thailand.

Fruit Lassi and a Banana Pancake - Breakfast of Champions! And only costs less than 100 Baht...

Why is it that when I drag out my Thai Phrasebook and work really hard to memorize a phrase or question, the object of my effort always speaks perfect english? And when I'm not prepared and approach someone who looks like an English speaker they have no idea what I'm trying to communicate?

Bad News:
Don't worry but I got bit by a dog tonight. Came barking out of an abandoned lot and latched onto my left hand as I tried to ward it off. Blood everywhere and some nice dings to my index finger and the back of my hand...
Good News:
It happened about 50m from an open Pharmacy and the Betadyne and couple of bandaids only cost 45 Baht. Plus, they let me use the bathroom in the back to clean it up.

Been reading a lot - on boats, beaches, buses, planes, and ferries and even occasionally in bed. Lots of decent book piles at the guesthouses and some nice used book stores in every town - I'm finding it hard to limit myself to one at a time for weight reasons. In one, I found an old boarding pass, forgotten as a bookmark. Julian Hewitt of seat 6D, Thai Airways flight 4141, what did you experience when you landed in Koh Samui from Bangkok at 12:45 and what has become of you since August 12th, 2002? I think of all that has gone on in my life since that date, and can't help but wonder if he is still the same person he was then... And did he like the book? I've made up several stories in my mind for him and I'm sure they are no better than his reality.

All the ferries and buses I've been on seem to have DVD players that endlessly show videos of Thai Pop Stars. There are more Justin Timberlake, N'Sync and NKOTB flirty wannabes than I'm strictly comfortable with, and they are all trying so poutily hard to appeal to the young female crowd. I've taken up playing more hardcore music, (rap, alternative, house, etc.) on my iPod while I watch the videos. It's hilarious! I love it when the words and pictures match so strangely, the humor is inescapable and I'm sure the other passengers are wondering what I'm snickering about...

Thailand is known as a country for sex tourism and it's pretty sad the way poor country families sell their teen and pre-teen daughters out of desperation. The AIDS epidemic is still going strong here, and I've read that 30%-40% of Thai sex workers are HIV+. Plus, the Thai strain is really contagious and drug resistant. All the bars have women in packs out front enticing you in and knowing that 2 out of 5 will most likely be dead in a couple of years is pretty depressing. On top of that, the number of older farang men I see walking around holding hands with a very young Thai girl like they are 13 and on the way to the movies makes me feel sick inside. Let's not even talk about the Ladyboys...

As an American, I'm conscious of the perceptions the rest of the world holds about us, and am very amused that while they claim to be so tired of us and wish we were less imposing, I still heard it from a German four days after the fact that Karl Rove had quit.

I write this as I sit in an internet cafe in Phuket, site of the Tsunami that came ashore on Boxing Day, December 26th, 2004. I got here early in the evening after a breathtakingly beaufiful journey across the Thai peninsula from the ferry port near Surathani. Considering what happened that day to this part of the world, it is amazing how hard I had to look to spot any indication it ever happened. Sure, there's a small pile of rubble here and there, but that could be due to the construction going up on the same lot. It makes me embarassed at the state New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast is still in... How can this little country recover from such a larger blow better and faster than we can?

Off diving tomorrow early - I'll have to write about Koh Samui and the Ladyboys another time..

Goodnight and Sweet Dreams,
Clement

Dammit, Who Stole My Flip-Flops?!?

To solve the crime, I used my CSI - Koh Phangan skills to pinpoint the guilty party, but more on that later...

All the guidebooks on Thailand take lots of time to describe the wildness known as the Koh Phangan Full Moon Party. And then spend another page trying to warn the reader away from it, too. Always interested in a party, I consulted Angie & Shan, my two beautiful and experienced Thailand party veterans.
"Skip it," was the instant consensus, "It's too overrun with tourists, and way overdone."
"But I kind of wanted to experience it, anyway..." I tried not to sound too disappointed.
"We're planning to go to the Black Moon Party, anyway - it's way better & cooler and more for those in the know!"
So that's how I ended up on a ferry to Koh Phangan early one afternoon - still feeling the effects of a couple too many Singhas, Changs, Tigers and buckets of God knows what the night before. I was still a little fuzzy on how I got back over the mountain and remembered stumbling around the hill trying in vain to find my hut. Shan helpfully reminded me how one of our group, Lex, had drunkenly dislodged a boulder that rolled down the hill and narrowly missed us in the pitch dark. Yeah, that sounded familiar.
Once off the ferry we gathered the group for a quick local meal and then rode the back of a pickup to Mac Bay Resort, the site of the shindig and also where Shan had procured us beach bungalows. I had the furthest one from the center of the party and it was still right behind a bar - if they needed that much room, I knew this was going to be big. When I found the reservations were for two nights I was knowingly assured they would be necessary and, oh, how right that was...
The music cranked up around 10PM, rousing me from a power nap and the fun soon began. The night soon was a blur of bodies moving and sweating up and down the beach to the house/rave/trance/whatever music spun by a team of DJ's working in shifts. I felt an instant bond with every person there - it seemed we were all in it together trying to make the party bigger, brasher, and wilder. Buckets flew by as I drifted in and out of the crowds, making new instafriends and re-connecting with our group, it seemd the night went on and on. Then, sometime between Angie seeking revenge on some rude guy and my 20th bottle of water, I realized the sun was up and the music ground to a halt at 9AM. A ragged cheer rose from the large crowd still dancing in the rising sun to the bitter end, then people drifted off, picking their way around the wreckage left on the beach.
All night long we had been checking on the guy we had nicknamed "Drunk Guy Passed Out On My Porch" at my bungalow, and when I was heading off to bed I realized he had rolled onto the beach into the mid-morning sun, and we got him moved back onto the porch and into my hammock.
I awoke with a start around 2PM and staggered outside, hungry and parched. I foggily wiped my eyes and realized my flip-flops were gone! The cool ones with the bottle opener in the sole! I wandered over to the open air restaurant in disbelief and Angie laughed, "Welcome to Thailand - everyone loses their shoes here!" Hoping to avoid a shoeless day and night before getting back to Koh Tao, I noticed the Thai men cleaning up the party debris from the beach had thoughtfully left a good-sized pile of abandoned shoes on the beach as they bagged all the other trash. It was like they knew, and I suppose they must have seen it all before. I poked around the pile, hoping to find mine - even though I knew I had left them right outside my door, and finally realized I had but one option. I settled on a newish looking pair that fit OK and gave them a quick wash in the Gulf of Thailand before taking them on a test drive. Problem solved. On the way to dinner that night at beautiful Had Riin, we passed a T-shirt shop and with a laugh, I noticed in the display front and center was one with the saying - "Who stole my sandals?" So I guess I've had a truly "Thailand" experience...
Then it was off to the After-Party, (you didn't think the party would only last a night, did you?) and eventually, I was very glad Shan booked the bungalows for two nights.
Almost a week later when I downloaded the pictures off my camera, my suspicions were proven as in the picture of Drunk Guy Passed Out On My Porch clearly show my flip-flops under the table right next to him. Now if I could just figure a way to track him down... Anyone recognize him?

1000th Dive In Koh Tao, Thailand

Koh Tao is a tiny island, placed like a jewel in the beautiful Gulf of Thailand. Named after the green turtles that nested here, I knew this was the place for me the moment we docked. The built up areas of Mae Haad and Sairee Beach are on the west side of the island, and it's a hell of a trek over to the east side and Tanote Bay, (check my Flickr pics for a view of the so-called road,) where I stayed and dove at Blacktip Diving.
Shameless plug, but they are fantastic: www.blacktipdiving.com
Shalini is part-owner and a friend of a friend, but she immediately took me under her wing, introducing me to her friends, dragging me to all kinds of parties, (kicking and screaming, but more about that later,) and even putting me to work leading dives! Overwhelmed by her hospitality and the non-stop fun with her UK friends Angie-Pangie & Rob, I wound up staying 4 days longer than I planned with absolutely no regrets except that I had to leave at all.
The diving was really good, despite lots of rain in the week before I arrived. Vis was mostly about 50', and the coral looked nice and healthy and there was lots of good life to see. The coolest sites were Chumphon Pinnacles and Sail Rock. On my first dive, I got buddied up with Theresa, a Berliner working in Bangkok and down for her 6th (I think,) visit. Now, most dive operators, when a solo Instructor or other very experienced diver shows up, will pair that poor unfortunate with some newbie or complete underwater fool. But Blacktip did me right as T is a great diver and a fantastic buddy - we shared the same pace, interests, air consumption, and had that instant ESP connection you sometimes luck out and have with another diver. Above water was really great, too as she had all kinds of great insights into Bangkok and Thai life. Even better, the groups they gave me to lead were all advanced - no newbies!! Heaven.
Now not every dive went perfectly, I had a girl panic and try to shoot up from 80' and needed some soothing words and a tow back to the boat. By the time I got back down, the group was long out of sight, so I just hung out by myself next to the mooring with a school of batfishes and eased into their group. By the time the other divers returned, I was in the family. I also spent time getting a manicure at the local cleaning station where fishes go to have the tiny cleaner wrasses pick dead scales and parasites off of them. One wrasse kept trying to get into my ear, making me jump every time it nipped me.
On one dive, we wandered into the territory of the feared Titan Triggerfish. Well, now it's feared, but when we were told about them in the briefing, I thought about the Trigger we have in the Baltimore Aquarium, which mildly defends a 5' area when nesting, and wasn't exactly worried. What a mistake! Titans are ferocious and all of a sudden this BIG fish with BIG teeth is all over me! It seemed poised to take a large, bloody piece out of me so I kept swivelling to keep my fins in between us, and accidently kicked it in the side of the face when it was trying to get at me. That just made things worse. Plus, the radius they claim is so big, I couldn't figure out which way I needed to flee and we went round and round for a good long time. I finally got clear and turned to see Theresa being accosted by TWO! She looked a little freaked with huge clouds of exhaled bubbles swirling upwards and was ascending a bit too fast without realizing it, so I went over and (Bravely? Stupidly? You decide...) waved my bright yellow fins at them to lure them away from her and got into it with them again. Finally got clear and mentally resolved to never, ever go near one again, whew.
Did my 1000th dive as a shore dive with Theresa and her Swiss friend Catherine and it turned into a looooong 1:52 dive, trending up from 58'. Saw tons of reef life, two turtles, a Titan Trigger I kept way away from, (fool me once, umm, don't get bit again?) and just had a long, leisurely beautiful time - a nicely memorable milestone dive!
My last day of diving was a pair of dives at Chumphon Point, one of the premier sites in Koh Tao, known for its sharks. Well the first dive was one of my worst ever - weird vertical thermoclines, horrible vis, changing currents and about a million and a half stinging jellyfish. Picked the perfect dive to skip the wetsuit! Dodged them as long as I could, but they were so thick, I got trapped and stung bunches of times, but getting it across the lips was the worst. (I completely felt like that scene in Finding Nemo - "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...!") Cut the dive at 40 minutes and the group fled to the boat for vinegar baths. At the end of the surface interval, Shan stuck her head in the water, (bravely, I might add,) and we found the currents had blown all the jellies away so we went back in again. Honestly, I had half a mind to skip it, but my fear of missing something good drove me into the water, and Thank God I went - it was one of my best dives ever! It's amazing what a difference an hour can make - water warmer and clearer, currents quieter and no more jellies! Absolutely huge schools of jacks, barracuda, fusiliers and other smaller baitfish were everywhere - my buddy's dive plan: "Let's hang out with the bait!" sure paid off when we saw Blacktips and some really big Bull Sharks. They cruised through every 5 minutes or so along with some really large tuna and I was in Heaven. We were so reluctant to leave, we wound up going into a couple minutes worth of deco just enjoying the view. What a great last dive in Koh Tao.

Above water, Koh Tao is absolutely beautiful, wild and rugged, but with a pretty developed area called Sairee Beach, with lots of cool restaurants and some awesome bars. In Thailand, they serve drinks in buckets and even have a concentrated form of Red Bull, so you know I had some long nights.

Speaking of partying, we took a couple of days and headed over to Koh Phangan for a Black Moon Party... But that's a whole 'nother story so I'll save it for later.

I grudgingly left Koh Tao this morning and am now in Koh Samui, a larger and way more built up island about two hours south. It's not really my kind of place - think Jersy Shore with more speedos and languages, but with way better food. Tomorrow, I'm taking a trip to Ang Thong National Marine Park for some snorkelling, (!) sea kayaking, and hiking. After that, I'm outta here kind of quick and off to the west side of the Thai peninsula, visiting Phuket, Krabi and Koh Phi Phi.

Stay Wet,
Ciao,
Climenze

Deep Travel Thoughts

I never read the dedications at the front of books, what do I care if the author's sister's cousin's gardener's dentist contributed anything? But on the next page was this astounding quote:


It seemed to me that by a long journey to some far distant country I might renew myself... I journeyed to the Far East. I went looking for adventure and romance, and so I found them... but I found also something I had never expected. I found a new self.
-W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM


I love it when the world sends you a little sign.
It's about the journey, my friends...

One Night In Bangkok...

...makes a hard man humble, as they say, and this city is definitely humbling. It's huge - about 12 million people, loud, and the traffic makes DC look like South Dakota.

I got here early in the morning Thursday and figured out the Public Bus system and got into town. Traffic is scary - the best way to get around is on the back of a motobike as it weaves between the lanes of stuck cars and buses. Pedestrians be wary - they even hop onto the sidewalk sometimes and traffic signals are only considered "suggestions," it's hilarious to watch the group psychology at work as first one, then two, then a flood of scooters decide a red-light is too long and just gun it across! It works, but it's quite exciting. My hostel is fine, not 5-star, but then again it's $8 a night with full American Breakfast! Walked all over town all day, and realized just how big it is! Finally gave in and took their elevated Metro home, it's better than DC Metro - no surprise there.

I had found a website which recommends places and routes for runners in cities all over the world and went for a run in Lumphini Park, it's pretty with some lakes and lots of runners. I talked to an expat running alongside and it's the only place in town that won't destroy your lungs. When I went back in the afternoon and took some pictures, there was a uniformed class of girls singing their lessons and I sat and listened for awhile. When the class broke up to head back to school, I got some fun posed shots. Around dinner time I met a girl staying at the hostel named Sofia (from Woodbridge, VA, of course. That's my second small world story - I met a girl on Magnetic Island from Herndon!) and we went to dinner then grabbed some others and went to the infamous Khao San Road for a night out. It's a really big scene, with mostly backpackers packing into hostels and lots of bars and nightlife.

The next day I played tourist with Javier, (from Mexico and Texas,) taking a city bus across town to see the Grand Palace, Wat Pho, and Wat Phra Kaeo. Then I took a longtailboat up the Chao Phrya River the throughout the canals of the Thonburi neighborhood. These boats are long skinny things with car engines balanced and mounted on a long pole that angles down to the water about ten feet behind the boat. On the way home, we took some time to shop around the Siam Square shopping warren, and that night we grabbed Sofia and it was back to Khao San again. On the way home very late at night, we also took a spin through the Soi Cowboy redlight district. And to all who warned me about the "girlie boy" hookers, so far they've been pretty obvious and easy to avoid. All in all, it was a very busy day!

Some Thailand observations and sweeping and probably inaccurate generalizations...
Thais are some of the happiest, smiliest people I've seen - willing to stop and help, patient with language difficulties and very understanding. Case in point - Bourne Ultimatum - I bought a ticket and soon found that the despite being advertised as being in English that it wasn't, whoops! No worries, got a refund and a written list of other theatres and times I could find the version I needed. Can you imagine that kind of help from the sullen teen at the local mega-plex?
Thais are also proud of their culture, and are so very willing to share it with you. I've been exploring the food, (I'm in heaven here,) gotten a massage and taken in some traditional street performers.
Sometimes they are too helpful - constantly bugging you to get a taxi, steering you into shops and offering all kinds of tours and, ummm, services. When I was walking out of the Grand Palace on my way to Wat Pho and the famous reclining Buddha, I was advised that it was closed for "Buddha Day" and that I should go see the Lucky Buddha instead. It sounded fishy so I checked out Wat Pho anyway and it was open as normal. So much for my planned "Buddha Day" celebrations...
My favorite thing is all the street food vendors and sidewalk portable restaurants, (imagine if the local hot dog cart carried around a bunch of plastic outdoor tables and chairs...) It's all ridiculously cheap and very good, though they are serious about the spice here as I've painfully learned. I've been trying all kinds of weird things and found lots of great new tastes.
My favorite funny thing is that instead of chemical cakes in urinals, they just toss in a handful of lime slices. Cheap, effective, and good for the enviroment!

Saturday I ran errands, got a traditional Thai massage, and got set to go south to the islands for some much anticipated scuba diving!!! Took an overnight bus, then a ferry and arrived bright and early in the morning. I'll post about Koh Tao and Koh Phangan later, now I'm off to catch a dive boat!

Stay Wet,
C

SS Yongala Diving

In 1911, the SS Yongala was due to port in Townsville, but disappeared in a cyclone and never arrived. When the body of a racehorse she was transporting washed up on a beach days later, it was realized the worst had happened and she was lost. Nobody knew where she was until the wreck site was discovered in 1947. The 100m ship lies listing on her starboard side in 30m of water, she's in one piece with her masts lying over in the sand.

They say you can still spot some coral-encrusted bones in the hold, but I couldn't tell. It's a three hour cruise out to the site, but completely worth it! We did two dives, about 50 minutes each. The wreck is literally teeming with fish of all shapes and sizes and at least three turtles, sea-snakes, eels, and a quartet of giant potato cod (local name for a goliath grouper, I figure.) Jenn thought she saw a shark when we hopped in but couldn't tell the species... The other divers were a great bunch - some marine bio types and lots of trekkers so I got some great advice for my future wanderings. It also helped keep my mind off the 71F water temp - brrrrrrr in my 3mm! Jenn was toasty in her 5mm PLUS hooded vest and I just know I'm gonna be hearing some "Remember when Clement called the dive because the poor baby was chilly?" comments in my future.

The dive crew from Adrenalin Dive was very sharp and they had meals and snacks galore for the long ride home. When you consider they picked us up from home at 6:30 AM and dropped us back off around 7PM, it's a looong day for those guys...

Off to Bangkok next, I'll keep you posted!

Ciao and stay wet,
C

Hello from Oz!

I don't know why the nickname for Australia is Oz, a tornado from Kansas would be a much easier and quicker way to get here. I left Newark, NJ on Monday and landed in the morning of Wednesday, August 1st. Tuesday, July 31st never existed for me and never will. That day is gone forever.

So I was thinking, if two days passed in my frame of reference and three days passed for the rest of the world, I am now a day younger than when I left. This has happened to me before, (and all travelers, too,) when I've crossed the International dateline, but I've always gained the day back upon the flight home. But this time, I'm never heading east, my plans are to continue west country by country until I get home next year, so I'll never regain that day! The world has left me behind by a day. Since my birthday is supposed to arrive 365 days after the last one, from a personal biological perspective, my birthday is now March 28th!! The rest of the world will be celebrating the 27th, but I will know the awful truth - that I've now come unglued from my Birthday. I expect some therapy will help me with this... The good news is that I have now discovered a fool-proof, (but expensive,) way to stop the aging process - get your airline mileage points programs ready!

Australia is a wonderful country - scenic, friendly, and so much to do, and Jenn has made me so welcome. I cannot thank her enough. She has housed me, put up with me falling asleep at odd moments as my body adjusts its clock, and taken time out from a really hectic post-grad study schedule to play tour-guide and dive-buddy with me. We've trekked into some beautiful wilderness, dove one of the best wrecks in the world, and ferried out to a scenic tropical getaway isle for a day of secluded beaches, hikes and VB's at sunset.

And I'll write more about them later when I've got the pictures out of my camera. For now, I thought I'd entertain you with some Aussie observations and stories, OK?

First, something near and dear to my heart - beer.
They've got it good here - lots of variety - Victoria Bitter, XXXX Gold (my fave)XXXX Bitter, Toohey's, Carlton, Cooper's, (and I'm sure I'm leaving some out,) and they all have been really good. And Foster's which is the only Aussie beer I don't like, is nowhere to be found. I guess they ship the crap to the Americans with a slick ad campaign. No hard feelings, there's a bunch of KFCs and McDonald's here so it's about even.

I expect that when Starbuck's arrives Down Under, the Australians will have to retaliate in some way, and I'm afraid I know what that will be... The men here sure like shorts. Short shorts. Reno 911! shorts. Almost hotpants shorts. And they wear them with dark socks, too. And it's not just an old man thing, it's everyone. Imagine this coming to America and catching on !

On Thursday, Jenn and I rented a car to explore some of the "Bush" nearby. (It's not a lame president here, it's any wild areas that are not quite the Outback, which is REALLY out there.) As Oz is a former UK penal colony, they drive on the left and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, which led to some entertainment. Oh, don't worry, the driving went fine (traffic circles are hair-raising, though,) the pedals and dashboard are all the same, but there are some definite differences. The stick shift is in the middle, so you use your left to (try to) find gears. I got used to that easily, probably thanks to my Dad who used to let me shift from the passenger seat as a kid. The rearview mirror is now on the windshield to your left (weird feeling,) and the most aggravating difference of all was that they flip the turn signal arm and windshield wiper controls, too. So anyone driving around us was under the clear impression that I was pursued by micro rainshowers every time I tried to make a turn. This never got better.

Another driving related peculiarity was that the taxis here have a light bar across the top as if they were the police. Once again, drivers around me were probably wondering what I was doing hitting the brakes at (to them,) random moments.

Finally, the scariest driving moment of all occurred late in the afternoon as we were playing rally car down a dirt track after a beautiful hike to Jourama Falls on our way to a town called Ingham to find an Italian restaurant for dinner (or any restaurant... We failed by the way. Jenn's guidebook was wayyyy wrong.) Our little (really little!) Hyundai was doing 100, (don't panic - it's metric!) power sliding around corners and drifting through the gentle turns and leaving a hugely satisfying dust cloud behind us... Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of something approaching from the left and bounding into the road!!! Literally bounding because it's a kangaroo! (Which are not small animals!) In a second Jenn is making strange noises and I'm standing on the brakes as much as I dare as this terrified looking 'Roo completely cuts us off and continues up the track right in front of us! Luckily, I've slowed us enough and it's fast enough that we miss by about five feet and the kangaroo hangs a right and disappears into the sugarcane. Back in the Hyundai, there is some heavy breathing and startled, nervous, adrenalin-fueled laughter as we contemplate what the rental car would have looked like with a marsupial hood ornament. Then Jenn decides to educate me, "Yeah, you've gotta watch out around dusk - that's when they come out!" Thanks for the timely advice, Jenn.

I'll do a whole entry about the scuba diving tomorrow if I get the pictures downloaded, but I wanted to mention that we took a ferry over to Magnetic Island yesterday. Captain James Cook named it on one of his voyages when it affected his compass, maybe he was into the grog because noone since has had a problem, but the name stuck. What a beautiful place! Two thirds National Park with a couple of small villages and resorts sprinkled around, I was strongly reminded of St John's in the US Virgin Islands. We hiked to some picturesque and romantic deserted beaches, took a guided nature hike and saw Koalas, pythons, crocs and all manner of exciting wildlife. I even got to eat an ant! (Citrusy and subtle with a touch of earthiness, must have been a good year...) Then we settled into a beachside cafe and toasted the beautiful sunset before catching the ferry back to Townsville.

That's all for now,
Ciao and take care,
C