And last, but not least... THAILAND!
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Saturday, August 4: It was love at first sight! We flew from Vietnam to Bangkok to Phuket -- just seeing the islands from the plane made me instantly fall in love with Thailand. We arrived at our hotel,
The Boathouse - located right on the beach! We immediately jumped in the warm water and enjoyed our first (of many) Thai sunsets. They really are the best in the world, I must say. That night we explored the town of Kata Beach and instantly felt better about it than we did Vietnam. The smells were better, the food was all amazing, we felt safe, there weren't people constantly honking, and the Thai's are the nicest people in the world - always smiling! Our first meal was in a restaurant adjoined to the hotel called Re Ca Ta. We had our first (of many) delicious Thai dinners. We called it an early night, because the very next morning we were already off on our first day adventure. I would have liked one day to relax before jumping into things, but that's just how it worked out. Go with the flow!
Hello Thailand!
First Thai Sunset
First Thai Dinner
Kata Beach
Sunday, August 5: Rise and Shine! We woke up early to set out on our day adventure, which included Monkey Cave, White Water Rafting, riding elephants, and jumping off waterfalls - Adrenaline junkies we sure are! I had no idea what to expect when we got to the monkeys, but boy was this not it. They were literally EVERYWHERE and not scared of humans in the slightest. We bought food to feed them and they definitely recognized it. Next thing I know they're literally jumping from the trees onto us, grabbing the food from our hands, and even trying to reach into our pockets to get a snack. They are ruthless animals... The babies sure were cute though! I tried to give my food to the skinny ones, but the big monkeys kept muscling their way in and grabbing it or jumping on me, and I have to admit, I was slightly nervous they might bite me so I usually quickly gave in. Still fun though, but I don't need to see monkeys for a while - I definitely got my fill.
Monkey Cave
From there we headed to the river for the rafting portion of our "action-packed" day. They explained that since this is the low season, the river is slower therefore the rapids wouldn't be as strong and we wouldn't be able to travel all the way to the end. There was a 5k trip and a 9k level 3 and 4 rapid portion. Our raft only carried us, a pair of sisters from Germany and two guides. The guides were hilarious, constantly goofing around, splashing water at guests, trying to tip boats, etc. Let's just say they weren't concerned about liabilities like we would be in the states. We didn't sign anything before participating in this "thrill ride", oh Asia. They ended up "opening the flood gates" or the dam and released all of the water onto the river. The rapids grew exponentially and it was a blast! We reached the end of the 5k portion where everyone exited, while our guide informed us if we'd like to go all the way down the 9k rapids we could, so of course we did! It was definitely worth it. I'm not gonna lie, it got a little hairy in some spots, but at that point I just stopped paddling and held on, while Michael and our two guides paddled through :-)
Next on the agenda: Elephants! Ours was 40 years old and such a sweetheart. The guide took us on a 30 minute ride around the jungle and up the river where I had the opportunity to ride behind her head - such fun! You actually have to balance up there when they walk side-to-side especially as she's trudging down a steep decline. She knew all of the stops she was supposed to make even before her trainer gave her the signal, along with all of the poses and photo ops... it sure made for good pictures! Afterwards we fed her bananas -- She eats an enormous amount of food each day, approximately 1,200 pounds. We placed the bananas one at a time on her forehead and she would reach up with her trunk to grab them and feed herself. She really was sweet :-)
White Water Rafting
Elephant Ride
Feeding bananas...
After that excitement we headed to the waterfall - a small pool with a ledge to jump off into the water. Of course we both just had to do it. Every time either of us jumped, I guess it looked impressive because the crowd below would "woo" and "ahh". I only jumped (no flip or dive for me), but I guess it still looked exciting. Ha!
Back to the hotel, we walked around and found a dive shop, so what did we do? Booked a trip for the next day, of course. No slowing down for us!
Monday, August 6: Up early, on the truck and headed to the pier. We booked through this dive company called
Phuket Scuba Club and when we scheduled the dive, the owner, Kevan was lovely and really made me feel comfortable. He suggested for my first day back in the water that we should do
Racha Yai - a two dive day, but not the best Thailand has to offer. We agreed to see how I felt after the dives and then could book another day if we desired. We arrived at the pier, jumped on our boat, and off we were on the hour and a half boat ride to Racha Yai. The water was 85 degrees, crystal blue and amazing. (I didn't even get cold and that says a lot coming from me!) We saw thousands of fish, along with the coral farm they are attempting to grow. For our second dive, we had a small wreck - my first wreck dive! I was excited and nervous since I had never done one before and wasn't too sure how I would react. Thankfully it was small and good practice for me, the novice. We had another long dive and I had great air consumption again! The wreck was a small boat, which we swam through (complete with a toilet that I attempted to sit on, but knocked over instead :-P ) All in all, we had a great dive day, headed back to the hotel and just relaxed the rest of the night.
Racha Yai
Will be adding more dive pictures next weekend...
Another gorgeous sunset
Tuesday, August 7: A much needed relaxing day awaited... Besides lounging on the beach, the only thing we were obligated to do was move to our last hotel of the trip (so we thought) and boy was this hotel unbelievable. I'll have to show you because words just won't do it justice, then again pictures won't either, but I can honestly say it was the most amazing hotel I had ever seen. We walked into the bedroom and the windows/doors opened up fully onto our own private infinity pool!! We even had our own lounge and dining areas. It was gorgeous!
After we got settled, we strolled around KataThani and then ended up back at the dive shop. Since my first day went so perfectly, we booked the second day! I still would have liked to just relax or toured Phi Phi Island aka
The Beach from the 2000 movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, but "When in Rome!". That meant our schedule for the last few days in the Orient would be dive Wednesday, relax Thursday, fly to Bangkok Friday, and home Saturday. Go, go, go. But that's just how we are :-)
Good night Thailand
Wednesday, August 8: We woke up early for our second day of diving: 3 dives at
Ko Dok Mai, King Cruiser wreck, and Shark Point. As Kevan said these aren't for beginners; they're "big boy" dives. I felt like I would be able to handle it, and if not then I could choose to only do two dives. (After today, I would have 13 dives under my belt - Practically a pro!) We started out, and it was smooth sailing... Monday the seas were a little rough, but Wednesday brought us great conditions. We had an hour boat ride out to Ko Dok Mai which was a drift dive, my first. I was nervous again, but it was actually a ton of fun! You don't even have to swim, just descend and watch the reef pass right in front of you - Almost like a movie! The colors were vibrant and the coral beautiful.
Our Dive Boat
Dive 1: Ko Dok Mai
Can you see the Sea Horse? (He's orange and sideways)
Dive 2: King Cruiser Wreck
We had our surface interval and then were back in the water for our
second dive at King Cruiser. I was glad I had the practice wreck
on Monday because this one was huge! It was an old ferry boat, about 262 feet
long, and 18 meters below the surface. Enormous! We only saw a
small portion of the wreck since it was so deep, and the current was
strong, but manageable. I honestly have never seen anything like it
before. The amount of schools of fish that were surrounding us, I mean
completely surrounding us, was amazing! It was so dense I could see how
someone could even get claustrophobic. We swam through sections of the
boat that were still safe, but couldn't penetrate all of it as it has
started to erode and fall apart, but it was still incredible. Another
great dive!
Dive 3: Shark Point
We surfaced for lunch and enjoyed a 1.5 hour break before we were
back in the water for our third and final dive at Shark Point. I felt
great so I didn't even question doing the last dive. And I'm so glad I
did... The colors of the coral were bright pink and purple with shades
of everything in between. We saw four eels, two sting rays, giant clams
and fans, and every fish you could imagine. It really was amazing. That
paired with the warm water just made the dive so incredible; I didn't
think it could compete with the Red Sea, but it definitely came close!
Beautiful...
After the dive, we relaxed, enjoyed a beer, laid out on the front of
the boat in the sun, and cruised for two hours back to the dock. We
chatted with our dive master, Phill, for a while and really had a good
time. Upon returning to the pier around 4:00pm we jumped in the truck and
headed back to the hotel, Kata Thani The Shore on Kata Noi. This is where
everything changes....
- - -
As most of you know I got decompression sickness, or
The Bends,
after those dives. For those of you who aren't familiar with this, it
is every divers worst nightmare. Long story short, I had a freak
accident, not because I came up too fast, but probably because of
dehydration or exhaustion as these can increase your chances as well.
Needless to say, I had marbleizing (black and blue bruising) on the backs of
my legs, hunched over (that's why they call it the Bends, I suppose)
and in an excruciating amount of pain. Our dive shop owner, Kevan, truly
is my life saver. He helped fund the Decompression Chamber in Phuket,
called his friend who worked there, put me on oxygen, and sent me on my
way to the Emergency Room. I ended up spending 5 hours in the
Hyperbaric Chamber
that first night -- It was a small submarine looking vessel with two
beds (one for me, one for the medic) and a sheet draped to project
movies onto. Let's just say, it was a loooooong night...
The Decompression Chamber: My 8-hour home...
Thursday, August 9: We got back to the hotel around 5am, slept for 3.5 hours then up to return to the hospital.... Another 3 hours in the chamber. Ugh. This last stint was as a precaution since you're not allowed to fly or change elevation for 72 hours; we had to push our flight back a day and were scheduled to fly home at 73 hours. They were being safe and I appreciated that since I was so very far away from home :-\
I was finally discharged on Thursday and overwhelmed with relief! After that very "exciting" day, I was ready to just relax; in bed by 8pm, ordered room service, threw in a movie and was asleep by 8:30pm. Obviously, very much needed.
Friday, August 10: I slept a solid 12 hours which my body desperately needed, but was still very weak. It was even difficult to just walk up a flight of stairs... A very frustrating and weird experience for me considering my usual workout routine with
Insanity and
Asylum. But that is expected to improve soon, I hope. We had a lazy day, relaxed on the beach in front of our resort, walked around the town, and went back to the dive shop to thank Kevan and Chantal for all of their help. Kevan gave me my first beer since the "accident" and it sure did taste good :-) He said that our dive master, Phill, had been calling to check on me - we wanted to make sure he didn't feel responsible in any way, shape, or form. After we gave Kevan and Chantal their thank you note, gift of a small plush turtle, and a case of Heineken, we headed back to the hotel for dinner. But first we booked a day trip to Phi Phi Island for Saturday morning. We said we wished we had one more day in Phuket to visit Phi Phi and now we did. I thought I would be able to handle it, so we booked. Silly, I know.
Kata Thani The Shore
Saturday, August 11: We had another early morning, which was a little tough for me considering my condition, but I managed. We arrived at the pier and headed to the islands on a speed boat filled with about 30 people. Our first stop was Bamboo Island for snorkeling -- Don't let the name fool you; there is no bamboo there! But there were hundreds of tourists snorkeling... It was pretty ridiculous actually. Nevertheless, in I went. It wasn't long before I realized there was really nothing to see besides a few fish, a sandy bottom, and dead coral. Seems a little lame after diving, but I still enjoy snorkeling. It's been a long time since I've done it. We took a walk a little ways down where there were less tourists - the beach was stunning!
Phuket Pier
Boat to Phi Phi Island
Bamboo Island
Our next stop was in the middle of the bay where we jumped off the boat
to snorkel for a while. This spot was much better; the water was crystal
blue, so warm, and there were hundreds of fish. It was a lot of fun
just swimming around, and it felt surprisingly good to be back in the water,
but I was careful to listen to my body. I didn't want to over do it and
I knew I wasn't supposed to be out in the sun for too long. I swam
around for a bit, then once I felt tired, retreated to the boat.
Snorkeling fun!
Next it was lunch time on Phi Phi Noi, the main island (not the one
where they filmed "The Beach"). A very interesting island with a fun
vibe - Backpackers everywhere! I'd definitely like to stay there next
time I come. Then it was off to Monkey Island, but there were only
a few monkeys and we weren't that impressed since we had already seen hundreds a few days before so we decided to stay on the boat and watched from
afar. We then floated past Viking Cave and pulled into a gorgeous bay
that was absolutely stunning! We jumped off the front of the boat and
swam around for a bit until it was finally off to our final
destination, Phi Phi aka The Beach.
Phi Phi Noi (Main Island)
Viking Cave
When we pulled into the cove at Phi Phi Island I quickly realized what everyone had been telling us... It's a
tourist trap. According to our guide, over 1,000 tourists visit
the island in the mornings which is why we waited until the afternoon. I
couldn't even imagine that many people on such a small beach. We
explored the island as it is very small, but beautiful with a tropical
landscape. We even found a gorgeous bay on the other side of the island,
Maya - The colors were unreal. After we ventured a bit more, I was
pretty tired and took a nap on the beach...
Phi Phi Island aka THE BEACH
Maya Bay
Our speed boat
Goodbye Phi Phi
On
the boat and headed to the hotel to change for our last meal which we
had back at The Shore, our favorite hotel (Yes, we had to switch to the
KataThani for our last night since we kept extending our stay at The
Shore until they finally couldn't accommodate us, understandably so).
Dinner was great, looking over the infinity pool and onto the gorgeous
Indian Ocean/Andaman Sea. We enjoyed our last Thai sunset with some
low-lying clouds on the horizon which made the sun look as if it were on
fire.
Needless
to say, we had a wonderful last night in Thailand, but I was exhausted
and headed to bed early. Ready to be home after that scare....
Last Thai Sunset...
Sunday, August 12: Last day in Thailand was definitely bittersweet. We enjoyed one last walk on the beach, put our toes in the water, packed up and headed to the airport. On our way out of town, we had the taxi slow down in front of the dive shop so we could wave goodbye to Kevan one last time - He really is my lifesaver. They are all such good people. I really hope we can stay in touch with them. At the Phuket airport we lounged about, my 72 hours were up so I enjoyed a couple beers before our flight, but was still a little nervous about the elevation change making sure to drink a lot of water as well.
Goodbye Thailand...
Thankfully, I felt fine on the plane and we landed safe and early in Hong Kong. After a 4 hour lay over, it was back on another flight, but this one heading home. FINALLY! It honestly felt like this day was never going to come. I just couldn't wait to be home... It had been an incredible experience, and looking back, one I'm definitely glad I took advantage of, but it's been long enough - trying, stressful, scary, yet fun and amazing - an emotional roller coaster. I learned more about myself than I thought possible, but it was time to come home. I was ready.
Next stop, LA and then San Diego! :-)
~ Home Sweet Home ~
