Oh baby baby, how was I supposed to know.
First stop – King Cruiser Wreck. It’s this huge sunken passenger ferry that’s now teeming with marine life.
Second stop – Shark Point. Where we saw my first leopard shark. The colours here are breathtaking.
Third stop – Koh Doc Mai. I think lionfish are one of the most beautiful creatures ever.
For the full album, click here.
When I was young, my dad used to wake us up early every morning to run along the beach. He’d run and us kids would walk, dragging our feet and complaining about not getting to sleep in. Since this was only possible when we were on an island – Penang, usually – we didn’t have to do it too often.
At the time, the only thing we hated more than getting dragged out of bed was having to make the annual family pilgrimage to Penang in the first place, so it’s funny that I now have a special love for the beach. Not for suntanning or people-watching or whatever else you may associate with going to the beach, but for the sand and the open skies and the way the ocean’s waves lap at its edges.
I love wading into the waves, I love walking along the water’s edge and staring out to sea. There’s a certain majesty and, at the same time, a peaceful calm to the beach. You sense the ferocious strength that lurks beneath the gentle surface of the water, and the unseen powers that moulded the ocean and created the skies in the first place.
The beach gives me perspective, reminds me how small I am in the scheme and beauty of everything else, gives me the chance to quiet my heart and my mind, and turns my eyes to the Creator of it all. It rights everything inside in a way that few other things can.
Y understands that I love the beach, even though it doesn’t do for him what it does for me. But he remembers my need to go barefoot in the sand, to walk in the shallows and feel the waves, and to take a moment to breathe in the open space. It’s probably the one place Mr. Long Legs doesn’t hurry me and tell me I’m walking too slowly. Even though I am, incredibly so. See the two guys in boardshorts walking ahead in the photo? That’s Y with Mark.
Last week was the second time Y and I had visited Phuket in two years and I don’t know if anyone has ever said this, but you learn much more about a place when things aren’t going quite so well.
The most important lesson I learnt, and that I think everyone who goes to Phuket should know, is that you can’t exchange/get a refund on something as soon as you touch it.
Case in point #1:
We had dinner at this great restaurant one night. I ordered “chilled young coconut”, those are the exact words on the menu. The coconut arrives. I take a sip. And another. Then I try to scrape off some coconut flesh and discover that it’s rock hard.
I tell the waitress the “young” coconut isn’t all that youthful after all and I want to change it for another one. She tells me she can’t give me another one because I’ve already taken a sip. Apparently, the very first thing I should have done is try the flesh before taking a sip. That way, we guessed, if I reject it for whatever reason, they can bring me a new one and give mine to someone else.
Case in point #2:
We booked ourselves a fishing/snorkelling trip. As the boat heads out to sea, we discover it’s actually in terrible condition and, upon checking the brochure, that it’s not the exact boat we had been promised. Worse, when it comes time for snorkelling, we discover that the “snorkelling destination” isn’t really for snorkelling because there’s nothing to see, and the boat didn’t have any snorkelling equipment anyway.
We ask to go back immediately, cutting what was supposed to be an eight-hour outing down to four. Then we go back to the tour operator and tell him we want half our money back – not too unreasonable, we hoped, seeing as we only got to do half of what was promised in half the time originally agreed.
The manager refuses. He gives us back an eighth of what we paid and tells us that if the boat didn’t have the equipment and wasn’t the same one, we shouldn’t have gotten on in the first place. Apparently, we should have inspected the boat and grilled the crew about equipment before setting foot on it.
So now I know.
When I see something big and not-so-common for the first time, there’s always a feeling of, “Oh my God I can’t believe I’m looking at a _____.” Meet my first leopard shark. It’s only a baby but it was still pretty damn cool.
Y and I are back from our four-day trip to Phuket. It was way more eventful than we would have liked – for starters, one of us got deported from Phuket because of visa problems and another almost couldn’t come back, long stories those – but it was a great trip with fantastic company all the same. We’ll make the next one less exciting.
Pictures (definitely) and more details (maybe) to come when I can. For now, I have the sniffles to combat and work is barely allowing me time to even breathe.
(Photo taken by Neil Stretch. Thanks mostly to leopark shark up there, Y and I bought the photos from our dives.)
Y and I are officially hooked on scuba diving after our recent Phuket trip. Here are some photos (neither of us in full gear and bubbles though):
Patong is all about shops and tourists. We couldn’t even find ourselves an authentic Thai meal because everything is steak, seafood and non-spicy Asian!
Heaps of tourists rent motorbikes to get around Phuket. Check out the “petrol stations” – the gas “pumps” look like IV drips for Frankenstein!
The boat we went diving with. It was top notch!
At the err… head(?) of the boat. I forget what the proper term is. I love the sun.
One of our dive sites. The two black dots are divers on the surface, the dark spots are coral reefs.
Karon beach. There are, quite literally, miles and miles of deckchairs in Phuket.
Y and I, while waiting for our burgers by the beach.
Look who we found during a sunset stroll along Kata beach! No, we didn’t take him home.
For all 49 of our Phuket photos, go here.
going to Phuket, Thailand! I’m really excited because:
a) I’ve never been to Phuket.
b) I love beaches.
c) I am always happy to travel.
Lucky for Y, I believe in spending money on flights, food, accomodation and seeing-the-world experiences, as opposed to on clothes, shoes, bags and make-up. Not that I don’t shop, but let’s just say I’m very, very controlled in that area.
Now to wrap up my work, pack our bags and catch that plane!
