Thailand





14 Jan: Back to Thailand to Khao Lak

This morning we left Siem Reap by plane to Phuket in Thailand, with an immigration stop in Bangkok. We were surprised we had to pay a passenger fee to leave Cambodia (we didn't have a Cambodia guide book ...). Fortunately we had just enough dollars to pay ! Not a cheap country to visit for a few days, what with the visa cost and departure cost... Fortunately there's no departure tax to pay in Bangkok as we pass through the airport 5 times !

The bungalow in the Pho Khao Lak Resort is very basic (not even a flush toilet, but a bucket of water to flush the loo with!) but the setting in the middle of a coconut grove and neatly mowed lawn is  idyllic. First we went to the dive centre to get all our diving equipment prepared and then we walked down to the beach for a swim and snorkel. The beach is a 5 minute walk from the hotel and is lovely with large granite boulders, white sands, lots of spiral shells with hermit crabs and rock pools full of life, including a small white starfish. The girls snorkelled around a bit with François, before we enjoyed a drink in a beach bar watching the sunset...

Beach in Khao Lak Bungalow in Pho Khao Lak Resort

15 Jan: First day of the Similan dive cruise

An early start this morning to travel out to the Similan Islands in the dive boat. A 4 hour journey and unfortunately there was quite a bit of wind, and hence waves... There's apparently a tropical storm in Indonesia at the moment and the Thai coast is on the edge of the storm. Everybody took sea-sickness tablets, but that didn't prevent Gaelle from being ill 3 times and Sophie and François from feeling very quezy... Our first dive was at 14:30 at Honeymoon Bay. It was a colourful dive; there was quite a lot of coral, beautiful clear turquoise waters, lots of tropical fish and a moray eel. Unfortunately, one of the divers breathed their air twice as fast as us and we had to end the dive after only 32 minutes. Quite frustrating when we still had 110 bars left in our bottles... The second dive was a disaster for me. I had trouble equalising my ears on the way down, thanks to my sore throat that had been bugging me for a few days. On the way back up, my left ear wouldn't equalise properly and when I managed to surface I had a bit of  blood in my ear - diagnosis a damaged ear drum, antibiotic ear drops and no more water in the ear for 2 weeks... In other words, that was the end of my diving in the Similans :-( On the bright side of things, the dive was really beautiful; lovely soft coral and gorgonians and the highlight, a puffer fish !

The girls enjoyed their afternoon on the beach with Filip (a Belgium snorkelling guide) who took them snorkelling and played with them on the beach all afternoon.

The night on the boat was awful. François and I hardly slept a wink because of the waves rocking the boat and the noise of the boat's generator. It was so rough that we were worried that Gaelle would fall from the top bunk in her cabin, so François swapped beds with her in the middle of the night.

Similan Islands Granite  boulders in the Similan Islands

16 Jan: Second day of the Similan dive cruise

It was a big dive day today. François had 4 dives to do starting at 7 in the morning. The girls had a more leisurely start at 10 o'clock for snorkelling. A guide lent Jenny a diving mask with ears in order to keep her ears dry to accompany the girls snorkelling. That put a smile back on her face! Unfortunately it leaked though, so her joy was short lived... Gaelle, Sophie, Jenny and their snorkelling guide Filip went to the beach, Donald Duck Bay, in the afternoon. It was spectacular, lovely fine white sand and large granite boulders with a jungle backdrop and beautiful turquoise fish-filled waters. The divers came to join us for a hike up to the top of a stack of boulders called S ail Rock , where we had a magnificent view of the bays on both sides of the island. There's a campsite with tents on the island and we were offered a couple of tents for the night in order to get a better night's sleep. We jumped at the chance ! The dinghy boat took us to shore after dinner and we inflated our mattresses and settled down for a good quiet night's sleep.

A turtle swam by the boat in the evening - the girls first turtle sighting !

François on his second dive The girls snorkelling in Donald Duck Bay Sail Rock

17 Jan: Third day of the Similan dive cruise

Another early start to the day, the dinghy boat came to pick us up from the beach at 6:30... First dive and snorkelling for Gaelle at 7:45 (Sophie wasn't in the mood). Gaelle had a very nice snorkel outing - the visibility was very good and she saw a moray eel, giant purple clams, mackerel, Nemo's cousins (clown fish), Dory (powder-blue surgeonfish), clown triggerfish and fire coral.

We did a second dive and snorkelling session on another island (Kho Bohn) before lunch with the hope of spotting a manta ray (3-4 metres wide). Unfortunately there were no manta sightings, but pretty reef walls and large Napoleon fish (Giant Wrasse) were seen.

Third and last dive of the day on the ship wreck PromChai (9th dive in 3 days), with a very good visibility for this site situated so close to the coast. The wreck was inhabited by a huge quantity of tropical fish, in particular lots of scorpion fish and lion fish, including babies.

Then back to the port in Khao Lak and farewell to our guides and fellow divers. François returned to the bungalow in Phu Khao Lak Resort with the girls, whilst Jenny went to the doctors to get her ear checked out to evaluate the damage (fortunately it wasn't painful, just a constant whistle in the ear).

We will retain beautiful images of this, our first dive cruise, but for Jenny it was a big disappointment. We both have  the certitude that diving is great fun, but even better when you have a room on firm ground for the night !

Sophie on the boat overlooking the first dive and snorkelling spot Kho Bohn island

18 Jan: A lazy day in Khoa Lak

Today we chilled out on the beach and at the pool at the hotel in Khao Lak. The girls found a dead scorpion in the swimming pool - arrrgh !!


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