Thailand

COUNTRIES

Thailand and Indonesia

SITES

Ko Phang Nga - fire beach party / Ko Toa - Chumpon Pinnacle, Twin Peaks and Mango Bay dive sites / Koh Sok jungle, lake and cave / Phuket and Phi Phi - 'The Beach' from the film and Hin Daeng and Koh Ha dive sites / Bali - Batur volcano / Lombok + Gili Islands - Shark Point and Manta Bay dive sites.

Wildlife:In the water too many to mention them all but some are; dolphins, stingray, turtles, black and white tip reef shark, flying fish, cuttlefish, manta ray, nuddibranch, angelfish, trigger fish, clown fish, trumpet fish, jellyfish, barracuda, parrot fish, lobster, moray and snake eels. On dry land; civet cat, long and short tailed langur / maca monkeys, hunter spider, cave cricket, wild pig, tawny owl, white egret, asian fish eagles, king fisher, giant hornbill, skink lizard, frogs and toads.

TOP MOMENTS

1. Our 1st scuba dive in Ko Toa. A very serene, peaceful and floating feeling with a rainbow array of coral and fish in crystal clear waters.

2. Snorkeling the bays and rocks around Thailand and Indonesia. A neon coloured explosion of reef, fish and sea creatures. Everywhere you look you see something new.

3. Watching and helping an Indonesian guy land a 40-50 lb dolphin fish. Caught on a handline off the back of the Bali-Lombok ferry. (Chris)

4.Surfing the wave breaks on Kuta beach, Bali. We both managed to stand up (for the 1st time) and stay balanced on a wave for several seconds. Totally radical dude!!!

LOWEST MOMENTS

1. Realising we had been ripped of and paid twice what we should have for a tuna fishing trip. Having to argue for several hours to get most of the money back, except about 5 pounds.

2. The underwater Olympus camera deciding it did not want to be waterproof anymore and filling with water whilst snorkeling. It now refuses to work.

SCARIEST MOMENTS

1. Wading chest deep in water through a dark jungle cave tunnel, surrounded by spiders, bats and catfish (Lil).

2. Snorkeling with black tip reef sharks at Sharks Point, Ko Toa. They were not massive (1.5 to 2.0 meters long) but there were schools of 5 to 6 cruising around us only a few metres away.

UNUSUAL FOOD

Not too many weird food but plenty of very nice food. However we did eat a very strange dim sum like green parcel with banana and coconut inside.

FRUITS

Pomelo - sweet green grapefruit

White Mango - blander and less sweet than the regular green mango. Not very nice.

Snake fruit - sweet fruit with snake skin like skin.

MOSTLY MISSING

Being able to drink free clean tap water.

MOSTLY HAD FILL OFF

Early morning wake up calls from roosters (4am) and praying at Mosques (5am).

QUOTES

'It iz diving Liannah, itz not naturalle' – Freddie, French PADI dive instructor, Ko Toa.

'Hong Thong, same same but drunker' – Bom, Koh Sok jungle trekking guide

'Oh my god what have I just done?'– Rick, Phuket. Realising he has liberally sprayed his underarms with a fly killer instead of a deodorant can.

'I give you special honeymoon price' – Nearly every market vendor in Bali

SUPRISING FACTS

Bali grows wine vines and makes their own wine.

If you are rich enough you can have up to 4 wives in Indonesia.

Over half of Hollands dry land in reclaimed from the sea.

FISH CAUGHT - None, although i did help land the Dolphin fish. Also felt a bit weird about catching colourful tropical fish.

BITES and STINGS (new name)- Chris mosi 30+ (also drove into a bee on a scooter which stung me in the throat) Lil mosi 10+. We both got many small stings from microscopic jelly fish whilst diving.

TAN - Demerara sugar

NEXT ON AGENDA

Australia - West Coast Darwin to Perth

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