Thailand Tales

We knew of 2 diving destinations that are really popular with backpackers, and therefore provided the most likely chance of finding work: Koh Tao, in the Gulf of Thailand, and Koh Phi Phi on the Andaman side. From everything we knew and had heard, Koh Tao was a definite last resort. The diving's shit, most of the schools are like diving factories and it's very competitive between schools, so despite it coming towards the end of the season in the west we headed for Phi Phi.

The island was one of the hardest hit by the tsunami, but you'd hardly know it now. There's still a lot of building work going on but apart from that it's backpacker life as normal. I've never seen so many almost identical Swedes in one place, all sporting some sort of ridiculous head gear. I know we were looking for somewhere a bit more backpackery but our first reaction was 'oh my god, where have we come to?'. Identical people, identical conversations, identical restaurants, identical bars...amazing.

The diving however was excellent. We spoke to a few diveshops, and work seemed pretty thin on the ground but still a possibility, so we thought we'd do a few fundives and check the place out. After the Philippines, where fish life is pretty non-existent, we were blown away by the marine life. Nothing particularly unusual to see, but so much of what there was. Enjoying the diving was one of the prerequisites for staying in a place, so despite the work situation we decided to stay for at least a month and see what happened.

Freelancing is the life. Get up, eat, lie on the beach with phone close at hand, eat, beach, shower, eat, bed. Eventually the phone did go and I got my first course. At the same time Emma decided to do the instructor's course here so suddenly we were busy again! It felt good to be working, there really is a limit to how long you can enjoy doing nothing. Unfortuately Emma's course wasn't on Phi Phi, so I was on my own for 2 weeks. This may not seem like a big deal, but remember we'd spent pretty much every minute of every day together for the last 7 months so it did feel very strange. I mean, I had to carry my own money again and remember to pick the cigarettes up from the table!

The days passed slowly when I wasn't working so to fill a few I decided to take a quick trip down to Kuala Lumpur to watch the Grand Prix. Quick isn't really the right word - I left on Saturday morning, arrived KL Sunday, straight to the stadium, watched the race, then caught the overnight bus back. All in all a 56 hour round trip to watch a 1.5 hour race. Oh, but so worth it.

The day after I got back to Phi Phi, Barbara and Petra, 2 dutch girls we'd met on trawangan, arrived so I had company again! It's so lovely seeing people that you've met before and much tequila was drunk to celebrate. I ended up teaching Barbara her Rescue Diver course, the first one I'd taught so she was a bit of a guinea-pig, but luckily we both survived...just.

Then, at last, Emma came back, fully qualified and completely shell shocked by the real world. The instructors course is really intense and you don't realise until it's finished how out of touch with everything else you've become. It doesn't last though, and soon she was back to normal. We had some great diving together, with B and P too but then it was time to make decisions again.

Thai visas only last a month so we were going to have to leave the country whatever happened. What we had to decide was whether to come back and keep trying for work on Phi Phi or head back to Trawangan where the high season was about to start and hope we could get work there. Having Barbara and Petra there, and talking about Trawangan a lot, may have swung it, but that was only one of many reason we decided in favour of Indonesia. Gili Trawangan is such a special place for us, and feels the closest to having a 'home' out of anywhere in Asia. It's a lot cheaper to live there (Thailand was frighteningly expensive compared to Indonesia), and it's not so full of 18 year olds!

So, here I am, in Bali doing some shopping before heading to Trawangan tomorrow. It feels strange to be going back when we haven't got definite work there, and at the back of my mind is how different Malapascua was when we went back. So it's a bit of a risk, but one we're pretty sure is worth taking. Recently the need for staying somewhere for a few months has become more pressing, so work or no work we're going to stay put for a bit.

We learnt a lot form our 3 month stint in the Philippines and Thailand. We've got a much better idea of what sort of place we want to work in, and what is important in a place to us. The month in Thailand was particularly useful - Emma had an excellent instructor's course (which you don't get everywhere), we've made some good contacts with diveshops there, I got some good teaching experience, and I got to top up my tan. We learnt more about what we don't want in the Philippines but that's still useful.

So another chapter begins...

Contrary to popular belief, I am alive and well. Ok, I know my blogging rate has slowed somewhat but once every three months isn't too bad. It's a hectic life I lead out here, you know.

So what's been going on then? If I tried to write about everything I think I'd drive myself crazy so I'll try and give a brief rundown.

Malapascua didn't work out at all. Emma and I both had instinctive reservations about going back and in hind sight we should have listened to these. We knew it would be different going back to work properly but it was more than that. The atmosphere in the diveshop was pretty highly charged and it was very hard to feel relaxed there. With a whole world out there we decided we didn't need to stay in a place where we didn't feel comfortable, job or no job, so we left after 5 weeks. Not before, however, Carol, Emma's mum, came out to visit...and learn to dive! Having never met her before, the thought of teaching her to dive was a little nervewracking but I shouldn't have worried at all. She was brilliant (in the water and out of it) and it was an excellent way for us to get to know each other. Poor Carol though, did have to spend a large part of her holiday listening to us moaning and trying to decide what to do, leave or stay. She was a superb sounding board though, and her advice very much appreciated.

With Carol's visit, plus a visit from Simon who we worked with on Trawangan, we managed to retain our sanity and not punch anyone, and finally left towards the end of Feb. It felt sad to leave a place we both had loved so much, knowing we probably would never go back, but neither of us regret it for a moment.

We stayed in the Philippines for another week, in Boracay which is the tourist mecca of the country. Vaguely thinking about finding work there, we actually ended up having a lovely relaxed week before taking the plunge and heading for Thailand.

Thailand was always a bit of a last resort. After the last time we went there, in December to visit Emma's brother, we were a little reluctant to go back. Indonesia and the Philippines are so different to the 'backpacker' world of Thailand but our priorities had changed. We now needed to find some work and Thailand is where more people get certified than any where else in South East Asia so that's where we went. And as it turned out, a very good decision it was too.....