Perhentian Islands, Malaysia; Tropical paradise or over priced tourist trap? The later was my first impression, yet that is not fair. Coming from Thailand we were not ready for the higher prices here (food, accommodation and internet) yet upon crossing the border Malaysia is evidently more affluent than their northern neighbours. The food is pricey but good (I soon found myself addicted to the Roti Canai – Indian style bread with curry sauce). The cheapest resort we could find was a steep walk away from the beach; mosquito infested with very basic huts and horrible shared bathrooms. Although there was…
Dive number 32. Whale Shark. For those that dive I need not say more. I will however divulge. A whale shark was spotted at the Chumphon Pinnacle dive site in the morning of our last day on Koh Tao, and as a result it seemed as though all of the island was heading out there in the afternoon. We arrived as the sixth boat. Not only did this mean a long swim to the buoy line, it also meant 60 odd divers in the water. Most of them were Koreans who seemed completely lost and kept crashing into each other.…
Just in case you weren’t being sarcastic Chris, what do you think of this? We’re now on Koh Tao swimming with the fishes. Welcomed back by clear (10 – 15 metre vis’) warm (30 degrees) waters, I do like this place. I was first here with Jon in 2004, and although it is busier and more developed, it still remains beautiful. On top of that, this is one of the cheapest places in the world to dive. Espe and I have so far done six dives each with two more to go. We’ve seen all sorts; barracuda, sting rays, angel…
The weekend didn’t turn out quite as expected. We turned up at the dive center early to find it closed. 45 minutes later, we got a call from a friend of Philippe/Ana saying where the hell are you. It turns out that we were supposed to go round to the back of the center. They leave the front closed as there is no one to man the shop… So for a good start we missed the first dive. As a form of compensation, the dive center offered us a special trip with two bottles to get a double dive in.…
It’s all a bit exciting really. We haven’t been diving since last September and thanks to the persistence of Philippe we’re off to the Islas Hormigas this weekend. Allegedly one of the best dive sites in mainland Spain so it should be good. Espe, Ana, Philippe and I will be heading down to the Med’ tomorrow evening. It will be Espe’s and Ana’s first dives after completing their open water course last year. As I said, all very exciting stuff.
Since returning from Mongolia I’ve been pretty busy. Only the last week or two have I been able to catch up but that is only because I’ve been on call with work… I was flown out to Krakow for two weeks with work having only had 2 and a bit weeks back in Spain. No complaints, as I see it as a free opportunity to travel. Krakow is a great little city, and the people we were working with were great, giving us a few excellent nights out on the town, in several of the underground bars and clubs. On…