2000 Leagues Under the Sea!

I am now officially a PADI certified open water diver. I can dive down to 18 metres and can do a bunch of other stuff too!! I've spent the last 3 days doing scuba theory classes and intro dives in shallow water, doing tasks like removing my regulator (breathy thingy) and then finding it again and putting it back in, filling my mask with water and then poutting it back on under water, swimming with my eyes closed and no mask, learning how to breathe on my buddies regulator, learning how to come up without going too fast, and learning how to myake myself float effortlessly under the water. It's pretty exciting! Being under feels as if you are weightless and with every in breath I go up a bit higher, and then when I exhale ,I drop down a little bit. The trick is to keep yuourself very much at the same level and to always swim horizontally, trying to find a 'neutral buoyancy'. Thjis morning after doing theory for 8 or so hours over the last few days, we took a test and I only got 2 wrong (well four technically, but I copied from a swiss guy in my group. He gave me the answer willingly!) Then we hit the water for our first real dives. It was so cool! When you swim over coral it pulls all of it's pretty flowers in. We saw baracudas, clown fish, tiger fish, leopard fish, a few sting rays...there are lots of different fish and my instructor keeps teasing me about seeing a shark...I hope not. She even got out the fake cardboard shark costume. They think I'm crazy. I think it's perfectly normal to fear seeing one!

I am loving this so much, that I think we've decided to stay a bit longer and do the advanced scuba course. With that we do 5 more dives, learning how to navigate underwater and something else Ic an't remember, and do a night dive, and then can choose to do underwater photography or fish identiciation or others! I will choose photography for sure. That course is 2 days extra. Costs about $200. I figure that I'm blowing my budget like mad, but it's the cheapest and best place in Thailand to do it, and I may as well. I will have it for the rest of my life. With this course I'd be able to dive to 30metres. Really far. Also a bit scary. I keep waiting for something big to come swimming out! These little baracuda type fish that weren't baracudas came up to me, and had monsterous teeth today. They were so curious. We are not allowed at this stage to take cameras down, but as soon as I can, I will.

We had our first real taste of the thailand party the night before we started...bad idea. I was quite ill the next day after drinking a little too much. Made the theory a little harder to grasp! Live and learn I guess! I have sworn off drinking 'buckets' from now on in the trip. No more. I'll have none of it. Saw some cool firedancers though. And had some discussions with a Brit who claims Daddy Long Legs spiders are the most poisonous in the world, but they have no way to bite...We still think he was confused!

We are debating staying here and taking a boat to KoPhagnan (the island famous for 'full moon parties'), or actualyl going. We have become very attached to this place and our bungalow and don't want to leave! We have made a great group of friends too! Every night after the dive course we sit and watch the sun go down (except last night when I was in bed at 8.30 and hating my life...), hang out by the beach and at our restaurant. I have this feeling I don't want to leave.

Our resort is on the beach and for 100 baht a night each (when w'ere diving) it is very nice! We have only a fan, but it's cooler here than in bangkok so it's quite nice at night. We walk for 2 minutes or less and are at a 7-11 and street vendors and everything. A road runs through the island with shops and restaurants all along it that you can walk. Truly wonderful. It is quite touristy here and a bit pricier, but it is great. One more cool fact...the moon is the opposite way here. A cresent moon looks like it's a cup instead of being vertical, it's horizontal! And the stars are beautiful and so bright. Anyway I must head out. Tomorrow we get up at 6.30am to head off on the boat for a dive. And a guy from Sweden promised to teach me how to count cards so I can become a blackjack pro. Ha. Oh, and my sandles got stolen or maybe borrowed today. We take them off everywhere and after my class this morning, alas, they were gone. Poo. I love this place!