Today we slept in, and we plan to post stuff to the website, then spend some time on the beach. Dave is feeling a little bit sick with a cold, so we will just be taking it easy.

Tomorrow we will probably get back on the bikes and start heading North.

Today was a repeat of yesterday, but with fewer skills, deeper dives and more time to look at the underwater world. We are both totally hooked! Dave had problems on the second dive equalizing his ears because he was getting a bit congested, so we decided not to do a “fun dive” tomorrow. But other than that, it was beautiful and fun, and we are so glad to have done the course! We are now certified open water divers, and already thinking about doing an advanced course when we get to Koh Tao, further North on the East side of the peninsula.

Islands like these were the sites for our four dives. We’d get dropped off near one and follow the wall of coral around it.

The truck picked us up at a quarter till eight this morning to take us to the boat for our first day of diving in the ocean. We’d be diving in two places around the Phi Phi islands, one morning dive and one afternoon dive. We get into longtail boats waiting on the beach that will take us out to the big dive boat.

Longtail boats take us out to the dive boat in the morning.

The boat ride took two and a half hours to get to the first spot, during which we talked with our new instructor, Uchim (another German), and met his other student, Brigetta, whom we’d be diving with. We got a briefing of the dive location and the skills we’d be practicing. I was just a little nervous, but the pool sessions had gone well so I wasn’t worried.

When we neared the dive spot there was a flurry of activity, with divers and instructors getting their gear ready and into their wet suits. There were probably two dozen divers on the boat today, with about six to eight dive guides and instructors. We would prepare and enter the water last, with the advanced divers getting in first. When it came our time it seemed like chaos, and we had to prepare our tanks and BCDs quickly, then get into our gear. Dave and I didn’t have time for our pre-dive “buddy check” but Uchim did a quick check and then ushered us into the water. Everyone was telling us to hurry. I guess there were snorkelers that would be taken to a slightly different spot and the boat people were in a rush to use the boat time efficiently. Dave and I each took a big step out and fell in the water. Sploosh. For a second you’re sinking, and then just like that you breathe in and the regulator works. It works! In a half second you pop up to the surface, give the OK sign and swim backwards away from the boat.

Uchim, Brigetta, Dave and I gathered together on the surface and Uchim reviewed the skills we’d be doing on the surface and then under water on this dive. We did things like switch from regulator to snorkel and back again under water, flood and then clear our masks under water, simulate running out of air and switching to our buddy’s spare regulator, stuff like that. Once we’d performed a few skills we just swam around looking at the coral and fish. It was amazing and beautiful and peaceful. I was hooked.

After lunch Dave and I had to get in the water without our wetsuits or anything and do the swim test. We just had to swim twice around the boat because the current was so strong, then we had to hang on to a rope from the boat and demonstrate that we could float for ten minutes. We got back in and it was time to suit up for the second dive. It was a little less chaotic this time, but still a rush. The second dive was much like the first, with different skills. Then we just swam and looked at the sea life. We were lucky to see a big turtle near the end. I just wanted to follow him around all day.

The evening was as lovely as the last two, with more conversation and good food.

We had another day of theory in the morning and skills in the pool in the afternoon. Everything went well and we enjoyed talking with Uwe about diving skills, certification levels, and places to dive once we’re done with our Open Water certification. We were sad that Uwe could not be our instructor for the ocean dives because he had an ear infection, common among the dive instructors because they’re in the water so much. We would have a new instructor for the next two days of diving from the boat.

Another evening on Ao Nang Beach.

We had dinner at the Laughing Gecko again, this time chatting with a Swedish guy who was going to start his Open Water certification the next day. He had his book and was reading the assigned first two chapters. He’s also a bike tourist, though not on this trip, and he does sea kayak tours as well. We had a lot to talk about. The evening went quickly again, and we headed back to the bungalow to sleep.

The dive shop sent a truck to pick us up this morning at 8:30 to take us to the classroom. We would be spending the morning watching videos and learning theory, and spend the afternoon in a pool with our instructor demonstrating skills for us to practice. Our instructor, Uwe, is a small German who basically lives to dive. He is experienced, with over 2,000 dives, and was very careful with the details. We felt that we got very good instruction to compliment the videos and reading. The afternoon pool session was long, but fun. The first time we went down in the water breathing from the tanks was amazing but at the same time no big deal. It just worked. I was clumsy trying to swim underwater with fins, and it all felt foreign, but nothing was too difficult. We both performed all the skills well. We were done around 4:30 and the truck took us back to the Laughing Gecko.

Sunset on Ao Nang Beach”

We walked down to the beach to watch the sunset, then came back for dinner. Before it was served, people were gathering, some talking and some playing instruments that are sitting around. The daughter of the owners, probably ten or so, picked up one of the guitars and started playing old Eagles tunes and other things. I picked up another guitar and clumsily plucked out a few chords with her, though I didn’t know all the ones she was playing. She was absolutely hilarious, trying to get us to sing along with her and trying to get me to play things I couldn’t. She then put the guitar behind her neck and played some of the same stuff just as well as she did with it in front of her. I was just laughing and laughing, she was really fun.

The meal was once again incredibly yummy (a Thai woman cooks the food) and we had great conversation again, this time with a guy from California, just coming to the end of some time traveling before he goes back to find a place to live and work for a while.

We slept in and got up late, then packed our things and made our way to the Laughing Gecko down near the next beach. They had a bungalow available for us so we stashed our stuff, changed into our swim suits, and headed down to the beach with our books and some snacks.

We went to the beach near our guest house first. It appeared to be the locals’ beach, and we were the only non-Thais sitting down in the shade of the trees. Just after we settled with our bikes and things, a Thai woman walks right up to us with a digital camera held out. It took me a minute to figure out that she was there to take pictures of US. But it took her a long time, she was standing there for what seemed like several minutes, positioning and repositioning the camera right at us. We continued doing what we were doing, which was applying sunscreen. I looked at her and said, “We look pretty darn funny, eh?” and she only smiled and nodded, probably not knowing what we were saying. Who knows. Finally she took her picture and walked away. I was wondering if they disliked having tourists invade their beach or something, but we didn’t want to be down at the busy beach.

We spent the morning reading our diving course book in the shade and swimming. When we were hungry for lunch, we packed up our stuff and found food, then went to the main tourist beach at Ao Nang and did the same thing there, but without the weird picture incident.

We are successful in this tourist town finding great Thai food! This is Pad Thai.

Red Curry (looks yellow, but don’t believe the color).

And the usual condiments for fixing up your dish, including more than one way to make it even hotter than it already is.

It was a nice, relaxing day. We came back to the Laughing Gecko for dinner. The food was incredibly good and there we spent the entire evening talking with a friendly and interesting German couple.

32 km

After breakfast and some internet time at our guest house, we set out for the short ride to Ao Nang beach. This is where we planned to stay for a few days to get our Open Water Diver certification. We had a booklet from the Krabi tourism office with prices of the guest houses in the Krabi area, with several in Ao Nang that were in our budget category.

We rode through grove after grove of rubber plantations between patches of coconut trees and limestone cliffs jutting out of the landscape. We saw a sign for a wat (Buddhist temple) on the roadside and decided to take a look. We parked our bikes and walked up to the side of the cliff, where underneath the rock overhang there was a huge gold-painted Buddha lying on his side. There were other little shrines, but the Buddha was the central attraction. A monk, dressed in the yellow and orange cloth draped around him and with a shaved head, approached us with a big smile. He pointed to the top of the cliff where we could see a small roof, maybe to a shrine, poking out of the jungle. He motioned for us to follow him, and he showed us the hidden pathway and handed us a bottle of water, wanting us to head up there. So, we did. It was a short but steep climb, and all of a sudden we were above the trees with an open view of the valley we were riding through, which headed down to the beach. We leaned out and waved to the monk, who was standing down there waiting to see if we made it. We looked to the direction we were heading but couldn’t see the water yet, because we had to go around other limestone cliffs nearer the water. It was a nice preview of what we’d be seeing.

Alter in front of the Buddha.

We got to Ao Nang and were overwhelmed with the busyness. Tourists crowded the sidewalks and the two-lane road was congested with cars, pickups fitted with benches and coverings for carting around tourists, and many scooters and motorcycles. Westerners were everywhere, though not all were white. There were many with bright red sunburns that made us wince just to see them.

We took out our handy booklet with the budget guest houses marked and started looking. What we found very quickly was that the booklet was very out of date, and the prices had all tripled at the very least. These places were no longer in our price range. So we ditched the booklet and went back up the road we had come in on, away from the beach, and started asking prices up there. We definitely couldn’t afford air conditioning, and even the bleakest fan rooms were ridiculously priced. We settled on a room finally, nearly as far up the road as we could go. It had no windows except one that opened up to the hallway, which had no outside ventilation at all. The fan was good, but it blew only hot air on us. We weren’t sure this was the place we wanted to spend a few days in while doing our dive training, a four-day event.

We then walked around to talk to the various dive shops and get prices and information. The first shop we came to was near our hotel, with a nice German guy at the desk who was very helpful. He filled us in on a lot of the details and told us how the course would go. He also told us about going down to the next beach to find a more affordable place which might be nicer to stay for a few days. The shop seemed nice and professional, and we immediately liked it. We then went to several other dive shops and talked with them, and found that all the shops charge exactly the same thing and went to the same places, and since the first shop seemed the most professional and knowledgeable, we decided to go back there and sign up. But not until we looked around for another place to stay so the evenings would be tolerable.

We looked and looked, and many of the places were also ridiculously priced. We finally found a place, the Laughing Gecko, with affordable rustic bungalows. It’s run by a Thai man and his Canadian wife. They offer dinner each night, served up family style and everyone eats together. People were hanging out in the big main house, an open, wooden structure with a thatched roof. This is where the meals are served. We liked the feel of the place and said we’d be back the next day to stay for a few days. We headed back into Ao Nang and signed up for our diving course, starting in two days.

We went out to find dinner and decided on various street-food items and were happy with our choices. It was fun to be out on the street with people walking everywhere and lots to see. We walked around a bit, and eventually made our way back to the hotel to sit outside and chat with the front desk guy. All the shops and hotels here in Southeast Asia so far are completely open on the bottom story, with accordion-folding gates that they pull shut to close them at night. So there is open seating here in all the restaurants and places, except a very few (touristy) places with air conditioning. We eventually made our way up to the room to sleep, and with the fan directly on us we slept OK.

78 km

We got our first flat tire today, just entering Krabi. It was my back tire, caused by a piece of broken glass. We’ve had to ride through big puddles of glass the last couple of days, as we were forced to stay on the shoulder by traffic. As we inspected the tire we found a couple of deep cuts in the tread, and decided we needed to check the tires more often. We fixed the flat and headed into town to find a guest house.

Entering Krabi, we see many stores selling yard animals and alters.

Krabi is a popular tourist destination, a stepping-off point for climbers seeking the huge limestone cliffs, divers heading out to the Phi Phi islands (Koh Phi Phi), as well as the usual backpacker and family tourist seeking a hot-spot in Thailand. We weren’t too excited about staying right in Krabi, we wanted to get to the beach. But I was tired and getting grumpy, so we found a guest house.

Prices here are expensive, so we looked for a fan-only room, and found a nice one at the Chang Guest House, on the road that goes by the pier, just up the hill a couple of blocks on the opposite side of the road. It’s a clean and very pleasant place run by several members of what appears to be one extended family. They also have a restaurant up front, and we ended up eating both dinner and breakfast there because the prices were good and we found the food to be great. They even had a special vegetarian section on the menu!

As we were out looking for dinner and finding expensive prices elsewhere, we met Damien & Judy, a couple who are bike touring the opposite direction through SE Asia. They were vegetarians too, and knowing they were probably on the same kind of budget we were we asked if they wanted to come back with us to our guest house’s restaurant for cheaper vegetarian food. They did, and we spent most of the evening talking about our trips, and we got even more useful information on which to base our route decisions. Once again we heard that Laos is the favored place for touring. The roads are quieter, the mountains are beautiful, and the people are welcoming. We’d really like to tour there, so we’ll give it a try, taking care not to do long days when the mountains are steep, and hopefully my knees can adjust if we go slow enough. If not, there are rivers everywhere, and we could simply load ourselves and our bikes onto a longboat and continue seeing the country.

Dave and I cannot always both get time to do our work before we get access to the internet, so I’ll have to fill in pictures for the last three posts later after Dave gets his pictures processed!

We’re sitting in our guest house cafe having real filter coffee again, and today we ride 22 km to a beach where we hope to stay for a few days and finally get our dive certification. We should have internet again there, and will post again soon!

59 km

Yesterday’s Ride Pays Off This Morning

Yesterday we had a long day in the interest of getting to a town listed in LP and with the guarantee of a guest house. We’re going through so many small towns that don’t seem to offer accommodation (that we can tell) so we just wanted that guarantee.

We also knew that this particular town offered something we’ve been missing for the last month: real filter coffee. COFFEE!!! We’ve been drinking either Nescafe or Malaysian coffee, which is mostly instant coffee with stimulating herbs added and always sweetened and usually with condensed milk too. So, this morning we found one of the coffee shops recommended in LP that also offered breakfast. Yay! LP sent us in the right direction this morning. We each had two cups of filter coffee. It could have been stronger, but who’s complaining. Not us.

Afterward, we found bread in the grocery across the road. We are already finding out that bread is going to be scarce here in Thailand, and we’ll have to stock up when we get to a city big enough to have a large grocery. We have looked in countless small stores since entering Thailand and this was the first bread we’ve seen. When you do find a loaf, as our friend Charlie wrote to us, there are about 10 pieces of bread in the wee loaf, so we have to buy two just to get us through a couple of days.

An Attempt at an Easy Day

I had thought we should take it really easy today, make it short, since we went long yesterday. I want to help my knees get stronger by challenging them and then giving them plenty of rest. So I picked out a couple of towns ahead that looked big enough to be promising for accommodation. But we didn’t see any guest houses until
Ban Khuan Kun, 59 kilometers into the day. It turned out to be fine for my knees though, because it was mostly flat and we had a tailwind, so it felt like a shorter day than it was.

Where Are We, Anyway?

I can’t tell you what guest house we are in right now, because the sign is written in Thai and the owner here doesn’t speak a word of English. Trying to get the name of this place would just not work. But it’s about 500 meters before the junction with the larger highway, where the main part of town appears to be. It’s new and really nice and clean. We paid 350 baht after asking for a cheaper room than the 400 baht that she asked for. She simply nodded 350 would be ok after she talked with her husband.

All We Want is Vegetarian Thai Food

We used our phrase book and written Thai for “no msg” and other things and tried ordering food at a restaurant. Um, we did get food. But. It was rather plain vegetables over white rice. No curry or pad Thai noodles or anything like that. I guess when we present them with the phrases, “no meat, no chicken, no msg” they freak out and wonder what the heck they CAN make for us. This has happened a couple of times now. Also, the plates of food were not enough for our monster appetites, and when we tried to order more, we just couldn’t. They didn’t get it, at all. The woman (and her friends who were trying to be helpful – basically repeating everything she said) just kept repeating the price of our meals, “50 baht, 50 baht.” So we finally just had to pay and leave. We stopped at a market on the way back to our guest house and got an ice cream bar. So, the grand food adventures that everyone is hoping to hear about are not starting yet, but soon! Soon, we MUST be able to order real Thai food!!

Welcome to Thailand, where you see pictures of the king just about every kilometer. This one is a state line marking.