Day 58: Tuesday May 11th 2004. Arrived for my connecting flight in Hong Kong around nine am local time, and went straight to the smoking lounge. Long flight that! Met two local girls who wrote down the address of a cheap place to get a laptop - sorted! Got a taxi and got a laptop for about 2/3 it's UK cost - sorted. Used a massage chair for the first time at the train station, and was well impressed - it's all sorted here!

Address	Shops	Massage chair

I got back to the airport in plenty of time, and so did some shopping. From then it was a short(ish) flight to Bangkok to meet up with Aaron.

After about two hours at Bangkok airport, trying tannoy announcements, phone calls to Sam and muffled phone calls from Aaron, we eventually met up. We caught a taxi to the Kao San road and booked into a shithole. We went out for dinner, and Aaron had his first cashew nut allergy reaction. Early night.

Cheap Bangkok hostel

Day 59: Wednesday May 12th 2004. Booked up for diving in Koh Tao. Bangkok pongs.

Day 60: Thursday May 13th 2004. Went shopping in Bangkok. Met some other backpackers in the evening, played cards and drank. Both Aaron and I lost at cards, had to buy drinks. I am definitely giving up cards!

Will and Will

Day 61: Friday May 14th 2004. Hung around Bangkok all day, just picking up last bits. Took the evening train to Chumphon for a ferry to Koh Tao in the morning.

Day 62: Saturday May 15th 2004. Met Claire on the ferry. She's doing her open water at the same time as Aaron. Arrived in Koh Tao. Moved into Tropicana in Chalok Baan Kao.

Leaving Chumphon	On the ferry

Chalok Baan Kao

Day 63: Sunday May 16th 2004. Very chilled. Explored island on a hired 250cc trails bike. Did very little else whilst Aaron and Claire started their diver training.

Fink's bar - hazy		The obligatory bug shot	Dinner

Island roads	View from Tropicana	Nangyuan_Island

Day 64: Monday May 17th 2004. Completed the PADI underwater photography course. It's lots of fun having a camera underwater, but it's hard to get good shots! Like all diving disciplines, it's all about getting neutrally buoyant in the water, which is easier said than done. After that it's all about light and getting underneath your subject. I have a lot to learn, including the names of the fish! Photos taken at Tanote Bay.

buoyant	Barracuda	Starfish	reef vista
reef outcrop	Clam	Grouper	Coral plateau

Day 65: Tuesday May 18th 2004. Chilled. Worked on website.

Day 66: Wednesday May 19th 2004. Went diving with a camera again, this time to Hin Won Pinnacle and Aow Mao bay.

Butterfly fish	Down a sponge tube	Nudibrank

Moray eel	Clam	Sergeant fish and Coral	Fish

Day 67: Thursday May 20th 2004. Chilled.

Day 68: Friday May 21st 2004. Chilled again.

Day 69: Saturday May 22nd 2004. Chilled some more. Went for an awesome night dive. Saw Giant Barracuda (1.5M+), Huge cuttlefish, two blue spotted rays, HUGE crab, Pufferfish, Triggerfish, etc, etc. very cool.

Day 70: Sunday May 23rd 2004. Dived the Chumphon Pinnacle. Amazing visibility, amazing dive. The second dive of the morning was at 'The Twins', where a cleaner fish took a distinct liking to a scab on my leg, nibbling bits off me the whole way round.

Day 71: Monday May 24th 2004. More chilling.

Day 72: Tuesday May 25th 2004. Aaron is trained to advanced level now, so we went for a couple of fun dives. It was cool, but my mask leaked and fogged, which was unfortunate, as the vis was already really low. Saw one of those small Spanish Flamenco dancer fish though...

Day 73: Wednesday May 26th 2004. Started the PADI underwater videography course today. Ruth, the instructor, is very enthusiastic and helpful. After the dive, she showed me how to edit the movie too. I am thinking of setting up a 'mobile business' making dive videos for when we get to Australia and South America.

Triggerfish attack video (3.4MB)

Day 74: Thursday May 27th 2004. Um, chilled! Went out in the evening, but didn't stay out long... Getting lazy here! Aaron is planning to go to Ko Phangan tomorrow, to sort accommodation out before the Full Moon Party crowd arrive. I have to stay here until the 29th for the second part of the Videographers course.

Day 75: Friday May 28th 2004. After getting his tattoo, Aaron moved on to Koh Phangan on the afternoon ferry. Chilled at the Rock bar with Kat and Sarah in the evening.

Aarons tat

Day 76: Saturday May 29th 2004. Completed the videography course. We saw two grey sharks on the first dive at Chumphon Pinnacle and a huge Jackson's ray on the second dive.

 

Sharks and Ray video (2.3MB)

 

The completed video (not available online)

Went up to Ruth (my videography instructor) and her boyfriend Tim's place in the afternoon to play some more with the video editing, which was much appreciated. Had another lazy hazy night at the Rock bar.

Day 77: Sunday May 30th 2004. After getting my diving signed off I left Koh Tao on the 3:30 ferry. Aaron picked me up from the port on a moped, which was fun with my pack and bags! We went to see the Thai boxing with Lok and Ruth, a couple staying at our bungalows. Most of the fights were pretty cool, but the kids fights seemed just wrong. After the boxing, we were still up for more and so caught a taxi to Haad Rin, the party town. We drank buckets - a small bucket of local whiskey, red bull (Thai strength) and coke. Very messy! After we got back, Aaron and I drank some more whiskey and sat up until well into the morning...

Day 78: Monday May 31st 2004. Utterly hung-over day. Only saw a couple of hours daylight.

Day 79: Tuesday June 1st 2004. Still recovering... (i.e. loafing with excuses) Took some sunset photos though - the sunsets are amazing here, just as I remember them.

sunset	watching

Day 80: Weds June 2nd 2004 to Day 83: Sunday June 6th. More Had Rin style fun and games at the full moon party. Much lazing and recovering afterwards - loafing in paradise...  Still waiting for more photos (Matt, Tim and Jon where are they?)

Party people

Now starting to plan next step. Some crystal clear waters on the 'in season' Malaysian islands or Indonesia? It's hard to leave somewhere where the living is so good, easy and cheap!

Day 81: Monday June 7th 2004. Have had enough loafing Thai style (well, almost) and so have decided to head for Malaysia. From there we hope to get some info on the best routes to Indonesia. We caught a (really crappy) ferry off Koh Phangyan to Surat Thani on the Thai coast. We were then herded, Thai style, onto a bus and finally a taxi to the train station where we caught an overnight train to Butterworth in Malaysia. First class with aircon, no less. Cheap too.