Lost Island and

Apologies on the long wait for a post... I've been up to my ears in a paper on Learning and Play as well as bidding farewell to Shane's brother and trying to restore order to our lives (remembering we're not on holiday is always unpleasant). So, 
After trying for AGES to find Rayleigh on google maps, and failing, I have decided that it must be like the island from Lost and therefore can only be found if you are meant to get there. Luckily this little peninsula is greedy for your tourist dollars, so as long as you have a couple thousand baht in your pocket you should be able to get there without a problem.

We left from Phuket after work and boarded a bus for the 3 hour drive to Krabi town. Shortly afterwards, two SUPER DRUNK Thai guys got on the bus and sat behind us. They barely had time to crack a "beer leo" before one passed out, sprawled across the entire back 3 seats on the bus. As the bus filled up with school kids (in Thailand a bus is a bus, and space is not to be wasted!) the last seat left was the one where the drunk had his feet.  The guy lying down is passed out, the guy on the right is his friend who was not impressed, which is why I drew him frowning. In real life they had noses and hair but I struggle with details in MS paint. The little boy came to the back of the bus and kind of stared at them, so the less drunk guy (on the right) tried to shake his friend awake so he'd sit up. "Argleph" he replied. There was nothing to do but sit on his feet, so the poor kid rode home having to sit on someone's sneakers.

We stayed in Krabi for the night, and then hopped on a longtail boat with some other friendly tourists in the morning. Even though Raileigh is technically connected to the mainland, it is very mountainous so the only way to get there is by boat. Our new friends informed us that we should go teach in Mexico after we finish here... hmm, new blog idea? lol

Rayleigh is a lovely little spot covered in prehistoric-looking mountains and with Thailand's signature beautiful turquoise bays. We stayed in a fairly fancy (for us) resort and spent a day and a bit soaking up the rays and splashing in the water. The guys even got a chance to do some rock climbing!

 I title this picture: cheesing it hard.

 Can't you just picture a pterodactyl circling those peaks? In case you don't have a good imagination, it would look like this.

 After a lovely weekend we were sad to leave, but luckily we didn't have to take the bus on the way home as there was a ferry leaving for Phuket that day! We got on a longtail boat which took us out to the ferry in deeper water, and then had a lovely ride home. We were so glad that Nick got to come and experience a little bit of Thailand with us!

Snoryaking

Yesterday, we tried to rent a longtail boat to take us out to Koh Boo, a small island where there is supposed to be good snorkeling. Unfortunately, the longtails apparently do not run in this season... we were left with two options:
1. quit like quitters
2. epic kayak & snorkeling adventure
Obviously we chose the 2nd one. However, the sea is a cruel mistress, and is not always kind to green sailors out on their maiden voyages... Unfortunately Shane's and my water camera filled up with water the other day (we are not pleased, and are sending angry emails) so we weren't able to take any pictures. Here is the next best thing...

 This is us, after we rented our 2 kayaks and 1 stand-up paddle board. Shane is on the right with the stand-up paddle board (looks like a GIANT surfboard), Nick is in the middle, and I am on the left with curly hair.

 We fought past the break and began to paddle intrepidly out to sea.Shane is kneeling on the stand-up paddle board because every time he tried to stand up he would fall backwards into the water.

 A rogue wave broke, much further out past the usual breaking point! It sent my kayak smashing sideways into Nick's. This was our first taste of the cruel ocean's power...

 We arrived at Boo Island, this was exciting, which is why we are all smiling with our hands waving in the air. Finding somewhere to put the boats was a bit tricky, as you can see the coast of the island is jagged rocks with strong waves.

 We checked out the mooring buoys around the island, luckily they had ropes attached. When we left shore it probably would have been helpful for there to have been rope in the kayaks, but there wasn't. Nick tied an epic knot to keep the boats safe. This is about the point where the rocking of the sea began to make me super-seasick. You can tell because my face is green.

 We snorkeled, the fish and coral in this picture are not to scale. We saw all kinds of neat fish, including some puffer fish which we'd never seen before! Unfortunately, getting in the water did not cure my seasickness as it usually does... my face is still green.

 The seasickness became too much, I sprawled on the paddle board, cursing the sea... Nick and Shane kept snorkeling.

 After a while, we paddled back to shore. It was a long paddle under the burning equatorial sun. When we reached the wave break Nick and I both thought (independently of each other) "A kayak is a lot like a surfboard. If I just catch one of these waves, I will glide smoothly into shore."

 A kayak is not all that much like a surfboard. We are not surfers. Therefore Nick and I both (independently of each other) got flipped over and dumped into the water, along with everything in the kayaks that wasn't tied down. Note to self, next time bring own rope... to tie things with, as the things that weren't tied down were-everything. We spent some time searching for all the things that had tipped out of the kayaks, but luckily the sea was on our side this time and we found everything.

 We were exhausted. We all sat on the beach for a bit before dragging the kayaks back to the rental place. You can see that my face is not green any more, this is because after my near-death experience as my kayak flipped over in the waves, and after returning to shore, my stomach immediately felt better. I also forgot to draw my hair in this one, but you can imagine that it is just slicked back with the water. We drove home and had a nap. A great day overall!

Parents' Arrival in Thailand/ Koh Mak

Mum & Dad arrived safely in Bangkok after their long flight (part of which we were able to track through the Tokyo airport!) ready for all kinds of adventures! We thought we would start them off with a bang, and took them to Chatuchak market (as mentioned in an earlier post). We shopped for a bit but Chatuchak can be daunting for the most experienced, let alone two jet-lagged Canadians whose busiest city experience is probably Toronto...

After the busy first day in Bangkok we retired to the rather more peaceful Koh Mak... an island we visited early in our travels and totally fell in love with. Koh Mak is a lovely little island, fairly close to Bangkok (close enough for a long weekend visit) which is only about 16 kms away from the more famous Koh Chang. While Koh Chang is full of bars, parties and wild times, Koh Mak is teeny tiny and is home to a much quieter lifestyle. It is near the Marine National Park so is home to some pretty good snorkeling and the beaches are quiet and beautiful. To us, it is paradise. We stayed in the tiny and basic, but charming, Suchanaree resort in little thatched wooden huts where you could lie in bed under your mozzie net, listening to the sounds of the night and the sounds of the waves.

As expected, Mum is a big fan of snorkeling. She says that she is giving up terrestrial ecology to become a marine biologist and run an ecotourism outfit in Thailand. We spent a glorious day with our faces in the water, watching the antics of the reef fish.

 A jellyfish we found in the water!

 Evidence of my Thailand tan...

 Mum enjoying snorkeling!

Beautiful sunset at the end of a great day!!

Questions to consider when travelling in Thailand

Happy New Year!

We have just returned from ringing in the new year with a little island vacation full of reading, relaxing, snorkelling and taking pictures with our new underwater camera! We spent the long weekend on the island of Koh Tao in a beautiful little resort away from the party beach (time for some peace and quiet!). This place was ideal for spending our entire weekend just staring at fish and other sea creatures.

Sting ray!

 Snorkel mask rings...

 Diving

 Sea horse!!!!

 Our bus on the way to Koh Tao

Shane diving

 Christmas tree worms

 Parrot fish... or as Hannah has called them "Rainbow fish"

A lonely yellow fish... mostly these little guys travel in pairs.

After such a wonderful relaxing weekend we shouldn't have been surprised when we encountered a few tiny mishaps on our way home...

First of all we wondered, what do you do if it starts to rain while you are riding on a songtao (a pickup truck with two benches in the truck bed)... well, we found out that you just get wet. Luckily the rain wasn't too torrential so we arrived at the pier to meet our ferry in relatively good shape.

Unfortunately on the ferry we found out the answer to another important travelling question, does Shane get seasick? Sadly the answer to this one is yes. However, he wasn't as sick as many of the other passengers, particularly one poor girl whose sickness seemed to follow her (and us) from the boat to the pier and then even on to the bus. To get to (and leave) the island, the most economical option is to take a night bus, leaving late in the evening and arriving early in the morning, coupled with a ferry to or from the island.

On our way home we were finally being lulled to sleep (sick girl had finally settled her stomach) when suddenly there was a POP and a hiss, and the bus pulled over with a flat tire. Now, you might be wondering, what do you do if your bus has to pull over with a flat tire at two in the morning in some small town in Thailand? Why, drive slowly down the road stopping at every garage-looking place and knocking on doors of course! Our bus drivers spent the better part of an hour yelling at houses and getting barked at by soi dogs as they attempted to find someone who could fix the busted flat. Luckily they were eventually sucessful and we got safely back on the road no worse for the wear.

Long Weekend in Paradise

Wow, these Thais sure do love their holidays! This weekend was another long weekend in a row, this time we had Friday off for Constitution day. Our friends suggested that we head down south to the beach and we were more than happy to agree! After a long bus ride followed by a ride in a songtao (basically a pickup truck with two benches in the back) a long wait for the ferry and a speedboat ride over to the island of Koh Mak, we arrived in paradise.

Koh Mak is a small island near the more popular destination of Koh Chang. It is home to more beachside resorts than convenience stores and as such has a fairly small resident population and a healthy dose of tourists. It is a quiet beachside getaway, unlike its nearby neighbour Koh Chang which is renowned for its nightlife! We decided on Koh Mak because we felt like we could all use a little R&R.

Arriving in Koh Mak was like arriving in exactly what we pictured Thailand to be like. Turquoise blue water (so clear that in some of our pictures it LOOKS like we're standing on a beach when really we're in the water!) white sand and coconut palms everywhere. We spent the remainder of the day of our arrival checking out the area around our resort and figuring out where we could get some good snorkeling in on Saturday! We had a relaxing evening, some dinner and drinks and then went out for a nighttime walk on the beach where we found one of the most interesting things on Koh Mak -bioluminescent plankton! When water is disturbed near these little guys they give off a bioluminescent liquid which apparently is designed to attract other predators that will eat whatever is trying to eat the plankton! This results in really cool effects when you move your hand or feet through the water. We managed to get one of these little guys on film -not an easy feat as they seemed to be a little camera shy!

Saturday was snorkeling day and we set off at 9 in the morning with Steve, the island's resident hippie farang dive instructor. His employee Anuk -a colourful dutch hippie, took us out to the dive spots and we dove in to a whole new world. There were all different kinds of fish, big fish, little fish, colourful fish etc. They were swimming around by the thousands on top of rocky outcrops covered in coral and beautiful sea worms (look like neon coloured christmas trees). We could have sat and watched fish all day... but sadly eventually we had to head back to the resort. Equally sadly, we do not yet have an underwater camera, that may have to be someone's Christmas present since it looks like it is something that will really come in handy out here!

We spent the rest of our weekend in paradise relaxing on the beach and enjoying our new favourite treat -coconut fruit shakes. We also got to taste some of the delicious fruits of the ocean -freshly caught prawns by the kilogram! We weren't aware that you had to order ahead so we had to take a half a kilo between the bunch of us and eat them as an appetizer, and they were delicious! We dipped them into a chili lime sauce and spent the walk between the seafood place and the swiss restaurant (where we had dinner) licking our fingers. Yes, that is not a typo... there is a Swiss restaurant on Koh Mak. A Swiss man recently moved there with his Thai wife and they have opened up a little restaurant on top of a hill serving absolutely delicious Swiss, European and Thai food. We shared a plate of Jager Schnitzel and a tomato salad and then Shane and Harry split a spaghetti bolognese for dessert while the girls shared some fried bananas and iced cream. Then it was off to play in the plankton again (less spectacular the second night) before bed and catching the ferry home early the next morning... :(

At home we could travel for around 7 hours and go to Ottawa, Michigan or possibly nearly to Sault Ste Marie. Here in Thailand we travelled for around 7 hours and ended up in Paradise. We wish that we could bring everybody over to share this with us!!!!


The boat ride on the way in... other islands near Koh Mak!

The water was so clear! This is a picture of some tiny fish right off the pier.

 In this picture Shane's feet are actually under water but it is so clear you can hardly tell!

 A fishing boat. They use the lights to attract the fish at night.

 Our first snorkeling spot of the day. This island is surrounded by rock formations and coral reefs and tons of beautiful fish!

 The pier down to the beach where we had lunch :)

 Beautiful swing... so peaceful!

 Delicious delicious prawns!

 Beautiful emerald beetle :)

 Melly Thai Clissmas :) Shane with the coconut santa

 Hannah pointing at a huge crab!

 Morning beach walk :)

The inside of our little bungalow.