Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 235 (45)BangkokFriday 29th October Sandy’s alarm went off at around seven in the morning and we were out the door shortly before eight. We went straight to the bus stop and stepped almost immediately onto the airport express double-decker. We had to pay the HK$33 ($4,50) […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 236 (46)BangkokSaturday 30th October Still revelling in the relaxation from our respective massages last night, we allowed ourselves the luxury of a good long lie in this morning. We had already decided not to take one of several the day trip tours we were offered. This […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 238 (48)BangkokMonday 1st November I got up early this morning, fully expecting to have to check out at noon. We had a lot of logistical chores on the agenda today and we needed to get these done before our evening train and high-speed catamaran to the […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 239 (49)Train to ChumphonTuesday 2nd November We’ve had both good experience and bad on the road so far. For the most part, it’s all been very positive but there are times when wonder whether or not we would have been better off doing something other than […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 240 (50)Koh TaoWednesday 3rd November The train was very comfortable and nowhere near as cold as we had been led to believe but Sandy got us both up thinking that we were about to pull into the Southern station of Chumphon when in fact we still […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 241 (51)Koh TaoThursday 4th November Our first day in paradise was eased gradually into focus this morning when our brains slowly started to engage the senses one-by-one. First it was our ears when we were suddenly aware of the sound of the waves a few meters […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 242 (52)Koh TaoFriday 5th November Yet another slow day in paradise greeted us this morning and we took our time getting up and active with a leisurely breakfast by the sea. Other than this evening’s night dive for me, we had no dives planned for today […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 243 (53)Koh TaoSaturday 6th November The ‘promise’ of clearer waters was, alas, a false one. We were up early enough this morning to grab some breakfast before collecting our dive gear. As is the norm with this particular dive school, the dive masters had already sorted […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 244 (54)Koh TaoSunday 7th November Today was a no-dive day. Well, we weren’t going to be diving during the day, that is. We did have a night dive planned for the later this evening but for now, there was no compelling reason to do anything other […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 245 (55)Koh TaoMonday 8th November With today being another diving day, we once again had to force ourselves out of bed and into gear. Yet again we would have the luxury of our own dive master who not only would accompany us beneath the surface but […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 246 (56)Koh TaoTuesday 9th November I think we were both more tired than either of us truly appreciated since we both slept in till around noon today. The anti-inflammatory I took last night seems to have helped and I rested more peacefully than I have in […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 247 (57)Koh LantaWednesday 10th November We boarded the night boat last night at the main jetty. It’s not really much of a jetty so much as a slight extension of the road into the water. The boat was probably about the same size as the diving […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 248 (58)Koh LantaThursday 11th November The early rise this morning put an abrupt end to the feeling of having once again arrived at a dreamlike paradise. I had the forethought to strip down and prepare all the underwater photography equipment last night before nodding off and […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 249 (59)Koh LantaFriday 12th November Sandy was not going to be diving this morning so it was just me that had to get up at stupid o’clock to prepare all the equipment and wait for the truck to arrive. I had already prepped the camera last […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 250 (60)Koh LantaSaturday 13th November Once again I find myself writing this log entry the following day due to simply being too tired to do anything other than write up some brief notes to help me remember for later just before nodding off.Today marks the third […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 251 (61)Koh LantaSunday 14th November Finally, we were able to simply rest and have a good, long, lay in this morning, which I think our bodies have been yearning for in recent days. I would have slept for even longer than I did, had the bed […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 252 (62)Koh LantaMonday 15th November We did pretty much nothing today. Getting up late for the second day in a row is probably not going to help us much with regards to our body rhythms for the coming days on the live-aboard, where we will probably […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 253 (63)Similan IslandsTuesday 16th November Today is finally the day when we get to go on our very first live-aboard, but not before getting from Koh Lanta to Khao Lak a little farther up the West coast of Thailand. Our trip today started with a complimentary […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 254 (64)Similan IslandsWednesday 17th November Our first night aboard the Mariner-1 was not a restful one. For starters, the air conditioning was quite powerful and we received little relief from the small blankets in the cabins. As the boat rocked and swayed in the water, the […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 255 (65)Similan IslandsThursday 18th November Due to popular consent, the air-conditioning in the cabin deck was turned down a few degrees last night and I didn’t wake up freezing this morning like I did yesterday. The Mariner-1 is a marvellous boat to dive from but there […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 256 (66)Koh BonFriday 19th November For all my exhaustion, it was a very restless night last night. The constant side-to-side motion of the boat as it sits in the water makes it very difficult to lie on one side, my preferred position for sleeping. Unless you […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 257 (67)Khao LakSaturday 20th November The past three days of diving must have clearly taken its toll as we slept in almost long enough to miss the complimentary breakfast this morning. We just about managed to drag ourselves out of bed and down to the restaurant […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 258 (68)Khao LakSunday 21st November As was also the case yesterday, we spent most of the day today doing nearly nothing – and what a good feeling it is to do so. It was a slow start with a lot less coughing than yesterday. I’ve been […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 266 (76)Train to Surta ThaniMonday 29th November Our life on the road, such as it now is, can be full of very last minute surprises. We never really know where we are going to be tomorrow until today. True, we do have a rough itinerary of […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 267 (77)Khao LakTuesday 30th November It doesn’t matter how much I try, I simply cannot sleep whilst sitting I an upright position. Indeed I find it very hard to maintain a comfortable position for very long when sitting at all, let alone trying to sleep. Our […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 268 (78)Khao LakWednesday 1st December Strangely, for me at least, I fell asleep before eight o’clock yesterday evening and we both managed to remain in deep slumber right the way through to around eight this morning. I guess we must have been a lot more tired […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 269 (79)Khao LakThursday 2nd December I took the liberty this morning at breakfast of ordering some boiled eggs to make myself a packed lunch for on the boat today. Whilst I was on the small long-tail yesterday, I tried to make up my sandwiches but the […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 271 (81)Surin IslandsSaturday 4th December Yesterday evening, Sandy had a friendly chat with the rather camp but extremely jolly hotel manager and had arranged for us to be able to stay in our room past the checkout time. With that one pressure lifted from us, we […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 272 (82)Surin IslandsSunday 5th December It was an early start to the day as expected and I’m not sure if I was really well rested or not. I was extremely fatigued when I fell asleep last night but between the anticipation of the diving an my […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 273 (83)Surin IslandsMonday 6th December Day two of the dive was initiated this morning by the dive coordinator walking down the cabin corridor shouting ‘good morning, wakey-wakey’ in a high-pitched voice. This repeated call was followed a few seconds later by the sounds or people moaning […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 274 (84)Khao LakTuesday 7th December This particular live-aboard covers the Surin Islands as well as the famed and much hyped Richelieu Rock. They never really know the exact schedule for the boat on any given trip until they get out into the water to see the […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 275 (85)Khao LakWednesday 8th December History certainly repeated itself this morning. I remember when we came back to dry land after the Similan Islands live-aboard on the Mariner-1. We checked into this hotel, went to bed and didn’t get up till noon the following day. My […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 276 (86)Train to BangkokThursday 9th December Indeed I also had a peaceful night and was able to swing into action at my own pace this morning with Sandy leaving me to my own devices, other than reminding me of the time and our impending need to […]

Thailand – Round The World Tour 3 2004 Day 277 (87)BangkokFriday 10th December Groggy and on full autopilot, we disembarked from our carriage laden with full backpack regalia when the train finally pulled into Bangkok station this morning. Our traveller’s skills are now so finely honed that we sidestepped all the tuk-tuk drivers and touts […]