After relaxing in Pai, I decided it’s time to continue my journey to Laos. To cross over to Laos from Thailand, first I have to go to Chiang Khong. The only option I have in Pai was by minibus (it looked like a van to me). The ticket price was 750 Baht and it includes a bed to sleep in a dormitory in Chiang Khong. The journey took 6 hours. When I arrived at Chiang Khong, it was already 3 or 4 am. Thank goodness I have a place to sleep in the town because the I could hardly sleep along the journey thanks to the winding road and super cold air-cond. I woke up at the break of dawn and took a short cold shower before being transported to the border checkpoint beside Mekong River.

The place I slept in Chiang Khong.

Going to the border check point on a pickup truck

Buddhist monks

As a Malaysian, I don’t have to apply for Laos visa at the border. Not only it saves me some money, I can skip the long queue at the immigration counter. Once done with all the immigration formalities, I walked toward the bank of Mekong River where hordes of boats already waiting to ferry tourists across the river to Laos.

Queuing for visa. Malaysian don’t have to do visa and I was the only Malaysian at the moment. I felt so privileged. Muahahaha…

Boat to cross Mekong River

Mekong River…

Crossing Mekong River with Antoine, Pierre, Remi and Guillaume

I landed on Huay Xai town in Laos after a short boat ride. Most tourists continued their journey to Luang Prabang by slow boat along Mekong River. Some went for the speed boat, while a few including me opted for local bus. The reason I chose the local bus was because I heard a lot of unfavorable experiences on slow boat from other travelers I met along the way. Most complained about the long journey. It takes 2 days! Speed boat is totally out of questions unless you do not mind become deaf for few hours or end up dead.

Even though the choice was obvious, I did not know what to expect from the bus ride. All I know was the journey would take 14 hours. When I arrived at the bus terminal, I had the feeling that it’s not going to be comfortable. Stood in the middle of the red barren land was a worn down concrete building which turned out to be the bus terminal. Only a couple of bus parked in the compound. The next available bus to Luang Prabang was on 12.30pm. Since I arrived too early, I had to wait in the bus station for at least 2 or 3 hours. When I laid my eyes on the bus that I was going to take, my jaw dropped wide open. The dirt covered bus could be older than me and literally, it carried a whole house on the roof. There were 2 cupboards and 3 queen size mattresses along with other boxes.

Lunch time

My first meal in Laos.

Cow boy town? Around the bus station in Huay Xai

The bus. Notice the cupboards and mattresses on the roof.

I was lucky enough to get a seat. Those who came late had to sit on a plastic chairs that were put up ad hoc along the aisle. The plastic chairs have to share the aisle with bags of rice and other “cargo”. Another thing I have to put up with for 14 hours was limited leg space. It was really cramped and uncomfortable. I imagined it was worse for those Caucasians with longer legs. Some local passengers brought along chickens with them. I could hear clucking sound of a chicken occasionally especially when the bus breaks abruptly.

In the bus

The plastic chairs for latecomers.

Really cramp seat

The journey itself was a torture. Most part of the road was unpaved and winding up and down many hills. If you have week stomach, then take this trip and you will end up with a strong stomach. I was numbed to the winding and bumpy road after awhile. Because the road was unpaved and we couldn’t shut the bus windows, we all have to eat dust whenever there was a big truck or bus in front of us. The only comfort I had during the journey was when the bus stopped for ‘toilet’ break. Everyone got down from the bus and did their ‘business’ at the road side or at dried up padi field. The journey got worse when night falls (around 7pm). The road was dark and the temperature dropped sharply. I had to coil in my seat to keep myself warm because the wind breaker did little help. After a while, I got numbed. I couldn’t see anything from the window except for some camp fires along the road made by the hill tribes and stars in the sky. I kept looking at my phone (I don’t wear watch) hoping the time would past quickly. It doesn’t. It moved even slower.

Toilet break

More toilet breaks

The only comfort throughout the journey

Guillaume and Pierre paying a visit to the “house” on the roof.

A photo before continue the torturing

At the end of the journey everybody including myself was extremely delighted that we had finally reach our destination alive. Despite all the torture I had to endure, another fellow traveler told me it is still better than the slow boat.

Now I have another thing to worry. How do I find a place to sleep at 4am? More on this later.

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Pai is a small town located north of Chiang Mai, on the way to Mae Hong Son. Mae Hong Son is where the long neck women live.

However, I didn’t go there. I only stopped at Pai.

I left Chiang Mai for Pai together with Annie and Monica on a local bus. On the day we went there, most people are already going back to Chiang Mai because the 3-day reggae festival in Pai just finished. At first, I was a bit disappointed because I just missed out on such a happening event. It is not everyday I can see Bob Marley look-alike singing reggae tune in Thailand. However, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it means the place was less crowded, easier to get accommodation, prices were back to normal, less noisy and it turned into a very romantic place.

With all the waterfalls, hot springs, canyon, sunset view over the valley, scenic village roads, romantic restaurants along Pai river and the laid back lifestyle, Pai is the perfect place to be with your love one. The best way to discover Pai was with a motorbike (100 Baht a day). If you are a fitness junkie, you can try bicycle. This is also where I had the best accommodation throughout my journey. The bungalow style room with spacious bathroom reminded me of Bali.

Starry night. I know you can’t see clearly. But trust me, it was really a starry night.

Riverside bungalows covered in morning mist

Reggae music with reggae people

Our “bungalow” room

Welcome to Pai

Mor Paeng Waterfall

To swim or not to swim?

Swim!

We found this sunflower field on the way to Mor Paeng Waterfall

Annie visiting a Chinese village

At waterfall

Tha Pai hot spring

Elephant ride in the village

Such an adorable dog. Asking for chips from us.

Sunset view from Wat Phra That Mae Yen Temple

Dinner beside Pai river

What to do after dinner and have nothing better to do? Try different poses for photograph of course.

Releasing our sky lantern into a starry sky.

Enjoying morning coffee at a roadside cafe.

Sunset at Pai Canyon

Group photo before we part ways. On this journey, we have crossed path and you have left footprints in my heart which I will cherish forever.

After relaxing in Pai for 3 days, I embarked on what turned out to be the most grueling and torturing journey for the whole trip.

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1. Overnight train to Chiang Mai (Day 4 – Day 5)
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After arriving from Bangkok via train, I headed straight to old city of Chiang Mai by red sawngthaew (bigger version of tuk tuk). That is where most of the guesthouses located. The first thing I did after got off from the red sawngthaew was looking for a motorbike to rent. After a short find, I managed to get a motorbike from Tony’s Big Bike. The rental fee was 120 Baht per day, which I think was quite reasonable. I paid for 2 days in advance and I had to leave my passport at the shop. With the motorbike, I toured around the old city looking for guesthouses. After comparing few guesthouses, I decided to stay in Same-same Guesthouse. At 250 Baht a night, the room was pretty basic. It was a fan room with shared bathroom. Luckily it was cold season, so air-conditioning was not necessary. Later, I met up with Annie, Monica, Derick and Michell. We spent the rest of the day together shopping in the night bazaar and had our own “reunion” dinner at a cafe of a guesthouse. The night bazaar was huge and colorful.

Crossing Th Moon Muang near Tha Phae Gate

Tha Phae Gate

Foot massage by the roadside

Street full of bookstores

Beautifully decorated doors at one of the temple

One of the many temples in Chiang Mai

Fresh fruit juice in the night market

Traditional music played by students asking for donation

You can find all kind of food in the night market including the famous chicken embryo egg

The night market kicked into full swing

Camwhoring with Annie

“Reunion” dinner

The atmosphere in Chiang Mai is certainly not as “festive” as in Malaysia. In Malaysia, Chinese New Year songs would play non-stop everywhere you go and fireworks would set off almost simultaneously the moment the clock strike 12 midnight. There was none here. Although I saw some shops set off some firecrackers during day time, but the street was as silent as the grave during midnight.

However, the real celebration was on the next day in Chinatown. I found it accidentally when I was searching for breakfast on my motorbike. Few roads were closed and the area was packed with people. To my delight, Chinese New Year songs were playing loudly, lion dancers danced to the deafening drum beats, smoke from joss sticks filled the air around a Chinese temple, everything was decorated in red, the girls looked elegant in their red cheongsam, traditional dances were performed live on stage and galore of food stalls lined the street. Ah… I felt at home for awhile. I sampled most of the food as my breakfast before going back.

Chinatown

Food stalls

Thai traditional dance

Ladies looking good in red cheong sam

More girls in red cheong sam. I never see so many girls in cheong sam in one place before.

More pretty girls in cheong sam

Dragon dance

Lion dance

Chinese temple

Food stalls lined the street

My breakfast

Grilled seafoods

Grilled sausages

On my way back to my guesthouse, I was stopped by a traffic police. Unfortunately, I couldn’t produce my driving license because I left it in my guesthouse and I was slapped with a fine amounting 200 Baht which I gladly accept. After checked out from my guesthouse, I went to the police station to pay the fine. It was quite an experience to be in the police station. I was the only foreigner in the station and the policeman had trouble pronouncing my name. At least they served with smile. Too bad I was not allow to take any photograph in the station.

After the unexpected short thrill in the police station, I continued my journey on my bike to discover Chiang Mai before I departed to Pai on the afternoon (more on next post). Highly recommended by Conny on the train, I headed to Doi Suthep to visit Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, a temple perched on a panoramic hilltop. The long and winding road leading up to the temple was very scenic. Tree’s shadow casted on the road with cool winter breeze blowing across my face made the journey one heck of a ride. I think everyone should try this when in Chiang Mai.

View of Chiang Mai town on the way up.

Riding up the hill on my rented motorbike

Long flight of steps, lined by ceramic-tailed naga, that leads up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Everyone has to take off their shoe before entering the temple’s compound

Stunning decoration on the temple wall

Golden stupa in the temple

Buddhist devotees seeking blessing from a monk

I left Chiang Mai for Pai not long after that via a local bus. The 4-5 hours bus ride cost 72 Baht. I took the last bus on 4pm at Arcade bus station.

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I must say the train was the most comfortable transportation I took for the whole 2 weeks trip. I could actually sleep in it. When I first entered the cabin, I quickly put on my jacket because the cabin was fully air-conditioned. It was kind of cold at night. I introduced myself to a couple of tourist from Germany who sat across the alley and engaged in a short chat. However, my bunk mate was still no where in sight. Since I haven’t done my homework, I took out my Lonely Planet to find more information on Chiang Mai. The train moved slowly and hopped from one station to another to picked up more passengers. After a few stations, my bunk mate arrived. Her name was Conny and she was from Holland. She turned out to be a very friendly person who has vast experience in Chiang Mai. I tucked away my Lonely Planet and she became my “guide book” that night I also learned a lot from her life experience. We chatted for hours until it was time to sleep.

Pedi and friend

Conny from Holland

The train attendants would moved from one cabin to another and prepare the bed for every passengers. It was amazing to see them work because they could prepare the bed so fast almost like they could do it with their eyes close. I kept my backpack underneath the bottom bunk and took the valuable stuffs with me. There was a curtain I could pull over to provide some privacy when I slept. Sleeping in the small bunk with the curtain pulled over reminded me of my childhood when I used to play house my brother. The house was built by cardboard and blankets and we would pretend to lived in it. I put on my iPod before falling asleep.

It became a seat when the bed is folded

I slept on the top bunk

I woke up around 7am and was greeted by a beautiful sunrise on a hilly scenery. I went to brush my teeth and washed my face in the common wash room. Then I had my breakfast that I bought at 7-Eleven. Even though food is sold on the train, it is cheaper if I bring my own food. The train finally reached Chiang Mai at around 8 something in the morning and it was time to say goodbye to Pedi and friend from Germany and Conny.

Sunrise as seen from the window

Here is a short video I made for this journey…

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you love this post, then you might love these:

1. CNY celebration in Chiang Mai (Day 5 – Day 6)
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We went to Bangkok’s Chinatown and had a nice seafood meal in a Chinese restaurant. After dinner, I went around Chinatown on foot to look for a place to sleep. I managed to get a room in a hotel just beside Hua Lamphong train station which was great because I planned to travel to Chiang Mai the next day by train. After checked into the hotel, I quickly proceeded to the train station to purchase the ticket just before the counter was closed at 11pm. I paid 791 Baht for a one-way overnight sleeper (top bunk) in Special Express train that departs on 6pm (more on next post).

After that, we took a taxi to Memorial Bridge. I could see a lot of Thai teenagers hung around on the bridge chit chatting. There were barely any foreigners. Very near the bridge is a wholesale market for flower known as Pak Khlong Talaat. The market was very colorful with all sorts of flowers. Also very near the bridge is a lively night market selling all kinds of merchandise from rabbits to lingerie. I shopped for awhile before retired to my room.

At the Memorial Bridge

The night market near Memorial Bridge

Wat Prayun Wongsawat as seen from the bridge

Somewhere around the night market

Walking toward the flower market

Flower market

Flower market

I had my breakfast in Chinatown before met up with Tookie on the next day. The lady that sold me the duck rice was very kind. She took the trouble to recommend her friend’s place to change money which indeed offered the best exchange rate. She even offered to take me there by bike which I politely refused. After changing all my Ringgits to Baht, I returned Tookie the money I borrowed from her.

Later, she brought me around Bangkok for sightseeing. At first, we wanted to visit the Grand Palace, but the entrance fee was too expensive and I felt it wasn’t worth it. On top of that, I did not have enough time for sightseeing in Bangkok and the palace is huge. So we skipped the palace and headed straight to Wat Arun across Chao Phraya river. After spending some time enjoying the scenery on top of Wat Arun, we went to Mahboonkrong shopping mall to buy some stuffs and had my dinner at the food court.

The Grand Palace

Temple in Wat Arun

Temple in Wat Arun

Temple in Wat Arun

Temple in Wat Arun

Wat Arun

View from Wat Arun

Another view from Wat Arun

Weird structure near Mahboonkrong shopping mall

Shopping at Mahboonkrong shopping mall

Fearing traffic jam, we left the shopping mall in haste for the train station. Luckily, the traffic was smooth. Since it was still early, I went to nearby 7-Eleven to buy some snacks and drinking water for the long journey. That was where I met Annie. After a short introduction, I came to know that she was going to Chiang Mai as well, but on a later train. We exchanged phone numbers and said goodbye.

I left Bangkok after saying goodbye to Tookie.

If you love this post, then you might love these:

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3. My 2 weeks backpacking adventure across Indochina

At first, I am a bit worried about traveling by myself. That’s right, I never travel by myself before. I guess the only worry I had was being alone. Who like to have fun all by himself? Happiness is only true when shared. My worry seemed to be gone after Justin; one of my campus’ buddy decided to join in my trip. However, my joy was short-lived after he let go the biggest aeroplane ever. He fell sick few weeks before the trip and was advised by doctor not to travel for few months especially to those 3rd world countries. So it was back to square one. After much hesitation, I proceeded with the trip by myself anyway. After all, everything has been prepared. It couldn’t be that bad, right? As I found out along the journey, traveling alone is actually fun! Even though I went there alone, I was never alone on my journey. I was accompanied by fellow travelers from all over the world and most of them are very fun to travel with. I was happy to see there were many travelers who traveled by themselves just like me. We helped each other out, shared our expenses, exchanged our travel experiences and most importantly kept each other accompanied. I got a lot of useful tips for my next destination from those who has been there. They were like my living guide book. It pays to be friendly. At times when I was alone, I found solitude in it. As we headed for Bangkok from Siem Reap, Lenny from UK once told me, loneliness is just a phase.

Charles and friends from USA

Exploring Angkor Wat together with Masaki from Japan

With Tookie who was kind enough to be my personal guide in Bangkok.

Pedi and friend from Germany

Conny, my bunk mate from Holland

My travel mates in North Thailand; Annie and Monica from China

My travel mates in Luang Prabang; Clockwise from left: Guillaume, Pierre, Remi and Antoine

Su In and Hyo Ju From South Korea

Danny my tubing mate from USA

Since 2 weeks is a very short time, I should be careful on my travel plan. Since I am not very good in planning, I just let it flow according to circumstances. My ‘brilliant’ plan was; fly to Angkor Wat, visit north Thailand and reach Vientiane before 5th February. In fact, I was prepared to loose my flight tickets if I stayed longer than expected. After all, the flight ticket from Vientiane back to KL is only USD40 and from KL back to Penang is less than RM30. However, I am glad that everything went smoothly according to my lousy plan. En route to Vientiane from Siem Reap, I have stopped at Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pai, Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng. The total distance I covered on land was more than 2,000 km.

Here was my travel itinerary.

Day 1 – Day 3 : Discover Angkor Wat
Day 3 – Day 4 : Transit in Bangkok
Day 4 – Day 5 : Overnight train to Chiang Mai
Day 5 – Day 6 : CNY celebration in Chiang Mai
Day 6 – Day 8 : Relaxing in Pai
Day 8 – Day 10 : The long journey to Luang Prabang
Day 10 – Day 12 : Luang Prabang, the UNESCO World Heritage City
Day 12 – Day 14 : Chill out in Vang Vieng
Day 14 – Day 16 : Vientiane, French city in Asia?

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Wat Arun, Bangkok

Night market in Chiang Mai

Pai

Kuang Si waterfall in Luang Prabang

Tubing down Nam Song river in Vang Vieng

Patuxai, Vientiane

One of the biggest blunder I made on the journey was traveling without my credit cards’ PIN number. That means, I cannot withdraw cash out from ATM machine. I know I still can use my credit card to buy stuffs, but on a shoestring trip, cash is everything. I ate at roadside stalls (aka pasar malam style), I slept in guest houses (not more than RM20 a night) and I traveled by local buses, train and boat (sampan). They only accept cash. All I had was RM2,000 cash in various currencies and I was lucky not to spend more than that. It was amazing because I never planned in detail how much my expenses would be before I left Malaysia. It was like I picked the number out of the air. It would be very inconvenient if any emergency occurred or I embarked on a shopping spree (I was tempted once).

To save money, these are the types of food that I ate. No pizza, KFC, McD, chicken chop or steak.

Chicken noodle soup

Bee hoon type dish with fresh vegetables

Grill sausages

Grill seafoods

Road side food stall in Chiang Mai

Fresh fruit juice

Porridge with ‘yau char kuai’ in Vientiane

Noodle salad in Vientiane

Sticky rice in bamboo leaves in Vientiane

Banana pancake (roti canai Lao style)

Baguette sandwich in most part of Laos

Laos satay

Yummy dessert almost similar to Penang’s bubur cha cha

Rice soup (porridge)

Putu mayam?

Mix rice in Siem Reap

Banana fritters in Luang Prabang

Koay teow soup?

I came across many hardcore travelers along the way (no, they were not porn stars). They traveled for many many many months. For them, 2 weeks is a short vacation. I even met 2 Belgians who cycled for two weeks months from Singapore to Vientiane. Most of them are Ang Moh who haven’t started working or just resigned from their job. As much as I wish I to follow their footstep, I know I have commitments I cannot ignore. For me, it wasn’t all play but rather a mixture of play and work. It may sound dull to work on a holiday, but that’s the only way I can travel for long period of time and still maintain my career. My biggest concern was how to provide the same level of support to my customers while I was away. My customer’s satisfaction has always been my top priority. Without them, this trip would not be possible. Even though I have delegated some of the job to my people, most of my customers still prefer to deal directly with me.

Working while having lunch in a Wifi cafe in Vientiane

Even though it was not a problem to get connected to Internet at all the places I went, I needed to be reachable by phone as well. Unlike Internet, receiving phone calls while I’m overseas are ridiculously expensive. Roaming charges on Maxis line alone will make me cry. I’m talking about thousands of ringgit on my phone bill. I don’t mind that if I am running a multi million corporation. After I studied all the available options, the cheapest and most reliable method to receive phone calls is to use a combination of Skype and a local mobile phone number. Luckily, getting a prepaid SIM pack from Cambodia, Thailand and Laos was hassle free and cheap. The SIM pack I got in Cambodia was Cellcard ($10 USD), in Thailand was Happy (50 Baht) and in Laos was ETL (35,000 kips). All of them have excellent coverage except at certain rural part in Laos. Despite all the preparations, it wasn’t without any glitches. There were times like I couldn’t receive any calls because I was traveling in a non coverage area or during transition at the borders. I admit, working while traveling is not as easy as I hoped for especially when I tried to cover so many places is such as a short time. This journey has provided a great experience that I can use to improve on my future travels.

The prepaid SIM cards I had. Happy, CellCard and ETL

I consider myself lucky because I did not suffer any illness or injury during the trip, never missed any flights or buses, never run out of cash, managed to visit every places I wanted to visit, met a lot friendly travelers, did not get conned or cheated, was not attacked or robbed and none of my stuffs were stolen. However, I wouldn’t call the trip an adventure if it was without any challenges. Some of the challenges I had were supporting my customer while I was climbing up the gigantic stairs of Angkor Wat, eating food that make me wish I won’t get diarrhea, sleeping in a room with strangers that performed 6 hours of nasal symphony (snoring), lugging 20kg of backpack for an hour looking for a place to sleep at 3am, traveling in a cramped local bus full of bags of rice and chickens for 14 hours on an unpaved (bumpy and dusty) and winding road or spending few hours in police station to pay my traffic fine. Nonetheless, it was fun. I seriously encourage everyone to try it at least once while they are still young and energetic. After all, life is an adventure. Like Remi from France said, “tough experience makes the most memorable experience”.

Unlike packaged tour, backpacking is different because it was not everything about the places. It was the experiences and challenges that make the journey meaningful. Will I do it again? Hell, yeah!

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Even though there are some firecrackers and lion dances, but the atmosphere here is not as happening back in Malaysia. However, Chiang Mai is quite lively especially last night. It has one of the biggest and most colorful night bazaar I have ever seen. It definitely put our local pasar malam in Malaysia to shame. Practically the whole Ching Mai was on sale. I walked until my legs crying for massage; which I obediently obliged. After all, it was only 120 Baht per hour.

Foot massage on the street

The notorious chicken embryo eggs

Camwhoring with Annie

After that, I had a great dinner that serves northern Thai cuisine with some friends from China I met in Bangkok. It made I missed reunion dinner at home.

Cheers! Happy New Year everyone!

If you love this post, then you might love these:

1. CNY celebration in Chiang Mai (Day 5 – Day 6)
2. Overnight train to Chiang Mai (Day 4 – Day 5)
3. Stop over at Zhuhai

If you happen to be in Cambodia, Thailand or Laos during 21st January until 5th February, drop me an email and you are in for a treat. Please include the date, the location and a little bit of introduction about yourself such as name, nationality, age, gender and contact number.

Hope to see you guys there!

If you love this post, then you might love these:

1. My 2 weeks backpacking adventure across Indochina
2. The long journey to Luang Prabang (Day 8 – Day 10)

New found friends in Pulau Perhentian

Another group photo in Pulau Perhentian before going the dive boat

Everyone dive into the ocean with some purpose. Some people dive looking for sea creatures. Some people dive waiting to take the perfect underwater photograph. Some people dive as a career. For me, I dive because I enjoy the landscape and the sensation I get. It’s a whole new world down there. A world where everyone flies like an eagle instead of walking. A world so silent that you can only hear your own breathing. A world where being fat or thin is not an issue. A world so blue that redefine the meaning of cool. Little did I know beneath the surface that seem so volatile hide a garden that is peaceful, calm and full of life. It fades in slowly right before my eyes as I descent into the blue abyss almost like how I used to dream it.

With my dive buddy, Launi

Another dive buddy; Samantha

One of my most memorable dive trip was live-on-board (LOB) diving trip in Trang, Thailand on December last year. Basically, all I did for 3 days was sleep, eat, dive and got drunk (either from sea sick or beers). It may not sound so appealing at first. Who in their right mind would want to spend 3-4 days of their holiday on a boat in the middle of a sea without Internet connection, phone coverage, shopping mall and suffering from sea sick most of the times? But boy, how wrong was I. The journey to the boat itself was nothing short of an adventure. A bunch of clueless divers (in 4 cars) got lost in Thailand in the middle of the night. We overshot our destination and almost drove straight to Phuket. Well, that’s something I won’t mind for sure! We managed to reach our boat somehow and we were 3 hours late!

The boat that we will spend our time on for 3 days.

The boat was huge enough to fit in 30 guests. I was assigned to a small tiny room with a fellow diver. The room was so tiny that I can barely turn on my bed and I swear the room was right on top of the engine room because every cells in my body vibrate when I lied down and it was noisy too. 2 pills of Novomin did not help much in getting me to sleep either.

Getting ready for our first dive

Corridor to my room

Lower deck. This is where the toilet, kitchen and diving platform located

Place to keep our diving gear

When the sun rises, I was greeted with a magnificent morning view that I never seen before. I couldn’t see any land on the horizon except for a lime stone hill that looks like it rises vertically from the ocean. We have reached our diving destination. It is call Koh Ha or literally translate into “five islands” in English. This is where we did all of our dives on the first day. Because lack of sleep from last night, I suffered terribly from sea sickness. After the first dive, I ‘fed’ the fishes with all my breakfast and last night’s Pad Thai. I lost my appetite and I skipped my dinner. After the first night dive, I went to sleep early while the rest party on the sun deck.

Pale look from the sea sickness

Divers on board

Batman and Robin?

Luckily, I recovered from the sea sickness and felt way better than the first day. We basically did 5 dives everyday; 1 before breakfast, 1 before lunch, 1 after lunch and a night dive before dinner. As you can see, I don’t describe the diving schedule by time but in relation to meal because that was all we did; dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, dive, eat and dive.

Octopus and lion fish

Fancy for Unagi?

Shrimp

Yellow sea horse. How cute…

Punk star fish?

Lion fishes

Frog fish?

Looks like a mermaid’s chamber to me

Underwater football, anyone?

Penalty kick

Waiting for the next dive… or was it lunch?

Of all the dives I did during the trip, my best experience was during one of the night dive. Even though it was extremely dark down there, I felt like I was clubbing underwater; high on nitrogen and ray of ‘disco’ lights flashed from all directions from the divers’ torch lights. Sometimes, all of us are too immersed with the night life of the underwater world that we drifted far apart from each other without realizing it. When that happened I have to turn off my torch light so that I will be able to spot the rest of the group from the flashes of their torch light. However, I never let myself loose sight of my dive buddy because it is dangerous to be left alone in the dark open water. In case of any complication, no one will be able to spot me until sunrise. By that time, I will be either bloated on the surface, swept into the deep water, torn into pieces or cannot be found forever until some fisherman catch a huge shark with my BCD in its stomach. Either way, I am dead. It does get scary to be surrounded by darkness in a place where no one can hear my shout and all the predators swim faster than I do. I did imagined a lot of scary thoughts like a lost great white shark suddenly appear from behind and make me its dinner. Oh yeah, we are no longer on top of the food chain when we go down underwater. Scary or not? The only ray of hope (no pun intended) is from the light of my group’s and my own torch light. We learn to trust each other because we have to depend on each other to survive in case of emergency. Apart from all the scary thoughts, what I really enjoyed about night diving is when I was surrounded by tiny specks of planktons (or some kind of organism) that glow in the dark. When I turned off my torch light and let myself in total darkness, I can see them everywhere like a starry night except that they move in all direction! It was so beautiful and almost surreal. Another moment I like most was doing safety stop under the boat. It was basically 3 to 5 minutes of staying still doing nothing at 15 feet underwater. Within the short moment, I took my time to enjoy the beautiful ray dancing around in the clear water that came from the spotlight shining down from the boat. After every night dives, everyone drinks, sharing jokes and laugh the night away.

Cheers! Started drinking already even before the sun went down.

Sunset. It’s time to do night another dive.

When two is a company…

…three is a crowd!

Sad moment… Poor Kit becomes blind and has to beg for money with Ping helping him with melancholic musics.

On the last night on the boat, I decided to spend it on the sun deck so that I can fall asleep under the starlight. It was a wonderful experience until I was waken by strong wind that rocked the boat so hard. I stayed awake fearing the boat might capsized. Luckily, nothing happened and thanks to that, I managed to witness sunrise; something that I never see for very long time.

Spending the night on the sun deck

The sun deck

Dawn…

Before we ended our diving trip, we stopped by at Morakot Cave (Tam Nam) or popularly know as Emerald Cave. Hidden inside the cave is a beach. The only way to access the beach is snorkeling through the cave. It gets really dark in the cave and torch light is a must. After swimming for a short distance in the dark, I began to see light coming from the end. The beautiful beach awaits us at the end of the cave. That was the first time we touched ground after 3 days on the boat. Boy, how reluctant we were when it was time to go back to our boat. We were so captivated by the beauty of the beach. You see, the beach was surrounded by high rocky walls that cast shadow over the beach. We were practically inside a giant bowl. With such an impressive setting, I can’t help myself imagining Captain Jack Sparrow kept his treasure here when we was on his way to Singapore.

Waiting for fellow divers on the sea

Snorkeling toward Emerald Cave

Isn’t it dark in here?

The cave is so dark that you need a torch light

Light at the end of the tunnel

I think I found my paradise.

See… Boon so happy he can’t stop rolling on the beach.

Surrounded by high rocky walls

Yeah! Group photo before going back to the boat.

The fun never stops even after we have ended our diving adventure on the boat. We continued to party in a local club jumping up and down to a rocking Thai live band like a teenager in a rock concert. All of us went so wild that almost everyone is drenched from head to toe after dancing and pouring each other with buckets of ice water. That was what 6 bottles of Chivas can do to us. What more amazing was the local dive master took his heavily modified car that looks like coming out from Too Fast Too Furious movie doing donuts on the road! The night went so wild that I can’t even mentioned some of the incidents in this blog (for the record, we didn’t do anything illegal or hit any dog).

On the next day, we continued our journey back to reality with heavy heart and terrible headache.

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