Andaman Sea - 7 day scuba diving trip

Nic, myself and our best buddies Steve and Debs set off on our liveaboard. We lived on the boat for 7 days and 6 nights and it was rewarding but very tiring. We did 22 dives in total and saw an amazing array of marine life, including a sea horse, cuttlefish, bat fish, turtles, white-tipped sharks, box fish (the size of a pea and the size of a football), shrimps, crabs, sleeping and awake parrot fish, trigger fish (one attacked Steve - very funny), anenome fish (Nemos), barracudas, leopard sharks etc. etc. etc...

Here's Phi Phi island where some of the film The Beach was filmed:



This is Fin (our fab Dive Master) with a map of a dive site that Debs, the great artiste, drew:


Another beautiful spot where we spent the night:


Here's the 4 of us having fun in the big blue:



Nic hanging out with the very inquisitive Bat Fish:


A beautiful Sea Horse (how cute?):


Two amazingly colourful Harlequin shrimps:


An incredible Cuttlefish (I could watch them for hours changing colour and shape):


You can't see me! One of the many many Scorpion Fish that we saw on the trip:


Steve was ill on the last day of the liveabaord and sadly missed the last dive but me, Nic, Debs and Fin had an amazing dive and we saw Leopard Sharks. This is a photo of one of them with Nic behind it. It was an amazing experience to get so close to such a beautiful, ingtriguing creature:


Just as we were about to get back on the boat we spotted a Hawkesbill turtle. He/she was the craziest turtle we've ever met and he/she played with us and attacked us for about 10 minutes. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life and a great way to end the diving trip.



After the liveaboard, we had 2 more nights in Kantiang Bay but sadly Steve was very ill so it was a bit of a sad end to their holiday. Fingers crossed Steve is OK.

So now Nic and I are back on our own. We fly to Cambodia tomorrow (27th February) and we're excited about exploring a new country.

Thailand - Koh Lanta with family and friends

We had 2 weeks back at Kantiang Bay, Koh Lanta, and Nic's daughter Jessica and her boyfriend Tom came out to visit us there. We had a great 2 weeks together and did alot of swimming in the gorgeous sea and chilling out at the 'Why Not Bar' on the beach.

We managed to drag ourselves up the hill to the Sunset Bar a few times, where we'd chill out with a beer or a cocktail and watch the sunset:


We also managed a couple of day trips to some nearby islands and one of the trips included a bit of kayaking. Jess and Tom took a while to get the hang of things and the quote of the day was from Jess saying "It's not funny cos I'm not laughing". Brilliant!


On the same trip we got to watch the local monkeys being fed; they came on the boat and into the water to get the fruit. Luckily they were well behaved, although they did get a bit close for comfort at times:



This monkey looks like he's pondering something!


On the second week our bestest mates Steve and Debs also joined us and the 6 of us had a great week together.

We all went on a day trip to some of the nearby islands to do some snorkelling and to see the Emerald Cave. The latter was much busier than it had been last September but it was still gorgeous. Well done to Tom for managing to swim through the dark cave and snorkel, even though he has/had a fear of the sea.

Here's us hanging out at the Emerald cave:

Here's Steve and Debs getting into holiday mode:


This is the infamous Why Not Band that play every night at the Why Not Bar. They really enjoy themselves and were pretty good:


Whilst Jess and Tom were here they adopted a cat and called her Jeffrey. When they left she adopted us and would hang around our balcony waiting for cuddles:


Massive bug seen at the Sunset Bar:


Hanging out with our buddies:


Sadly we had to say goodbye to Jess and Tom and they went back to the UK. Nic, me, Steve and Debs then went on a liveaboard to enjoy a week a scuba diving in the Andaman Sea. Sweet!

Hello Thailland (again) - Nong Khai

On 31st January we arrived back in Thailand after crossing the Friendship Bridge out of Laos. We spent a few days hanging out in Nong Khai and visited the very surreal Sculpture Park.

The park was born from a spiritual vision by a Brahmanic yogi/priest/shaman who emigrated from Laos. It took 20 years to construct and some of the statues are immense. There are Buddha and Hindu images and it's a very interesting place to visit.

One of the features of the park is the Wheel of Life, the entrance to which is through a penis and vagina:


Inside the wheel is a business woman:


A yuppie:

and a statue of 'the death of love':





We particularly liked the dog sculptures. Here's one on a scooter:


We then flew to Krabi in the south of Thailand and met up with Nic's daughter Jessica (who we'd not seen since we left the UK) and her boyfriend Tom. They've come out to visit us for 2 weeks and the 4 of us our currently having a great time in Kantiang Bay, Koh Lanta.

Tomorrow, our best mates Steve and Debs also arrive in Kantiang Bay. Let the partying commence!!!

Laos pt 4 - Elephant Village near Luang Prabang

We arrived back in Luang Prabang and booked a Mahout course at the Elephant Village, which is a sanctuary for ex-logging elephants. The elephants that they have rescued have a great life, are very well fed and there is a vet on site at all times. Also, some of the money they make goes to supporting the local villagers.

There was only 5 of us on the Mahout course and we got on really well. The village is in a stunning location and has great facilities (both for ellies and humans).


First we learnt some Mahout (elephant driver) words i.e. stop, go, left, right etc. and then we learnt how to get on an elephant and ride on it's neck. I got on the ellie with quite a lot of assistance i.e. our guide pushing me up with both hands on my buttocks (we have video evidence!).


Later on we rode an elephant in a Howdah . This was relaxing and fun and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery and watching the villagers.



One of the Mahouts looking particularly relaxed:


After our ride we swam in the beautiful swimming pool to cool down:


Next we met up with the ellies again and rode on their necks into the jungle, which is where they spend the night. I ended up with the biggest and oldest one.


Some cute local kids:

After saying good night to our ellies we went on a boat to see some waterfalls and we also had an opportunity to bathe with a young ellie. The ellie in question was 11 and totally adorable. She kept spraying water onto the spectators and we had a great time together.


We then went back to our lovely hotel room to shower and then we had a much needed dinner with our fellow trainee Mahouts.

We were up very early the following day and we walked into the jungle to collect our ellies. We rode on their necks and they took us back to the river for their morning bath. My ellie decided to run down the slopes even though the Mahout was shouting instructions to stop. Trust me to get the stroppy, independent one! Luckily the Mahout was behind me and he clung on to me to stop me from falling off. It was a bit scary but also fun!

Here's my enormous ellie lying down so that I could get on her:

We and the ellies enjoyed our morning bath. We also had a go at climbing onto our ellies' head and jumping off into the river.


Our ellies then went off to have breakast and we went back to the hotel, packed and also had breakfast. We then sadly had to say goodbyes to the gorgeous ellies, our Mahouts, the other trainee Mahouts and our guide.

Our elephant experience was one of the highlights of our mega trip. It was such a privilege to spend time with one of the most beautiful, intelligent, powerful yet gentle, creatures on earth.

This is a model of Mosha the elephant. In 2007, when she was only 7 months old she was rescued and fitted with an prosthetic leg (in Lampang, Thailand), after losing a limb when she stepped on a landmine. She's since been fitted with 2 replacement artificial legs. What an amazing story.