9th November 2011

Wow, time goes so quick...!

First, as some of you may know, I have been having some UK business issues that I have been needing to address. So besides 5 mins break here and there.... I have been full steam ahead since our return to Koh Tao.

Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself ! Lets go back a couple of weeks and recap.!

So, lets start with the rig.... still at Sipadan and a few days left of our dive trip. We returned to Sipadan the next day, and had 3 awesome dives again. Got some more fantastic footage... below is just a taster! More will come when I have time to edit!!

But, in this beautiful place, there are problems.....  We witnessed some terrible dive practices by the other divers in our groups. Jen pointed out that one diver would wear gloves when diving (there were "NO GLOVES" signs everywhere), Jen's query was dismissed as "the guy needs to grip his camera tighter". When Jen reapproached the staff the next day and complained that she had seen the diver break coral and hold on to coral, they denied it happened... even with Jen pointing out that I had filmed some of these actions. See footage below...

So, we left Sipadan with deep regret of what is happening there, and started our long journey back to Koh Tao. First, a speedboat to the mainland, then a 2 hour bus ride... after that, a plane to Kuala Lumpur.

We arrived at KL airport, and checked into a hotel for 10 hours... a sleep and then it was back onto a plane again to head for Bangkok... the usual hassle, arguing about excess baggage etc... and getting seats not sitting nest to each other.. We moved next to each other during the flight since it wasn't full...


On arrival at Bangkok, we caught a taxi to the train station, as we wanted to get out as soon as possible with the potential flood risks. We managed to get tickets for the final train leaving for the South of Thailand... but sinces the flood waters had already damaged the track ahead, we boarded a bus for a couple of hours to take us to a working rail station.

On route to the unaffected train station, we passed by some flooded areas... unfortunately it was dark by then, so no photos.

Then, it was back on the train for another sleeper trip to Chumphon. We arrived at 3:30am, and had to wait at the train station for a bus to the ferry at 6:30am. During this time, I had numerous calls from the UK, explaining what was happening with the business in the UK... Needless to say, I was not happy, but thats an issue I shall not be dealing with in public.

While I was on the phone, 6 Indian guys walked up and started chatting with Jen. Eventually, she had convinced them to go to Koh Tao, and do a Discover Scuba Diving dive...

So, eventually the ferry turned up, and we boarded with the crazy Indians...

Arriving back on Koh Tao, Jen sorted the guys out, and I jumped straight onto teaching a large Open Water Course... Its nice to be needed... the timing was not great because of all the stuff I was dealing with in the UK.... but I was not complaining!

Jen took the guys out scuba diving the next day, and they loved it so much, they spent the next 2 days buying us drinks and food.... they were so hospitable... and they left a couple of days later with tears in their eyes saying we had "made their holiday so amazing"...

So, thats it... kind of up to date now... Jen started an Open Water Course today, while I work on UK stuff.. and update this blog!!! In the meantime, I have been having a debate with the dive company in Sipadan regarding the diver actions we saw... see below: (click the pics to enlarge)

Hopefully the next update, will not be as long... again, my apologies...!

xx

SD