Dec 13, 2006 - Life on the beach

Chilling out on Koh tao, cut my legs off and chuck them away because i don't need them any more. we finally found somewhere to exhale, away from the busy streets of Bangkok and after a greulling journey, first on a sleeper train then a rough boat ride all taking a total of eleven and a half hours we can know finally kick off our shoes and just chill out. Koh tao revolves around diving, relaxing on the beach, eating cheap good food and partying. We are both getting use to the tropical climate and our colour is gradually changing from english...

Dec 8, 2006 - Day 86 - Bangkok to Chumphon

After getting the overnight train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok the night before (eating the resultsof our cooking course on the way!), we had the afternoon in Bangkok before taking another long train journey South to Chumphon. We arrived pretty late but still in time to meet our land lady for the evening who also kindly sorted out our ferry tickets for the following morning to Koh Tao.

Jul 25, 2006 - Finished with Ko Tao, on to Chiang Mai

So, it turns out that a planned 4 days turns into 9 quite easily when you're living the diving life. After I finished the basic open water scuba course, i was just starting to get the hang of diving and wanted some more. The solution was to sign up for a advanced course. The advanced course involved five dives focusing on various skills: navigation, buoyancy, naturalist, and the highlights deep water and night diving. The deep dive is interesting because there is the potential to experience nitrogen narcosis, an intoxicating effect of the...

Jul 19, 2006 - Diving on Koh Tao

Wow, this island is amazing. I'm currently living in a beach hut on the island of Koh Tao, off the east coast of thailand. It's a scuba diving certification machine, and I just finished my four day open water course. Absolutely amazing to float around down there like a fish. The plan right now is to hang here for a day or two and enjoy the sun, then finish the advanced open water course. That allows me to go to 30m and includes a night dive! Met some cool americans, auzies and brits in the class, and I've been draging them out for drinks...

May 25, 2006 - Guest entry - an unexpected highlight

As my vacation comes to an end, I am reminded of a Bodenhamer family tradition. At the end of family vacations, we'd be sitting in a Perkin's somewhere in Nebraska and Mom would ask, "Kids, what was your favorite highlight of the trip." So I ask myself, what is the highlight of this trip? The moment that comes to mind surprises me a little. There are a number of exciting activities to choose from, rock climbing on limestone cliffs jetting out of the ocean or scuba diving in one of the most vibrant coral reefs in the world. But the moment I...

May 2, 2006 - Chumpton to Bangkok - the sustaining of serious injuries

Arriving back from Koh Tao relaxed and refreshed Helen and Danny boarded the train north to Bangkok. Once again Helen basked in the glory of having insisted on a two birth, first class cabin for the train, knowing Danny had no comeback since his seperation from his beloved spreadsheet. The train journey was pleasant and cool after the heat of Koh Tao and only once during the night did the impending damage Helen was about to inflict on herself occur to Danny. As she stood up sharply and cracked her head on the over hanging metal bed Danny...

Apr 11, 2006 - Bus Ride to Chumpong

quick update: after spending the day just trying to get all the travel accomodations down (and a quick pedicure for $2.00), we jumped on a 6pm bus to Chumpong. The bus ride was fairly uneventful except for the fact that we were forced to watch the movie version of "Dukes of Hazard". I know there are some of you out there that actually told me they enjoyed this movie -- i'd like to reconsider our friendship. Slept most of the bus ride after the fabulous flick and was awakened when the bus stopped at a roadside diner for about an hour. It was...

Mar 25, 2006 - Chumphon

Yesterday we took the boat from Koh Tao to Chaumphon. Overall the experience of diving in Koh Tao put us off staying longer. The equipment was worn out, and once in the water all you could see were hundreds of other divers. Not quite what we had gone for. As there is not a lot else to do we decided to come to Chumphon on the main land ready for the trip back to Bangkok. And we are so glad we did. We have found an amazing beach 16km south of Chumphon, and are staying at a place called the Cabana which has been here for 14 years and is a sort...

Feb 12, 2006 - Chumpon

Sometimes the hardest part of traveling is just getting started. While I knew the sooner I got to the Island the faster I can get things done I still found myself running around BKK doing some errands and basically taking things at a fairly leisurely pace. Part of which was trying to decide how to get back to the Island. Fly, bus or train. I was successfully able to drag this "complex question" out for a few days. In the end I decided to go for the train and what I hoped to be a much more comfortable means of travel to Chumpon. ( Chumpon...

Feb 4, 2006 - On The Move

Bus at 6.00am to Prachuap 2hr bus trip. Found a French Guy who gave us some good info about where to stay and how to get around. Very few tourists here so communication a little harder - no English speaking or signs. Hired a motorbike - thought it was auto but was a manual. John got a lesson - brake, gears, key - that was it. They had a great laugh as we took off up the road. It was great we explored the whole coast from North to South - beautiful beaches and views all around. At one stage we thought we were travelling down the highway and...

Jan 23, 2006 - Home Again

January 1 - 10: Ko Chang: It is true, time flies when you are having fun! January 9th is our most memorable day because that is the day Katie and Catherine surprised us at KoChang. We had one great evening and we left the next day BUT that was not the end of our fun. We met again in Chumphon to take the night train and spend the next few days in Bangkok together. It was the perfect ending to a perfect vacation. January 15, 2006 - 28hours with delays on Air China - home again! WHOOPEE!

Dec 10, 2005 - Rocky crossing to Ko Tao

I was back on the road early this morning as I caught a taxi to the bus station in order to get myself down to the south. I easily found a cheap 2nd class ticket to the port town of Chumphon, and I was off. It wasn't quite as bad as yesterday, but I still had 7 hours on the road today. Why does thailand have to be so long and have all the major attractions at each extreme end? My plan was to get off in Chumphon and get a ferry from there to the island of Ko Tao, a diving mecca in southern Thailad. My Lonely Planet said the bus would drop...