Sheridan’s Blog

Each and every night Tim and I are awakened by this noise:

Noise

What is it??

Ko Tao is definitely a lovely place, and you’ve really gotta hand it to these types who work 6 months in one place and then the remaining 6 months in another. I mean, where’s the stability there? I mean, it’s all well and good while you’re young and you don’t think stability is important (you probably have no idea what it means at that age). But as the years plough ahead, i feel more and more compelled to seek out a reference point, a north star, or something that can be used as a guide or a measuring stick to compare things with. Clearly I’ve been thinking way too much, and the reason this comes to light now (well, one of the reasons) is that there’s really bugger all to do here. Let’s not be pessimistic about it – if you’ve got the cash, there’s actually a load to do. There’s all kinds of water sports, a bit of hiking in the jungle, swimming/beaching, eating/drinking, boat trips, etc. It’s just that after a while it makes you (and by ‘you’ I actually mean ‘me’) consider what is enjoyable and why pleasure is derived from it. Do some activities meet a psychological need? Is it true that some forms of social interaction fulfil a specific need for acceptance? Do some people require constant praise and reassurance, a level similar to that a child may require? What happens when these needs are not met? Is the un-met need accumulating? What makes one person totally & blissfully happy to sit in the sun with a book all day, while the same act plunges the next person into a pit of boredom and despair? Does an entitlement attitude always result in a heightened sense of self-importance? And so on. It’s little wonder my brain won’t stop at night and I refuse to relax (relaxation is for losers).
Due to budgetary restrictions and other ‘factors’, I’ve not been able to partake as generously as I would like to. Which leaves me with a good deal of spare time to get philosophical about things. It’s not all bad, though. Tim and I have spent some time quarrelling, which has been interesting. Not all that surprising since we’re in each other’s faces 24/7. What is surprising is just how quickly he matures. Most guys his age are complete idiots with an emotional age of 6. He is lucky enough to have insight and intelligence (although sometimes he does things that are so intelligent that they are as stupid as hell). Human emotion is not founded on reason, and there’s only so long one can draw into the self-protection of intellect and logic at the expense of another’s feelings. (I learned all the important things in life from Dr Phil and Patricia Cornwell…) Did I mention the weather has been sub-standard and all we are doing is sitting about reading and perhaps trying to intuit which cloud is going to adopt the shape of a camel in the next 15 minutes?
In other similar news, I have been reading a book by Robin Cook entitled ‘Toxin’. It was published in 1998, and how it has not been made into a major motion picture is beyond me. The main drift of the ‘story’ is to do with a particular strain of the E.Coli food-borne illness. The book has chosen the American beef industry as the scapegoat in this instance. I’ve read a few similar stories with much the same subject matter, and if you wish to become a vegetarian, read this, and then read ‘Skinny Bitch’ (can’t remember who wrote it). You’ll never eat beef again. Maybe you will, just not as frequently (or only when you have hand-reared the cattle and overseen the slaughtering process in full). And even then you probably won’t enjoy it. So thanks to Robin Cook, I will have to bump up my intake of bacon since I’ll be cutting back on beef.
We have made tentative plans in regards to our movements when our time is up here. We have 11 or 12 days after the ‘lease’ ends here and we need to be in Phuket to fly to Singapore. The options are, as always, plentiful: we could stay on here a while longer (ie – until we need to go to Phuket to catch the plane), so we’d either ask for an extension here or stay elsewhere; or we could go to Phuket for the remaining time. Or, we could island hop our way back to the mainland and then head to Phuket for a few nights before flying out. This is our preferred option. It effectively means we finish up here on the 15th of February, return the motorbike (even though we’d still have a few days left before we have to), and board a catamaran for Ko Pha-Ngan, about 60km south of here. Ko Tao has a population of around 5000, while Ko Pha-Ngan reports around 12-13 thousand. Ko Pha-Ngan is around 193 sq.km, compared to Ko Tao’s 21 sq/km, so I expect we may need to hire another motorbike. My main objective is to seek out great snorkelling places, and I hope like hell that the weather improves for this. After Ko Pha-Ngan, we’ll board another boat to Ko Samui, 20km further south. Samui is quite large, but I expect we’ll spend only a few days there. Having spent over a month on a tropical island, I doubt there will be much we want to see there. The noteriety of Samui ensures it will be packed o the gills with tourists, so there’s another drawback. From there, we’ll wave goodbye to the 46,000 or so inhabitants of Samui, and head back to mainland Thailand for a bus trip to Phuket.

It rained last night. Hard. It’s not cold, but according to the weather forecast, it’ll rain for a good while yet. Something about thunderstorms or something.

The days slip by easily here – every second day we’re off to one bay or another to snorkel and swim (and maim ourselves on the motorbike in the process); the alternate days we spend reading and shopping for groceries, etc. We have a hammock out the front, from which you get a nice view of the ocean (if you crane your neck and contort your body in a violently unnatural manner), and we take turns lying there, reading or deciding what to do next. Once or twice a week Tim will go out diving with the Big Blue team, depending on the weather and which dive sites are being visited. There are many dive sites all around the island, however, the dive operations tend to visit the same ones over and over. Maybe it’s because they’re the closest, or perhaps that’s where the visibility and conditions are likely to be optimal. While Tim is diving (usually 2 x 40 minute dives, with about an hour on the boat in between), I sit and read or watch the guys on the boat fish, or I snorkel around, watching the divers from above.
The more we travel around the island, the more bookshops we are encountering. This is a Good Thing. When you spend a decent amount of time on the road, you need some form of entertainment that costs little-to-nothing and is transportable. For us it happens to be reading. And I think you’ll find books are fairly weighty when you have to carry them around, along with everything else you currently own. So it’s nice to be in a situation where I can have several books on the go at the one time, and not have to lug them around with me, fearing that I’m not going to make it through airport bag-weighing without losing a good deal of cash. Books are also good for filling in time between snorkelling and drying off. Not that drying off is necessary, but it’s more a priority to remove the mask and snorkel and let my face return to the normal shape.
We have hit a few really good snorkelling sites of late, including Tanote Bay and Jansom Bay. Good snorkelling is much like good diving I suppose – you need to be able to actually see something. Generally the deeper you go, the more there is to see down there. You simply can’t see as much of the good stuff snorkelling as you can diving. But there is a lot going on down there which you can see from the surface. We have seen some Parrot fish, a blue-ringed something, Angel fish, Hexagon Groupers, some massive brown fish, lots of sea urchins, and many other creatures that I don’t have names for. The divers have signals for the types of fish they see. I’d be very surprised if this type of signaling, in the future of diving, doesn’t turn into a hybrid of underwater charades. Unfortunately, it appears that many of the premier snorkel sites and beaches are a bit difficult to access. We have a bike which, at the site of a steep and rocky hill, whimpers like a 3-year-old and refuses to do anything. So we spend a bit of time walking or pushing the bike up/down hills that it refuses to climb. We could always trade up, but then we risk the chance of getting a bike I can’t ride (or would fall off of frequently). We really can’t afford any injuries, as medical facilities on the island are very limited. It would probably be generous to call them basic. I’m sure they’d get you by in a pinch, but as always prevention is best.
We have toyed with the idea of getting a long-tail boat to the more inaccessible areas. It’s not really expensive and would probably be a lot easier and quicker.

The light of day has somehow crept into Tim’s head. I’m not completely sure what was going on in there beforehand. He came out of the blue with the suggestion that we stay in Koh Tao for the remainder of our time here, rather than go and see the other islands to the south. It may seem surprising, but we have been travelling for 3-4 months now, moving from town to town, place to place every 2 or 3 days. And when we travel, it’s not just to the next town or a few hours away, it’s normally at least 6-10 hours from where we began. It does strike me as strange, though, since Tim always seems to want to be going to every place. It’s like some kind of contest he has to see who can go the most places. Now it looks like the contest has ended. I don’t travel around for the good opinion of others, so I’m happy that we’re staying here, on the island, for a bit longer. It’s really very nice here. Plus the men are hot (well, they’re okay…)
We’ve secured a little bungalow, which has a view of the ocean and palm trees. And the roof of the bungalow below us. We’ve also hired a motorbike for the month. I don’t know how to ride it yet, but Tim assures me it’s easy. Glad we have insurance.
There’s quite a bit to do here if you have the money, but we’ll probably stick to the usual things. Tim may dive, I may go on the boat and watch, or snorkel, or we might explore the island a bit more. Should we tire of that, we can always sit and watch coconuts fall from trees.
I am browner again now, thanks to the wonder of sunlight. Tim is peeling, so he was brown for a few days but now he’s back to white. You have to pace yourself in the sun, and I guess his delicate Dutch skin is not cut out for the mega-rays, ha ha.
That’s all from here, but since this is short, I have made a list of things I wish to do when I get home below:

1. Get hair cut & dyed.
2. Get job (since best friend has moved to Texas).
3. Go shopping.
4. Have very long hot shower.
5. Cook myself a meal.
6. Drive my car around, possibly to the supermarket.
7. Vacuum something.
8. Play the piano whenever I like.
9. Hunt down my old dance teacher and demand that he re-enlist me at once.
10. Go to the gym.

The sun gets up every morning and goes down in the evenings, much the same as everywhere else (except Vietnam perhaps). After the diving debacle, I got me some fins and a mask and snorkel and went snorkelling about the place. I have also contracted a cold out of nowhere (possibly from ingesting much seawater whilst trying to dive), so doing anything for more than 20 minutes is tiring. I’m hideously deformed by sunburn (also came on out of nowhere), so now am trying to avoid the big ball of fire in the sky. Had to wear clothes whilst snorkelling. Until I get past this cold, I won’t be doing much more of anything. I think Tim is bored, but he’s a big boy, he’ll find something to do until I come back to normal again.
Having said that, we were almost committed to leaving the island tomorrow (for the next island south) when we put our laundry in and were advised it would not be ready until tomorrow night. So we stay. Then we went and checked the dive schedule, which informs us of the dive sites being visited over the next day or so. Luckily, one of the places we wish to visit was up, so we signed up to go to Japanese Gardens. This is apparently the premier snorkel site of the island, and it’s also an ok dive site, so Tim can dive and I can snorkel. It’s a win-win situation.
Other than that, there’s really not much else to do here. I could try the diving thing again, but maybe not for a while yet. Plus I don’t think the PADI course structure really fits the people (like me) who get scared even when a bird flies close to them on land. It will take a bit more than a brief splash in the ocean to get me comfortable with the idea of remaining under the water for a longer period of time.

Touching down in Bangkok was a relief for some reason. Not entirely sure why, but it was. The weather was instantly better too. We decided to get a cab directly to the train station in hopes of securing a ticket for tomorrow morning. After the taxi ride from the airport to the station, I had secetly made up my mind (ie – without permission/consultation with Tim) that I would not agree to taking a bus. These people drive like they are on steroids. Honestly, going over 100km or so on a freeway without a seat belt is not my idea of safety. Especially when the driver neither headchecks or uses the indicators, but rather just kind of ‘sweeps’ across lanes when he feels like it. It really brings the blood pressure up quite briskly.
We made it to the station, and were told the next train to Chumpon left in about 2 hours, so rather than pay the taxi fare back and then the night of accommodation, we bought the tickets for the next train. Which happened to be an overnighter with only a reclining seat. Yay. Seriously, when I get home, I am doing all the lazy, princess-type things possible. I will sit whenever I can, recline my chair at all times, or better still, lay down at any opportunity. Needless to say, it wasn’t the best night’s sleep. From Chumpon, we got the ferry to Koh Tao. It was pretty boring.

Koh Tao is basically a backpacker/dive/water resort. On the boat, several dive operators or accommodation touts try to showcase their wares to you. We found one that offered us a free ride to the establishment – no obligations. We were thinking of both taking a dive course, so we checked it out. Accommodation = 500-1000THB for non-divers, half-price for divers. Or 200 THB for a fan-only room, which we are now installed in.
The water here is crystal-clear. The dive resort we are staying at has a restaurant right on the beach, and I mean RIGHT ON. As the tide comes in of a morning, it washes gently against the decking of the restaurant, and if you stepped off the decking, you’d be ankle deep in water. As te tide recedes in the afternoon, a few metres of sand is revealed.
We somehow ended up signing up for a 4-day dive course, which is the Open Water Scuba Dive course (or something which sounds very much like that). Day 1 was theory/paperwork, day 2 was a small dive in confined (very shallow) water, and day 3 was the first of the open water dives. It’s a very odd feeling having all the dive gear on and breathing underwater. I’d like to say it’s cathartic and natural, but it’s not. It’s hideous and frightening. All the people who do it blab on about how cool it is and how much they love it, so you kind of think it’s going to be the cat’s pyjamas, and that you too will end up in this fraternity. It’s not. Maybe for them it is, and good on them for doing something they like doing (and now I understand how I must sound when I go on and on about dancing or singing or music – it really does do other people’s heads in. Not stopping, though.) I lasted a good 30 seconds (if that) underwater before freaking out and vowing to never return. But swayed by the pressure of a crowd, I tried again with similar results. And I’d be happy to not try again ever. It is a shame that I spent more time putting on and taking off my gear than in the ocean. But I have no regrets. Some things are just not for me. I did snorkel around a bit while the other dived around underneath me. Snorkelling is much less scary. You can stop whenever you want as well, which is very reassuring. The place we were learning at was called Big Blue Diving Resort. The staff have been ace (and quite professional), even though I resigned only part way through. This leaves Tim without a buddy (you have to dive with a buddy), but he’s a big boy, he knows how to find one if he wants. It’s a shame I can’t do it, but I’m not willing to wage my sanity on diving. I did pass the theory component though (woo hoo). So I can read all the books about diving, but I can’t actually do it. How marvellous. The whole process just reminds me of all the cool things I can do (that I can actually ‘do’) when I get home.
I hope Tim continues to dive where possible – he seems to enjoy it. I can only snorkel around. If other water-sports present themselves I might be enticed to give them a go. Or I might just buy a new bikini and sit it out on the beach. Who knows?

Pacific Airlines give you a meal for a flight just over 1 hour! Elation…even though it was only rice, a handful of vegies and strange meat/s. The flight from Saigon – Bangkok was actually a code share flight, so the plane was supplied courtesy of Bangkok Airlines. It was uneventful (apart from the food).
From Bangkok, we aim to first sleep overnight at a hostel (since the flight arrives around 8pm), then get up bright and early to book a train ticket to Chumpon, about 4-6 hours south of Bangkok. Chumpon is our launching place to Koh Tao and Koh Samui. Many ferry companies leave Chumpon very regularly for these islands. Getting train tickets may be an issue – all indications point toward booking them at least a day in advance. We don’t have that time, so if we cannot get a train, we’ll look into getting a bus, or possibly going west instead.

Yesterday, since the weather looked as if it might top out around 30 degrees, Tim expressed a sincere desire to visit a water park. According to our source, Saigon has 3 water parks, so we chose the big one, only to be informed by taxi driver that it was shut. So we took the next best thing, which was closer anyway, therefore cheaper to get to in said taxi. So off we went with our swimming attire. Having never been to a water park (even in Australia), I was not sure how it all works. I’m aware that there’s pools and water slides, but that’s about it. We pay and go in around 11.30am, so it’s quite deserted. But not for long.
At the Dam Sen water park, we encounter something we have seen here a few times: designated ‘foreigner’ areas. This was a foreigner sunbathing area, which would have been mega-ace, had there been any sun. So we changed and headed toward the water. It’s a funny feeling wandering around in your bathers when you haven’t done so for a good while. It’s not like at the beach, where you hover between your towel on the sand and the surf. This was a little like walking around in a mini-town in your swimmers. I can’t say I was immediately comfortable with it, but after a good half an hour I’d forgotten about it and it was no longer an issue.
Tim is a seasoned adventure monster, he’ll go on anything. I am a touch more refined in my selection of torture machines and devices. So we started off with the ‘Giant Slide’, which was quite tame considering it’s name. It spun around and went into the water. Slowly by Tim’s standards, but at break-neck speed by mine. It least the water didn’t feel cold. After this, we graduated to a big slide which resulted in our ingesting a few litres of water each. Near the giant slide was a straight, enclosed water slide which ended with a large, spherical space-ship style cone. Tim was obviously intrigued. So off he went. It was impossible to ignore the banging sounds of his bones crunching against the space-ship section. Then he fell unceremoniously out of it, insisting that I have a go. At that stage I thought it safer to jump on a motorbike and ride through the middle of Saigon (= certain trip to hospital). Stupidly I got in the thing, and I have the bruises to go with it. The big space-ship thing is just to wind down your speed, which is quite fast after sloshing downhill for a while. Then you just stop in there, and kind of have to roll out into the pool. It’s quite debilitating.
There were several other slides. The only other worthy of note is the Black Thunder. It’s a double-person slide, so we went in together (otherwise I would not have gone, but Tim was doing pleading eyes and stuff like that), so down we went. To my complete and utter horror, it is pitch black inside. You’d think the name might have given it away to me, but no, I’m not so smart in Vietnam it seems. So we go hurtling down this darkened tube, having no idea where it might turn next or where it may end. I might say that I have never been happier to see the light of day. Tim loved it, possibly more so than beer. Which meant he wanted to do it again.
There were some pleasant slides. They’re the boring ones I went on.
It’ll be maybe more of a relaxing day tomorrow, providing I’m not in hospital with a concussion.

After being plain sick of Saigon, we hit a few museums to take the edge off the boredom. First was the Fine Arts Museum, which was good. It was housed in a stunning French colonial-era mansion, which detracted from the art significantly. I spent my time looking at the art, but also equally thinking about what I would do if I were to live in such a mansion, and where I might like to put the furniture, etc. I’m pretty sure it’s not intended for this purpose, but I’m sure it did no harm.
After lunch at a very expensive restaurant in the area (the fancy area of town, kind of) we headed towards the more popular War Remnants Museum. it was only just re-opening again after lunch, and already there was quite a queue. I guess the macabre nature of this type of museum appeals to many folk, including me. Enclosed in the outer yard are several war machines and robot-type bodies, including a Huey Helicopter and some planes with various guns on/in them. Plus a few other bombs and military arms. A photo museum, outlining the events on a time-scale (according to the Vietnamese of course) and a tiny section on the foreign journalists covering the war (and the fate of some of them, if known) completes the courtyard area.
The main building is similar in structure to an outdoor auditorium – a large, hollow space with three walls (the fourth of which I feel would be pushed into place at closing time). The walls in here were lined with pictures and photographs depicting the atrocities of war, particularly the use of Agent Orange, as well as the effects of herbicides and incessant bombing on the landscape (not to mention the people). Some of the depictions were extremely graphic.
Everyone seems to have their own opinion about war. Apart from saying that it’s painfully obvious the cost may be greater than the winnings (for some), I don’t have much more to say about it. I don’t think there’s really anyone who can say anything useful, good or bad, about it. Conflict is going to happen – it always will, whether it be with guns and blood, or with more technological equipment (insert other forms of warfare), etc. Any moron can sit around and spout off majestically about this and that and politics, but I wonder how many people spare a thought for what they might personally be able to do to help the situation?