Valium started off my night right, as I enjoyed my own and shared with some people in line for the toilet.
I was shaken awake by Jake, who also became the victim of my spooning, largely as a measure to stay alive with the extra body heat. He has plans to dive, but hadnt booked a place nore hostel, so followed me in tuktuk for us to simultaneously see what was possible. He checked into a backpackers and i went on to big blue diving, the place recommended by many. Beautiful. The place was absolutely stunning and i was there too early to actually check in (twas 6 am) but i sat down with two south africans (the first I had met in all of my travels really, and they weren't even together!) Andrew, the dude, and waitara (her parents named her after a new zealand city, but we decided she'd be called kiki) the chick. We were all about to start our open water and they were both sweet. We ate, chilled, did the quintessential expected getting to know eachother shit, and then I finally went to my room to check in. Kiki and I were in the same 4person dorm room, in bigblue2, a part of the complex situated a 4 minute beach walk away. The tide was high so trekking in the small bits of sand led to wet pants bottoms, but soon enough we were there. I was going to nap, but realised on the walk that there was way too much beautiful sun and environment to not go back outside. I read for a bit and then kiki and I decided to go for a swim. We had off until 5pm, when orientation would start, to waste time in the sun. The water was clear and beautiful and the next person we met was louise, yet another south african. We chatted briefly but then went off for a swim. Two snorkling boys became our next companions, from, I'll let you guess, south africa. No clue what their names were but for a wee while we swam around staring at the few existing fish. As we left a rocky area I managed to cut my toe on some sharp bit. Minimal blood, but fuck. That was definitely going to hurt, be impossible to properly cover, and get infected.
Kiki and I wandered around a bit looking for lunch and what koh tao was about, and at 5pm returned to have orientation. We had met the 3rd girl staying in our room, but for the life of me, even after 4 days, I couldn't tell you what the fuck her name was.
At 5 we went to the 'classroom,' conveniently located in bb2, where I found jake again (woo!) as well as andrew, and heaps of other people signed up for their ow.
I came in with such a presumption that I had to get licensed with padi, and that that was the only way it could be done, but the first thing they spoke with us about was whether we wanted to get padi certified or ssi certified. They seemed to favor ssi, due to its stronger flexibility, lack of a need for purchasing a useless book, and equivalent world recognition, but I was still amongst a bunch of people who had been brainwashed by the stronger marketting team of padi who were still on the fence. We all discussed, and not before long, the entire room, aside from two french girls, were on route to an ssi open water license. We filled out medical forms and then split to smaller groups to start with theory videos which were boring as hell. We also all each got a textbook to borrow and complete our 'homework' with. halfway through the second video I was like fuckit, and started on the work. Memories of 5th grade fill-in-these-sentences-with-
When we were done we snagged kiki and went to bb1 for dinner. As it was in gili, there was an area where you could pick a fish and have it cooked for you. Obviously more expensive, but the 400g cherry snapper I got, with potato, corn, salad, and a large chang, still only cost me $11 (and an obnoxiously full, but happy, stomach). Best dinner I've had in ages. I managed to also grab hold of jake via email (not a facebooker) and make him meet us at bb1 before making moves to the night life.
Kiki opted to call it a night, so the three of us beach walked to the next happening place (mind you, bb1 at this time was already a scene, filled with people on cushions on the beach, drinks everywhere, and epic fireshows), lotus bar. Signs advertised laughing gas, and jake and I both were surprised at andrews strong positive feelings towards it. Started with beers, moved towards buckets, and somehow managed to fun into danique and jost! Jake and I were both thrilled to see them, and we all drunkenly spent the night watching an epic fire show on the beach, and eventually giving in to laughing gas's calling. Andrew dipped, and the 4 of us remaining went to the fish bowl, which is the other well frequented nightly hotspot, with a fire jumprope and limbo stick. We didn't stay long before going to get pancakes from this guy who's not only quoted in lonely planet, but also has been doing his job for 12 years. I went sweet, jake savory, and they were both mean, even though I stupidly dropped half of mine on the ground.
After, we split and jake and I went for a cheeky wee swim in the sea, which was crowded with other drunk idiots, and led to the loss of my goggles, and gain of 3 seaurchin bits in jake's foot. Eventually we called it a night, far too late to handle the 830 am wakeup call, luckily at bb2.
Come morning we were broken up into our ow groups and half taken for pool skills, and half for more theory. Thankfully, my group did theory first (far too hung over to be fucked getting in the pool).
The group:
Ami: our adorable blonde instructor from the uk, with the squeaky voice of a 12 year old, teeny stature that continuously surprised me in tank lifting strength, and extremely bubbly personality. She's been living in koh tao for 7 months, did all her training at big blue, and was no doubt going to be the comforting help I'd need in my expected future panicking.
Kiki: previously introduced waitara, the 19 year old south african who's been travelling alone for over a year, with much time spent working in a pub in england. She has an eye for cheap thai restaurants and is the only child of an already retired father.
Chantel: new jersey 25 year old, doing her first year of med school in melbourne, on a two years in melbourne, two years in new orleans program, post doing undergrad at brown. Spunky, loud, and a fucking great character, the eventual new owner of isaac's copy of 'the beach.'
The family (kevin, jamie, and kim): an english trio (dad, son, and daughter, respectively) currently living in kuwait and on holiday to get their ows. Mum chickened out, but the 41 year old military engineer took his 16 year old son, and 18 year old daughter to get certified. I was first unsure of how to respond to the 'family' in our group, but they all ended up being great fun and a great balancing off addition to the crew.
The day started with more movies, throguh which chantel and I raced through the homework, absorbing little knowledge. Next we all met up with ami outside, played the name game, and did some theory on a whiteboard that was much clearer and more interesting than the movie, highlighting only that which we actually needed to care about. It seemed like a lot of information, but I was all in good healthy by then and actually absorbing information.
During lunch I finished the last 5 pages of the beach, which had been eating away at me in anticipation, and nearly restarted the book, but instead passed it on to chantel. I learned that I'm not allowed to bring a camera during an open water course, which was a huge bummer for the recent go pro purchase. After, we all met up and had our swim test in the sea, since the pool was crowded still with people from the morning. It was a 200 meter swim/paddle/crawl to and from a boat twice. I unsuccessfully half searched for my lst goggles of the night before. Then we had to tread water for 10 minutes, which meant float on your back. Chantel floated away at a point, seeming to have literally fallen asleep, and I spent the whole time sitting awkwardly chatting away at Ami.
Next we went to get equipment and head to the pool to learn about everything we'd be using. Putting together and taking apart things was stressful, with so much information I doubted I could remember. Then we geared up (holy heavy) and jumped into the pool. We were specifically instructed to pee in our wetsuits if we had to use the toilet, because there are only 2 kinds of divers: divers who pee in their wetsuits and admit it, and divers who pee in their wetsuits and lie.
Everything felt super foreign, and hearing yourself breathe like darth vader was a whole new experience. We were in for a few hours, watching all our fingers go painfully pruny (in masks that seemed to magnify just about everything) and learning important skills, like learing our masks if they filled with water (surprisingly simple), retriving a dropped regulator, and sharing our air. Before we got in we laso learned about buddy checks, and always diving with a buddy. The acronym for it was bangkok women really are fellas. Of course. Bc, weights, restraints, air, and final ok. Kiki was my buddy. Sometimes it was difficult to stay under for so long, but with relaxation ami guided us through everything and we eventually got to the deep end for buoyancy exercises and equalisation practice, something I feared the most of all the things we'd have to encounter. It was nearly 6pm by the time we got out, which was later than schedule and stressed me out about being able to find jake, who had been scheduled to get a bamboo tattoo that night, which I was dying to see. The only information I had about the place was that the guy was famous, rasta, used to have dreads, and it wasn't on the main strip. I searched with kiki and andrew for a while, sending email after email to jake trying to get more info to find him, and then we gave up and sat down for food. Post dinner they split and I decided to give it some more time of searching before properly giving up. I asked store after store presenting tis garbage amount of information, until I got to 'frenchkiss divers' where somehow the chick seemed to know exactly what I was talking about. She pointed and told me it was a 10 minute walk. I turned it into a 3 minute uphill sprint. When I got there, it was empty... I searched and finally a man came out, knowing about the elephant rib tattoo I was referring to, and said I missed jake by about 15 minutes. Fuck. I decided to run the dodgy way home as well, since it was dark and I couldn't be bothered walking, and as I neared civilisation, I heard a crash, and felt a massive weight drop from my backpack. The horror of my camera somehow pushing open the zipper and crashing to pieces on the ground. My phone as a torch let me recover as much as I could (I reckon it was everything sans a screw or 2) and I angrily trekked back to bb1 to find jake, and smoke half his pack of cigarettes in angry stress. (I'm not a smoker, but I occasionally have a stress induced chainsmoke session.) The tattoo looked great, and he calmed down my impending insanity. We sat down for a while with andrew and I wasn't sure whether or not I should drown my sorrows in alcohol, but at 1055, with only 5 minutes left of lotus's 2 for 1 buckets, I went for it.
We drank for a while with (found them again!) Danique and jost, before I got berated by a cambodian ladyboy. She came up from behind, as I sat comfortably on the sand around a table, whining in broken manly english about a bald man who was mean to her, with her skinny arms dangling around my neck. I tried to be nice, to console her, as I watched jake turn and ignore the situation (cunt.) She told me 'I cambodian princess! He no nice to me! I box him." Every so often she'd fet up, dance a wee bit, and lift her skirt for everyone at the table. She started making offers to me, for what I don't know, and I tried to ward her off. She said she was done with men, but that the israeli guy next to the bald guy had a big cock. I eventually somehow got rid of him/her and decided it was only right to find this bald man and ask him what happened. A table away I sat down with him, and his travelling girlfriend of 6 days, and they both laughed along with my recent experience, complaining of the same garbage. I ended up talking to the chick for ages, who was 41, and now travelling alone after having travelled for a month with her 22 year old daughter in thailand, who paid for the two of them to go. She was super cool and kept trying to set me up with a british george who seemed to be dancing off in his own little world. I got told that I have the least irritating american accent that they've met so far.
The music turned 50s and the bar was emptying, so the remaining lot of us started to get our dance on. Twas a funny night, followed by another difficult, 830, hung over morning.
We did more theory and then took our final exam, which for some reason had been stressing some people out. The 6 of us in the group all took it together, as ami said she couldn't tell us not to... We went question by question, with chantel being some sort of teacher to us, reviewing all of the answers one by one, until we were all confident, and handed in our exams smiling and telling her that grading should be easy, as all of our answers are identical.
After our lunch break, in which I was more nervious than hungry, so I avoided food, we all picked up our equipment and packed our bags. Though I had two different coloured fins, they at least fit (unlike the ones from the pool (also, we got a beer fine for calling them flippers, or similarly calling our mask goggles... Or for wearing it on our head)). The boat was an hour off schedule so I decided itd be better to eat perhaps, and I ordered a BLT. When I got back my change, I was charged 60 baht, instead of 90, and didn't say anything... When I sat down though to wait I thought about what on the menu was the only thing that cost 60, and reckoned there was some chance my blt might be a lot sweeter than I intended. Moments later I was brought a pancake. Fucking weirdest blt I've ever had.
We poured into a longtail which brought us to the boat, where it was a hectic frenzy of heaps of divers all setting up their equipment. All the groups were on this boat, and we were the second group to board, so it was even more stressful on the rocky ship. Whilst staring at the companion set ups, I got all ready and sauasage squeezed myself into my wet suit, to be briefed again before our dive.
For the first dive, at twin peaks, we entered the water by taking a giant step in. I stressfully entered, with my heavy as equipment on, and of course lost one fin. Retrieved, I inflated my bc and we began our backwards swim (easier to have the tank under you) to the buoy line. I was getting stung by what were apparently called sea lice, little fish that bit. So irritating and strangely painful for a few seconds at a time, I was thankful for the half wet suit. As we began our descent, my fear was proven accurate. I was absolutely shit at equalising. No matter what I did. I couldn't stop the horrid ear pain in my left ear. Ami kept flashing the ok sign and I kept saying no.. Everyone seemed to be going fine so panic set in.. After ages I gave up and went on, but not before accidentally shooting to the top again first, only to come down again. Once at the bottom I was still in pain, and the visibility was horrific. We all stayed super close and buddied up, with me basically holding kiki's hand as we swam onward. We were all at different levels and there was a ton going through our minds, but man, it was awesome. No gravity kind of flying feeling. After what seemed like nothing, we began our ascent, where my ears popped like mad, but going slowly and swallowing heaps fixed it. I was thrilled to be alive at the top and we swam back to the boat, took off our fins, and uncomfortably pulled our heavy selves back onto the boat for a brief tank change and break. When I spoke with everyone I realised that most of us were having trouble equalising, and I was just the only onw making a massive fuss over it, which helped give the rest of them the time to fix it-- so all good and confidence back, even though I couldn't hear out of my left ear at all, and wasn't too keen to go onto the next dive. Too soon later we were briefed on the skills we'd have to do on the next dive and then we were jumping backwards off the side of the boat, moving back to twin peaks for the dive.
This time was a wee bit easier to get down and we headed for a sandy patch to practice skills, which were basically the same as the ones we had done in the pool. By the time I had to do the filled mask, my mask was already full, so no big deal.. Twas necessary. We did a buddy ascent, sharing regulators to practice not having enough air, and again, upon return it felt like no time had passed, even though the dive time was over 40 minutes.
When we got back to shore starving kiki and I went to get dinner, wherein I connected to the slightest bits of wifi to look up 'when should you see a doctor' to deal with my massive ear discomfort and essential deafness.
The next morning was a 630am wake up with our final two morning dives, so we were planning on calling it an early night, but got stopped by people outside our room inviting us to join them at high bar. As per usual, the go to answer was yes, and kiki and I jumped on the back of some brit's motor bike, as another couple came with us on the very far journey.
As we approached, I realised a partial reason for its naming. There was a massive hill we had to climb (decided to walk it, not trusting 3 people on the bike) to get to the bar. Literally, a high bar. My ears were popping while we were there, but the place was awesome. It was reggae bar like in flavour and offerings, but way more chilled out with cushions as seats and people sprawled everywhere. We sat with a couple of austrians who were coming off of their shroom shakes of earlier, which gave a bit of a laugh, and I realised that the couple on the other bike were both people I knew. Louise, from a few days back, and will, who I met on the sihanoukville booze cruise, who had been traveling around with jacob. What's the chance! My bike driver was travis, 22 from england, and has a 5 year old daughter, which was the topic of much chat with me.
We hung out for ages, taking turns on a hammock, and kiki and I had to keep refusing the drinks the austrians were buying us due to our morning dives. The highlight of that evening was the discovery of an austrian lighter that had the address of some business, where the first bit read 'egg.' I asked if he lived in egg, and he said his uncle does. Lost in translation perhaps, but I wish I kept the lighter.
We were home not too late and passed out to wake up at 545am, for the last two morning dives of our ow.
We went to champon and white rock, which were both loads better in terms of visibility, and painfree due to some drug called tiffy, that I was given before the dive. When we asked what was in tiffy, ami laughed saying chantel is a med student so she can't tell us, but eventually siad it has some similar qualities to speed. I don't care.. It worked.
Everyone saw a turtle on my dive. I said I did too. I saw no turtle. (Jake if you're reading this, fuck off xx).
Both of the last two dives were filmed by ami's boyfriend, an underwater cameraman, and we would get a showing at the bar that night. This insighted much stupidity like a humand pyramid and the macarena. By the end I felt way more comfortable and finally positive that I was going to come back after new years to do the advanced course.
When we got back to the boat, everyone was lining up to jump off the roof, a concept that scared the shit out of me, but I didn't want to be the only one chickening out so with the helping hand of someone on the room, I made a jump, and then honestly just sat down as a landing. It hurt like hell, and I immediately regretted it as my lefs were too pained for me to properly swim back to the boat.
When we got back I went with jake and kiki for lunch at this thai place we began to call home. I ordered glass noodles with seafood and noticed quite early in that waiter, there's a fly in my shrimp! Nestled in the curve rested a dead fly. I wasn't too bothered, but semi hoped for a free meal, so opened my mouth. Much regret came as I had to wait ages, and all they probably did was put it on a new plate for me.
I showered (and shampooed! First time in ages) and then napped for a few hours before heading to book my advanced course as well As change my boat from ko phangnan to go back to koh tao, instead of koh samui. The bitch at the travel agent said everything was booked, so I used her computer and booked it my self. Lies.
Then we all met up at bigblue 1 again to watch the final movie! I only wattched the one before ours and ours, but by the time ours started, the majority of us had bough group rounds and I was well deep into intoxication. It was hilarious, and much better than the one prior, so everyone decided it was worth the expensive fee to each buy one.
Will travis and louise met us there and after some goodbyes we went to trav's bungalow for more drinks and a hilarious game of kings cup, wherein kiki's rule card was a stripping one. As it fell apart I went for a wander and met up with a bunch of girls I met earlier, but went home not too late to get ready for an early ferry. Inthe morning I was up early trying to get kiki's key to her locker which was holdung my gopro. She lost the key and we had a massive mission trying to find it, and eventually just getting reception to break open the lock, which only took the bang of a hammer. How comfortingly safe. Twas stressful, but I got it and then went to catch my 930am ferry to koh phangnan. On the tuktuk ride there it started pissing down hard, a concern for the rest of the evening.
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