HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Thailand is much more than I expected. The journey was extremely long from Denver to San Francisco, to Bejing, to Bangkok, and now I'm in Phuket where I rang in the new year and dodged fireworks that were literally being shot just feet away from us... it was frightning to say the least! but it is an experience i'll never forget. everyone in town was lighting HUGE lanterns that would fill with hot air from the heat of the flame underneath and they released them into the night sky in rememberance of the tsunami victims and also to release the things they wanted to rid themselves of for the new year. it was so beautiful to see them all floating up into the night. the entertainment at the hotel was an experience, they rang in the new year with a Lady-boy show, yep a drag show... it was hilarious.
the weather is amazing. at the moment its a little overcast and cool but yesterday it was about 90 and sunny, we spent the whole day underwater getting our open water certification. the sea life was amazing and we were only at about 30 feet. i'm really looking forward to the boat dives which will start on the 3rd. we leave tomorrow evening and we'll sail through the night to our destination so when we wake up we'll be ready to dive. I'll be on the boat for 5 days then we'll end our time in Kao lak (I think) and then on to Vietnam for 3 days....
I've met everyone who will be on the live abord with us and they are all incredibly nice and have great personalities.
Bangkok was a cool experience, i was sick wth allergies most of the time, but it was cool. i didn't have a sars mask to wear but i had to walk around with a tissue over my face to try and avoid most of the pollution... the driving there is extreme! there is no set direction for traffic. there were a few times when we were head to head wtih other cars and holding our breath for someone to give in and let the other person go by. i'm amazed there aren't more fatalities in that city! I've become accustomed to the driving and I've told myself that they do this for a living and they are still alive, so I'll be just fine. Instead I look around and take pictures of all the amazing things that surround me.
Thailand is much more than I expected. The journey was extremely long from Denver to San Francisco, to Bejing, to Bangkok, and now I'm in Phuket where I rang in the new year and dodged fireworks that were literally being shot just feet away from us... it was frightning to say the least! but it is an experience i'll never forget. everyone in town was lighting HUGE lanterns that would fill with hot air from the heat of the flame underneath and they released them into the night sky in rememberance of the tsunami victims and also to release the things they wanted to rid themselves of for the new year. it was so beautiful to see them all floating up into the night. the entertainment at the hotel was an experience, they rang in the new year with a Lady-boy show, yep a drag show... it was hilarious.
the weather is amazing. at the moment its a little overcast and cool but yesterday it was about 90 and sunny, we spent the whole day underwater getting our open water certification. the sea life was amazing and we were only at about 30 feet. i'm really looking forward to the boat dives which will start on the 3rd. we leave tomorrow evening and we'll sail through the night to our destination so when we wake up we'll be ready to dive. I'll be on the boat for 5 days then we'll end our time in Kao lak (I think) and then on to Vietnam for 3 days....
I've met everyone who will be on the live abord with us and they are all incredibly nice and have great personalities.
Bangkok was a cool experience, i was sick wth allergies most of the time, but it was cool. i didn't have a sars mask to wear but i had to walk around with a tissue over my face to try and avoid most of the pollution... the driving there is extreme! there is no set direction for traffic. there were a few times when we were head to head wtih other cars and holding our breath for someone to give in and let the other person go by. i'm amazed there aren't more fatalities in that city! I've become accustomed to the driving and I've told myself that they do this for a living and they are still alive, so I'll be just fine. Instead I look around and take pictures of all the amazing things that surround me.
8 Days Later...
well tomorrow is my last day in Vietnam, then we head through Korea, Japan, and Seattle before hitting Denver... lets just say I hope I sleep the entire way home so that I'll be bright eyed and bushy tailed for Denver when I arrive home... I think I get home in the morning on Friday but i'm not really sure with all of the time changes and what not.
You can officially call me an over-achiever because I'm now an "ADVANCED" scuba diver... yep I have the papers to prove it! the 5 day boat trip through the Similan Islands in Thailand was amazing and our dive masters were incredible! I was sea sick (well not really sick, but I felt pretty ill for a few days) but I loved being in the water. on our second dive we were visited by huge Manta Rays that swam over us for about 5 minutes. they were about 10 ft. across and beautiful! I also saw a few Sting rays and a Leopard Shark swam with us for a good 10 minutes on one of the dives which was awesome as well! he was so close we could have touched him but we didn't want to scare him away. No whale sharks although I had dreams every night that we would see one. on the last dive of the last day two mantas came to play with us... they were circling us and soooo close, the bigger one kept swimming directly towards me (I think because I had a camera, what a ham) we played with them for about 10 minutes! i couldn't believe how long they stayed with us... Brian ran out of air while we were watching them! he had to share air with Bex (our instructor) he actually had 20 bar left but she insisted that he share with her while we did our safety stop, i got a photo of that one too... unfortunately it wasn't with my camera, it was with one of the dive masters cameras; I was doing the underwater photography section of my advanced certification that day... lets just say I passed! :) anyway, we stayed one night in Kao Lak and it was beautiful, i wish i would have had a little more time in that city as opposed to Phuket... but maybe next time i'll go there instead.
We arrived in Vietnam on the 7th and I have to say I love Hanoi, it's bustling and crazy! I had to buy a "sars" mask because of the pollution, but i'm okay with that. the people are all very nice and I've seen some things for sale in the markets that i'm afraid to tell you about. there are about a million motorbikes on the streets and it's kind of like playing frogger when you cross... if someone needs to get somewhere they don't really care what side of the street or sidewalk they're on they just drive... and EVERYONE uses their horns to say get out of the way there is constant honking but it's fun! we went to HaLong Bay yesterday on a boat trip, we had a tour guide named Trong and the driver was Tong... so we had fun with them. we stayed overnight on a junk and they fed us as if we were 400 lb linebackers... the food never stopped and it was so yummy! fresh crab and shrimp and squid and fruit and noodles... so good! anyway, we're here for one more day and then home. I'm really looking forward to coming home and sleeping in my own bed, and taking a deep breath of fresh colorado air! I hope you are all doing well, and I'll contact you when I return!
xoxo,
Shannon
You can officially call me an over-achiever because I'm now an "ADVANCED" scuba diver... yep I have the papers to prove it! the 5 day boat trip through the Similan Islands in Thailand was amazing and our dive masters were incredible! I was sea sick (well not really sick, but I felt pretty ill for a few days) but I loved being in the water. on our second dive we were visited by huge Manta Rays that swam over us for about 5 minutes. they were about 10 ft. across and beautiful! I also saw a few Sting rays and a Leopard Shark swam with us for a good 10 minutes on one of the dives which was awesome as well! he was so close we could have touched him but we didn't want to scare him away. No whale sharks although I had dreams every night that we would see one. on the last dive of the last day two mantas came to play with us... they were circling us and soooo close, the bigger one kept swimming directly towards me (I think because I had a camera, what a ham) we played with them for about 10 minutes! i couldn't believe how long they stayed with us... Brian ran out of air while we were watching them! he had to share air with Bex (our instructor) he actually had 20 bar left but she insisted that he share with her while we did our safety stop, i got a photo of that one too... unfortunately it wasn't with my camera, it was with one of the dive masters cameras; I was doing the underwater photography section of my advanced certification that day... lets just say I passed! :) anyway, we stayed one night in Kao Lak and it was beautiful, i wish i would have had a little more time in that city as opposed to Phuket... but maybe next time i'll go there instead.
We arrived in Vietnam on the 7th and I have to say I love Hanoi, it's bustling and crazy! I had to buy a "sars" mask because of the pollution, but i'm okay with that. the people are all very nice and I've seen some things for sale in the markets that i'm afraid to tell you about. there are about a million motorbikes on the streets and it's kind of like playing frogger when you cross... if someone needs to get somewhere they don't really care what side of the street or sidewalk they're on they just drive... and EVERYONE uses their horns to say get out of the way there is constant honking but it's fun! we went to HaLong Bay yesterday on a boat trip, we had a tour guide named Trong and the driver was Tong... so we had fun with them. we stayed overnight on a junk and they fed us as if we were 400 lb linebackers... the food never stopped and it was so yummy! fresh crab and shrimp and squid and fruit and noodles... so good! anyway, we're here for one more day and then home. I'm really looking forward to coming home and sleeping in my own bed, and taking a deep breath of fresh colorado air! I hope you are all doing well, and I'll contact you when I return!
xoxo,
Shannon
3 comments:
Great photos!! Will you and Brian be selling fruit state-side?
Sawadeee KA!!!!!
Love the photos Shannon. Keep shootin.!
bangy wangy soggy boggy chilly titty hotty coffee (my world)
beans and rice, surf and sun. spiders and leeches mosquitoes and rum. (is this your world?) miss you funface that's no pun have fun.
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