ยินดีต้อนรับสู่เกาะเต่า

Welcome to Ko Tao!

In search of the perfect island experience, Matt and I boarded a ferry from Ko Phi Phi in the Andaman Sea, arrived in Krabi and hopped on a puddle jumper to bring us to Ko Samui, the largest island in the Gulf of Thailand. We had a day or two of rest in Ko Samui before catching another ferry to take us about 65 kilometers north to the smaller island of Ko Tao.

Ko Tao, which literally translates to Turtle Island, is one of Thailand’s top scuba diving locations. Blessed with crystal clear water, numerous coral reefs, and teeming with marine life, Ko Tao not only provides exceptional diving experiences, it is also one of the worlds cheapest and most popular locations to get your open-water diving certificate. It is ranked #2 in the world for issuing PADI certificates - Cairns, Australia is #1.

So, since neither Matt or I are certified we decided this was the place to do it! We arrived at the New Way Diving School around 5pm and were signed up to take a 3 day course beginning the following day within 30 minutes. Although you can’t walk 10 feet without stumbling upon a dive center on the island, we decided to do our course with New Way for two main reasons:

1.) Since there are so many schools and divers, the reefs can get quite crowded, however, New Way is the first boat to arrive at the dive sites in the morning - (we left the dock at 6am)

2.) They offered small group training - however, we were not expecting “small group” to mean Matt and I and an instructor!

Included in the cost of our course (10,000 Baht/$330), we also received free accommodation for 5 nights in a fan room right near the beach. We decided to upgrade to an A/C room as it was extremely hot and the day we got there I had quite a high fever. So all in all, we ended up paying the difference in price which amounted to around $50 for 5 nights.

The next morning, since our course did not begin until the afternoon, we decided to rent a motorbike and go explore the island. For 150 Baht ($5) we were able to rent the bike for 24 hours! We tried to cross the island, however, found that we were not quite experienced to maneuver down the steep, rocky roads which had been further destroyed by heavy rains and mudslides.

We ended up at Shark Bay with picturesque views and crystal clear water. Though the coral reefs were not great, we went snorkeling and even found a crazy bug-eyed looking eel!

Later that evening, we began the book/video material of the PADI course. We covered Chapters 1&2 the first night and 3&4 the following morning. We took a quick break for lunch and headed down to the dock with our instructor Graham, from London to head out for our first underwater experience.

Graham was a friendly Brit, very easy going, goofy and highly advanced Scuba instructor who made the course a breeze. The first day we headed towards a shallow beach and spent the next four hours learning skills...taking our masks off and putting them back on underwater, ascending and descending, removing our BCD vests and putting them back on, sharing our regulators in case one of us ran out of air...all the necessary stuff...

The next morning we finished up the book work, passed our final exam and that afternoon went out for Open Water Dives 1 & 2. For Dive #1 we went to Mango Bay and went to a depth of 11.6 meters (38 ft.). We practiced more skills but also saw some amazing marine life - Yellowtail Barracuda, a seahorse, Parrot fish and a huge ball of Yellowstripe Scad. Our 2nd dive was at Japanese Gardens - again at about 11.5 meters- this time we saw giant clams, a Porcupine Pufferfish and Sixbar Angelfish!

Our final day of the course, we left the dock at 6am to complete our 3rd dive at White Rock. Graham, had asked a videographer to come along to film (we thought) everyone diving from the boat this day. However, he decided to only filmed Matt and I which not only made us feel a bit uncomfortable but also made everyone else on the boat look at us funny..thinking we had hired him. He said we were not obligated to buy the DVD he would be making, but since it was a private video session we ended up giving in, bargaining with him, and now have our first “real” dives on video!

Anyways, Dive #3 was really amazing. We swam through underwater caves and rock formations and saw a Banded Sea Krait - the third most deadly snake in the world according to Graham! We also saw Blue Spotted Stingrays and Bluering Angelfish! We reached a depth of 18 meters (60 feet). Dive # 4 was at Red Rock Drop Off and was also an 18 meter dive. This time we saw a Titan Triggerfish, Hong Kong Butterfly Fish and Nudibranch! When we stepped out of the water we were congratulated as we were now officially PADI certified!

That evening we went and hung out at the Dive School, watched our video, and celebrated our completion of the Scuba course! We also got into a heated debate with our videographer from England(unfortunately he annoyed me so much that I have blocked his name from my memory) about 9/11 and how it was all an inside job by Bush, and how the U.S. was a terrible country...it was as though as soon as we paid him for the video he had made, or the fact that he was a few beers deep...he turned into a total American hater...oh well, he just claimed he was a “free spirit” that hated politics. When we left my blood was boiling!

Having enjoyed our course so much, the next day we decided to go on one final dive...at the South West Pinnacle, one of Ko Tao’s most acclaimed dive sights. The dive was 30 meters (98 feet) and would grant us the ability to do deep water dives without paying to take the course to become Advanced Open Water divers. Despite the difference in depth, the dive did not feel much different, we both felt quite comfortable being underwater at any depth. When we got to the bottom Graham showed us how the pressure at this depth had interesting effects on certain things. He first pulled out a bag of potato chips that now looked like it had been vacuum sealed. Next he pulled out a, “secret object.” It was shrivelled and dark brown in color. Then he took a bite out of it and we discovered it was a tomato. Finally, Graham took out an egg and cracked it. The yolk stayed perfectly intact, and we sat there on the ocean floor 100 feet down and played a game of catch with our egg yolk! There was however a heavy current that was quite difficult to swim against, and the visibility was not great, but we did see a Spanish Mackaral and One Spot Snapper.

That Saturday afternoon we packed our bags...headed down to the ferry terminal...and boarded the ferry to Ko Phangan...physically and mentally preparing to attend one of the world renowned...Full Moon Parties!

Stay thirsty my friends,

Lindsey and Matt

ยินดีต้อนรับสู่จังหวัดภูเก็ตและเกาะพีพี

Welcome to Phuket and Koh Phi Phi!

We weren’t really sure where to go after our stay in Chang Mai. We were getting tired of traveling and tired of moving from city to city. We were ready to slow things down and head toward the ocean. We found a cheap flight to Phuket and off we went.

Phuket is a large island on the western coast of Thailand. It is not a place we had planned or really wanted to visit. Phuket is known for its crazy bars and heavy amounts of prostitution. However, since we had to fly there to get to Koh Phi Phi, we decided to stay one night and check it out. We stayed at a hostel called Cheap Charlie’s. The owner, Gregg, picked us up from the airport when we arrived. Greg was probably in his 60’s. He was from California and moved across the Pacific over 30 years ago...and had not been to the United States since. He may have had a few screws loose, but he was extremely kind and helpful. Rather than driving us straight to the hostel he drove us around the island and give us a tour of the various beaches.

By the time we got settled into our place it was already dinner time. We ate dinner at the hostel and braced ourselves for a quick walk down the infamous Bangla Road in Patong.


I don’t know exactly how to put it into words, but again it was just a disappointing sight. I found myself asking how such a beautiful island can turn into such a disgraceful place. There were numerous trashy bars with bright neon lights and very very young half naked Thai girls dancing around on stage and parading down the streets. Lindsey and I stopped into a pub that looked safe had 1 beer and decided we had enough.

Despite the unappealing sights, Phuket had something else to offer us that turned out to be an unforgettable experience. When Greg was giving us a drive by tour of the island he mentioned to us that the Vegetarian Festival was currently taking place. He told us many restaurants won’t be serving any meat because no animals are killed during the festival. He also explained that those that participate remain "pure" for the duration. They wear only white, don’t have sex, don't eat meat, and don’t drink alcohol. Every morning during the 10 day festival there is also a parade/procession held. Greg had mentioned that he had actually never been to the parade so instead of catching the morning ferry out of Phuket we hitched a ride with Greg to the other side of the island the following morning to check us the parade. Just look at the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(***WARNING: some of the below pictures are extremely disturbing and graphic***)

They stuck anything and everything through their faces. There were also groups of them holding axes. They would stop in front of a temple and begin some sort of dance. During the dance they swung the ax into their backs. Then they would stop, placed the ax on their forehead and saw a cut into it. You just don’t see anything like that back home...maybe not anywhere else in the world. Interestingly, this is a Chinese festival, however, the Vegetarian Festival held in China apparently is not anywhere near as violent and self-destructive as in Thailand.

Our short stay in Phuket certainly proved to reveal more than we had anticipated!

After the parade we boarded a ferry to a small island called Koh Phi Phi. We were told that the west side of the island was a small party town, and the east side was host to some secluded beach bungalows. We were hoping to stay on the east side of the island, rent a motorbike, and potentially spend up to a week exploring the island by bike, being away from the crowds, but having the option of driving into to town if we felt too isolated. The first thing we discovered when we got to Koh Phi Phi was there are no cars or motorbikes…. or for that matter roads on the entire island!!! This wasn’t the best place to hunker down for a week since the only way to go from one side of the island to the other was by boat taxi and they were expensive...in Thai terms. Our new plan was to stay 1 night in town then head over to the east side and be away from it all for a couple days.

Koh Phi Phi town was a very interesting place. We trekked through the town in absolutely torrential rain and checked into a cheap hotel for the night. When the rain subsided, a bit, we took a stroll through the narrow streets. As we walked around we received flyer after flyer advertising the best beach party in town is at “this bar” tonight! We didn’t exactly intend on doing a lot of partying, but we figured we had to check out this beach. We walked to the beach area only to discover a scene that belonged to Cancun or Jos Van Dyke. It was beach bar next to beach bar with loud music and fire shows. We took a seat on the beach grabbed a couple of beers and enjoyed the show.

Some of these guys were very talented.

I found it interested that pretty much everyone vacationing here was in their twenties. The majorities were from Australia, and the rest were European. So basically this is this part of Koh Phi Phi is the Cancun for the other side of the world.

The next morning we hoped on a boat taxi and headed to Ao Toh Ko Resort. As we circled the island we passed a couple of secluded beaches and were wondering if the place we were going to was going to be similar. Indeed it was. We pulled into a small stretch of beach that housed one resort. Now when I say resort it isn’t the type of resort you are thinking of. The place was owned by a local family. There was a restaurant which had an attached kitchen, and directly behind the kitchen was where the family lived. Along the beach and up the hill there were small bungalows. Our bungalow had 2 beds, a porch with a hammock, and an attached outhouse/bathroom. They were very rustic. In fact, we only had electricity from 7PM till 5AM. But the view from our bungalow was great.

There were only a few people staying here so the beach was literarily ours. Just a short swim out and you were staring down at some beautiful corals. On my first snorkel I saw a great barracuda! Since there was only 1 restaurant on this stretch of beach we had to eat all of our meals there. Fortunately, it was cheap and delicious food. We spent the first day swimming, reading, playing cards, and just relaxing.

On day 2 we decided to hire the boat taxi to take us to Koh Phi Phi Leh, a small island just off the southern most tip of Phi Phi Don (where the were staying.) The trip started off in a secluded lagoon where we enjoyed some amazing snorkeling.

After this, we headed onto the island and arrived at the Ma Ya Bay, wherethe movie, “The Beach,” was filmed. This area was breathtaking, but also incredibly crowded with tourists.

After our time here we got back on the boat and checked out another swimming lagoon. From there we headed to Monkey Island. Again, the pictures will explain why it is called monkey island!

After our morning excursion it was back to the easy life on our secluded beach. As tranquil as this place was, we knew that 2 days was enough. It was a bit too isolated. We found a cheap flight to an island on the east coast of Thailand, Koh Samui. The following morning we were on the move again…

Stay Thirsty my Friends,

Matt and Lindsey

ยินดีต้อนรับสู่เชียงใหม่

Welcome to Chiang Mai!

We arrived in Chiang Mai Tuesday morning after a 10 hour overnight bus from Bangkok. Though we were told for 650 Baht we would be on a “first class bus” we are quite certain we were on the extreme budget bus. Oh well…we made it safe and sound.

Chiang Mai was drastically different than Bangkok from the beginning. The air smelled clean, the tuk tuk and taxi drivers didn’t harass us and our view was of the mountains and open blue sky rather than building upon building.

We headed off in a taxi to our hotel…and by taxi I mean a red pick-up truck with a covered bed that contained two bench seats. The back was open and there were two rectangular windows cut out of the sides.



Matt immediately lay down and passed out…his feet hanging out the back of the truck.



We arrived at our hotel…the Canyanon Boutique Lodge and Villa…it was quite nice, quiet (set in a gated neighborhood), and clean…despite the ants swarming our room. We got settled before realizing this hotel did not remind us of the one we had researched online, nor was it close to the city center…nor was it the hotel we thought we had booked! We immediately looked online and low and behold we had booked the wrong hotel. After a phone call to booking.com and thanks to the extremely kind and helpful front desk lady Ani, we were able to cancel our reservation free of charge and book the hotel we thought we had booked…the Chaing Thai House, a 10 minute walk from the city center.

We arrived at the “correct” hotel and were very pleased. We checked in, had a delicious breakfast, took a power nap and looked over the myriad of brochures in the lobby for massages, trekking adventures, ATV tours, cooking classes, even Thai Soulmates…almost anything one could want to do they had three or more companies that offered a similar program.

We decided to do a 4+ hour cooking class that afternoon at the Asia Scenic Cooking School. Much to my surprise Matt willingly agreed to participate…he actually seemed a bit excited. We arrived at the cooking course and were introduced to our instructor Bai. She was very sweet, spoke English quite well and was so enthusiastic about Thai cooking. It was clear it was her passion.

There were four other people in the class. Jen and Edo from California and Richard from England with his Thai girlfriend, escort, wife?(…not too sure what their relationship was comprised of...)We all chose a category of a meal that the entire group would make. Matt and I chose appetizer, Jen and Edo chose noodle dish, Richard and his “girlfriend” chose stir fry…and we all were to make a curry as well. Within those four categories each person was able to decide which dish on the menu they would like to learn to make.

After we all decided our menu, we walked into town and went to a Thai market where we purchased all the ingredients to prepare our dishes.

We learned about Thai ingredients, how they are made, and substitutions that we can use to prepare the dishes back home.

We returned to the school and visited the ir very own spice garden. They had EVERYTHING! Fresh ginger, tumeric, three different types of basil – including lemon basil and hot basil, chives, all different types of chili’s and peppers, eggplant, banana trees…it was truly incredible!

Back in the school we had a “surprise.” We sat around the table and two plates were brought before us. Carefully arranged around a small bowl of a cane sugar reduction (similar to honey) were roasted peanuts, toasted coconut, small pieces of lime (with skin), ginger, small green chili’s (very HOT!), chopped shallots, and betel leaves. Suposively this is a very typical dish, Meang Kum, served to royalty and when one invites company to their home. It is almost an honor to be served this. We folded the leaves to create cups, added all the ingredients, spooned the cane sugar over it and ate it all in one bite. YUMMY!



As Bai explained..balance, detail and variety are important to Thai cooking. Thai food is known for it’s balance of the five fundamental taste senses in each dish or the overall meal: hot (spicy), sour, sweet, salty, and (optional) bitter..this dish embodies them all!

Now, it was time to put our cooking skills to the test! The first dish we made was the noodle dish. Matt made the Pad Thai (the most difficult dish)...

...while I made the Pad See Eew...

Matt was amazing in the kitchen…finely chopping all his ingredients, cooking with the wok, remembering the correct order to add his ingredients…he was a natural. I will continue to remind him of this when we cook at home…now I know how capable he is!

We enjoyed our noodles and then made our appetizer. We both really wanted to learn how to make spring rolls! Once again, Matt made his to perfection…one of mine split while I was rolling the dough around the ingredients. Even the Thai girlfriend was impressed by Matt!

Next we made stir fry. I made a hot thai basil stir fry and Matt prepared a cashew chicken. Instead of eating the stir fry immediately we set it aside while we prepared our curry. In Thailand it is customary to eat stir fry and curry together…it was also to be our “dinner”…if we weren’t full enough already!

(Unfortunately, we had a photographer at the cooking school catching us in action, and were supposed to be able to access our photos on the website, but the camera was stolen and there are no pictures from the day of our class )

Following all our delicious dishes…our bellies full to the brim, we decided to go with Jen and Edo to the Sunday Market, a weekly market where people from all over the region come to sell their goods.

They had so many exquisite things…clothing, wall hangings, paintings, purses, belts…It was so different than the market in Bangkok as everything seemed original and handmade and the vendors took great pride in their work. Once I have a house and some money I would love to return and buy things to decorate my home.

As we were getting ready to go back to our hotel we passed the most ornate gold temple...



...and a student talent show!


The next morning we got up very early to try and book a last minute spot in an adventure trek program. Luckily Chok Chai Tours had room for us and at 8:30am we were picked up for a truly adventure packed day! Along with five other people we headed off to the jungle. Along the way, we stopped at a butterfly and orchid farm. They had sooo many orchids in all different colors!




The next stop was elephant riding. Matt and I hopped on a huge elephant…we named him Nelly…and crossed the river to head into the jungle. The seat we were on was not all that comfortable but the experience was special.

We got to feed Nelly an entire bunch of bananas and ride him without his trainer.

Next time, I would like to ride on his head as the trainer did!

Our next activity was canopy ziplining. We “trekked” up to the first of 19 stations and off we went.

They attached us all different ways…sometimes we were sitting going from station to station, other times we were flying like superman, a few times Matt and I got to go together, and others we were attached to a rope and repelled down to a lower platform...it was more like we were dropped!



We went back to the base camp for a buffet lunch before heading off to go swimming in a nearby waterfall. The water was very refreshing (it was a HOT day)and the views were amazing.


We returned to the base camp and “boarded” a bamboo raft. Two men pushed us down the river with long bamboo poles. It was shocking how dirty the water was and how much trash had accumulated in the branches nearby the river’s edge. We all piled back in the van and drove deeper into the jungle down some very rugged terrain.


We arrived at the starting point of our white water rafting adventure. I guess they didn’t think I was strong enough as they stuck me in the front of the raft in the middle of Matt and one of the “captains” with no paddle. Since neither of us had every white water rafted we really enjoyed this experience.

Our final stop was at a “five tribe village.” Basically, a few individuals from each tribe have moved to this village to be close to the city and take advantage of tourism to send money back to their tribe. Not exactly what we were expecting, and although they claim it was the “five tribe village” we only got to see a few Long Neck Karen Tribe…and some of them really were LONG!



We were a bit disappointed by this portion of the program...but quick to remember that none of the tribes are indigenous of Thailand. For a real tribal experience we would need to go to Burma...

Tired, dirty, and smelly we returned to our hotel, grabbed some dinner, and decided that we would leave for the beaches tomorrow. We booked a flight to Phuket, from where we will head off to the islands for some much needed R&R as we truly have been going nonstop since September 6.

I am so excited to read my book, sit on the beach, and practice some of our Thai cooking skills in a beach bungalow!

Stay thirsty my friends,

Lindsey and Matt