Recovering in Bangkok April 23, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a commentWe left Koh Tao to return to Bangkok for the last few days of Lisa’s holiday. This was her time to shop and my time to sleep.
We had a well-deserved and much-needed night in so give us all enough energy so that we could sleep more of Friday. I was delighted to be able to leave Tik to organize Lisa’s shopping expeditions as I familiarized myself with my good old comfy sofa again.
On Friday Lisa, Tik and I met up with some friends at Suan Lum Night Bazaar. Whilst Lisa and Tik went shopping at the market I relaxed at the food court.
Lisa - My Hero April 19, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a commentToday Lisa completed her PADI Open-Water Diving Course.
This was an incredible achievement for somebody who’d come to Koh Tao especially to learn diving with Tik, to shortly discover that Tik wouldn’t be joining her. Lisa now joins the lines of Pavion’s who’ve dived. Only 2 months ago both mum and dad dived in Egypt despite mum having to really push her self hard to get through the practice.
Waddling Like a Penguin April 18, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a commentNo marathons for me today. Time to bathe my feet in a sea of ice…
A few weeks ago I damaged my left foot running which caused me to limp and hobble for about 2 weeks. I’d just about recovered from that a few days ago and was feeling top of the world.
I wore some nasty flippers on my first two dives which dug right into the side of my feet. After nearly 2 hours in the water the saltwater was not helping the open sores. Returning to land I plastered up and took Tik out onto the beach to show her how to swim. In helping to support her I stood directly onto a sharp rock. I have pain on the side of both feet and the sole of one foot.
I am now the diving equivilant of Charlie Chaplin..
I bought some diving boots today - the best thing 1,000 baht could ever buy.
The Night Dive! April 18, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a commentThe night dive was the most incredible dive I’ve yet experienced and it took me days to come down from the exhilaration I felt. We hit the water at sundown which allowed us to ease ourself into the darkness without overwhelming ourselves.
To me the beauty was not so much in what we saw but more the perfectly relaxing environment itself. There is minimal noise in the water and as daylight died the only light was that ouf our torch beams. This, coupled with the deeper and slower breathing makes nigh diving akin to meditation.
Peak Performance Buoyancy Dive & Navigation Dive April 18, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a commentThe Peak Performance Dive was fun. This is a mandatory requirement and just focuses the diver on how he controls his level of floatation in the water.
I consider myself quite strong in bouyancy control in most circumstances - quite noticably when I got myself into all manner of yogic positions yesterday to take my pictures. My over-confidence left me reeling on embarassment when I was called to dive in between a hoop at the bottom of the sea. Manoevering myself through tight spaces hasn’t ever been a problem yet today I majestically swooped through the hoops twice before nosediving smack into the ground!