I will not write for long because I'm in a bad mood and nobody needs to read about that... I had a terrible experience at my hotel this morning after I complained about the fact that my phone was broken, the internet stopped working in the midst of my use, and my room was next to a construction sight that started working so early this morning. The manager was so rude to me that he made me cry and while I was crying he said "shat up, shat up" because I was drawing attention from other customers. When I couldn't take it any longer, I chose to check out of the hotel, despite the fact that they refused to give me a refund. As I walked out the door, the manager mockingly said, "Good luck, Annie" and then as I drove off in the taxi he shouted after me "fak you!" It was horrible. Then a lizard fell on me out of a tree and soon thereafter a huge green snake slithered in front of my path. I was also unable to go to the tsunami orphanage that I was so looking forward to because there is a chickenpox and mumps outbreak there and they don't want to take the risk of exposing me despite the fact that I had my mother contact my family doctor to ensure that I was up to date on all my vaccinations... I checked into a super cheap hotel/motel in town and the staff has already treated me better than they did at the "swanky" hotel that I was previously staying in. Note to all readers: when travelling to Thailand, NEVER stay at the Baan Krating Resort!!!
Khao Lak has done their best to defeat me, but I will not allow it. The dive company that I had arranged to go on a three day dive trip rejected me when I arrived to take my refresher course because I am on anxiety/depression medication. This was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. It took a lot of persuasion from many doctors to get me to go on meds, and it is simply because I have suffered from so many bizarre plights over the last seven years and need to allow my body to adjust to all the emotional distress I have been through. I'm not embarassed by the fact that I'm on meds, I've had some bad things happen to me and need some help getting through them. However--these medications are NOT debilitating. Nothing has ever stopped me from moving forward and on this trip alone I have had many experiences much more intense than a recreational dive trip. However, this experience set me back a day and I had to spend an entire day setting up my own dive trip through another company that turned out to be a German company, so I had an interesting three day trip with an unexpected language barrier. Fortunately, this was not a problem under the water.
I had not been diving in six years, and to be honest, this was the part of the trip that I was most concerned about. My father was my dive partner and it was very difficult for me to remove my gear from the bag that we shared, leaving his behind, and read all the wonderful things that my father had written in my dive log. However, I know that he would not want me to miss such a beautiful opportunity just because I have lost him, so I moved forward and planned on updating my license. The encounter with the first company almost threw me off, but I knew my father would never let something like that prohibit him from diving, so I didn't let it stop me either. I spent two nights aboard a boat in the Similan Islands and went on nine spectacular dives. I'm fairly certain this was the best diving I have ever done, though Belize may beg to differ. I saw so many spectacular things and had no problems with my goggles (in the past I have always had fog issues) and I even got to see a dozen or so nudibranchs (sea slugs) which are my favorite sea creatures ever, and, prior to this trip, I had only seen them in photographs and nature films. I can't even begin to list the many spectacular fish that I saw... I also saw a sea turtle, many stingrays, and so many different varieties of corals, anemones, and starfish. If I can keep my license up to date (have to dive at least once a year), I will invest in an underwater camera, because I would love to be able to share the things that I have seen with others. One German man took a photo of me under the water and has promised to email it to me when he returns home. If he follows through with said promise, look forward to a good laugh. Diving is a very meditative sport because you have to focus on your breathing and the only noise that you hear is your own breath and the only things that you see are beautiful wildlife that has not yet been tainted by humans (and other divers who look just as foolish as yourself in their dive gear). Fish and other sea creatures have not learned to be afraid of humans, so it is easy to find yourself in the middle of a school of hundreds of fish, or face to face with a sea turtle. Also, the way that all the creatures interact is just beautiful. The little nemo fish hide inside the anemones, the christmas tree worms hide inside the coral, the pipefish camoflage themselves by hovering just above fish of the same color so that their prey will not see them, and the stonefish and scorpionfish are almost impossible to see amongst the rocks that they hide in. The diving community is also a very nice one. Despite the language barrier, the other divers were very happy to see me diving again and not at all frustrated by being slowed down by some of the reminders that I needed. I do miss my dive partner and the way that his eyes would smile at me under the water, but I will always have those memories and he will be with me on every dive I go on in the future.
Apologies for the somewhat sad and bitter blog, but I don't know how to write without emotion. Two more days in Thailand and then I'm off to Australia to meet up with my sweet, sweet baby stista! So many adventures behind, and so many adventures ahead. Love to all of you who take the time to read the words that spill out of my fingers!
ps I have read over some of my previous entries and I apologize for the numerous spelling errors. I blame spellcheck for never letting me learn and then abandoning me in Asia!
Khao Lak has done their best to defeat me, but I will not allow it. The dive company that I had arranged to go on a three day dive trip rejected me when I arrived to take my refresher course because I am on anxiety/depression medication. This was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. It took a lot of persuasion from many doctors to get me to go on meds, and it is simply because I have suffered from so many bizarre plights over the last seven years and need to allow my body to adjust to all the emotional distress I have been through. I'm not embarassed by the fact that I'm on meds, I've had some bad things happen to me and need some help getting through them. However--these medications are NOT debilitating. Nothing has ever stopped me from moving forward and on this trip alone I have had many experiences much more intense than a recreational dive trip. However, this experience set me back a day and I had to spend an entire day setting up my own dive trip through another company that turned out to be a German company, so I had an interesting three day trip with an unexpected language barrier. Fortunately, this was not a problem under the water.
I had not been diving in six years, and to be honest, this was the part of the trip that I was most concerned about. My father was my dive partner and it was very difficult for me to remove my gear from the bag that we shared, leaving his behind, and read all the wonderful things that my father had written in my dive log. However, I know that he would not want me to miss such a beautiful opportunity just because I have lost him, so I moved forward and planned on updating my license. The encounter with the first company almost threw me off, but I knew my father would never let something like that prohibit him from diving, so I didn't let it stop me either. I spent two nights aboard a boat in the Similan Islands and went on nine spectacular dives. I'm fairly certain this was the best diving I have ever done, though Belize may beg to differ. I saw so many spectacular things and had no problems with my goggles (in the past I have always had fog issues) and I even got to see a dozen or so nudibranchs (sea slugs) which are my favorite sea creatures ever, and, prior to this trip, I had only seen them in photographs and nature films. I can't even begin to list the many spectacular fish that I saw... I also saw a sea turtle, many stingrays, and so many different varieties of corals, anemones, and starfish. If I can keep my license up to date (have to dive at least once a year), I will invest in an underwater camera, because I would love to be able to share the things that I have seen with others. One German man took a photo of me under the water and has promised to email it to me when he returns home. If he follows through with said promise, look forward to a good laugh. Diving is a very meditative sport because you have to focus on your breathing and the only noise that you hear is your own breath and the only things that you see are beautiful wildlife that has not yet been tainted by humans (and other divers who look just as foolish as yourself in their dive gear). Fish and other sea creatures have not learned to be afraid of humans, so it is easy to find yourself in the middle of a school of hundreds of fish, or face to face with a sea turtle. Also, the way that all the creatures interact is just beautiful. The little nemo fish hide inside the anemones, the christmas tree worms hide inside the coral, the pipefish camoflage themselves by hovering just above fish of the same color so that their prey will not see them, and the stonefish and scorpionfish are almost impossible to see amongst the rocks that they hide in. The diving community is also a very nice one. Despite the language barrier, the other divers were very happy to see me diving again and not at all frustrated by being slowed down by some of the reminders that I needed. I do miss my dive partner and the way that his eyes would smile at me under the water, but I will always have those memories and he will be with me on every dive I go on in the future.
Apologies for the somewhat sad and bitter blog, but I don't know how to write without emotion. Two more days in Thailand and then I'm off to Australia to meet up with my sweet, sweet baby stista! So many adventures behind, and so many adventures ahead. Love to all of you who take the time to read the words that spill out of my fingers!
ps I have read over some of my previous entries and I apologize for the numerous spelling errors. I blame spellcheck for never letting me learn and then abandoning me in Asia!
* as you can see, the German gave me my photograph! I actually ran into him as I was going to supper and happened to be carrying my cds with me so that I might be able to upload more photos (check the photo link entry for another link...). Proof that I still dive!
Also in better mood!
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