Thailand: Ao Nang, Hat Yai, Phi Phi islands, Krabi
Malaysia: Perhentians, Kota Bahru, Penang
Well we are off again this time to Thailand. We landed in Krabi and took a bus to Ao Nang, which was not very crowed as it was low season, Jorunn had been here before but this was my first trip to Thailand. For me everything was new, different and interesting so we stayed around Ao Nang on the beach and took day trip to some of the small islands (like Chicken island which looks like a chicken) to get usde to the heat. After a some time on the beach we hopped on a mini van and headed towards the Malaysian boarder to find new adventures, destination the Perhentians.
We overnighted in Hat Yai where to our surprise we found a good hotel and good food (dim sum). The next day we took a van to the border and a moped across the border, a taxi to Kota Bahru, the taxi to the speed boat and on to the Perhentians. This is where we really got into diving! The speed boat dropped us off in paradise, no cars, no crowds, just peace and quiet. We stayed at the Coral Bay resort a bit back from the water where the monkeys would come to visit in the afternoon and the sounds of the rain forest filled the air. We decided to dive with Watercolours which was close by and had lot's of friendly and helpful people. Our dive guide during our stay was Laurent who inspired us to see more, learn more and to just enjoy diving more. This is also where we were introduced to Nudibranches (small snails with beautiful colours and there are thousands of different types) and to much smaller creatures that you would miss if you did not know to look for them. We dived at sites like Tokung Laut, Terumbu Tiga, Tanjung Besi and many more. We also had a small beach with an amazing snorkelling area where we saw things like turtles, barracudas, humphead parrot fish, baby black-tip sharks and much more. After 10 days in paradise it was time to set off again. We took the bus from Kota Bahru to Penang were we stayed a few days in Georgetown at the classical Cathay Hotel, exploring the old city, temples, and the atmosphere and cultural blend in this area.
After a short stop in Hat Yai it was time to head for Phi Phi island. When we arrived we looked around for a place to stay and found one away from the bars and night club so we had a nice stay (yes we did go out to the bars). We dived with Phi Phi Scuba, which was ok but was pretty bad with gauges that did not work and a lot of things that needed repairs. Our dive guide took us to places like Bida Nai, Bida Nok and many more interesting dive sites. On Jorunn's Birthday we went to dive the King Cruiser wreck, it was quite choppy so we were both sea sick. But the diving was good, and we saw our first leopard shark. On Christer's first night dive he was a bit nervous but in the end things worked out and we surfaced to millions of stars looking down on us and it was amazing and will never be forgotten. Along with the diving we had lazy days on the beach, snorkelling trips and and walks so that could see more of the Island. Then it all came to an end and it was time to fly away and dream of our next adventure.
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