There and back again
The trip to Phuket and the Phi Phi Islands was one of the best dive trips I’ve been on so far. Being able to enjoy both diving and a tourist attraction was great. It was a trip I did not regret going on.
Rushing to the airport on Thursday evening was a challenge. I had a 6.45pm flight and I was still passaging cells at around 5pm. So I passaged cells in record time, busted out of the lab, hopped onto a cab, and there I was on MI758 to Phuket. In less than 2 hours, I was in Phuket already. The cab ride to the hotel at Kata Beach was looooong. (I didn’t know Phuket was such a big island, thought I was going to Sentosa or something). The cab was speeding on the road like nobody’s business, and best of all, the speedometer was always pointed at 0 km/hr. No big deal, I thought to myself. The driver seemed competent enough. So instead of worrying about him driving against oncoming traffic, we had a really nice and long talk about the tsunami, tourism in Phuket, experiences of living in Malaysia, Thai women, religion, friendship, and family values. What a cultural exchange!
By the time I got in it was about 10pm. KC, JS, and AT were just returning from their evening stroll to Kata Center. AT bought dinner for me (bless his heart). Didn’t do much that evening. Ate, and slept to get ready for the 4 dives next morning.
The next morning, we were picked up by a truck from Calypso Divers and got trasfered to Chalong Bay to board MV Greta. There were 30 divers on the boat - crowded for a boat this size but we were very pleased with the DM to diver ratios - no more than 1 to 4. Some 75-80% of the divers/DMs on the boat were westerners. No surprise lah, 75-80% of visitors to Phuket ARE westerners. The moment you get into HKT airport you think you’re in Europe or something.
After breakfast and a short round of introduction, we were on our way to the first dive site: King Cruiser Wreck. The ride out there was especially bumpy and we all could smell seasickness in the air. Ouch. As usual, my way to combat seasickness was to go to the bow and sit on the deck. It was easily 1.5 hours’ journey from Chalong Bay to the wreck. The choppiness did not seem to go away when we reached the dive site. Still remembering the terrible experience during the first dive at Igara Wreck, I dreaded getting into the choppy waters. But alamak, what the heck. Here already, be a man. Fought the nausea, geared up, and jumped straight into the choppy waters.
[To be continued]
