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February 27 The Life AquaticWell I am now a qualified diver having completed the PADI open water course, which means I can dive to 18m. Doing the advanced course in Australia which will take me to 30m. Racked up 8 dives now - we stayed on a few days and did another four. Would like eventually to become a Dive Master - but that really means spending a solid month somewhere diving everyday.
I love this sport - god bless that genuius Jacques Cousteau who invented the SCUBA system. Amazingly the fundamental design of the tanks and breathing apparatus have barely changed since he came up with it. And the whole diving scene on Koh Tao is really cool and laid back - everyone into the diving and then partying in the evenings.
The instructors all say don't drink if you are diving the next day but they are the worst offenders. And the newly qualified Dive Masters initiation is done by force feeding them a bucket of Thai Whisky and Red Bull down a snorkell.
Diving in the tropics is like walking around a pscyhedelic garden full of bizzare creatures and beautiful coral. A real highlight of the trip so far and excited to have discovered a new sport to get into. February 20 Island LifeOn the smallish island of Koh Tao, learning to dive at last. Not sure why it has taken so long for me to get round to sampling diving, but from our first two days here I think I am going to like it. One more day of pool instruction and then we're out in the crystal clear, warm blue waters of Thailand. This place is a mecca for divers - everyone here is here to dive. Weather is superb, sunny, hot but with a decent breeze to cool things down to acceptable levels. I have got a great tan now. Doing some activity and learning something new is a great respite from Koh Samui, which is a great island, but a few too many tattooed Brits getting trashed February 07 Biking the Mae Hong Son loop - road of a thousand hairpinsAbout half way round doing the Mae Hong Son loop - a round trip from Chiang Mai that takes in some glorious Northern Thailand scenery. I've only got five days to do this trip, so it's mainly about the motorbiking and soaking up corner after corner.
I'm on a Honda 250 Baja again, and the saddle is still as bad as I remember it. Just had a two hour Thai massage to iron out the kinks.
Took some time yesterday and this morning to visit some of the regions Hill tribes. There are three or four major tribes (though strictly speaking they are not really tribes, having no chief) that inhabit the Thai/Burmese border. Yesterday i biked though 25kms of rough back dirt roads to reach one tribe of Karen. Very friendly people, the men sat me down for a nice cup of tea after my exertions - it was a nice moment. Earlier on, a deaf and blind man came up and held my hand for a bit and then thanked me - he just wanted to I think feel who i was and to share some human warmth. It was a moving moment.
This morning I want to see the famous Long Necks - another strand of the Karen tribe, famous becuase they wear brass hoops around their necks, which gradually elongate, giving them a bizzarre apearance. Had a good chat with one of the younger girls for about 30mins or so. They escaped from Burma after being brutally repressed by the hardline military junta there. They seem to be happy in Thailand, though in reality they've become little more than a tourist attraction. It's hard to see a change in circumstances any time soon that would enable them to return to their homeland. Control - the Ian Curtis / Joy Division filmThe new Biopic of the late, great, genius Ian Curtis is about to be released in Europe and I am gutted not to be able to see it for a while - I'd love to see it in a theatre and hear the music through a full on Dolby system. Like most die hard Joy Division fans we'll be hoping that the director Anton Corbijn does it justice and keep the legend in tact. The signs are reasonably good, Corjbin took some memorable early photographs of the band, as well as directing the video for the re-released Atmosphere single. He's had the good sense to direct the film in black and white, in keeping with the whole image of the band as conveyed through the few grainy photographs and Peter Saville's cover designs, and use the original music. So it's down to the casting and the narrative. Sadly it is only going to end one way.... |
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