Sail Rock!

The underwater stone chimney in the Gulf of Thailand knows many titles and has been described many ways.... “Best Site in the Gulf of Thailand” “Premire World Class Diving” “Menagerie of Schooling Fish” “breathtaking” “1sts Rate Corals” “Whale Shark Playground”  and many more.

We just called it awesome!

Sail Rock was where Michele and I would take our first real open water dive for our certification. Justin came along as he was already certified and Nick tagged along, hoping for some snorkeling between dives.

Justin does a predive buddy check with his partner Rod

 Our alarms woke us up early the morning of the dive. Our walk to the dive center seemed super long because we are all so excited to get out on the boat. After arriving and getting dad outfitted with equipment we got onto our dive boat at the pier and then started our one hour ride to Sail Rock. As we watched the island of Koh Phangan get smaller and blurred with ocean spray behind us, we could begin to make out the faint out line of Sail Rock (the cap of a huge underwater pinnacle) on the horizon.  I think we were all surprised to see how many other boats there were. “How are we all going to fit in the water?” I wondered.  They had to be at least another half dozen boats which unlike ours were crowded and bustling. The captain idled the engine and we geared up.

Sail Rock from the surface 

I was initially a bit nervous about my first dive, I mean, there are so many horrible things that could happen down there! I realized that  obviously we had been preparing for unlikely worst case scenarios but it was still in the back of my mind. No sooner than I thought, we were in the water. First, I was amazed. It’s hard to describe but the underwater world is just so alien to anything I’ve ever experienced before. We saw massive schools of barracuda and they didn’t even seem to notice us as they flashed by. We also observed a rather dangerous jellyfish but we were far enough away that it was no issue. On both dives there were a few Titan Triggerfish swimming around. For those who don’t know these territorial and beautiful finned predators have been known to chomp off the fingers, earlobes and other fleshy bits of divers who got too close. After Michele’s story’s of her past encounters, I was pretty wary of the fish.

Titan Triggerfish 

Big schools will blow you away

Diving is just so amazing. You feel like a bird rather than a fish. Weightless, soaring over a murky abyss below. We felt like astronauts on our own planet. We did 2 dives that day. Our dive master Michi found it amusing to ask how long we were submerged. 15, 20 minutes? In reality it had more like an hour! It’s crazy how time flys when you are having fun!

Whale sharks were in the area but we missed them. Everyone was fine with that, we hadn’t expected to see one anyway. What we had seen were barracuda, parrot fish, butterfly fish, urchins, anenomes, pink clownfish, jellyfish, titan triggerfish, giant groupers and so much more! 

Overall experiencing the natural fairy world that is Sail Rock was an aqua experience I will never ever forget.

Can’t wait to get back in the water!

Anika and Michele are PADI Divers!

Michele, Michi and Anika outside the dive school 

Just before Christmas Michele and I took an intensive four day class to learn how to safely and enjoyably be ambassadors to the marine world. Michele had been a certified diver a long time ago but she hadn’t dove in over 15 years so she wanted to refresh her prior knowledge. We took the classes at Chaloklum Dive School in our village, which was convenient and a fun experience.
On the first day we met our instructor, Michi, an older and very experienced diver from Germany, though he has spent the last decade here on Koh Panghnan. We spent the first half of the day watching instructional videos and reviewing the material through quizzes. Mom could recall certain information and I had borrowed a diver manual to study earlier in the week so classwork wasn’t too demanding. The first day we also learned how to assemble and disassemble our gear kits, before going down into the water to practice some basic skills. What I didn’t realize is how heavy all that stuff is! You have a tank, (the bulk of the weight) wet suits (2 in my case) and plus weight belts, which are straps with multiple lead weights on them. Walking the 15 feet into the surf is easier said than done!

The next day was similar, just with water skills in the morning. Mom and I practiced clearing our masks to get water out at depth, taking our masks on and off underwater and dealing with air supply issues, from inconvenience to emergencies.
The third day we did our first shallow water dive. There was a 450 yard swim from the shore to the reef we would be diving. This was more of a practice dive, the water wasn’t very deep, only 5 meters.  Everything we learned was measured in metric but it wasn’t too tricky because we have had a few months of travel to wean our minds off feet and yards.
This dive was mostly putting our knowledge together. It was fun too! We saw a cuttle fish which are less common this time of year and so many fish that I hadn’t seen snorkeling. Everything went smoothly and got us pumped up for our real dive at Sail Rock tomorrow.

Suiting up before a dive!

After lunch and cleaning and putting away our equipment I took my final exam. Michele didn’t have to as she had already been a diver. A 75% passes and I was in the 90% range. Michi reviewed the test with us and then taught us how to use dive tables. Dive tables are calculation instruments that divers used before dive computers. They are a little tricky to grasp the concept of but once you understand they are simple, it’s just math.

We went to bed early that night, to get a good sleep before Sail Rock!

Christmas in Koh Panghnan

Note, this post was written on December 24th and published at a later date
Happy Holidays from the tropics!
It is Christmas Eve now and we are putting the finishing touches on our festivities. Our tree (a native potted plant) has been trimmed with colorful lights, paper chains, cut out snowflakes and paper ornaments.

Small presents have been wrapped and placed at the base of the pot and trekking socks with paper designs sewn on them hang in the tree, awaiting Saint Nick.

25 detailed and hand drawn North Pole houses and shops make up our Christmas village that spans two walls, complete with Post Office, Toy Factory, Train Station and Coffe Shop.

The North Pole continues onto the opposite wall as well

Michele and Justin hunch over a desk covered in bright frosting, decorating sugar cookies freshly baked by us in a rented kitchen a few hours ago. Among the shapes, cut from cardboard stencils, are candy canes, bells, snowmen and evergreens. Michele also whipped up some buckeye balls and peppermint fudge. As Nick and his new friend Josh sample treats, Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby serenade on as they have for the past 2 weeks. In a few hours we will go to sleep, only to wake early to open gifts and FaceTime friends and family. Around noon on the 25th Team T as well as Josh will start a multi hour (17 course) Italian Christmas feast at our local restaurant. It should be a day to remember!
We wish everyone at home a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
-The Turcottes

How We Spend Our Lazy Days in Chaloklum Bay

 

From Sunrise and Sunset all members of the family are doing something here on the island of Koh Phangnan. With more free time on our hands, we've decided to give you a little slice of island life.

Our village is called Chaloklum, look in the north

For Michele, Nick and I the day starts around 7 with a simple breakfast and often some exercise. Because of time zones the morning is also the standard opportunity to FaceTime friends and family in the States. Then from 9 to noon it's strictly homeschool time. Homeschool is 6 days a week because we are trying to make up for school lessons we missed trekking.
We have different themes we try to incorporate into each day, like Food Friday (putting time and energy into a nice family dinner) Try New Things Thursday (wether it be a different restaurant or a new place on the island) or Water Sports Wednesday. (Snorkeling, swimming, etc)
Motorbike rentals are big here on Koh Panghnan, but because we came here to settle down we rent them as necessary rather than the whole duration of our stay. In our small village, the heart of which is about a 10-15 minute walk, we have a few small markets, many family run seafood restaurants, a plethora of dive shops, a bakery and a real Italian restaurant. So other than big shopping trips or hunting for specific items there aren’t many things we can’t find locally.
I would say the majority of our afternoons are spent by the pool or in the hammock. Nick and I have made some friends at our resort so afternoon soccer games, swims or cricket matches aren’t a rarity. Coconuts are also something we haven’t seen much of in our trip so far. There are a lot of them here though. So many trees populate our resort alone that we are always on the alert for the heavy objects plummeting from the heavens. There have been many times where we have been enjoying some Thai iced tea on the porch and seen a coconut or frond fall, a reminder to watch out! Point taken trees.

Anika cutting off pieces of the daily coconut.
You can see how that would hurt if it hit you!

We also had a pair of monitor lizards bunking in our roof when we first arrived. The smaller of the 2 was at least 4 feet long. After some reasearch we concluded that they will prey on eggs, fish, small birds and the occasional banana. (We learned that in some field experiments) Still, falling asleep to the sound of their scaly bodies dragging across your ceiling is easier said then done. It is with mixed emotions that we have discovered that they have seemed to move out, maybe to the house next door?

Lizards front door

We alternate cooking dinner with dining out. Our meal options are limited as we have a single gas burner for cooking. So far we have enjoyed some pasta, larb (a Thai dish) and some delicious pork ribs! It was fun to balance a rack if those on the back of a motorbike, but it was well worth it, barbecue is a taste we haven’t had in a while.

Sweet Chili Red Snapper at
a favorite seafood spot 

So that is basically a summary of island life. We hope to take advantage of some great snorkeling near by once the weather clears up. We have had only a few days of sunshine since we arrived.

Beach Days on Koh Panghnan

For our first days on the island Michele booked us a nice bungalow on a hillside resort, where if you were feeling too lazy to walk the flight of stairs to the beach, one could flop into the infinity pool.
Within moments of arrival at Highlife Bungalows, as fast as we could throw our bags on the floor and wiggle into a swim suit, Nick and I were in the cyan currents. We avoided a local octopus and had a good splash. The water was so warm! You could be in there for hours and not get a chill, like a warm bath after a clammy, rainy day.

The next few days were spent almost entirely submerged in water of one form or another. Nick and I discovered an obsession with snorkeling. In fact, mom and I ventured out during a low tide and found ourselves suspended above a vibrant reef. The surface of large coral boulders were bustling with small fish and crabs. Schools of 100s of parrot fish swam below and there were water dwellers of all description. It was like nothing I had ever seen before and needless to say it got me hooked on the aquatic world.

We enjoyed the sunshine in a content daze and lazed around, only Justin was very productive, he spent a day searching for rental houses. We found a nice bungalow just outside a fishing village in the north of the island. Koh Panghnan is only 48 square miles, an easy motorbike ride from north to south. It’s been a busy few days between establishing routines and buying all those little things for around the house that we usually take for granted.
Upon our hasty leave from Bangkok Justin accidentally left his trusty umbrella behind. As anyone who lives in a moist climate knows, this deserves a curse from the weather gods.
It hasn’t stopped raining since we came in on the ferry.
That’s not true, we had the first day here and occasionally showers will relent just long for everyone to get ready to swim, bathing suits on and everything- and then the skies will open up.

Bangkok by Boat And Adventures in Catching a Bus

Before we left for the islands we tried to squeeze in one more sightseeing trip, a 2-3 hour riverboat ride. Can’t say we knew anymore than you know now going into it, especially when the boat we had tickets for failed to show up and we were waved onto a random vessel.
We cruised past tall skyscrapers and towering temples dramatically backlit by a great sunset.

Not exactly sure how clean the river water was so we closed our eyes and mouths as it sprayed up in sheets. The boat was going quickly but we nervously checked our watches, and as the orange sun sank below the horizon, worry was intermingled with shadows. We had to be in a bus station (location of which is unknown) on the other side of town and our bus leaves in an hour. Yikes, that’s a little closer than we usually like to cut it.
When the bow of our boat bumped against the bobbing wooden dock, we were fast, packing out the crowded terminal and despite the heat, power walked quickly back to our hostel.

“Where have you been!?” Michele was obviously flustered. “The bus left five minutes ago!”
Justin and I had just gotten back from an unsuccessful hunt for Thai iced tea, curbing our search short  because we had hoped to avoid this situation. “A big group of people going to the islands just left!” She paused to catch her breath, it was pretty hot and sticky!  “The lady at the desk looked all nervous and surprised and said ‘You should go, go with them.’”  Mom impersonated as she gestured into the bus offices. We nervously waited around until an escort came out and lead us through the chaos of Khao San Road. Lots of overpriced street vendors, bright signs and crowds. This is why we stayed in another neighborhood. Motorbikes buzzed by as our escort guided us through a rubish strewn street and then helped us onto the double decker night bus. We were all a bit discombobulated and tried in vain to settle our minds to sleep.

We Arrive In and Explore Bangkok

3 days ago after an inconvenient delay in the hectic airport that is Kathmandu we touched down in the capital of Thailand, Bangkok. Even though we had been through a long day our excitement for new cuisine, culture and, hopefully soon, beaches, energized us like caffeine.
We admit that even though we have been here about half a week we have been very disappointing tourists, opting to skip on pretty much every big sight. Some members of the family have been suffering from illness and it’s hard for us to adjust to the hot and humid temps after coming from Nepal where it was been dry and chilly.

We have visited some of the shopping districts in town, searching for decorations to get us in the holiday spirit, but that’s not saying much because from what we have seen most of Bangkok is a shopping mecca. Just yesterday we went to well known colossal mall Terminal 21. The shopping center has many many levels, each themed like a destination in the world. It just a few minutes we visited “Rome”, “Paris”, “Tokyo”, “London”, “Istanbul”, “The Caribbean” and “San Francisco”. It was kind of tacky, with tuk tuks, double decker buses, trolleys and the Golden Gate Bridge serving solely as selfie props but still a unique experience.

We also have been enjoying the Thai cuisine, which is a firework show of flavor compared to the modest tastes of Nepal. Adjusting to the enthusiasm for spice in this country has been a bit of a challenge but everyone is really embracing green papaya salad, sticky rice and fresh, sliced and cheap fruit sold on every corner. Yum!

In the next few days we will hail various modes of transportation to the popular and tropical island of Koh Panghnan. Justin will be hunting for a good property (Hopefully close to the beach!) where we can relax and settle down for the holidays. It will be nice to take some time to get the dust of the trail off our clothes before continuing on to the rest of South East Asia.

(Sorry there are no pictures accompanying this post, many of our images were lost on account of a cheap memory card)