Dax and Liz in Asia: From Koh Lanta to Phuket

We are in Phuket! But we absolutely LOVED Koh Lanta. This place is the closest we've ever been to a primitive island community. We were very interested to learn that the island only got electricity in 1996, and phone lines in 2001! There's still a gypsy fisherman village on the south-east corner of the island where they live pretty much as they have for the past couple hundred years. The island is definitely a trip.

On Wednesday we went on an all day scuba trip to Koh Ha. Ha means "five" in Thai, and signifies the five islands that make up the area of Koh Ha. What's most exciting though, is what's under and around the islands. The visibility was so clear and we saw some really incredible creatures under those waters. We saw a moray eel, a huge octopus, and a bunch of different colored puffer fish that were about 18 inches long. Before you come out of the water, you're supposed to stay at 5 meters for 3 minutes in order to prevent getting sick from the change in pressure. Right where we were hanging out, there was a white spotted puffer fish that seemed to be making his home right there, because he was certainly not deterred by the site of us, and didn't seem to have moved much since we'd passed him on our way in. Elias took a bunch of pictures of him with his underwater camera. When we surfaced and shared the story with our boat mates, we learned that "Porky the Puffer Fish" is well known around these parts, and one person joked that he had his own facebook page. I have to admit that I checked, and he doesn't. Between Porky and the huge octopus that we just sat and stared at while his eyes moved around and changed color for 5 minutes, along with all the beautiful underwater scenery, this was one of the most amazing experiences Dax and I have ever had. Oh, and I haven't even mentioned yet that there were two underwater caves that we were able to swim through, in one and out the other, via a small passageway connecting the two. Eek! So cool.

This dive was really the first time I got that feeling of flying and being weightless. Since the visibility was so clear, we were able to see the ocean floor some 10 meters or so below us, so looking at one another, it really did look like we were just suspended in space. Elias did a backwards summersault, which looked pretty cool but too advanced for me to attempt just yet. This was still only Dax's and my 5th and 6th dives ever!

Okay, so as much as we loved Koh Lanta, it turns out we can't actually stay there our entire lives. You know, family, work, obligations and stuff... ;) So we got on a boat and said "so long" to Lanta, and we are now in Phuket. It was a little bit of culture shock to be back in a large city. It was beginning to feel like Thailand was just a series of serene, remote islands with no sidewalks and with elephants and wild monkeys crossing the roads. But this is a whole new experience... traffic jams in Thailand! There's a large circular intersection between our hotel and the pier where all the tourist shops are, so we've had to cross it a few times now without the aid of cross walks or stoplights. Last night there was a policeman near by and he blew his whistle and ushered us across, but other than that we've been on our own. Somehow it all works out by a bit of eye contact with the drivers, who are already going fairly slow because there are cars coming at them from 6 directions too.

Anyway, Phuket has been nice so far, but we haven't done too much exploration yet. Tonight we're headed to what some have referred to as "the South Beach of Thailand," meaning it has sleazy bars and is overrun by tourists. Onward with the cultural experiences!

Here's so photos of our time in Koh Lanta: