Just because I have a tan!Saturday 28 February 2009
Thursday 26 February 2009
Phi Phi party
So I made it back to Thailand safely and met up with Manon and Nadja, who waited 6 hours for me at the pier. Lovely to have a welcoming committee to meet me!
We took the ferry straight to Koh Phi Phi, where we have been ever since. Moving on just seems like a hassle now, and we are all sick of packing and unpacking, so 7 nights in 1 place has been lovely!
Phi Phi has changed a little since I last came, but it is still as beautiful as ever, and the party is perhaps even more lively than before. Every night there are huge parties on the beach, with fire shows, ladyboy shows and live music. Plenty to keep us entertained for our evenings! Needless to say we have had a few sore heads since we arrived, and we have needed plenty of recovering time on the beach.
I have been doing my rescue diver course for the last 5 days, it has been hard work pulling people out of the water and practising rescue breathing whilst towing the victims back to the boat and taking off their equipment. It has been a really good course, and has definitely made me a better and safer diver. The last dive we did was probably the best I have ever done as we saw leopard sharks, black tip sharks, snakes, eels, sting rays, turtles, box fish, scorpion fish, stone fish, puffer fish and not to mention all the lovely corals and reef fish....it really was something special. The diver instructors say it was one of their favourites too as they rarely see everything all in 1 dive. I was very happy!
It has been nice being back with the girls again (the other boys have all ended their travels now), but it is not long until we all go our seperate ways. Nadja goes onto Oz, and Manon is going home to Holland. When they leave I will fly to Vietnam (Ho chi minh city) and meet up with Kevin (a Vietnamese man Sally and I met in Phili). From there I will travel up the coast and see what adventures awaits me!
I hope everything is good at home, I saw on the news the weather has improved (though I am sure you are all jealous to know it was 33 degrees today and everyday for the last 10!).
Lots of love
Hayleyx
We took the ferry straight to Koh Phi Phi, where we have been ever since. Moving on just seems like a hassle now, and we are all sick of packing and unpacking, so 7 nights in 1 place has been lovely!
Phi Phi has changed a little since I last came, but it is still as beautiful as ever, and the party is perhaps even more lively than before. Every night there are huge parties on the beach, with fire shows, ladyboy shows and live music. Plenty to keep us entertained for our evenings! Needless to say we have had a few sore heads since we arrived, and we have needed plenty of recovering time on the beach.
I have been doing my rescue diver course for the last 5 days, it has been hard work pulling people out of the water and practising rescue breathing whilst towing the victims back to the boat and taking off their equipment. It has been a really good course, and has definitely made me a better and safer diver. The last dive we did was probably the best I have ever done as we saw leopard sharks, black tip sharks, snakes, eels, sting rays, turtles, box fish, scorpion fish, stone fish, puffer fish and not to mention all the lovely corals and reef fish....it really was something special. The diver instructors say it was one of their favourites too as they rarely see everything all in 1 dive. I was very happy!
It has been nice being back with the girls again (the other boys have all ended their travels now), but it is not long until we all go our seperate ways. Nadja goes onto Oz, and Manon is going home to Holland. When they leave I will fly to Vietnam (Ho chi minh city) and meet up with Kevin (a Vietnamese man Sally and I met in Phili). From there I will travel up the coast and see what adventures awaits me!
I hope everything is good at home, I saw on the news the weather has improved (though I am sure you are all jealous to know it was 33 degrees today and everyday for the last 10!).
Lots of love
Hayleyx
Friday 20 February 2009
Tempted back to Thailand
So I made it safely out of manila, though it was touch and go at some points. It really is the worst place I have ever visited! I am relieved to have flown out, and I dont intend to return in a hurry!
I flew over to Kuala Lumpur for 1 night only, and decide to indulge myself with a night in a 5* hotel....Got a fairly good deal on expedia, and it was worth every penny! It was so nice to have an enormous kingsize bed, aircon, a bathroom the size of my old flat, hot power shower, room serive, a dressing gown, a huge pool, spa, and gym (yes I even used it!!!). It blew my budget, but it was great to sleep for 1 night without getting woken up by cockrells, dogs, traffic, or drunk people!! As the hotel only offered limo transfers to the airport which I couldnt afford the man on the desk fely sorry for me, so he got his Dad to take me instead!!
I few back into Thailand yesterday and met up with the girls I met in Laos. We have about 10 days to 2 weeks together, before we all go our seperate ways. We are starting in Koh Phi Phi Island, where I went a couple of years ago.
This afternoon we went snorkelling for sharks and I finally got to see some!! They were fantastic.
Hope the weather is getting better
Lots of love
Hayleyx
I flew over to Kuala Lumpur for 1 night only, and decide to indulge myself with a night in a 5* hotel....Got a fairly good deal on expedia, and it was worth every penny! It was so nice to have an enormous kingsize bed, aircon, a bathroom the size of my old flat, hot power shower, room serive, a dressing gown, a huge pool, spa, and gym (yes I even used it!!!). It blew my budget, but it was great to sleep for 1 night without getting woken up by cockrells, dogs, traffic, or drunk people!! As the hotel only offered limo transfers to the airport which I couldnt afford the man on the desk fely sorry for me, so he got his Dad to take me instead!!
I few back into Thailand yesterday and met up with the girls I met in Laos. We have about 10 days to 2 weeks together, before we all go our seperate ways. We are starting in Koh Phi Phi Island, where I went a couple of years ago.
This afternoon we went snorkelling for sharks and I finally got to see some!! They were fantastic.
Hope the weather is getting better
Lots of love
Hayleyx
Sunday 15 February 2009
A little piece of phili
We have nearly reached the end of our trip to the Philippines, and it has been paradise! We have spent the last 5 days in the calamian islands (busuanga) off the north of Palawan. Primarily it is a dive resort, but we have spent 2 days hopping around the hundreds of islands that are scattered all around. Its largely uninhabited, and quite often we have had whole white powder sand beaches to ourselves. The water is a cool 29 degrees, so we have enjoyed swimming, snorkelling and getting some spray off the boat!
We met a large group of people on Friday, so we were able to take a massive boat out for the day and have some great food and some interesting company.
Yesterday we took a boat out for me to dive the many ship wrecks off the coast. There are 15 Japanese war ships (some cargo, some gunboats, one oil tanker) in total and I got to visit 3. We got to penetrate the ships, going through some tight squeezes and some very dark (well pitch black) hatches! Very spooky indeed, espcially as all you can see are glowing lobster eyes staring at you....! It was great seeing the engine room, swimming out through the propeller shaft, and playing with the guns/canons that are still aboard. The final ship breaks the surface, so Sally was able to snorkel that ship.
Tomorrow we head back to smelly manila to catch our planes out....
I am off to Thailand via Kuala Lumpa to meet with the friends I met in Laos.
Sally is back to work on Friday :-)
Lots of love
Hayleyx
We met a large group of people on Friday, so we were able to take a massive boat out for the day and have some great food and some interesting company.
Yesterday we took a boat out for me to dive the many ship wrecks off the coast. There are 15 Japanese war ships (some cargo, some gunboats, one oil tanker) in total and I got to visit 3. We got to penetrate the ships, going through some tight squeezes and some very dark (well pitch black) hatches! Very spooky indeed, espcially as all you can see are glowing lobster eyes staring at you....! It was great seeing the engine room, swimming out through the propeller shaft, and playing with the guns/canons that are still aboard. The final ship breaks the surface, so Sally was able to snorkel that ship.
Tomorrow we head back to smelly manila to catch our planes out....
I am off to Thailand via Kuala Lumpa to meet with the friends I met in Laos.
Sally is back to work on Friday :-)
Lots of love
Hayleyx
Monday 9 February 2009
Panglao
Thanks for your emails.
Well few more days were spent tanning and diving in Boracay....the island got a little quieter after the chinese new year and we made nice friends at the dive shop. They took us out drinking a couple of evenings, watching some bob marley wannabe on the beach and drinking the very cheap local beer (about 60p a bottle- and only 100 calories to boot!!!).
The dives were very enjoyable, I ended up doing 4 altogether, didnt see any sharks (again!), but the corals and the sites are great. The last one I did was a fake wreck (as the dive shop sunk it on purpose as a site), which was a new experience. I have definitely got the bug and I am thinking about a few more qualifications when I hit Thailand again. If I get to dive master I can pretty much dive anywhere in the world for free.....sounds great!
We have now reached Panglao, which is an island off Bohol. Its got a nice beach, and is much less developed than Boracay (in a good way), and much cheaper. Yesterday we visited the famous chocolate hills, however they were green after several weeks of rain here!! A little disapointing, but nothing photoshop wont fix in the photo editing!
Today I have been....diving....(surprise!). Saw some turtles, barracuda, cuttlefish, frog fish, shrimps, lobsters, eels, trigger fish......the list was long...it was a great place to dive.
Tomorrow we are up at 5.30am for dolphin watching at sunrise- thats if I can drag sally from her bed.
Hope everyone is well, Sally and I have been laughing about the snow as we top up the tans and reach for another pina colada!!
Lots of love
Hayley and Sally.
Well few more days were spent tanning and diving in Boracay....the island got a little quieter after the chinese new year and we made nice friends at the dive shop. They took us out drinking a couple of evenings, watching some bob marley wannabe on the beach and drinking the very cheap local beer (about 60p a bottle- and only 100 calories to boot!!!).
The dives were very enjoyable, I ended up doing 4 altogether, didnt see any sharks (again!), but the corals and the sites are great. The last one I did was a fake wreck (as the dive shop sunk it on purpose as a site), which was a new experience. I have definitely got the bug and I am thinking about a few more qualifications when I hit Thailand again. If I get to dive master I can pretty much dive anywhere in the world for free.....sounds great!
We have now reached Panglao, which is an island off Bohol. Its got a nice beach, and is much less developed than Boracay (in a good way), and much cheaper. Yesterday we visited the famous chocolate hills, however they were green after several weeks of rain here!! A little disapointing, but nothing photoshop wont fix in the photo editing!
Today I have been....diving....(surprise!). Saw some turtles, barracuda, cuttlefish, frog fish, shrimps, lobsters, eels, trigger fish......the list was long...it was a great place to dive.
Tomorrow we are up at 5.30am for dolphin watching at sunrise- thats if I can drag sally from her bed.
Hope everyone is well, Sally and I have been laughing about the snow as we top up the tans and reach for another pina colada!!
Lots of love
Hayley and Sally.
Tuesday 3 February 2009
Beautiful Boracay...
Sally and I are just laughing about the snow at home, I hope you are all enjoying it, espcially working from home!! The weather here is scorchio everyday!!
Spent a couple of days in Manila, which we didnt really like much...its noisy, smelly, dirty and full of hassle...however I did find a TOPSHOP and an M&S, so I was so happy! I am fully restocked on undies and clothes now!! I was very happy, I even went to topshop 3 times in a day!!
We left manila on saturday and flew down to Boracay. Its really busy here, full of japanese, chinese and korean tourists all celebrating chinese new year, though its quietened down the past couple of days. The beach is 9KM of white powdery sand, with crystal clear tourquoise waters to swin in....perfect!
Today I went on a dive and saw ridiculously big snapper fish, while Sally took the chance to snorkle some choppy seas above. I think I am going to go again tomorrow, this time on a wall dive with a 90M drop. Sounds exciting!
I am still contemplating what to do after the philippines is over, I will have to make some decisions soon!!
I am over half way through my trip now, its gone so fast :(
Lots of love
Hayley (& sally)
Spent a couple of days in Manila, which we didnt really like much...its noisy, smelly, dirty and full of hassle...however I did find a TOPSHOP and an M&S, so I was so happy! I am fully restocked on undies and clothes now!! I was very happy, I even went to topshop 3 times in a day!!
We left manila on saturday and flew down to Boracay. Its really busy here, full of japanese, chinese and korean tourists all celebrating chinese new year, though its quietened down the past couple of days. The beach is 9KM of white powdery sand, with crystal clear tourquoise waters to swin in....perfect!
Today I went on a dive and saw ridiculously big snapper fish, while Sally took the chance to snorkle some choppy seas above. I think I am going to go again tomorrow, this time on a wall dive with a 90M drop. Sounds exciting!
I am still contemplating what to do after the philippines is over, I will have to make some decisions soon!!
I am over half way through my trip now, its gone so fast :(
Lots of love
Hayley (& sally)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
