well i'm off to the similan islands in a couple of days for a 3day liveaboard -4dives a day!! looking forward to some better viz since it's been crap at the wreck i\ve been doing loads of -which is a good thing since i have to map it. yikes. actually must go home after this a doodle some more on my draft...anyone want ot do some research for me on Boon Sun wreck and tin mining off the west coast of thailand? if you're boared....;))
anyway, how's it all there? last night there was a toga party -mostly staff and very hilarious -ended up in the pool til about 4am and had to drag myself home to get some sleep and pump water before diving this am! actually the dive improved my sensibilities muchly! and i'm still awake!
หฟพฟ้

back flash to last day in kolkota...

just some pictures of my roamings on foot, boat and by taxi -couldn't figure out the bus chaos in the stench and heat and really wanted to get to this "botanical garden" i'd been to before where there's this 250 yr old banyan tree. the core trunk has been removed due to disease but the rest of it growns on... branches growing down and rooting and becoming their own trunk til the thing covers nearly a hectare!
and then there are the colours of the women in sari and the haze of the noon heat in the city. then it was off to the Kali temple but no pictures there! not aloud. sorry!

coastal thailand

greetings from Khao lak!

this is a strip town that i have yet to fall in love with... it lies along the thoroughfare to phuket. it aint pretty. noisy and packed with "farang" -mostly germans -old couples and very young families. go figure. but it'll get the job done -i'm well into the divemaster course i set out to do. found a room with hot water and a garden out front and a tv with satelite on which i get 1 channel in english for sure: RT -which stands for Russian television. it's actually kind of interesting but loops. it's either that, the occasional Tom and Jerry cartoon or evangelicals on at least 3 other stations. i can only take a bit of bible thumping after a long day at the dive shop. the days are long because we're just going through theory theory theory. and other than that practicing demo-ing skills that have yet to be perfected ourselves. funny, can hover to check out a fishy but not in the pool. hopefully we'll be in the sea tomorrow. took a walk along the beach yesterday eve and a run this am. it's lovely and fairly warm. but i'm not too keen on the swimming right there. this is right where the tsunami swept through an left absolutely nothing. in all honesty, i think it swept away some of the charm too. certainly funds have been used to rebuild. and rebuild they have and not stopped. it's all a bit too planned and resorty. knicknacks and cheap flashy clothes line the road. i cant imagine what it was like before but they are defintely in love with concrete now -whereas i believe bamboo was more common before.

well every baht counts and i'm trying to pinch them. so ciao for now! more pics when i get a break in the studying... i'm into the physioligy now after suffering and surviving! the physucs -i mean physics.

big hugs from me and this gekko who hangs out by this computer...