Shan in Japan

Just got back from a live-aboard dive trip to the Similan Islands - A small group of uninhabited islands about 60kms off the coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. Everyone I have met who has dived there, rave about the place. I can see why - the place definitely lives up to the expectations.

First dive of the day and I see a huge manta ray cruising along like some big spaceship. The visibility was about 25 - 30 metres. The best conditions I've ever dived in, yet the divemaster of our group said this was average! I was diving with a group of eight people. Mostly Germans, who were quiet and very diligent in filling out their log books after each dive. My dive partner or "buddy" was a big bloke and unfortunately sucked his tank empty very quickly, which meant short dives for me. I made up for this by snorkelling around the reefs during the breaks between dives. In fact, overall I enjoyed the snorkelling more than the diving. The Similan islands are made up of huge granite bolders - some of which have tumbled into the sea making interesting terrain with caves, crevices and "swim throughs".  Saw some turtles, a sea snake, leopard shark and big grouper fish.  Tried provoking puffer fish to 'puff up', but they never seemed to get angry enough.

Huge fan corals and immense varieties of fish were everywhere. Just like something out of a dive magazine. I also did my first night dive. It sounds strange, but fish really do sleep. You could gently touch them (trying not to wake them) or at least get up really close without making them dart away. Of course, they keep themselves well protected from predators by hiding in the hard corals. Sinister looking Moray eels were lurking outside their dark holes with small cleaner shrimp brushing their teeth. If I switched off my flashlight and stirred the water, tiny phospherescent plankton sparkled green. Being weightless underwater in the dark is really like being on another planet. Very soothing. We did 4 dives per day, and by the time it came to the night dive, I was just a tired piece of jelly sinking in the sea. We dived, ate, slept, dived etc...for 4 days. One beer (well, 3 really) after the night dive and I was zonked to sleep, despite the rocking boat. To top off a great trip, we were accompanied by playful dolphins on the boat ride back to the mainland. Now just spending my last few days in Thailand zipping about Phuket on a motorbike. Keen to go climbing tomorrow.

Back in Thailand now.  Got some photos up of Myanmar.  http://www.imageevent.com/shanakin/myanmar

Very glad I made the effort of going to Myanmar.  It may be poor and stirs a lot of political fuss, but from what I saw (albeit a small slice) it is a proud country with strong traditions.  The men wear traditional dress called "longyi" and most people paint their faces with 'thannaka' - a kind of powdered wood smeared on the face as a make-up/sunscreen.  I bought a longyi - yes any excuse to wear a dress in public and get away with it without being frowned upon!  Sometimes I felt like I was in another era.  I took a horsecart around Bagan and the seemingly infinite number of pagodas looked like well constructed giant termite mounds from a distance.   As I watched the ox carts go by and the ladies balancing huge loads on their heads, it could have easily been a scene from a hundred years ago.   Of course this time-warp sense was only momentary as I raised my digital camera to try and capture it.

Spending my birthday in Mandalay with a friend Myo, who I met in Nagoya so many years ago, was great.  Always good to be in familiar company on your birthday.  I even got a card with rubies on it!  Everywhere I went people were eager to talk or help.  Any eye contact was met with smiles of betel juice stained teeth.  Myanmar would have to come at the top of list of places to go in SE Asia. 

The transport is superbly slow. Riding the train north from Yangon, I was amazed that the train stayed on the tracks.  It rattled and shaked so violently at times I was positive we had derailed.  But it chugged on at 30km/hr for 14 hours on a wooden seat.  I took a boat down the Irrawaddy river from Mandalay to Bagan.  It is the travel in itself that is the experience and adventure, not just the destination you are reaching.  Travelling in Myanmar really confirmed this.

Off diving tomorrow in the Similan islands.  This will be my little (well big really) birthday present to myself.  All set to fly out of Bangkok on the 30th to Mumbai, India.    

Hooray! Birthday in Mandalay today.  Myanmar is the land of hardy Toyota corollas and Buddist Pagodas.  This is definitely the most devout Buddhist country I've been to so far.   Great 'off the beaten track' place.  Can't begin to describe how superb the people are.  Very humbling.  Internet connection is very sketchy so not too much time (or patience) to write here.  Will update again when in Thailand.  Cannot access email, especially hotmail here.

Happy New Year all!  新年あけましておめでとう!

I awoke to the 1st of January sprawled out in a broken long tail boat, presumably a relic from the Tsunami, on the beach at Tonsai.  I must have decided that it was a good place to crash at some stage in the early hours of the morning.  It was quite a relaxed New Years party on the beach with a few fireworks, lots of firestarters wheeling their sticks or poi pois of lit kerosene.  Oh so Thailand!  

Back in Bangkok now waiting for a visa to Burma.  A few days on KhaoSarn road is about all I can take.  Just itching to get out of here now!  I'll be catching a Myanmar Airways flight to Yangon on Friday.  Interestingly, the embassy said it would take 5 or more days (because of New Year and some other national holidays) around this time.  As I need to leave Thailand by Friday, I pleaded with them to speed up the process.  Turns out that if I book a flight only with Myanmar Airways - State run carrier of Myanmar - they can process my visa in 2 days.  For an extra charge of course.  Talk about the bureaucracy scratching each other's backs!  This will also be the first time I will travel by air since starting this trip.  Flying in to Myanmar is the only option at the moment, as the government has a few zones (especially drug trade border zones) that they don't want tourists to see or get in the way....

Also got my flight booked to India at the end of the month.  Will be back in Thailand for a week down diving in the Similan islands after Myanmar, as I missed out on doing last month, then off to Mumbai.  Haven't been taking any photos for quite a while now.  Will try to up some pics when I get back from Myanmar.