Chiang Mai, Mae Rim, ThaiGers & Manta Rays

Chiang Mai is a place that I would like to get to know better. This is my third time here, but on each trip it’s been the last leg of a multi-part journey, and has been both rushed and relaxed - but never long enough to settle in and fully explore and appreciate the city and the surroundings.

Road in front of Ginny Place - Ian and Tee's guesthouse and cafe

To me, Chiang Mai is one of the most seemingly livable cities that I’ve visited. As a whole, it feels prosperous, yet still very inexpensive. And even though tourism is a huge part of the economy and activity here in the old town center of the city, it doesn’t have the same overwhelmingly invasive feel that it has in other tourist destinations like Phuket. There are plenty of western and modern conveniences that can keep an expat as close to an “at home” experience as they choose, but the local people, food, culture, and way of life are all attractive to the point that making a few changes to adapt to the local ways would be easy to do. This would be a nice place to spend an increasing amount of time down the road…

Wat Umongmahatherachan (say three times fast) near Ginny Place

I got to Chiang Mai Saturday afternoon – just in time for Ian and Tee’s wedding celebration dinner. They got married the previous Monday, January 30th, marking 8 years together. Many of their friends came, including a few that I had met before on previous trips. The food and drinks were plentiful, and it was a great wind down for me after my two weeks of diving and travels.

newlyweds

The next morning, Tee dug up a scooter for me, and Ian, Tee, Tee’s 11 y/o son Audi, and I all rode out to Mae Rim, and village just outside of Chiang Mai where Tee’s family has lived for many decades. I got to meet Tee’s parents, bother, and 96 y/o grandmother.

Ian, Tee, and Grandma

Duk Dik - the family dog. His name means 'jittery'

Tee’s family is the center of their community and there were many cousins and other extended family working in the shop and in the garden. The ice cream guy came by for some needed relief to the heat.



600 meters up the road is Ian and Tee’s new homestead. They bought a parcel of 1.6 rai (~2/3 acre) that has been a rice patty, and plan to bring in enough dirt to bring it above water level and eventually build on it. I love the picture below. Someday, it will have significant historical value.

Happy landowners in their rice field -

The whole Mae Rim area is full of “experiential tourism” activities – bungee jumping, quad racing, zip lining, etc. You can also find places to get up and close with animals ranging from elephants to monkeys to tigers. We took the bikes and went over to Tiger Kingdom – a place where you can not only see tigers ranging from little kittens to 400lb adults, but you can also climb in the cages and snuggle with them.

teenage tiger & the farang bros.

With flashbacks to Siegfried and Roy, the question comes up – how safe is this kind of thing? I was relieved to know that a portion of my ticket price included personal insurance – so no problem there. The other question that comes up is – do they drug these cats? How can they possibly tolerate being petted by an endless line of farangs day after day?

nice kitty!

The answer seems to be that 1) they are raised and live in these conditions their whole lives, so know no other way, and 2) the trainers “correct” bad behaviors as they happen – leaving the adults who have been there and done that very mellow/broken, while the cubs push their limits and get bonked on the nose with a stick every so often.

Audi & the littlest tiger

Exploitation and breaking wild spirit in the name of adding to my photo journal and in some ways helping to preserve and promote the species…I’ll withhold judgment and just say that I did enjoy getting close to these guys.



With most of my trip behind me, my plan for the last few days was to just kick back and relax a bit. The whole trip has been go go go since the start, and some time to just sit in the café, relax, have some food and a beer sounded like a great way to wrap things up. But I had one more thing I had to do…

My tribal manta ray drawing that I posted at the start of this blog has been with me for a while. Beyond being a cool drawing, to me it’s been symbolic of past travels and adventures, and living life in a big way – even if that only happens from time to time.



For my milestone birthday, I committed to making it a bit more of a permanent reminder to keep going and to keep adventuring. Here’s the finished result of that. Note the change in the center where my former Polynesian Tiki has turned into an Asian/Buddhist/Hindu Ohm symbol, which I thought was much more appropriate for both the place and meaning.

tattoo by Eak of Chiang Mai

Plan next - find a way to do this every year...

last dinner of the trip with Ian, Tee, Oy, and Ying from Singapore

Mr & Mrs Tee - I pitty the fool that don't eat at Ginny Cafe

Dive, Eat, Sleep, repeat...

The Similan Islands are named after one of the local Sea Gypsy tribe's words for “nine” in that there are nine islands in the chain running from Similan 1 in the south, to Similan 9 in the north. These Islands are made up of granite boulders and white sand beaches that come from the hard corals that surround the islands. 15 KM north of the Similans are Koh Bon and Koh Tachai, small sandstone islands that lie in the Surin Island National Park. North of Koh Bon is Richelieu Rock – considered the best dive site in Thailand.

The White Manta

I was picked up from my hotel right on time and two hours later, we arrived in Koh Lak where our boat, the White Manta was docked. The White Manta is a beautiful, new boat – custom built in Thailand for scuba diving. We had a total of 33 divers on board, including 28 guests and 5 dive masters. I was grouped with Chris – a British dive master who has been diving the Similans for 5 years, and who was the overall leader of the trip. Also in our group were a British couple in their 60s living in Australia, and a 50 y/o Dutch man and his Japanese wife - all of which were very experienced and well-traveled divers. With the two pairs buddied up, that left Chris to be my dive buddy. Needless to say, I felt that I was in good hands.

Dive Master Chris giving a dive briefing

Diving the Similans on a liveaboard is nothing like the diving in Koh Tao. Beyond the fact that the water is clearer,deeper, and faster than it is in the Gulf, the dive masters are top notch, and the clientele are older and more experienced divers. Over the next 4 days, we made 14 dives, and not once did we have a problem.

We set up gear, had a briefing and some dinner, then settled into our cabins for the first night and the trip up to the first dive site. I shared a stateroom with a Japanese guy from Tokyo named Hyue. He spoke a very little English (though much more than my zero Japanese), but mostly we just made exaggerated gestures at each other, and he laughed a nervous, over exaggerated laugh that to me was my mental Japanese stereotype. Overall, we got along well despite the communication difficulties, and since he occasionally snored and made other body noises in his sleep, I figured I could relax and not worry about doing the same. Still - not used to dormatory style sleeping, and had some restless nights.

Robert & Atsuko from Amsterdam

Onboard, we had a very diverse group made up of British/Australian, Dutch, two French couples, a Spanish couple, an Italian couple, a group from Singapore, a group of four from China, and my Japanese roommate. Other than a couple of the neuvo-rich from China, I really enjoyed everyone. A couple of the Chinese folks just couldn’t figure out things like waiting their turn in line for meals, or not grabbing corals and critters on the dive sites – which is verboten. The Similan Islands are in a national park, and you are not supposed to touch or disturb anything.

I won’t go in to dive by dive detail. I have it all in my log book, and about 1,000 photos and videos to back it all up. Here’s a list of the dives we made:

Day 1:

Anita’s Reef / Similan 5 (followed by a beach excursion and hike up to the top of the island)

West of Eden / Similan 7

3 Trees / Similan 7

Donald Duck Cove / Similan 9 (night dive)

viewpoint overlooking Anita's Reef

Day 2:

North Point / Similan 9

Koh Bon reef

Koh Bon ridge

Koh Tachao

nice turtle

Day 3:

4 dives on Richelieu Rock (including my 100th dive of my adult life)

yellowtail barracuda at Richelieu Rock

Day 4:

Koh Bon pinnacle

Boonsung wreck dive / south of Similan 1

Big school of fish @ Boonsung wreck

My dive log still has a record of the dives that I made from The Junk in the Similan Islands back in 2001 (which I saw again on this trip). Though the trip as a whole was an amazing experience, some of the dive sites that we did were not up to the same standards as others.

The Junk - my Similan liveaboard in 2001

On this trip, nothing disappointed. I think the experience of our trip leader, Chris, and the way that he chose each dive site based not just on the topography and sea life, but also on the time of day, the tides and currents, and how to order the dives for the best results really made this an exceptional trip.

Manta rays were at the top of my list in terms of the sea life that I wanted to see, and at Koh Bon, we finally got to see one briefly swoop in from the blue and then take a sharp right turn and disappear as quickly as it came. Mantas are so impressive with their 12 foot+ span and the way they fly underwater.

Other top critters included:

several octopi, putting on color and texture changing shows to either camouflage or intimidate as needed



cuttlefish



sea turtles who don’t seem to even notice or care in the least about all of the underwater paparazzi

moray eels – big, small, many colors





Sea snakes - very poisonous

Seahorses and pipefish



Puffers and box fish



Angelfish, batfish, clownfish, parrotfish,
sweetlips, triggerfish, lionfish, scorpionfish, frogfish, etc.









Hard corals, soft corals and seafans



The hard corals in the Similans took a bad hit in 2010 when the sea temperature increased by several degrees for a several month period of time. This caused “bleaching” of the corals which led to the death and destruction of most of the hard corals down to about 50 feet. The explanation for this temperature change is not really understood, but periodic local extinction of the corals has happened before in history, so it is not unprecedented. Unfortunately, I’m told it can take several thousand years to recover. Bleaching did not impact the soft corals and the marine life seems to be thriving, so I can’t say that it really lessened the experience of diving there.



My 5/4MM wetsuit was way overkill for Thailand. I bought it when I was planning on going to Hawaii where the waters are not as warm as they are here. More wetsuit means more lead weight is needed to counter the buoyancy which all combine to increase air consumption and lower the amount of time you can stay down. My breathing, however, has gotten better to the point that I was routinely doing dives of 90-100 feet max depth and still getting 50-60 minutes out of an 80 cubic foot aluminum tank.

Way too much to say about this trip, and though part of this blog is for my own historical record, the dive-by-dive record is in my log book, so I’ll leave this post with some parting observations, raves, and no real rants…

In school they teach that the #1 rule of scuba is to never hold your breath. In fact, the only way to get a good long dive is to hold your breath (more accurately, pause) all the time – except when you’re ascending.

Best thing about the White Manta – distributed tank filling meaning that you can leave all your gear set up and they refill the tanks in place. Plus – they modestly overfill to about 3200 psi (I was getting 2800 in Koh Tao) meaning dive times were
extended.

Worst thing about the White Manta – no fruit juice available. If I had known, I would have brought my own.

Interesting fact you thought you'd never need to know: Jacques Cousteau discovered the dive site at Richelieu Rock and named it after Cardinal Richilieu - a Cardinal from the 16th century, and main antagonist in the novel, The Three Musketeers. Apparently, the great soft corals of the pinnacle reminded Cousteau of the Cardinals flowing red robes.

Dive that most exceeded expectations – the Boonsung wreck. It was a playground of structures and sandy bottom. No too deep so long dive times, and so many critters at every turn. The fish schools were amazing! I could have stayed down there all day. Great way to end the trip.

Boonsung wreck - Chris looking for the hard to find

Grand total for this epic dive trip through Thailand: 24 dives, almost 19 hours underwater, 1 manta, I’m sure well over a million fish and other marine critters, and 1,000 photos and videos to pour through when I get home.



Now off to Chiang Mai to visit my brother and his long time girlfriend and as of a few days ago, his wife, Tee.

The longest bus ride ever, Phuket now & then

My last two dives (Lighthouse and White rock) were pleasant and uneventful. Highlights included hearing a whale singing in the distance at the Lighthouse and seeing a sea snake slithering through the coral at White rock. Coming to Koh Tao was a good idea, and after 10 dives, I feel ready to take on the more challenging dives of the Similans.

Gizmo's friend out fishing - this dog was always in the water

Getting from Koh Tao to Surrathani was an easy 2 ½ hour catamaran ride with a change of boats in Koh Phangan. We arrived in Surrathani at 2:00, and were met by a coach that promised to have us in Phuket Town by 6:30. When I bought my ticket, I specifically asked if the bus was “express” and “VIP” as opposed to the “aircon” busses that stop every time someone on the side of the road waves their arm. I was assured that I was on an express VIP bus. That turned out not to be the case.

At 6:30 PM – our scheduled time of arrival – we were still 150km away from Phuket Town, and stopping at every dirt road to let locals on and off the bus. At 7:00, the driver pulled over to a group of roadside stalls for dinner. "It is what it is", I kept telling myself... At 9:30, we finally arrived. Exhausted, I paid an exorbitant fare to commandeer a songthow (pickup with seats in the back) to get me to my hotel down by the beach. After 7 ½ hours in the bus, I just needed to get cleaned up and go to bed.

Patong Beach

I had entertained all sorts of ideas for the two days between leaving Koh Tao and getting on the dive boat to the Similan Islands. The two calendar days really distilled down to a single day by the time you take out the travel and other needed chores. In the end, I opted for the easy & familiar and a chance to make some needed purchases at the local dive shops in Patong. I spent the day wandering the beach, brushing away the touts, and picking up a new dive light and new straps for my fins. Some things never change – the beach is still beautiful and the touts still use the same tactics to get your attention and draw you in.

Soi Eric off of Bangala Road

Other things just keep changing. No traveler I’ve ever met is short on stories of how simple and cheap things used to be. People who started traveling in the 70’s would proclaim a place ruined by the 80’s – a decade or two before I “discovered” the same place. For me, my first trip to Thailand was in 1999 – I stayed in a small crappy hotel right on the beach for ~$30/night and Patong felt exotic, a bit sleazy, and most of the shops and stalls were simple and run by locals. 13 years later, my budget ($50/night) puts me in a small crappy hotel up the hill far away from the beach. When I came back in 2004, prices were going up, but the place was largely the same. The game changer was the tsunami that happened just a few days after I left in 2004 that wiped all of the beachfront stalls and shops off the map. When I came back in 2008, it was clear that they were gone for good, and “progress” was happening with many more chain stores moving in where local shops used to be.

new Muay Thai stadium

4 Years later, the sleaze factor has been replaced by something that feels more like Disneyland (if Disneyland had a section called LadyBoy Land). Most of the individual shops and stalls have been replaced by modern buildings and international chain stores – not just on the beach, but throughout the town. There’s a huge new mega mall at the end of Bangla Road, alongside the new giant Muay Thai boxing stadium and the Fresh Market where people and restaurants buy their produce, meat, and seafood.

farmer's market

meat

curry

Still, it’s not bad. If I hadn’t experienced what it used to be, it would still be a beautiful beach with things to do and see. You can still find good Thai food, though now there are probably more pizzerias than local restaurants. By international standards, it’s still dirt cheap. And, it’s a good jumping off point to other more unspoiled locations like my dive trip, or a trip down to Phi Phi or around to Krabi/Railay. So – happy to be here for a couple of days, but looking forward to jumping into the true leg two of my trip when I get on the boat at 7 tonight for an overnight motor up to the first of what should be about 15 different dive spots over the next four days.

"Please do not sell firework lanterns and hot air. It may cause of the burning and trouble somebody" Good advice!

more diving, beach dogs, and a lost buddy

At 6am, it’s still dark here, and even the beach dogs are still sleeping. By 6:30, the sun is rising, and with 20 people, 40 tanks, and all of our gear packed into a 20 foot dingy shaped like a bathtub (with the stability of one), we motor out a couple hundred yards to the dive boat and climb aboard.

bathtub boat

open water dive students

the dive boat

Dive #5 was at a place called Chumphon Pinnacle, and was high in anticipation as one of the best dive spots in Koh Tao. It was also a good warm up for my trip out to the Similans in that it was both a deep dive and a dive with some strong currents. Currents are good, in that they bring nutrients in that attract fish to the site, but between the depth and the current, I knew I’d be air challenged and that it would likely be a short dive.

When we first got down to the pinnacle, we were greeted by massive schools of fish. Really spectacular to watch these bait balls move in unison.

big school of fish, Champhon Pinnacle

Down deeper at ~95 feet, I encountered a huge grouper. I swam close to get a good picture or two, and my fellow divers said that the grouper was roughly the same size as me - big boy! My computer told me I was down to about 7 minutes of no-decompression time, so I came up to a shallower depth and saw another big grouper & shot some video. Overall, a really nice dive.



We motored over to a place called “Shipwreck” for my dive #6. I’m not generally a fan of diving wrecks unless they’ve been down long enough to create a true artificial reef, attracting sealife. This boat had only been down for a few months, and as we dropped down, it was clear that this wasn’t going to be a very interesting dive. I was wrong, but not in a good way…

As we worked through some very murky waters, people stopped to take pictures and the dive master – our young 22 y/o Swedish girl took a head count and came up one short. After (IMO) way too long looking around in visibility that was no more than a few feet, we all (minus one) slowly ascended to the surface, which is standard practice for a missing diver situation. We looked on the surface for 15-20 minutes before the Dive Master and another diver went back down to search the wreck. No one was thinking the worst, but after 40 minutes since we first went under, if he was still down, his air would be getting low.

posing on the wreck

When the search party finished looking through the wrek and came up empty, the assumption was that the missing guy either encountered another group and followed them by mistake (easy to do with crowded dive spots), or was bobbing on the surface someplace and we needed to get in the boat and go find him.

By the time we got back to the boat, the Thai crew said that they had seen the missing diver surface, and then go back down to join another group – unbelievable! In the end, it turned out that he had a very nice dive, while the other 7 of us bobbed on the surface with almost full tanks for air. Diving with newbies (including newbie dive masters) has really impressed on me the difference experience makes.

The afternoon dives, #7 and #8 were both very pleasant dives in garden-like settings of boulders covered with coral, swim-throughs, walls, and ledges that hide sting rays and moray eels. With fewer divers and a more experienced Dive Master (Milla from Finland), it was a very nice change.

Big blue-lipped clam

> Think I'll catch the next one...


Back on land, I cleaned up and went in to town to book my travels to Phuket. 800 baht (~$27) for a nine hour journey by boat and bus to Phuket Town where I’ll transfer to my boat to the Similan Islands. I took a walk down Sairee Beach, and I quickly saw why my brother suggested the Coral Grand to me, which is at the far north end of this very long beach. The further south I walked, the younger the crowd got - I was truly in “gap year” land. Lots of Scandinavian blondes, tattoo’d guys twirling things on the beach that looked like they were meant to be lit on fire in the evenings, dive shops offering open water certifications for next to nothing…Makes me wonder what the hell I was doing being hard working and responsible in my 20’s. I guess that's why I get to come back here in my...later years (I'll keep telling myself that anyway)

shooting pool on the beach

Panang curry with shrimp and squid

After a nice dinner, I stopped in the local mini mart to pick up a couple of necessities (Chang), and decided to buy some treats for the local beach dogs. I purchased a package of bologna-like meat, and quickly made a new friend when I got back to my bungalow. My new pal – known as Gizmo – never left the porch for the rest of the evening.

Gizmo with bologna breath

I’ve been sleeping from 9pm to 4am every day since I got here – in part because that’s what my body wants to do, and in part because the first dive of the day departs at 6am-ish. Last night was no exception, and by 9:00, I was out. Sometime around 11, I woke up hearing someone on my porch. The scuffling got louder and louder, and I got out of bed ready to confront whoever was out there. Just as I was about to turn on the porch light and open the door, someone started banging and scratching on the door. I opened the door – and there he was! Gizmo wanted more lunch meat, and was not being shy about asking. I shoo’d him away and went back to sleep. Since I was skipping the 6am dive in the morning, I really didn’t mind the late night visit. Good boy - no bologna.