Greetings from Ko Tao!
Quick update - we made it safely to Bangkok after some minor plane ticket issues that are too long to explain here. Just FYI - LTU airlines from Munich is the "city bus" of long haul airlines. Tiny seats, no movie in the seat, not comfortable. We were pretzels by the time we arrived. We found ourselves in Th Kho San Road the "backpackers place to go" and got a room in the middle of the craziness. People were out in force and everyone was selling EVERYTHING. So cheap. Chris and I managed to get there, get a room and get out and see a bunch of the sights in the two days we were there. Street food was really good and we both tolerated it fine. Phad Thai (really yummy) was 50 cents on the street - add a beer and a stick of grilled chicken (another buck and a half) and your good to go. Halloween night was totally crazy - Thai people out partying their brains out. I got a 1 hour Thai massage, mancure and pedicure (15$!) and then we joined the madness. Then the next day we went to the Grand Palace and then downtown to the modern shopping district (think Pacific Place times 1000). We barely made it back to catch our overnight bus and boat ride to Ko Tao, a tiny island diving mecca in the Gulf of Thailand. We have been here for 4 days. The first day we had sun and got a beautiful bungelow on the beach. We went out for dinner, had some drinks and took a little night dip in the very warm, very blue water. All is well! Suddenly, I wake the next morning with a 102 fever, my head is exploding, my back and stomach are cramping (sick in all possible directions) up so bad I am reduced to a wimpering pile on the floor. My immunology brain is scrolling through all the possible things that I am being raveged by, but my cooler head prevailed and I popped a few Cipro, drank a Gatorade, a couple tylenol and I am finally back to normal. Chris was my hero (as usual) getting me more Gatorade, tylenol and generally sitting with me and making me feel like I was going to live. Uggg! Now we are back on track and diving, diving, diving! We moved to a more remote side of the island with a beautiful protected beach and cove . We are taking our Advanced Open water certification class and it is tons of fun! Night diving is later tonight and this morning was deep diving and navigation. Having a great time and will hopfully find a place with faster internet sometime so we can upload pics! Miss everyone and we will write more from Singapore and Borneo!
Take care !
Blythe and Chris