Thailand - Khao Lak, an easy start into our adventure

Happy New Year Singapore

The last days in Singapore flew by in no time, numerous farewell parties, getting last minute food fixes… must have one last chicken rice, prata, dan dan mian, etc.

Fortunately the movers had come a few days before we actually left, this gave us some more time to indulge into what we loved about Singapore.

Marina Bay Casino

A nice touch was the New Year’s fireworks down at Marina Bay; we were lucky and managed to get a great spot by simply walking to the Padang half an hour before midnight. The scenery has certainly improved with the dramatic architecture of the Marina Sands Casino in the background.

Successful "Ustrinkete"

On the last evening we invited friends over for an “Ustrinkete”, a Swiss German word which literally translates into “drink empty”. This tradition is often followed by the Swiss when someone is moving far away. The idea is of course to invite people in order to have them drink up and eat up all the open bottles and food stuff; the real fun of course is to meet friends for a last time in a rather informal setting.
Kudos to our Ustrinkete group; mission accomplished, most of the food and especially the booze has been put to good use as you can see on the right side:-).

Departure from Singapore Changi

After a very busy and exiting time of farewells and hugs in Singapore, we started our journey to Changi Airport. It was a strange feeling to be heading to this airport that we utilized a lot in the past 5 years (Patrick alone flew about 90 times out of Changi)
This time it wasn’t for a short dive trip to Bali, or a business trip to Taiwan… it was a trip leaving for good. To underline the reality of our final departure, we also had to hand over to the immigration office our “certificate” of the terminated resident pass. Along with a final disembarkation notice. Yes, we are now no longer considered residents of Singapore.

Arriving in Phuket had this comforting familiarity about it, and the excitement that we are now not tourist but full time travelers certainly elevated out spirits. We made it! Today is day ONE of our journey...
Phuket Town is not getting the credit it deserves, most visitors head straight for the beaches, bypassing this historic town with it’s winding roads, busy wet markets and often nicely restored shop houses. We were surprised to see the strong Chinese influence in Phuket, much of the clothing and temples near Talang street resembled the Peranakan style that is found in Malacca and Singapore. We actually saw some similarities between Phuket Town and Singapore’s Chinatown 10 years ago.

On the road to Khao Lak

Day two, heading up to Khao Lak on a local bus that had as much foreigners as Thai, gave a hint of what’s to come in Khao Lak. Back in 2006 when we first game here, we had taken a liking to this small village that was so hard hit by the Tsunami, it was sleepy, the locals extremely friendly and the visitors mostly backpackers and some adventurous European families.

Now the place has changed quite a bit, this is our 4th visit, we could see every year that there were more posh hotels being built. But this time around seeing a McDonalds where a local seafood restaurant used to be made it very clear: This is now a tourist trap of the kind that we are actually trying to avoid on this trip. (Imagine there was not a single American Fast Food chain to be seen in Phuket Town, where we stayed last night). See our Blog entry from our first visit to Khao Lak.

Our Resort in Khao Lak, always nice to be back

Now the place has changed quite a bit, this is our 4th visit, we could see every year that there were more posh hotels being built. But this time around seeing a McDonalds where a local seafood restaurant used to be made it very clear: This is now a tourist trap of the kind that we are actually trying to avoid on this trip. (Imagine there was not a single American Fast Food chain to be seen in Phuket Town, where we stayed last night)

So here we are, starting our trip that is supposed to be an adventure, in a Thai village that has mostly European families spending their once a year beach holiday here. Where are the backpackers?
Ok, to be frank we still enjoy being here, thankfully some of our favorite local eateries had not been gobbled up by Fast Food chains and our simple resort still has that charm of a coconut plantation.
I guess you can say that we are now taking a holiday from our travels (on day 2 nonetheless)

Winner of "first friends to join" award
handed out already on day 3

We’re excited to go onto the diveboat tonight, heading up to Surin and Similan islands, our two Friends Volkmar and Meg just arrived from India to join us.
Yes, the two of them fetched the award “first friends to join us on this journey” I wonder who’s going to be next? It could be you!

Off we go… 6 days of diving lay ahead of us.