Koh Surin National Park
Some things you just can't control... like waking up in the middle of the night with chills, body aches, and stabbing pains in your stomach. I was optimistic that I would feel better in the morning, but not so much. The toilet and I became great friends. Yup… I had traveller’s diarrhea. I’m thinking I kind of jinxed myself by ending yesterday’s post with “We’re all ready for what tomorrow brings.”
In my moment of illness I became delusional. Everything about Thailand suddenly made feel sick. I hated rice and I didn’t want to hear one more “sawadee-kaaaaa” or “korp kun kaaaaa”. I was done with Thailand and wanted to return to Canada. I was sick and it was Thailand’s fault. To my credit, though, I still had enough sense to keep my nasty thoughts to myself and push on for the rest of our family. Kevin and the kids were looking forward to this snorkeling and camping excursion that awaited us, so I popped a couple of Pepto Bismol tablets and slapped a smile on my face. You will notice in today’s pictures I was not very convincing. I felt like crap.
The bigger challenge (or so I thought) was making the one hour boat ride to Koh Surin. I just wanted to make it through without having to run for the toilet. As it turned out, that was a rather small challenge compared to the ride from hell as our speedboat skipped over 10-15 feet swells in the Andaman Sea for the full hour. There was nothing pleasurable about it. Kevin and the girls went to the front of the boat to joy ride the waves and I stayed right where I was holding on to the “holy shit bar” (pun intended) doing everything to avoid getting sick. Within half an hour, Kev and the girls joined me because they were bouncing around a little too much and ended up completely soaked from being up at the front of the boat. All I could do was keep my head down and focus on breathing. I wanted to get off the f*cking boat. Aislinn fell asleep.
Finally, Kevin made the announcement that he could see the shoreline. I tried not to get too excited until the boat actually stopped– good thing, because ten minutes before we hit the shore Jasmine tossed her cookies into a trash can. The poor girl had a few chunks hit another passenger’s leg. Once again, Kevin did an outstanding job on PR (flashback to Jasmine throwing up in Chiang Mai).
I wasn’t far behind Jasmine. I made a run for the bathroom, where I sat on the toilet with my head hanging between my legs, wishing I could stay there forever and hoping everything would continue to come out of only one end. Kevin knocked on the door a couple of times to see if I was okay. Poor guy, he didn't know who he should take care of first.
Within minutes after her episode, Jasmine came around quite nicely and when it came time, she put on her snorkeling gear and jumped right in. As for me, I gathered enough energy to sit and watch Kevin and the girls from the boat and take a couple of really amateur photos. After a while of observing them out there having fun, I wanted to join them. I’m in Thailand, for crying out loud! When would I get another chance to do this? The water was sparkling clear and a beautiful shade of turquoise. Alas, I was starting to love Thailand again and began to feel better. I put my snorkeling gear on and joined them. I was glad I did. Swimming together with my family and yelling in excitement at each other through our snorkels was definitely a moment I will never forget. It was another Diachina first.
It wasn't long before our guide called us in and we drove less than two minutes away to our next snorkeling location. Once again, I was starting to feel ill.There would be no more snorkeling for me; I decided to lay down instead. When time was up, we drove another five minutes to Koh Surin, where we would be camping on the beach for the night. We took a wooden long-tail boat to get closer to the shore, due to low tide. Even in my moment of yuckiness I was still able to appreciate Kevin’s way of trying to make me feel better. He stood in the knee high water and motioned for me to climb into his arms. He carried me to the shore and set me down. We made our way to the restaurant for lunch and I knew right away I couldn’t possibly stomach any food or food-related smells. Instead, I elected to stay with our bags and rest my head on my knees while the rest of my family ate. When they were all done, I climbed into our tent to try to sleep it all off. Kevin opted out of the afternoon snorkeling trip and lounged around on the beach with the girls instead. An hour later, I emerged from the tent feeling a little better, but I was still slow moving. As the afternoon progressed, I continued to gain strength. By the time dinner rolled around I was hungry and able to eat. My fingers are crossed for tomorrow.
To see today's photos, please click here (I had to use a link to Flickr because the Weebly slideshow wasn't loading properly. Be sure to select "slideshow" in upper right hand corner for a better viewing experience. I apologize for the extra hassle.)
In my moment of illness I became delusional. Everything about Thailand suddenly made feel sick. I hated rice and I didn’t want to hear one more “sawadee-kaaaaa” or “korp kun kaaaaa”. I was done with Thailand and wanted to return to Canada. I was sick and it was Thailand’s fault. To my credit, though, I still had enough sense to keep my nasty thoughts to myself and push on for the rest of our family. Kevin and the kids were looking forward to this snorkeling and camping excursion that awaited us, so I popped a couple of Pepto Bismol tablets and slapped a smile on my face. You will notice in today’s pictures I was not very convincing. I felt like crap.
The bigger challenge (or so I thought) was making the one hour boat ride to Koh Surin. I just wanted to make it through without having to run for the toilet. As it turned out, that was a rather small challenge compared to the ride from hell as our speedboat skipped over 10-15 feet swells in the Andaman Sea for the full hour. There was nothing pleasurable about it. Kevin and the girls went to the front of the boat to joy ride the waves and I stayed right where I was holding on to the “holy shit bar” (pun intended) doing everything to avoid getting sick. Within half an hour, Kev and the girls joined me because they were bouncing around a little too much and ended up completely soaked from being up at the front of the boat. All I could do was keep my head down and focus on breathing. I wanted to get off the f*cking boat. Aislinn fell asleep.
Finally, Kevin made the announcement that he could see the shoreline. I tried not to get too excited until the boat actually stopped– good thing, because ten minutes before we hit the shore Jasmine tossed her cookies into a trash can. The poor girl had a few chunks hit another passenger’s leg. Once again, Kevin did an outstanding job on PR (flashback to Jasmine throwing up in Chiang Mai).
I wasn’t far behind Jasmine. I made a run for the bathroom, where I sat on the toilet with my head hanging between my legs, wishing I could stay there forever and hoping everything would continue to come out of only one end. Kevin knocked on the door a couple of times to see if I was okay. Poor guy, he didn't know who he should take care of first.
Within minutes after her episode, Jasmine came around quite nicely and when it came time, she put on her snorkeling gear and jumped right in. As for me, I gathered enough energy to sit and watch Kevin and the girls from the boat and take a couple of really amateur photos. After a while of observing them out there having fun, I wanted to join them. I’m in Thailand, for crying out loud! When would I get another chance to do this? The water was sparkling clear and a beautiful shade of turquoise. Alas, I was starting to love Thailand again and began to feel better. I put my snorkeling gear on and joined them. I was glad I did. Swimming together with my family and yelling in excitement at each other through our snorkels was definitely a moment I will never forget. It was another Diachina first.
It wasn't long before our guide called us in and we drove less than two minutes away to our next snorkeling location. Once again, I was starting to feel ill.There would be no more snorkeling for me; I decided to lay down instead. When time was up, we drove another five minutes to Koh Surin, where we would be camping on the beach for the night. We took a wooden long-tail boat to get closer to the shore, due to low tide. Even in my moment of yuckiness I was still able to appreciate Kevin’s way of trying to make me feel better. He stood in the knee high water and motioned for me to climb into his arms. He carried me to the shore and set me down. We made our way to the restaurant for lunch and I knew right away I couldn’t possibly stomach any food or food-related smells. Instead, I elected to stay with our bags and rest my head on my knees while the rest of my family ate. When they were all done, I climbed into our tent to try to sleep it all off. Kevin opted out of the afternoon snorkeling trip and lounged around on the beach with the girls instead. An hour later, I emerged from the tent feeling a little better, but I was still slow moving. As the afternoon progressed, I continued to gain strength. By the time dinner rolled around I was hungry and able to eat. My fingers are crossed for tomorrow.
To see today's photos, please click here (I had to use a link to Flickr because the Weebly slideshow wasn't loading properly. Be sure to select "slideshow" in upper right hand corner for a better viewing experience. I apologize for the extra hassle.)
December 19 - Everything Always Works Out in the End
_
Even though I had to get up several times during the night
to use the facilities, I still woke up feeling like a million bucks compared to
yesterday. Now it was Kevin’s turn with Traveller’s diarrhea.* I felt sorry for him considering we had
another half day of snorkeling ahead of us. He stayed in the tent as long as he could before we had to
start our day. He ate his
breakfast and hoped for the best.
Now that I was feeling fine** I could fully appreciate the beauty of my surroundings. Koh Surin was retreat in paradise. It wasn’t overpopulated with tourists, which was why we avoided Koh Phi Phi. It was quiet and absolutely beautiful.
We left at 9:00am for our next snorkeling adventure. This time we took a long-tail boat with a family of three from France. At our first stop, Kevin was eager to get into the water with us. There were lots of colourful fish to feast our eyes upon and the water was nice and warm. When we moved onto our second location, there were even more exotic fish to look at than our first stop, but this time Kevin took a little longer getting into the water. I know he was glad when we made it to our next stop at the navy rescue unit, where he could rest at the beach for a while.
Again, Jasmine and Aislinn have amazed me. They have never been snorkeling before and not once did they hesitate or show any fear– even when they were told they might see reef sharks or manta rays! I guess our practicing at home in the bathtub has paid off.
We climbed on our long-tail boat one last time and headed back to our camping area for lunch. Kevin was still able to eat, which made me think he was a little better off than what I was 24 hours earlier. *** The rest of the afternoon we spent swimming and soaking up the sun. I was disappointed to find out that because I was ill, we missed out on visiting the Mokken (sea gypsy) village yesterday afternoon. Outside of snorkeling, this was the other experience I was really looking forward to.
The sea gypsies are nomadic by nature and for the most part, have managed to maintain their “primitive” way of life. They have no written language; all knowledge is transferred orally, which is what fascinated me the most. Before the Thai government convinced them to settle into a coastal village of primitive stilt houses, they would spend most of their time on their houseboats freely roaming the sea, fishing and setting up temporary camps wherever they would like. While we were at Koh Surin, we could see families floating by in their houseboats and at night there would be the odd fire along the coastline– well away from their village. You can read more about the Moken and Koh Surin here.
At 3:00pm, it was time to pack up and head back to the mainland. This was one leg of our journey I wish was a bit longer. One night at Koh Surin just wasn’t enough. We cleaned out the tent we had rented (if we were to do it again, we would rent one of the cabins they had available) and took our bags down to the loading area. No sooner did we set our last bag down when we heard a familiar voice. Eric and his film crew had caught up to us and as it had turned out, they would be taking the same boat back to shore with us. This was exactly the comic relief I needed for the hell ride back across those monstrous waves. We all hopped on the boat in good spirits. Jasmine’s coping strategy for sea sickness was to stand up the entire time and pretend she was surfing. Mine was following the advice of the American sitting next to me, who told me to keep my eyes on the horizon if I started to feel sick. I didn’t bother waiting to start feeling sick... my eyes were stuck on the horizon the entire time. I wasn’t taking any chances.
Once again, amidst the chaos Aislinn fell asleep and before I knew it the ride was over, but not without a little surprise. Eric, who had just spent the day with the Moken, informed Kevin their elder was on the boat with us. I guess if I couldn’t visit the Moken, the Moken would visit me. When we got off the boat I asked the Moken chief if he would mind having his picture taken with me and was more than willing. That was the cherry on my sundae.
As we parted ways with Eric, he asked what hotel we were staying at and I jokingly refused to tell him as he and his crew made threats of showing up. We got back to Boon Piya, started unloading our bags and who turns up but them! They were also staying at Boon Piya. It was hilarious. We headed out to grab some dinner, stopping along the way to pick up flip flops for Aislinn and myself and to check out a sparkly dress shop for the girls. When we finally made it to the restaurant, we sat down and in walked Tui, our guide from Ban Talae Nok, with her friends. It was so good to see her. A couple of minutes later, in walked the film crew from France. It was like one big happy reunion and having two cherries on my sundae.
For today's pictures click here. (Don't forget to select the "slideshow" option in the top right corner)
*Before we left, Kevin took his series of Dukoral dosages from the travel clinic to prevent traveler's diarrhea. I did not.
**I still had to make trips to the bathroom, but not as frequent. Chills, aches and abdominal pain had ceased.
*** Perhaps Dukoral lessened the symptoms, though he was still in pretty rough shape. Maybe I was more of a wimp than Kev.
Now that I was feeling fine** I could fully appreciate the beauty of my surroundings. Koh Surin was retreat in paradise. It wasn’t overpopulated with tourists, which was why we avoided Koh Phi Phi. It was quiet and absolutely beautiful.
We left at 9:00am for our next snorkeling adventure. This time we took a long-tail boat with a family of three from France. At our first stop, Kevin was eager to get into the water with us. There were lots of colourful fish to feast our eyes upon and the water was nice and warm. When we moved onto our second location, there were even more exotic fish to look at than our first stop, but this time Kevin took a little longer getting into the water. I know he was glad when we made it to our next stop at the navy rescue unit, where he could rest at the beach for a while.
Again, Jasmine and Aislinn have amazed me. They have never been snorkeling before and not once did they hesitate or show any fear– even when they were told they might see reef sharks or manta rays! I guess our practicing at home in the bathtub has paid off.
We climbed on our long-tail boat one last time and headed back to our camping area for lunch. Kevin was still able to eat, which made me think he was a little better off than what I was 24 hours earlier. *** The rest of the afternoon we spent swimming and soaking up the sun. I was disappointed to find out that because I was ill, we missed out on visiting the Mokken (sea gypsy) village yesterday afternoon. Outside of snorkeling, this was the other experience I was really looking forward to.
The sea gypsies are nomadic by nature and for the most part, have managed to maintain their “primitive” way of life. They have no written language; all knowledge is transferred orally, which is what fascinated me the most. Before the Thai government convinced them to settle into a coastal village of primitive stilt houses, they would spend most of their time on their houseboats freely roaming the sea, fishing and setting up temporary camps wherever they would like. While we were at Koh Surin, we could see families floating by in their houseboats and at night there would be the odd fire along the coastline– well away from their village. You can read more about the Moken and Koh Surin here.
At 3:00pm, it was time to pack up and head back to the mainland. This was one leg of our journey I wish was a bit longer. One night at Koh Surin just wasn’t enough. We cleaned out the tent we had rented (if we were to do it again, we would rent one of the cabins they had available) and took our bags down to the loading area. No sooner did we set our last bag down when we heard a familiar voice. Eric and his film crew had caught up to us and as it had turned out, they would be taking the same boat back to shore with us. This was exactly the comic relief I needed for the hell ride back across those monstrous waves. We all hopped on the boat in good spirits. Jasmine’s coping strategy for sea sickness was to stand up the entire time and pretend she was surfing. Mine was following the advice of the American sitting next to me, who told me to keep my eyes on the horizon if I started to feel sick. I didn’t bother waiting to start feeling sick... my eyes were stuck on the horizon the entire time. I wasn’t taking any chances.
Once again, amidst the chaos Aislinn fell asleep and before I knew it the ride was over, but not without a little surprise. Eric, who had just spent the day with the Moken, informed Kevin their elder was on the boat with us. I guess if I couldn’t visit the Moken, the Moken would visit me. When we got off the boat I asked the Moken chief if he would mind having his picture taken with me and was more than willing. That was the cherry on my sundae.
As we parted ways with Eric, he asked what hotel we were staying at and I jokingly refused to tell him as he and his crew made threats of showing up. We got back to Boon Piya, started unloading our bags and who turns up but them! They were also staying at Boon Piya. It was hilarious. We headed out to grab some dinner, stopping along the way to pick up flip flops for Aislinn and myself and to check out a sparkly dress shop for the girls. When we finally made it to the restaurant, we sat down and in walked Tui, our guide from Ban Talae Nok, with her friends. It was so good to see her. A couple of minutes later, in walked the film crew from France. It was like one big happy reunion and having two cherries on my sundae.
For today's pictures click here. (Don't forget to select the "slideshow" option in the top right corner)
*Before we left, Kevin took his series of Dukoral dosages from the travel clinic to prevent traveler's diarrhea. I did not.
**I still had to make trips to the bathroom, but not as frequent. Chills, aches and abdominal pain had ceased.
*** Perhaps Dukoral lessened the symptoms, though he was still in pretty rough shape. Maybe I was more of a wimp than Kev.