Due to Chinese new year, which was last weekend, flying around in Asia is challenging. For example, almost all flights from Phuket to Bangkok are sold-out or quite expensive for few next days. So we did a bit of googling where to go and decided on Philippines.
Tomorrow we will fly to Singapore and 17.2. we fly to Cebu, Philippines. Plan is to stay for three weeks (max you can without a visa) and dive in few of the islands there. Should be pretty good diving :) This is our first time in Philippines.
We flew with Malaysian Airlines from SGN via KUL to HKT. Took us six hours, but it was the cheapest option. Phuket was a good destination for us for few reasons. First we wanted to meet Olli's colleague Paivi and her family there for dinner. Second, Maija's wetsuit needed some repair and third we wanted to go diving to Similan islands which are easily accessible from the nearby town of Khao Lak.
We stayed in Phuket for only few nights and after having dinner with Paivi we took a local bus to Khao Lak. Still the same day we shopped around trying to get a liveaboard booked for the next day. It was very easy afterall. We chose Khao Lak Scuba Adventures and their Manta Queen III boat for a 4D/3N liveaboard. The concept is very good, but perhaps there are some improvements to be made for the implementation.
MQ3 is a big and comfortable diving boat that cruises in the Similan Islands. There is a speedboat going there and back every day so you can only do two dives during a day if you come back to KL in the afternoon the same day. But we stayed of the MQ3 for three nights and did 14 dives during that time. All the diveguides we had were pretty good, some excellent. We saw all kinds of cool stuff like many octopuses, seasnakes, scorpionfish, etc. and I would say that diving in Similan is slightly above average on our scale. Visibility is over 20m all the time. Sometimes more than 35m.
Right after the MQ3 trip we booked another trip with KLSA. This time on their Manta Queen 4 (they like to write it IIII). This one is a traditional liveaboard in the sense that you start and end the trip with it instead of any speedboat trips to and from it.
MQ4 was a 3D/3N trip with 10 dives included. We left in the late evening to Koh Bon where we had the first two dives the next morning. We also dove at Koh Tachai, Surin Islands, Richileu Rock and one wreck near the mainland.
Richileu Rock is said to be the best dive site in Thailand. Maybe it was twenty years ago, but it really wasn't anything SO special now. Lot's of nice soft coral and cool small critters like seahorse, harlequin shrimp, etc. But if this is the best Thailand can offer, then we are a bit disappointed but only because it is so hyped. Anyways it is above average so all good. We did three dives there and the current was stronger every dive. It was really like in a washing machine at times, current going all directions including up and down, and clearly not suitable for beginners.
The good side of strong currents is that they improve the probability of seeing something BIG. Like in Koh Tachai where we also had strong currents. There we saw the biggest manta ray ever. It was 5m wide and it stayed with us for 11 minutes. This time Olli had the camera with him so you can find some evidence in the video below. At Koh Bon and Tachai we saw also Leopard Sharks. They are really cute creatures.
So I guess we could say that the liveaboard trips were quite successful. Then it was time to go back to Phuket where the idea was to get Maija a new wetsuit. The old one has seen more than a hundred dives already and is now too cold for her. Olli dives without a wetsuit and even so the water is too warm for him (28-30C degrees), but Maija gets cold in her 3mm wetsuit after 20 minutes. So we went to a wetsuit shop and, long story short, Maija now has a CUSTOM MADE 5mm wetsuit. It cost 160e which is 100e LESS than her old off-the-rack wetsuit. Now, that is a good deal!
We also got a few more dive gear for us like a compass, dive torches, SMB and pointer sticks (also good for making noise for attention when you bang them on your tank), etc.
Making the wetsuit took a few days and so we decided to shop around Chalong bay for some diving the next two days. There are many diveshops here and we visited maybe five of them to ask what kind of trips they do. The last one we visited was Kiwidiver. It is a small shop but very friendly and you could feel the professionalism entering the shop. So we reserved a trip to Racha Noi island with them for the day after tomorrow. While we were paying Olli noticed their advert on "beach diving" and got curious. Where could there be good diving off the beach in Phuket? Kevin, the owner, said that Kata beach had quite good diving especially if you like macro stuff (small but interesting creatures). We were skeptical but had nothing else to do the next day so we decided to give it a shot. And boy was it good. We were really amazed! Right off the Kata beach, you know the beach where Aurinkomatkat does trips, we simply walked past all the sunbathers to the sea, emptied our BCD and started discovering all kinds of animals on the sandy bottom. Our max depth was just 8m and divetime was 1h30min/dive!! We did two dives and saw all kinds of cool stuff. Olli didn't have the camera with him, but our instuctor/diveguide did and you can see the photos here.
The next day we did the boat trip to Racha Noi where we did two dives plus one on Racha Yai (we were there in December). Again some really good diving and I found a really weird nudibranch for which our diveguide was really enthusiastic about. I'm sure he will add those photos also to the facebook soon so keep an eye on this page. Yeah, we don't have facebook pages but seems you can't escape facebook anyways...
So what next? Don't know. Diving somewhere for sure, but where... Tomorrow we will head to... We don't know where but we will let you know either as soon as we figure it out or after we have already been there :)
We have got good tips about divesites around the world while talking to people on the boats and so on. These are on the table for SEAsia:
Philippines: Many islands there have good diving.
Malaysia: Perhentian and Tioman Island. We did OWD in Perhentian six years ago so we want to see how the diving is nowadays. At least it is cheap. We did AOWD in Tioman island about four years ago so it is about good time to go back there also :) Sipadan is always and option, but might be too expensive for us. It sill remains the #1 dive place on our list.
Indonesia: Komodo seems to be a must do. Then there are Togean islands, Bunaken and Lembeh strait in Sulawesi. Raja Ampat is probably too expensive for us this time (maybe next year ;). Bali/Gili/Lombok might be an option but we will wait for news about the dive quality from our friend.
If you have any tips where to go diving around here at this time of the year, then please tell us!
- Maija & Olli
PS. Sorry Hannu, couldn't find the coffee video ;)
PS2. Sorry Paivi, we didn't take our phone with us to the liveaboards and we remembered only there that we were supposed to send you sms about our plans... Sorry
PS3. Another example of world being small: We saw Ashley in MQ3. She was our Rescue Diver instructor in Utila half a year ago. We had no idea we would see her there so it was a really pleasant surprise!
PS4. Aino and Jukka wrote their version of their trip to SEAsia. We added it to the earlier blog post. Check it out!
PS5. Pictures from Raya Noi/Yai trip here.
You can see the Big Buddha from our Hostel (7-Inn, highly recommended.)
We rented a moped for 200THB/day so we could take a closer look at the big buddha.
Driving in Phuket is very easy.
Muchos turisticos...
But the views are good. Here you see Chalong Bay.
The big white buddha again.
They also had a smaller golden buddha there.
Buying banana pancake after dinner with Paivi, Marko and Olivia (can you find everyone in this picture ;)
Lot's of seafans in Similan Islands.
Peacock mantis shrimp
Scorpionfish are good at camouflage!
Manta Queen 3 is very comfortable. This picture is from the dining deck after the daytrippers have left.
Olli chelaxing between dives. Koh Bon island is behind.
And finally. Video summary of the diving in Similan. Watch it in fullscreen and until the end! :)
After Singapore we spent two nights in Macau which is famous for its casinos. There are many same casinos as in Vegas like Wynn, MGM Grand etc and architecture is even more massive. We stayed in luxurious Sofitel hotel and walked around the casinos hitting penny slots and trying to uppgrade our budget without success ;). There was also a finnish sauna in our hotel, it was nice surprise :)
There are direct ferries between Hongkong international airport and Macau so you don't need to go Hongkong at all. We could even check our bags at the Macau ferry pier.
Shiny discoball in the front of our hotel's casino
Deja vu (looks exactly the same as Wynn in Vegas.)
We stayed in Bangkok three nights and then flew to Ho Chi Minh City (ex Saigon) to Vietnam where we met our friends Hannu & Hansu from Finland. We stayed two nights in HCM-city and then flew to Phu Quoc island.
Hannu & Hansu
Greetings from Finland!
Propaganda in finnish at the War museum.
Buying peeled pomelos
In Phu Quoc island we stayed in the Beach club which is nice hotel right on the beach. Phu Quoc is guite a small island and there is not much to do but it's nice place to relax.
We went scuba diving for two dives but visibility was poor (1-3m) so we didn't do it again.
We also rented a taxi in couple of days (it was cheap, less than 30 eur / 8 hours) and drove around the island. There are a couple of nice beaches, waterfall (without water ;)), pepper and pearl farm and jungle trek you can check out.
Traditional vietnamese coffee with milk.
Sun set at Phu Quoc
The view from our room door.
Boat.
Hot pots are good.
Happy couple on the beach.
Some small snack ;)
Pearl farm
Pepper farm
Pepper farm
We were one week in the island and then went back to HCM-city.
It's very busy, big city. Traffic is more or less chaos, there is a lot of motorbikes everywhere. Crossing the streets are surprisingly easy though. You just walk slow and steady and the mopeds and cars will usually steer behind you. Don't bother waiting for a gap in the traffic. You would be waiting for the rest of your vacation...
Vietnamese delicates
Olli and Hannu got new friends who wanted to practice their english.
There are a lot of motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnam is a lot less touristy than Thailand. Basic tourist things like postcards might be impossible to find and english wasn't spoken much (except for "yes"). The Phu Quoc island is probably getting more developed but at the moment there isn't much for tourist at least on the activity side. Right now it's best for beach vacation and simply relaxing and taking it easy.
Thanks Hannu & Hansu one more time, it was nice to see you!
Also thanks Hansu for sharing pictures.
-Maija
PS. Now we are already back in Thailand, in Phuket where we will meet Olli's friend and ex-colleague and after that we are going to Similan islands for world class scuba diving :)
Olli's parents arrived to Singapore at Christmas. We arrived earlier in a same day from Bangkok and met them at the airport.We spent couple of days in Singapore. Olli's parents were now first time in Singapore (and Asia) so we checked out sights like Marina bay Sands, Singapore zoo and of course had Singapore Slings in Raffles (Olli and I have been many times in Singapore but never had drinks in Raffles before). They were good but expensive.
Olli's parents has just arrived.
Greetings from Finland!
Finally some REAL bread.
Don't buy this (kallista means expensive in finnish)
Singapore slings at Raffles (pappa betalar ;))
Giant pandas have just arrived to Singapore zoo.
After Singapore we flew to Langkawi, Malaysia and spent one week there. We rented a car and drove around the island and checked all tourist sights (beaches, water falls, view point, cable car etc). This was also Olli's and my first time in Langkawi so everything was new. In New Year's eve we went to sunset dinner sailing.
Just arrived to Langkawi, Malaysia
Father and son are testing the "sea water jacuzzi" in the sailing catamaran.
Happy new year 2013!
We checked out a couple of water falls in Langkawi.
After Langkawi we flew to Kuala Lumpur and spend two days there. We walked around and also drove by Hop on / Hop off sightseeing bus. We also visited in KL Menara tower and Birdpark.
Having dinner in Kuala Lumpur China town.
Pertronas twin towers at KL.
KL Menara.
Today Olli's parents are going to fly back to Finland and we continue our trip to Macau for two days, then back to Bangkok. Our friends are coming to Vietnam in the end of this week so we'll then fly there and spend couple of weeks with them.
Olli needed new flip flops.
Kiitokset viela kerran Ainolle & Jukalle seurasta, kiva, kun kavitte.
Tyoniloa!
-Maija
Added 13.2.2013:
And here is Jukka's and Aino's point of view :)
Aino and I had a very pleasant opportunity to spend some time with Olli and Maija in Far East at Christmastime. This was our first trip to east. I have shyed away form long flights and we have travelled mainly in Europe. Now we had an extra motivation to see Olli and Maija at least once during their year-long trip.
I want to thank Olli and Maija for taking very good care of us, making most of the arrangements and showing us around in a very professional way. I have usually been the one responsible for reservations, finding the transportation, looking for time tables and generally making the arrangements. It was a real luxury from our first meeting at SIngapore airport. "This way to the metro, there you purchase tickets, here we change lines, let's walk this way, we have checked you in, let's got to the Chinatown food court for dinner..." And of course "let's have a shot of this very good old rhum we have carried all way from the from Caribian to round up the evening".
We quickly learned what is "street food" and how to behave in a food court. Fabulous food everywhere. Both ends of the scale were astonising. The basic places frequented mainly by the chinese served as good fare as did the ones hidden in even the most high class shopping malls. There was bound to be a food court with reasonable price in every shopping center, but you had to know where it is or just keep looking. Give wide berth to the facy internationals and look for the real thing.
Olli mentioned the famous Long Bar of Rafles and original Singapore Sling. It was priced based on what the business will carry, of course. Still, the place did retain some of its old charm. Mechanical fans - fans, not propellers - slowly swinging and customers eating peanuts like they were starving. Singapore law being very strict on littering, the old habit of throving the shells on the floor seemd to make some of the customers crazy.
We sampled the Cristmas buffet at our hotel, too. Oysters from France, Canada and Thailand!, sushi, all traditional English Christmas specialities and even durian. All that at quite reasonable price was a pleasant surprise.
Visit Singapore zoo was a tiring day, but well worth the effort. Tapir was nearest to Aino's heart. She playd a part of a tapir in schooltime play and was quite impressed by the real thing. Giant pandas had just arrived and they got a special treatment. Read: We had to pay extra, be there at exact time and stand in a long queue. They were cute enough for the effrot, I must say.
We spent the holiday part of the trip in Langkawi island and played real tourists there. Trips around the island in a rented car, up to the hills by cable car, see most of the wterfalls etc. We even took a sunset cruise at New Years Eve. Sun probably set on that day like in any other, but it hid itself carefully behind the clouds. The rain stopped, however and when thay say "free bar" in the ad, they mean it.
Langkawi is quite quiet place and the main town, Kuah, where we had our hotel was a livley plca with relatively few tourists. The main beach and more touristic restaurants ar at the other side of the island. On the first morning I went for a walk and saw a for sale -sign on a nice little beach. I quickly learned that most of the island is reserved for native Malays only and it is not possible to purchase a freehold. Another obstacle was the price. 1 ha of tidal beach would have cost 1 milloin euros. A steep price for any property there.
Kuah had a night market of mainly local food. We expected it to be more of a flea market and made a mistake in going there after a hearty dinner. We had to just admire those interesting treats.
A week went fast and we foud ourselves in Kuala Lumpur. Novotel and the club lounge was a real treat. KL is much like any big city. Petrona towers are impressive, KL Tower gives good sight seeing, bird park would have been better without rain showers and so on. Street food had a bit different definition here. A long stretch of a street with small restaurants squeezed side by side on both sides of the street and their tables oveflowing to the traffic lanes. We went to a place famous of chicken wings - they were good - that had expanded to occupy 5 slots. They had not made any effort to make it look like a single restaurant. Every place still had original different chairs, tables and decoration.
On our way back we stayed 2 more nights in SIngapore. The hotel was recently renovated old colonial place that had served as a hotel and restaurant in early times. Taxi direver told us that there used to be a shop in that house last summer still. The hotel was near Little India, so it was natural to go there, too. On sunday night the place was packed to the limit with Indians spending their day off in the streets and cafes. Weird as only one in a hundred of the people was female. We concluded that they were mainly iterinant workers that had left their families back home. A very long queue in front of a money transfer office pointed to that, too.
Aino and I went to the new Garden on the Bay and the large conservatories there. Impressive place with giant artificial trees. Giant means that there's a resturant on top of one of the trees. The cloud forest conservatory was a well designed show of high altitude flora from all over the world. After hat the other dome with more down to the earth looked less impressive than it should have. They had full grown baobab trees there among others. They should have left out the christmas decorations, however - corny.
It was time to say good buy to Olli and Maija and prepare for the long flight back home. Should we return to this tropical district sooner rather than later? Subject is under dicussion. Today we had 20cm of snow.
