#kohlanta

Today, the sea was the calmest it's been all week, so the boat crew were able to bring us to Hin Daeng (about an 80 minute ride).

We only needed one more dive to complete our course, which was fish identification.

Imagine not getting your certification because you failed fish identification.

Our first dive was at Hin Muang. This reef is entirely submerged far out in the open ocean. With little shelter and a strong current, it was a very challenging dive. To be honest, I forgot all about identifying fish. James, on the other hand, still had the wherewithal to take video that made me look cool.

The second dive at Hin Daeng was considerably easier, as this reef is larger and has more shelter.

These are butterfly fish (I think).*

And that's it! We are advanced open water divers!

James is particularly happy that his diver card will be updated with a new photo. With his first one, our instructor played a prank on him by surprising him with the camera when he first woke up and it's been his dive card photo for eight years.

Into every life a little rain must fall, right? Even when you’re on an amazing trip that is the envy of many. Well we’re just over a couple of tough days in the shape of a tummy bug. Craig had it first at the end of our time in Chiang Mai, and I got it at the beginning of our time on Koh Lanta.

I remember the first time I got sick after leaving home. I was at university. I LOVED being at UVic, until I got sick: then all I wanted was to be back at home in my “own bed.” Well, some things never change.

Of course my fake medical degree also raised it’s head: lying here in bed for 2 days watching the news I discovered that there was a new SARS-like virus coming out of China...and we had been around lots of tourists from China in Chiang Mai, so it only made sense that we had this new Coronavirus. Of course, when I checked the symptoms of this virus against my symptoms I had to rule it out. And the full recovery we have both since made pretty much confirmed that my fake medical degree is still just that...fake. In fact, the only Coronavirus I’ve ever had came from having too many Coronas...and that happened nowhere near either Thailand or China. Go figure.

Fortunately, we were both ill in places where we had big king size beds; not being cramped in a bed was actually really helpful. So as I lay here with my AC on, in my beachfront bungalow on Koh Lanta, Thailand...wait, I think I’ve just lost the sympathy vote...

I’ll finish now with some lovely photos of my sick bay, but I stand firmly by my opinion, that when you’re sick, there’s no place like home. Over and out!