The entrance fee is normally low at S:t Getrud. I think it was around 50 SEK this evening - for up to two hours of live music that's nothing. Could be the reason why Erik is so relaxed and happy...
Movie: Casino Royale [SF Royale theater, Malmö, Sweden]
After the movie Sony Ericsson arranged a short interview / quiz on stage with Mads Mikkelsen, one of the villain characters. It was very appreciated - Mads is well known to us that consume Danish movies; the Pusher trilogy, etc.
Rating: The action scenes were nicely done. Some twists in the plot which is mandatory - just got to have them in a standard Hollywood production nowadays since it's no longer enough with a number of explosions (has it ever been?). It lost speed in the middle part - some love story mixed with "I'm quitting my agent job" lines - but luckily regained it again for the grand finale. All in all, it's a worth-to-watch 2.5 hour movie.
Leaving Thailand. From Phuket on a domestic flight to the new airport just outside Bangkok to swap to the flight home to Sweden.
So, what's Thai massage really like? Is it rough? A handful of violence mixed with two cups of pure rage? Is it true that the massage girl / woman is walking and climbing all over your body making it look more like an expedition to Everest than traditional massage? I had to find out. Since no one - except Per who had done this a number of times already - volunteered, I had to use my own body, roughly 2m of prime Swedish male, for the experiment.
"Ok. I'll go for a one hour Thai Massage. 200 Thai Bath."
It was dark inside the massage institute. Reminds me of the phrase "It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black"...
Me to the left, Per to the right. No oil, just one tough Thai woman kneading my body like dough.
Aouch. What's this move called? Was it even in their massage instructions?
Almost done. Putting the pieces together again.
Me trying to deal on the local frog market:
50 Bath.
I could go on dealing the whole night here...
Anonymously located at Soi Patong Tower, one of the quieter and not-so-crowded side streets in Patong, just off the beach, you'll find The Famous Old Dutch, a small Thai bar and restaurant.
Introducing Sor Fee, aquaintance from the Similan dive trip, to the delicious food at the Dutch.
Per is trying out one of the hats sold by a local fake-frog-hat-bracelet-dealer. Fake since it's wooden frogs they're selling, not real ones. The dealers (they're all dressed in the same way) circulate around bars and restaurants, trying to make you buy something you have absolutely no need for at all - but since it's so cheap, and you get "special price for you my friend" it's sometimes hard not to... Next time maybe.
Ronald and one of his Thai-dealer-friends hanging out at the local McDonald's restaurant in Patong. Dealer to the right.
Every morning starts early to get the most out of the day. Four dives are planned each day, including one night dive. Around 06.30 wake-up calls can be heard in the corridor.
The dive crew at the table, planning todays dives for the different groups.
Since there's eat-what-you-ordered breakfast right after the morning dive a few toasts and a coffee is more than enough before the first dive in the morning.
Into the blue; giant strides from dive deck into the Similan ecosystem. The water was clear, blue, warm, ...
Lunch time. Mm... Always lots of food, lots of great Thai food. Delicious.
A visit to one of the Similan islands. I have climbed up on the rocks to get the view - fantastic... A few dive boats can be seen anchored in the sea.
Night dive. Had to watch out for the barracudas.
Time to go to bed. More diving tomorrow...
Eleven Minutes is a fascinating story about Maria, a young woman from a small Brazilian village that gets heartbroken at a tender age. She becomes convinced that true love doesn't exist, that "love is a terrible thing that will make you suffer . . .".
Fun dive; guide #624813 (Matthew Norman), Similan Diving Safaris, M/V Dolphin Queen.
Fun dive; guide #624813 (Matthew Norman), Similan Diving Safaris, M/V Dolphin Queen.
Time had come to leave mainland for The Similan Islands, a national park located off the coast of Khao Lak or around 100km north west of Phuket. The park is a well-known area for divers, and contains some of the best dive sites in Thailand.
We had pre-booked the liveaboard trip while staying at the Crystal Dive Resort, and now had to finalize the payment (vouchers, please!) at the Similan Diving Safaris center in Khao Lak before boarding.
The boat nearest to the pier was our living space for the coming four days and nights.
Crew and divers gathering. Only happy faces.
Traditional Thai boat ceremony while leaving the harbour. The boat crew used fireworks to scare away bad spirits.
Me and Per playing billiard in a local bar. Had to get some practice before we could take on the local players...
Action shot. One of the local bar girls loosing a game to me. Didn't happen that often though - they're very skilled plus it's not normal billiard rules that apply, you're supposed to play a Thai version which you'll have to pick up as the game is being played.
No, no, no, ...
Patong is flooded with diving firms selling equipment, one-day trips to nearby dive sites, as well as liveaboard experiences to more distant locations. We spent a few hours window shopping to get a feeling for current price level on one-day trips and seriousness of the firms.
Early the following morning we were picked up by the firm's Thai guy responsible for quick-and-bumpy transport to the pier, ...
... had our names called out and quickly replied "Yessir!" to get in the water as fast as possible, ...
... and then eagerly boarded the designated one-day trip boat together with a number of other dive addicts.
Happy divers taking a break between the dives. Some preferred the sun deck - I tried to hide from the sun though, didn't want a sun burn. The Thai boat crew made sure that there were coffee, tea, and fruit (papaya, pineapple, etc) available the whole time.
Trip manager; made sure everything ran smoothly on the boat.
Stephanie, our dive guide for the day. Thanks for letting me use your octopus during our second dive! I used a lot of air during that dive and my indications to her didn't get through. We were at around 15 m when I finally swam to her and switched to her octopus - my cylinder was empty.
Sun deck; not that sunny at the moment though.
Same type of boat as we were on.
Last dive for the day done. It was time to head back to the pier and Patong again.
