Wanderings of Kama & Derek http://derekrak.com/travel Travel & RTW Blog Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:28:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 Heavenly Chocolate & Mayan Ruins http://derekrak.com/travel/heavenly-chocolate-mayan-ruins http://derekrak.com/travel/heavenly-chocolate-mayan-ruins#comments Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:09:41 +0000 Kama & Derek http://derekrak.com/travel/?p=314 Our adventure with Belize began on a cold December evening as we waved goodbye to Seattle and boarded our plane.

Flight to Miami was pretty uneventful aside from Zoë being cranky, but that was to be expected from a 12-month baby during an overnight trip. But the short flight to Belize City was a treat as we were put in Business class and enjoyed grand food and free drinks :-D Well, Derek did as Kama was (and still is at the time of writing) pregnant with Aidan.

We landed in Belize City and boarder a small, 12 or so passengers plane to Punta Gorda. The runway was perhaps 300 yards long, but it didn’t seem to be a problem to the pilot, though it did look a bit scary to us.

We spent the days in Punta Gorda eating, exploring the city & market and visiting Mayan ruins and cocoa plantation with Chris’ family who came in a van a few days after our arrival. We even managed to grind our own chocolate (HARD work I tell you) and everyone, including Zoë, got to taste it.

And, if someone from Chris’ family reads it – I’ve included a photo of one stinky dog, who sent the whole family running to take shelter at home. Hope you remember the dog who just wanted to be friendly :-D .. LOL

After Punta Gorda we flew to Placencia, small town on a tip of the peninsula of the Gulf of Mexico. Filled with shops, restaurants and sandy beaches (and HUGE caterpillars!) was a pleasant place to visit.

We even rented a golf cart (which seemed to be a main type of transport in San Pedro – our next destination) and drove around the peninsula.

Our last destination was San Pedro on island of Ambergris Caye where Boni & Adam’s wedding took place – some of the photos of wedding itself can be found on Derek’s blog.

We took our time diving (with small sharks), snorkeling (with manta and sting rays), eating, driving around in golf cart and enjoying the gorgeous weather.

Zoë, scared at first, seemed to fell in love with the ocean and couldn’t get enough of the water and splashing. She even tried eating the sand, but learned soon enough that it wasn’t the best idea.

Derek spent his mornings taking photos of the ocean, cranes and piers (which covered most of the coast) – some of the processed images can be found at his photo blog.

]]> http://derekrak.com/travel/heavenly-chocolate-mayan-ruins/feed 0 It’s been a while .. http://derekrak.com/travel/its-been-a-while http://derekrak.com/travel/its-been-a-while#comments Mon, 02 May 2011 18:08:11 +0000 Kama & Derek http://travel.derekrak.com/?p=301 Soo, we’ve finished our RTW a while ago (can’t believe it’s been over a year) but this site hasn’t been updated since December 2009.

Well, it’s time to change this situation and post some additional photos from the RTW trip along with new photos taken during recent adventures.

After all – life is an adventure – a never-ending story (here comes the song by Limahl from The Neverending Story (courtesy of Youtube))

PS
Derek’s been busy with photography site (flash & blog) and you can see some of his latest photos at http://derekrak.com/blog/

]]> http://derekrak.com/travel/its-been-a-while/feed 0 Of Trains, Beers and Stones http://derekrak.com/travel/of-trains-beers-and-stones http://derekrak.com/travel/of-trains-beers-and-stones#comments Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:07:09 +0000 Kama & Derek http://travel.derekrak.com/?p=295 Flight to London was .. interesting to say the least. The popular budget airline Ryanair surprised us by not having assigned seats (just sit anywhere you want) and with constant in-flight advertising, successfully preventing any rest. I guess the saying was right and you get what you paid for.

We were picked up by Derek’s older brother – Sebastian – who found us a place to sleep and spend some time at (for free, which was great – thanks bro! :-) ).

First few days were spent visiting London’s most popular attractions: Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. Days were a bit cloudy and sometimes cold, but nonetheless very good for sightseeing. Our main way of transportation around the city was London’s metro system (The Tube) – fast, and quite reliable (most of the time as it had a problems once and we were forced to take a detour).

We saw a lot of street performers in the vicinity of the largest Ferris wheel in Europe called The London Eye. But no surprise there as it is located just 5 minutes away from the Big Ben, hoarding thousands of tourists every day.

Just a short metro ride south is the Greenwich Royal Observatory which is the house to the Prime Meridian (0 longitude) and is surrounded by gorgeous parks. We visited it the following day and did the “Where East meets West” scene and both of us stood and kissed across the Prime Meridian :-)

Few days later we decided to visit Ireland – a one-way train+ferry ticket from London to Dublin was just 29 pounds (~$50 USD). The ride was long, but extremely comfortable.   While waiting for the ferry, we managed to get a delicious fish and chips for just 6 pounds.

We spent a few days in Dublin, sightseeing and drinking beer at Guinness brewery, which coincidentally was celebrating its 250th anniversary of their 9999 year long lease. Not surprisingly, all of the pubs were serving free beer :-)

We left Dublin after a couple of days and took off to Limerick – a beautiful region of Ireland with some magnificent castles (like the Bunratty Castle).   We stayed in a 4 star hotel where we got a fantastic view of the river and castle.  Sadly in the evenings the city looked more like a ghost town as the stores closed and the streets got empty – just like the “good” old times back in communistic Poland :-) .

On our way back we stopped at a small harbour town of Barbigan – we were so tired that we almost missed our morning bus to Dublin. We packed our bags in a record time of 15 minutes, though some of the clothes were still wet after the evening wash :-) .  The trip back to London was smooth and uneventful.

Before we moved on with our journey we took a train to Sailsbury to visit nearby Stonehenge with the massive awe-inspiring stone circles.

Few days later we left England and took a plane to Paris, France – this time we used easyJet – no more unassigned seats – hurray!  Paris – here we come!

]]> http://derekrak.com/travel/of-trains-beers-and-stones/feed 0 51.5001526 -0.1262362 Of Family and History http://derekrak.com/travel/of-family-and-history http://derekrak.com/travel/of-family-and-history#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:54:01 +0000 Kama & Derek http://travel.derekrak.com/?p=287 After a long and tiresome bus trip from Frankfurt (Germany) to Wroclaw (Poland – Derek’s hometown) we knocked on Derek’s parents door and surprised them.  They weren’t expecting us to visit for at least another week or two :-)   What a tremendous surprise it was.

We started off with a train ride to Zagan, where Derek and his family spent their earlier years.  The town was very small and rustic looking.

We then visited Krakow to see Wawel (Royal Castle), Wieliczka (salt mine), and Auschwitz-Birkenau (concentration camp), where millions of people lost their lives during the World War II.

After Krakow, we headed to Warsaw (the current capital of Poland).  Warsaw for Kama was more modernized with new buildings and busy work life-style. Compared to the rest of Poland, this city can be considered snobsville. We saw the beautiful Lazienki (Baths) park and walked around the restored Market Square as most of Warsaw was destroyed at the end of the war.

We went to visit babcie (Polish for grandma) on Derek’s mom’s side.  We saw Derek’s aunt (Ala) and her husband (Leszek) there as well since they live close to grandma (1 hour drive from Derek’s parent’s home).  After visiting grandma we went to see Derek’s cousin who also lived close by.  Ula and Andrzej has a daughter, Ania, who spoke a bit of English so Kama finally got to talk to someone without a translator.  Yea…

A week later we decided to visit Derek’s father’s side of the family.  Tato (Polish for dad) decided to drive us to his old hometown in Ostrow where he also wanted to stop by and visit Derek’s grandfather’s grave.  We took a small detour to see a cathederal where Kama and Tato went up to the towers.  It was so windy we were afraid to stand outside for too long.  Great view though and lots of fun trying to communicated to Tato that I was okay and wasn’t afraid of heights.  Where’s my translator?  LOL!!!

After a brief visit to the gravesite, we fianlly made it to Ostrow where Derek’s aunts still lives at the farm.  The town is very small with only about 500 residents and about 100 houses top.  There were cows and sheeps in the fields.  Derek’s aunt, Lidzia, and her husband was at a wedding when we arrived and so we were greeted by their sons Krystian and his wife Anita, Tomek, and Dariusz (yes, another Derek).  Tato left the next day and we stayed for a few more days visiting.  The last night was spent at Derek’s cousin’s house with Lena, Andrzej, and their son Hubert.  Both parents are teachers and had their son take English class so they were excited to have us speak with Hubert.  We had a great time seeing everyone and hope to see them again soon.  Maybe someone would visit us in the US sometime?.

The majority of our time in Poland was spent with family though.  We spent a lot of time at home with Derek’s parents while we rested and relaxed.  We pretty much got spoiled rotten here, so much food.  We also visited Derek’s friend, Marcin who also spoke English (yea!), got to see Market square, Ostrow Tumski (with 1000 year old cathederal), Derek’s old university, lots of malls, antique markets, and outdoor markets.

Now it’s time to head off to England to visit with Derek’s brother, Sebastian.

]]> http://derekrak.com/travel/of-family-and-history/feed 0 51.1078835 17.0385380 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde http://derekrak.com/travel/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde http://derekrak.com/travel/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 05:21:24 +0000 Kama & Derek http://travel.derekrak.com/?p=271 Flying and landing in India is beyond words – you’d have to experience it yourself to get the idea. Imagine a group of people trying to bring half of Thailand with them, or so it seemed at the airport: huge carry-on bags which didn’t fit any of the requirements, dozens of flat-screen TVs and even more boxes with clothing. That’s Incredible !ndia (that’s the slogan, not spelling mistake).

We started in Kolkata, but after dealing with pushy touts, overpriced taxi & hotel, noise and crowds we decided to leave the city of Mother Theresa and head west.

We took an overnight train to Varanasi – experience we won’t forget for a while. The train was extremely hot and noisy: no AC, windows wide open, vendors selling food, children begging for money, people sitting on your bunk while you’re trying to sleep, train driver howling to the moon with the train horn. I think you get the picture, right? No more overnight train, unless it’s a train hotel with private bedroom, bathroom and dinner as we’ve heard was spotted in Europe :-)

Varanasi is a holy city for Hindus, and it is believed that dying (or cremation) in Varanasi offers moksha – liberation from the cycle of birth and death. For us, it was a city filled with dirt, stench and poverty. A simple walk by the river can turn into a smelly disaster as animals and humans use the bank of the river as their toilet. In the morning the river fills up with people taking baths while the evening skies are lit by cremations of those who needed to be purified by fire (if you don’t, then your body is simply weighed down and let go into the river).

Like most cities in the region, Varanasi is often plagued by blackouts, thus most of the hotels use power generators – sadly they don’t power the AC system and you are forced to use semi-efficient fans.

While strolling carefully (due to mentioned poo-poo landmines) one can encounter the following:

  • drug-dealers (hashish, marijuana and some stronger drugs – I didn’t ask for details nor price)
  • people asking for photo, then asking for money for the photo
  • men welcoming you with Namaste, then trying to massage your hand (not for free of course).
  • groups of children swimming and jumping into water
  • boat owners wanting to give you a ride up and down the river
  • huge crowds of locals and tourists around the cremation ghats
  • nightly ganga aarti ceremony with puja, fire and dance
  • and many more (… poo-poos, red tobacco spits, cows, dogs, goats)

We left Varanasi after a few days, not sure if the city is blessed or cursed (Kama leans towards the latter).  This time we flew, but even this simple manner was hampered by persistent auto-rickshaw drivers (but that’s another story) .

It was time to visit the capital – New Delhi. We arrived just in time for the India’s Independence Day. Derek spent few days exploring the Red Fort, Jama Masjid Mosque and haggling with drivers and vendors (as usual you may say).

One day Derek tried to buy a razor (Gillette), but got a ridiculous price of $35 USD and decided to skip it, even though he didn’t shave for the previous few days – he sure looked more like a highwayman :)

Then it was time for Taj Mahal – the most famous monument of love built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The marble monument is located at the river side (it made the construction much easier) and in its vicinity are two red mosques and a garden.

We arrived at Taj Mahal in the early morning and saw it for the next several hours. Fortunately there weren’t many people yet as the place gets quite crowded and it’s hard to get a picture without anyone in it (as Derek likes to do).

The Taj was beautiful with amazing interiors, walls covered with bloodstones, mosaics and carvings. At the center of it lies the tomb of the wife, while the emperor’s tomb is to the left of it.

Later that day we saw the Itmad-Ud-Daulah’s Tomb (also called Baby Taj) and Agra Fort – both swarming with people and scorched by heat. We were both dehydrated and tired at the end of it – but it was worth it. The following day we packed our bags and prepared for the last train ride in India – trip to Delhi to catch the plane to Europe.

After a short 3-hour long ride we left the train station and got swarmed by a group of auto-rickshaw drivers offering their services. Upon asking we were told it would cost us 800 rupees (~16 USD) to get to the airport. As is the usual custom we’ve asked for 400, but the guy offered 600. Instead of agreeing to it we decided to try our luck with the pre-paid auto-rickshaw which was just a few meters away. It was then the hell broke loose and we got hammered with offers getting lower and lower the closer we got to the counter. The lowest price we heard was 200 rupees but the pre-paid company took us to the airport for just 135 rupees (~3 USD). Talk about a rip-off! So, whenever you go to India – use the pre-paid auto-rickshaw :-)

We are now in Europe and the stay in India is behind us. Are we planning on visiting it again – most likely not. Kama didn’t like it at all – maybe except the Taj Mahal, as men were disrespectful and rude. One of Derek’s credit card got copied during the stay in India and was used for a few transactions in the UK (mind you – we are not in the UK yet). So, if any of you idiots who copied the card it is reading it – hope you get caught soon :-)

To summarize it all – it was an Incredible !ndia – as it can equally make you hold your breath because of its beauty … or its stench.

]]> http://derekrak.com/travel/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/feed 0 28.6353073 77.2249603 Big Trouble in Little Thailand http://derekrak.com/travel/big-troubles-in-little-thailand http://derekrak.com/travel/big-troubles-in-little-thailand#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:41:16 +0000 Kama & Derek http://travel.derekrak.com/?p=256 When it comes to crossing borders in Asia, Derek is one troublesome boy :-)

First, he was not allowed to cross the border between Cambodia and Thailand at Poipet, as this particular border crossing doesn’t issue visas to Polish citizens. Unfortunately Kama already went through the passport control and got stamped out of Cambodia, therefore she had to get stamped into Thailand, get stamped out of Thailand, then re-apply for a brand new visa to Cambodia. All this trouble just so we could drive back to Siem Reap, buy airline tickets and fly into Bangkok.

Now, one would think that it would be the end of troubles – but you couldn’t be more wrong. It turned out that to issue a visa in Bangkok one has to show an onward ticket out of  Thailand – kinda hard to do when you buys the tickets as you go and you don’t know where would will go next.

All in all, after a lot of smiling, talking and explanation Derek was finally let through into Thailand.

We stayed in the close proximity to Khao San Road in Bangkok, where street vendors, performers & tourists all mingled together. The beautiful harmony was often broken by police raiding unregistered stalls – technique which could clear the entire street in mere minutes :-)

We ate, drank and enjoyed some of the cheapest food so far, with prices like: Pad Thai w/egg – 25 Baht, Fried Rice w/Veggies – 40 Baht, Sliced Guava/Pineapple – 10 Baht, Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice – 25 Baht. The exchange rate is in the 45 Baht = $1 range.

At night we visited the infamous Patpong – internationally known as the red light district, but also a location of the Night Bazaar. Also a place where shows like Ping-Pong and Banana take place (sorry, can’t provide more details :-) , and everything imaginable happens. Kama really enjoyed the boys district, as they were more interested in Derek :-D

Nang decided to head home instead of continuing the trip to India with us, so we put him on a plane and waved goodbye.

Couple of days later we left busy Bangkok (as we have received our Indian visas) and headed to northern regions of Thailand, specifically Chiang Mai. We made a short stop in Ayutthaya, former capital of Siam, covered with old temples and ruins,  like Wat Phra Si Sanphet  (row of stupas) and Wat Phra Mahathat (with tree that has grown around Buddha’s head).

Then we took a tiring train trip to Chiang Mai, beautiful city surrounded by mountains and covered with hundreds of temples. Night filled the smells and sounds of a Night Bazaar, where we hunted for souvenirs and dodged the rain :-)

On Saturday we have celebrated our first wedding anniversary (yay!) with a cake (extremely sweet), food (hot pot) and movie (G.I. Joe) – it was great! To make it even better, we had a full spa package the previous day :-)

We left Chiang Mai on Sunday, this time by plane and are now heading to India, where we are planning on seeing Taj Mahal along with few other places.

All in all – Thailand was an amazing place to visit and I wish we could stay a bit longer, who knows, maybe on our way to Australia :-)

]]> http://derekrak.com/travel/big-troubles-in-little-thailand/feed 2 13.7234182 100.4762344 Tomb Raider – Rise of the Rice God http://derekrak.com/travel/tomb-raider-rise-of-the-rice-god http://derekrak.com/travel/tomb-raider-rise-of-the-rice-god#comments Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:35:17 +0000 Kama & Derek http://travel.derekrak.com/?p=252 Cambodia welcomed us with a mixture of rain and sunshine along with modern technology and ancient buildings. Our plane landed in Siem Reap and we were welcomed by Kama’s family who, for the next several days, were our hosts, drivers and guides :-)

Siem Reap, located just a few kilometers away from the temple complex at Angkor (Angkor Wat being the most famous one) was a buzzing city filled with tourists, markets and vendors. We shopped, enjoyed cheap massages (just $5 per hour), tried delicious food and exotic fruits, and took hundreds of photos of the ruins (well, Derek did).

After a few days we headed to Phnom Penh, the current capital of the Cambodia. In comparison to Siem Reap it was a crowded place with newer buildings and technology. We stayed in a hotel near the Waterfront (by the Tonle Sap River) within walking distance to major attractions of the city.

We witnessed a partial solar eclipse (as the path of totality went through China), ate pizza and dodged dozens of persistent tuk-tuk drivers who annoyed us with their touts (especially by the Royal Palace). Waving your hand and saying “No, Thank You” gets tiring pretty fast. After few days we said goodbye to Phnom Peng and took bus back to Siem Reap.

The remaining time in Siem Reap was spent on massages, temples, shoppings and entertainment. One day was spent on a trip to Floating Forest. During our visit to Cambodia Cultural Village, Derek was chosen to play the role of Rice God (see video below) – unfortunately his stage debut was cut short by a sudden rainstorm (better luck next time!)

Visiting Cambodia was an amazing experience and we will definitely come back again. We are now on our way to Thailand – to visit Bangkok, Chiang Mai and other norther regions of the country. See you soon!

- Derek out

]]> http://derekrak.com/travel/tomb-raider-rise-of-the-rice-god/feed 2 13.3686600 103.8644028 Finding Nemo http://derekrak.com/travel/finding-nemo http://derekrak.com/travel/finding-nemo#comments Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:43:50 +0000 Kama & Derek http://travel.derekrak.com/?p=247 Nemo: Found
Crush: Found
Doris: Still Missing (presumed to be devoured by sharks)

So, we landed in Philippines again – weather was a bit more interesting than before (which included daily thunderstorms and frequent downpours). We managed to get a few days of sunshine though – perfectly timed with our island hopping and snorkeling (Poseidon must have been enjoying our visits).

Derek went diving again while testing the newly purchased underwater housing for Kama’s camera. Result: it didn’t flood! And it worked perfectly resulting in underwater movies and photos – enjoy!

Nang learned how to swim in just a day (courtesy of Kama), but we have still have to test him in a fresh water settings. We spent a day on a remote island (Banana Island), saw the skeleton of a wreck ship, octopus, seahorse and got nicely tanned (if not sunburned for some).

We are now heading to Cambodia, the Kingdom of Wonder.

-Derek out

]]> http://derekrak.com/travel/finding-nemo/feed 1 12.0442114 120.2051086 Banzai!! Japan http://derekrak.com/travel/banzai-japan http://derekrak.com/travel/banzai-japan#comments Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:42:52 +0000 Kama & Derek http://travel.derekrak.com/?p=239 Lights…Camera…Action!! Japan is a bustling adventure. Whether your walking around in the malls or on the street, or going out to eat, you’ll see that there’s no such thing as a dull moment. The daytime is nice and relaxing…except the humidity can take a toll on you if you’re carrying bags and bags of luggage. Tons of people going to work or to school and practically no shops open until 10 or 11 am, so its better to just go out for a run in the morning to whatever shop you want to eat at until the store opens.

But the greatest commotion about Japan, especially Tokyo, is the night life where everyone gets off work, school, or just out of the sun in general. The streets are packed full of people and the shops are busy, busy, busy. The most interesting part of Japan and perhaps the best part is CLEANLINESS. You can walk on the streets without a single drop of garbage on the street (unlike the U.S. >.<) and manners automatically come and go.

Hospitality is Japan's greatest feature and the only bad part about Japan is the non-English friendly speaking environment and the expensive food, but other than that, everything else was subarashii!!! Kama will never forget the two ladies screaming "No English!" and forcing us out into the morning cold (and we haven't even said a word).

From Ikebukuro otherwise known as Sunshine City, we explored the night life of the malls and street shops all the way to the edge of the city. There was an underground mall about 3 floors beneath the city that stretched from the east side to the west side of the entire city. Sunshine City was also packed full of Ramen Bars although, we didn't get to try a whole lot for ourselves, but we got the idea--they all tasted the same.

Japan is an expensive place, just taking the subway is expensive because it's probably the easiest form of transportation. The food there is in small quantities which is suppose to be healthy for everyone since they're easily consumable. There's a McDonald's, KFC, Subway, and even Wendy's. Food is similar in the U.S. and about the same price. One of the most cheapest places in Japan was Harajuku, where all the trends begin and the classy ends. The most noticeable thing about Japan was their Vending Machines, which you can find in almost every corner of any street. They sell drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), food (hot and cold) and cigarettes (see pictures)

After Tokyo we visited Kyoto, which was quite a contrasty city comparing to Tokyo (old shrines, buildings and temples vs high-tech buildings with a lot of noise and lights). We spent the time feeding monkeys, hunting geishas (just joking), freeing dolphins in the Aquarium, and finally taking a dip in Spa World.

Kyoto is famous for its temples and we managed to visit a few of them - including the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji) and Sanjusangendo (which holds more than 1000 different statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy). We spent some time in the Gion district, famous for the geishas and shops where we bought plentiful of clothes (and now we have to carry it!)

Now we are off to Philippines again - diving and snorkeling, this time with Nang!

And few videos from Japan for your entertainment (more to come)

]]> http://derekrak.com/travel/banzai-japan/feed 3 35.0116348 135.7680359 Cast Away http://derekrak.com/travel/cast-away http://derekrak.com/travel/cast-away#comments Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:29:26 +0000 Kama & Derek http://travel.derekrak.com/?p=220 We’ve arrived in Manila and spent a night in a small hostel managed by older Japanese couple. The ride to the hostel was quite entertaining and getting there was an adventure in itself – we used public transportation jeep where you hop on/off whenever you want and share the ride with several other people – it was fun! The place we stayed at (Islas 8817 Guesthouse) was conveniently located close the to airport and was run by a nice Japanese couple who told us about good places to dive and snorkel.

On Saturday morning we flew to Busuanga Island to get some rest. The airport is located about 15 km away from Coron and it’s been one hell of a ride through semi-paved road. We did hope to find our reservation processed, unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Luckily for us one guy didn’t like his room as it didn’t have the most important item: yes, you guessed right – TV! Who needs TV while on a Tropical Island?? (well, we sometimes do, but that’s what laptop with movies is for). We quickly snatched the room away and moved in.

We met a nice couple of travelers – Milan & Christina (hello guys! – hope you’re enjoying Oz!) with whom we spent entire day snorkeling around the Cowloon Islands. We shared a lunch on a small beach (#91) and swam in the ocean.  Derek got a bit sunburned (as usual) but it was a great, though extremely tiring, day – all for just 750 PHP (~ 15 USD).

Monday started slowly as our muscles ached from the previous day, but it didn’t stop Derek from taking off later that day and spending few hours taking photos. He got surrounded by kids the moment they saw a camera – “Take Picture”, “Photo” and “Hey Mister – Photo of me and my friend?” were the usual reactions. In the meantime Kama was enjoying a massage at the resort.

Tuesday we took off to look for sunken treasure – Derek took two dives to the Tangat and Kogyo Maru wrecks – no chests with gold nor skeletons – just good old bags with cement, plenty of fish and ghosts from the past. The last dive of that day was at the Barracuda Lake. But before the dive – a climb over razor sharp cliffs in full scuba gear (about 50 lbs) – one slip and you’re a goner. The lake itself has an interesting layered structure where water changes from hot 100F at the bottom (salt water) to nice and cooling 85F close to the surface (fresh water).

We are ending our stay on Thursday – wish we could stay longer – hopefully we will be back again – maybe even in a few weeks, who knows?

Now, we’re off to Japan to meet with Nang in Tokyo then explore the Land of the Rising Sun.

PS
Forgot to mention that Kama finally got to try a partially sprouted coconut – with its marshmallow-like consistency – she was craving it for a long time (picture attached ) :-)

Video from the Dive:

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