Starting my IDC

Well, I am finally a divemaster (some paper work pending) and today I'm starting my IDC (Instructor Development Course), so in about 2 weeks, if everything goes as planned, I'll be a diving instructor, a certification I'm hoping to use to recover some of my expenses once I'm back in Spain. So, keep that in mind. If you're thinking about doing a diving course, give me a call or send me an email :)

For those of you asking what my future plans are and when I'll be going back to Spain, my immediate plans after finishing the IDC is heading for Khao Lak and try to work as a volunteer there for a few days (probably not more than a couple weeks), then head north and try to see as much of Northern Thailand as I can, although it will not be much since I plan on flying to Hong Kong at the beginning of July. From there I will spend one or two days in London, before flying to Egypt for a week and then head back to Spain. Unfortunately, my plans of visiting Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia will have to wait for a future trip.

So, unless things changes, I should be back in Madrid around the third week of July. And chances of dates changing this time are very unprobable, since my first niece, Rocio, is expected on August, and I definitely want to be there when she's born.

Other than that, life goes one without major changes around here. The diving is over (at least, temporarely) and now the academic work begins. Although I've had lots of fun with Johnathan, my instructor, and Sean, my fellow divemaster trainee, I'm truly looking forward to moving on and leaving Phuket. During this trip I've got used to moving and seeing new places almost on a daily basis, and I truly miss that feeling.

I'll let you know how the course turns out to be and wether I finish it without problems.

Life goes on... and mobile phones simply go!

Well, this period of my trip is Phuket is certainly being the quitest, more relaxed (and probably more dull, if it wasn't for the fact that I'm working on my divemaster certification) of my whole trip. I've been in this island for over 3 weeks and all I've done is diving, studying and going through a visa run (a process which, in itself, deserves a full posting if I ever have time for it).

My friends Adam and Annette came over here to join me in a 3-day live-aboard trip to the Similan Islands, claimed to be one of the best diving places in the world. The diving was certainly excellent, but being a very unsophisticated diver, I was a bit deceived that we didn't see any of the big stuff (mantas, rays, turtles,...). We did see a few Leopard Sharks and other interesting things, but well, I guess I'm like a kid: I love big stuff.

Annette continued her trip all the way to Chiang Mai (a mere 36-hour trip) while Adam decided to stay here with me, certainly making my live over here more fun and interesting.

Perhaps the only remarkable incident I've had during the last days was the fact that we were robbed in our bungalow. At night and while we were sleeping. None of us can figure out how they did it, as we usually wake up by the slightest noise, but the fact is that when we woke up in the morning Adam's wallet (with money, credit card and phone) was gone and, you're going to love this, my mobile phone as well!!! Yes, the fourth mobile phone that gets stolen or lost in this trip. I'm thinking of contacting the Guinness Book of Records as I'm certain this must be a new World benchmark.

Anyway, luckily I still had the last mobile phone that I bought in Australia (it was missing the charger, that was stolen in Rotorua), so I bought a new charger and a new SIM card and I'm reachable again. So please, write down:

MY NEW THAI NUMBER: +66 40 526 734

And that's it from now. Tomorrow I will be going with the other divemaster trainee and my instructor to a new site to help with two Advance students. Hopefully in a few days I will be done with the studying part of the course and I will be able to reply emails and update this web.

Hope all of you are well and happy!

Updated contact information

Well, as some of you know, I will be spending the next month or so in Phuket, where I managed to get a very good deal for a live-aboard trip to the Similans and a Dive Master course (at least 4 weeks).

Since as part of the Dive Master course I will be helping instructors leading groups and I needed to be reachable, I've been forced to buy yet another SIM card, something I wanted to avoid at all costs. The good news, and I know this is what most of you were looking for (I believe I got a total of 3 calls in my 5 months with local mobile in Australia+NZ), is that you can call me and send me text messages now. I know you'll find this information as useful and interesting as knowing the number of people who prefers regular coke over diet coke at Nassoumbow (Burkina Faso), but here goes the number just in case: +66 46 304 501. And, as I say in my mails, keep in mind if you ever decide to call that time differences with Thailand are GMT + 7 (Western Europe time + 5) and that most of the next days I will be diving since early in the morning, so you'll have a better chance of reaching me after 7 pm or so (Thai time).

I will still be checking my Spanish number (+34 629 76 15 57) for text messages once or twice a week, so you can still send SMS there. Just don't expect a prompt response.

That's all. Hope all of you are well and happy wherever you are.

A short shallow story

I know, I know, most of you are waiting for the stories of Phi Phi, but bear with me while I delay them one more post. After all, this is the good thing about writing your own page: you decide the subject you write about :)

And those of you calling me unfriendly names for not answering your emails, believe me I will. It may take same time, but I will answer each and everyone of you.

Anyway, you may notice that today I'm in a quite euphoric mood, and that's due to two things. First, today I completed my Rescue Diver course, which has been the first useful diving course I've done since I completed my Open Water 6 years ago. That achievement, together with watching Sete Gibernau leading the Moto GP race in Portugal, led me to spoil myself with a Sang Som with coke. For those unfamilar with the Thai spirit market (as I was only a month ago), Sang Som is the most popular rum in Thailand, and is such a special spirit that only Madrid dared to reward its (doubtful, to say the least) quality with an award. In fact, not happy with that, we decided to give it another award the next year, and both of them are proudly announced in its label. And people still doubt that Madrid is not a unique city!

Anyway, I was there, in a French Bar (who surprisingly also had a Spanish flag in its door) with the unlikely, if quite appropriate, name of "Le Grand Prix", proudly holding my Sang Som while Gibernau was the king of Lisbon and Barroso's was limited to smelling the fumes coming out of the Catalan's exhaust. But suddenly, before I could have a third sip of my drink and with about 16 laps remaining, Gibernau fell and was out of the race. Shit, one less thing to celebrate! And almost nothing to celebrate it with as, when a bloody "frog" (gabacho) standing next to me starting jumping in happiness because the Spaniard was out, I was very tempted of dropping my almost intact cocktail on him. Luckily (for both, as everybody in the bar was French and would presumably not be on my side), my rational self took control of me and I simply dedicated him a couple swear words in Spanish, in the intimate hope that he and his colleagues wouldn't understand them.

So, since I'm still under the effects of Thai rum (and the Thai beer I also spoiled myself with during my red-snapper dinner), I've decided to tell you about Phuket and my dive course, as there is no way either of those stories could have any interest whatsoever without a little cheap ethilene livening up my neurons.

First let me tell you about Phuket. Well, West Coast Phuket, an area dominated by middle-aged Europeans in search of the girl they never got in their youth (while here she's just a couple thousand bahts away) and Thai girls with multiple overseas (and gullible) boyfriends who think the girls are actually in love with them and keep sending money to pay their expenses. Needless to say, this is as close to my definition of Paradise as Spain is to winning a World Championship in cricket.

But don't get me wrong, the place is great. Beautiful beaches, lovely (if not very cheap) restaurants, excellent diving,... And I've met some great people here. Alberto, the Filipino who welcomes me every night that I venture into the restaurant where he works to enjoy a delicious 2,5 euro grilled red-snapper. Or Jo Joe, the guy running my guest-house, who's able to get you the best diving deals in the world. Or Everet, an American that not only is not mono-lingual, but speaks 4 languages better than I speak my own. Or the lady running this internet cafe, that welcomes me as if I was a far away relative.

But unfortunately, these people are more the exception than the rule. The truth is that I just don't feel any connection at all with most locals and tourists here, which seem to be related to each other by interests quite distant from mine. And for me, connecting with the people around me is what truly makes me enjoy a place. Phuket, sadly, is to Germans and Scandinavians what Cuba is for many Spaniards and Italians.

But hey, let's move on to happier subjects. I can't finish this story without telling you about my 2-day long Rescue Diver course. My course was composed of a German instructor (Michael), a fake victim (Shawn) and myself. Two people dedicated full time, 4 dives and one free t-shirt for the price of a discounted dive course. Not bad at all.

Imagine Michael, a 1-year old instructor with one of the most typical German "everything-must-be-precisely-organized" minds dealing with Shawn, a young fun-loving British divemaster candidate (despite he had one third my number of dives) who's main interest in pursuing a career in diving seemed to be getting the admiration of his friends back in Essex. I got along perfectly well with both of them, Michael providing a very thorough training and Shawn providing the necessary laughts. But, needless to say, they couldn't stand each other, which made whole course increasingly interesting.

We simulated countless emergency situations (panicked diver in the surface, unconcious diver underwater) where Shawn played a very careless victim continuously reprehended by Michael and I simply tried to improved skills while, in many cases, none was paying attention to me. OK, I am exaggerating. Shawn did a great job acting as a victim (not a very difficult role, I must add) and I did learn a lot from Michael, even though he could talk for hours about procedures and annecdotes that were not even remotely related to my course. But without their constant disputes this course would have not been the same.

So, even though at the beginning I though I had made a big mistake choosing this company (that Jo Joe got me for a ridiculous price) with an immature divemaster and an unexperienced, and far too serious for my taste, instructor, I think the course would have been have the fun without this lucky combination.

So divers of the world, beware. Next time you have an underwater problem your main concern could be that the person running like a thunder to help you has a very familiar nose and a rescue training as extensive as Sang Som's international reputation. What better reason to do a thorough pre-dive buddy check next time!

Eso es todo amigos!

There's always a third time after the second

Sorry for this interruption of my Phi Phi memories, but I thought I had to let you know about my latest (today's) experience in this country. I would also like to thank all of you for your mails and, as usual, ask you for some patience. In addition to my month of delay in answering I now have my 3 weeks in Phi Phi. But I can't tell you enough times how much I love to receive your messages. I I've read them all and I will answer them as I can, but I just think keeping my web up to date is more important since it's a very easy way for me to tell everyone what I'm up to.

And by the way, check out my Thailand album, as there are already over 100 pictures on it (most of them of my life at Ko Phi Phi).

Anyway, going back to the title of this posting, that's probably a very bad translation of a Spanish saying, meaning that if something happens twice, it will almost certainly will happen a third time. And believe me, if you think about your own experiences, I'm sure you will find this is quite true.

In this case I'm talking about the unlikely possibility of celebrating 3 New Years in little more than 3 months. First it was Western New Year in New Zealand (almost as further East as you can celebrate that date and my first time south of the Equator); then it was the Chinese New Year in Hong Kong (and a little in Singapore); and finally Thai New Year in Phuket (or Chalong, to be exact).

Most people know what I think of Western New Year. Boooooooring. A bunch of people getting drunk in crowded bars where it's impossible to order a drink or make it home without people spilling 5 of theirs on your clothes. At least in Spain we have the 12 grape tradition which in my opinion makes more special, but then again in Spain you can go out any other night of the year and find all the places much less crowded, people more fun and drunk and cheaper drinks. So why people bother to go out in New Years in Western countries remains a mystery to me.

Then Chinese New Year, certainly much more interesting. Lots of day-time ceremonies going on, parades, fireworks,... Truly much more interesting and fun.

But then, it's Thai New Year or Songkran. Perhaps is not as culturaly intense as the Chinese one, but believe me, this is the best New Year celebration ever. Perhaps when I describe it to you you won't find it so interesting (I didn't when I read about it), but if you take part on it you will have the best time since you stopped being a kid (maybe it's because I never did :)

Well, this is what is about. Thai New Year is the largest water-fight in the world. On April 13th everybody all over Thailand gets set with huge buckets of water, plastic containers and water-guns (althought it's supposed to be illegal to sell them) and they just start throwing water to each other. Perhaps that doesn't sound like a lot of fun if you're from St. Petersburg or Anchorage, but when it's 35+ degrees (and probably over 90% humidity) it just can't be any better.

Just imagine this: streets packed with people with huge buckets and water-guns, and people riding on the back of trucks or motorbykes all immersed in this absolutely harmless and refreshing battle. Everything is allowed. You can shot people in restaurants, walking in the street, inside buses,... only old or handicapped people, or people that don't seem to enjoying getting wet are respected (unless, of course, they start the fight). Even policemen cannot run away from it and get constantly water-gunned. Is that fun or what?!

But what makes the Thai New Year even more special, in my opinion, is that is the only New Year celebration practicaly thought for kids. Imagine being a kid and being able to throw water to every person you want to (relatives, friends, policemen, people you don't know at all...) and your parents not only not punish you for it, but encourage to do it, quite frequently driving you around in the back of their pick-up trucks with hundreds of liters of water. Doesn't it sound like any kid's dream come true!

And while in many Western countries (a couple immediately come to mind) this type of celebration would have ended up with street fights or riots (someone wetting someone that doesn't want to be wet, someone shooting someone to intentionaly hurt him/her or simply the typical rioters taking over the streets using the crowds to cover themselves), here the celebration is completely smooth. Everybody throws water without trying to hurt others and to people that seem to be enjoying the celebration. And if, by mistake, you water someone that didn't want to be watered, the person simply smiles or walks away and doesn't get angry. We need to learn so much from these people.

Anyway, I joined a tour that one of the dive shops in Chalong organized and it was way above my expectations. They provided us with water guns, hundreds of liters of water (that we had to refill 3 times) and drove us around the southern part of the island in two pick-ups. We shot at motorbikes passing by, people sitting in restaurants, people in other trucks, in buses, in the street,... And of course, in returned we were shot back by exactly the same type of people. And if you want to make it a little more interesting, just put ice in the water. Almost half the times someone got us was with very (VERY) cold water, and believe me, when you're completely soaked it makes quite a difference. And of course, shooting someone with ice-cold water makes it twice as much fun.

Anyway, call me immature, shallow or simply stupid (it will not be anything I don't already know, anyway), but timing the throwing of a bucket so it splashes on that bus full of people coming the opposite way, trying to get that girl running away from the road or calculating the parabola you need to create to reach that motorbike behing that car make this the best New Year celebration I've ever had. And by the amount of people that were taking part on it (both locals and Westeners), I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.

Chok Dee (or good luck), everyone! And Happy 2548!

Memories of Ko Phi Phi (Part 1): What happened on December 26th

I'm finally back in the civilization (Phuket), after 3 intense weeks in Ko Phi Phi and 2 unsuccessful leaving intentions. These 3 weeks have been, without a doubt, the most remarkable ones in my trip, for the experiences I've lived, the things I've seen and, specially, the special people I've met. All of these makes leaving this place so difficult for everyone.

So, given all the things I need to tell you, I decided to break my story in 3 different ones, and even so I'm sure I'll have trouble to keep it short.

I decided to start telling you what really happened in this small island on December 26th since, for several reason, few people know it. And I think knowing this will give you an idea of what people that lived there went through and the magnitud of the catastrophy on this place.

Ko Phi Phi would be two separate islands if it wasn't for the beautiful stretch of sand (before full of palm trees and resorts) that connects both ranges of mountains. This stretch of sand, that creates two lovely bays, Ton Sai on the south and Loh Dalum on the north, is where most of the buildings of the island (hotels, shops, resorts, diving schools,...) were and where the tsunami caused all of the destruction. Even after the tsunami you can see how extremely over-developed this place was.

Around 10:20 in the morning (with many people still sleeping after the Christmas celebration) the first sign of a tsunami was seen at Ton Sai bay, where the water disappeared for almost a kilometer. Many people run into the bay trying to pick up the fish left on dry land, others watched the fenomenon from the beach while others were lucky enough to be warned of what was going on and run to the mountains. Ton Sai bay is also where the two piers used to be (only one remaining) and at that time is where most of the boats arrive from the mainland. And both piers (probably also packed of people ready to leave) are too far from the mountains on either side for the people to save themselves when the wave came. It's hard to estimate how many people were in the island, but it is considered that around 5,000 lived there and between 3,000 and 5,000 arrived every day to just spend the day there.

The wave from Ton Sai was not really a wave, but a sudden raise in tide that pushed the sea into land. People started running to the other side of the sand stretch only to find that 10 minutes later a violent 10-meter high wave came from the other side, from Loh Dalum. This devastating wave was followed by another 5-meter wave soon after, and all this waves mixed in the middle acting as a blender and destroying everything they found on the way. The entrance to Loh Dalum bay faces the West, and that's probable the main reason what most of the devastating waves came from this side, intensifying their effect due to the funnel effect of the bay.

1,200 people died, 800 more are missing, and if you think that between 8,000 to 10,000 people were in the island is terribly high percentage. Everybody in the island has lost a relative or a friend.

50% of the buildings (that's HALF the buildings!) of the whole island have disappeared. Only in Phi Phi Princess, one of the most luxurious resort in the island situated at Loh Dalum, 350 tourist and 55 local staff died. Only part of the outdoor restaurant and one of the staff buildings remains. Many bodies will never be found, because as people that were in the island have told me, the long-tail boats were tying together chains of dead people and taking them out of the bays, leaving them floating in the open sea.

Since the most devastating waves came from the north, that the most affected area, although you see destruction all over. That's also the reason why we were working underwater in Ton Sai bay, because the waves washed away everything from Loh Dalum into the other bay.

Under the water you can still find whole shops or bungalows, clothes, corrugated iron, toys, CDs, washing machines, air conditioning, matresses, trees, long-tail engines and basically anything you can imagine.

Helicopters surveyed the place soon after, but the first one didn't land until the late afternoon. Many people have to spend the night in the mountains with little food and no electricity, and the fear that another wave may come.

The island was evacuated 2 days after and only goverment officials stayed in the island, whom many locals blame for the looting that took place the following days. Most bungalows were smashed open and all posesions stolen. Shops were broken into, safety boxes smashed, dead bodies robbed of all jewlry and money,... In short, for many people the tsunami was not the worst, and no one really know who this all this looting.

The owner of the last place I stayed at, a lovely Thai woman, told us how her home was broken into and all her savings, jewlery, TV, etc. stolen. All the bungalows were broken to get inside and she's had to repair them. So even though her place was high enough to survive the tsunami, she did suffered the consequences.

It's incredible how this tragedies bring out the best and the worst of people. I heard heroical stories and irritating ones. One tourist told me how was trying to rescue people while many others simply looked or were so shocked with panic that simply couldn't do anything. He also told me how, only hours after the tsunami, he saw a group of locals getting drunk with stolen alcohol.

Another local guy resqued a woman in a floating mattress only to discover that the second 5-meter wave was coming. By the time it reached the spot were he was it had lost a lot of its power and he managed to surf it with the mattress and the woman on top to Ton Sai bay. People cut their feet with glass and iron trying to rescue people barefoot while other were looting the places. It's truly amazing how different humans can be.

My friend Adam was diving when the tsunami happened, and he told me he felt a extremely strong current. But it was only when he arrived back at Ko Phi Phi that he discovered what had truly happened. The whole Ton Sai bay was full of houses and garbage, dead people and others asking for help. It must have been a horrible experience. He also told me how the guy running the ferry to Krabi instead of taking survivors home, he was charging double price to take people. Somebody had to pay for his ticket, since his money was in the island. Anyway, he was one of the lucky ones that could recover his belongings because both his room and his safe at the diving shop had not been broken into.

At the beginning of February, a group of locals started Help International (HI) Phi Phi to help recover the island. With the help of volunteers and the money they collected, they've done an amazing job, specially if you see the pictures of the island right after the tsunami and you see it know.

It's also important for you to know that none of the money donated to the big corporations and international non-profit organizations has arrived to Ko Phi Phi, and I'm affraid similar experiences can be found in other affected areas. This is truly deceiving. Where all that money is and what they're doing with it is something that anybody that has donated money to this organizations should ask.

In the case of Ko Phi Phi, in addition to the lack of help from international organizations there is also a complete lack of help from the government, who is supporting some big investment groups who want to buy the land to build a luxury 5-star resort. The government is not providing any help, and has forbidden reconstruction of new buildings, hoping to strangle financially the local people so they will sell the land. So everything here is done almost manually, removing tons of garbage by hand and wheelbarrows. It is definitely frustrating how much could be done with the appropiate machines and how much work is required to do the most simple things. Not to mention security factors. I've seen volunteers working in demolitions with flip flops and without helpet or protective glasses. There's only one crane in the island and 2 or 3 trucks loading stuff, but I didn't see them working until the last 10 days I was there.

And as a snorkeler, I had to pull sometimes up to 15 kg. of stuff without having any flotation device, not even a life jacket, so being able to swim with it back to the platform without sinking was an exhausting experience. And then you see those boats full of Japanese tourist going snorkeling with the life-jackets that would be so usefull for us. There simply isn't enough resources because in addition to the lack of international help many local companies or businesses don't provide any help at all.

So my feeling about the situation is truly a mixed one. I see lots of locals and international backpackers dedicating their time and effort to improve this island, while the government, international organizations and many local businesses simply turn their backs on us and just try to make money from the effort results of the work we're doing for them.

Over 100 business have been re-open and running, and tourist are already coming into the island, which is very important since most local people have no other source of income. So I think the economical recovery of the island is really on its way, which is the most important thing.

If you would like to know more about what's going on on Ko Phi Phi you can check out this quite recent BBC News article, see this gallery of pictures, or visit the web pages of the organizations now working on Ko Phi Phi: Tsunami Dive Camp (where I've worked most of the time WITHOUT free accomodation, despite what they say), HI Phi Phi (I've also been involved with them) and Hands on Phi Phi (which started 10 days ago), although perhaps taking any action with any of them read first my comments on my next posting.

Everything OK after yesterday's earthquake

As you probably already know by the news, yesterday's earthquake, for reasons that even experts cannot explain, didn't create a tsunami as the previous one in the same area 3 months ago. So I and everybody else in Thailand is perfectly find, and if you have friends travelling on this area you should have nothing to worry about.

Despite that, I must confess that last night news were very confusing and at the beginning it was a bit scary. After taking a day off in my work to go diving, we returned and around 11 pm got the call from a friend's friend in Phuket saying that they had felt a recent eartquake. Asked the guys in the bar to turn on the news, but nothing was on. A few minutes later we found out the earthquake magnitude was supposed to be 8.5, certainly smaller than last Christmas' but just as certainly big enough to make you worry. And when you've seen the destruction and death a tsunami can cause, you do take seriously these type of news.

We started telling people around about it as asked them to go to higher ground, and requested the bar to tell on the speakers what was going on (and also that people should remain calmed because the wave, if any, should be much smaller) but they refused. Anyway, we kept telling everyone and made sure all our friends knew. A few minutes later, Thai News were requesting people to stay away from beaches and go to higher ground, and then people starting taking it more seriously. Some people (drunk, in many cases) just went under panic attacks and started screaming for no reason, since there was more than enough time to reach a safe area.

Some people walked to the highest peak, but we stayed at a friends house that the previous tsunami had not reach. News were confusing, practically all was based in rumors and we had no TV or radio. Suddenly the lights went off in the island, not helping keep people calmed. We supposed they stopped the generator to prevent electric shocks if a wave did come. We knew that if there was a tsunami it would hit other places before Ko Phi Phi, but had no way to confirm what was going on.

At around 2 am, it seemed to be obvious there was no wave coming and a Thai guy told us that the news had ruled out the possibility of a new tsunami in Thailand, so I walked back to my appartment to prevent the other tragedies that ocurred after the deadly tsunami: the frenetic looting of houses and dead bodies by thieves.

So everything is back to normal and I'm still planning to stay in the island working, although the diving operations were cancelled today due to lack of people.

Thanks to all of you that wrote me or tried to call me to find out how I was. As I said, everything is Thailand seems to be unaffected by the earthquake.

Take care!

Brief comments from Ko Phi Phi

Well, again a brief message just to let you know what I've been up to lately. And brief not only because Internet prices over here have increased after the tsunami destroyed most internet cafes (3 times the price inland), but because I've been truly busy working and having an absolutely great time over here.

The island, 3 months after the tsunami, is still in terrible conditions. Garbage absoutely everywhere, buildings destroyed or about to collapse in every corner and just that disturbing sensation of being in a place that used to be teeming with live and tourists and now it's not. I've been part of the snorkeling team that is cleaning the bay, and it's just unbelievable all the things that are still under water. We've found complete houses, bicycles, washing machines, speakers,... and more personal stuff that is a bit unpleasant (a bit for me) like jeans, clothing, children shoes, CDs, toys,... It's impossible to find more 4 square meters of sand with no garbage on them, and we are working from 2 to 500 meters from the shore.

Anyway, I don't have time now to tell you all my impressions and sensations of volunteering here, but I will definitelly dedicate a full posting to this issue in the future.

But there's many more positive things going on here, where I've meet one of the greatest groups of people in my trip, perhaps more so because everybody here is dedicating their free time to doing unpleasant jobs in very bad conditions instead of getting a tan in a nice beach. And that brings together a very special type of people. We work hard during the day, and have the best of times when we finish. I'm hanging out with a group from Germany, England, South Africa, Brazil, France, Canada, America (a couple days ago 6 of us went out for dinner and each was from a different country, representing 3 different continents),... and all of them (well, most of them) are some of the greatest people I've ever met. Compromised with helping other people, but always ready to have a great time and lots of laughs. I was expecting to find a lot of travel wankers or people that were doing this to be popular or so they can tell it back home, but even though I have met a couple like that, it is certainly not common.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'm fine, truly enjoying contributing my 2 cents to making this island a little better after the terrible disaster and having some of the best time I've had on this trip. I was originally going to be here for 4 or 5 days, but I've decided to probably stay 2 more weeks, even if it means shortening my trip in the rest of Thailand. And, unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to post pictures and full length stories or answer emails until I leave the island as, as I said, Internet prices here are prohibitive.

Hope all of you are fine.

Fourth photo of the day!!

That's right, my friends. Another one of my pictures has been selected Photo of the Day of ImageStation, making it the fourth one. So, as you probably imagine, I'm extremely happy.

And to celebrate it, I will be incorporating in my blog (or trying to) direct links to access some of my pictures to make it more user friendly. And of course, starting with this fourth winner. Let's see if it works.

I also take this opportunity to give you again a short update on my travelling.

After a lovely stay at Cameron Highlands, visiting the interesting city of Georgetown and spending 3 very relaxing days at the Perhentian Islands, I am finally in Thailand. In Krabi, to be precise, that is located on the coast severely damage by the tsunami a few months ago. Luckily, this place was hardly affected by the tsunami and, to my surprise, is thriving with visitors.

I will spend a few days here exploring the beautiful surroundings before heading for Ko Phi Phi, an island which was absolutely devastated by the tsunami. I will try to work there as a volunteer, helping with the reconstruction efforts.

I will try to post new pictures and the full story of the Malaysian leg of my trip in the next days.

And by the way, I would like to announce that in 4 days is my "name day" (Dia del Santo), celebrated by some Spaniards as myself, and, most importantly, 6 days later will be my birthday. Needless to say that all messages from you will make me extremely happy in this far away land, even if I can not reply to all or take a long time to do so.

The fine city

There's a general joke around Singapore that you can see in lots of T-shirts. It says "I love Singapore, it's a FINE city". Of course, "fine" makes reference to the fact that in this country you can be fined for almost anything: jay walking, throwing stuff on the street, putting your feet on the seat in the subway, spitting or even chewing gum. Yes, chewing gum is not allowed in Singapore and it's not sold anywhere. Locals and tourists alike complain about these strict regulations, but the result is a clean, modern and safe place like few others in the world. If I ever become the major of Madrid (and that's one of the employment options I will seriously consider on my return :) you will definitely see some of these regulations (and many more) being strictly enforced. Ha!

Singapore as we know it today was founded by Thomas Raffles, who in 1818 was authorized by the governor of India to establish a British colony at the tip of the Malay Peninsula (something not very well received by the Dutch, who had been around that area for a few years). This colony would be the third one in the Strait of Malacca, together with Georgetown and Melaka.

Surprisingly, little is known about Singapore during the 200 years prior to the arrival of the British, after the Portuguese forced the Malay leaders to flee southwards at the beginning of the XVII century. When the British arrived there were probably more tigers than people in the island, which I think is the main reason why the relationships between the different "cultures" that form Singapore (Malay, Chinese, Indian and Indonesian) seem so smooth: no one can really claim a higher right to the land than the others, since all of them have arrived here at the same time.

This blending of different cultures is certainly one of the main appeals of this country. You can find colorful Hindu temples, monumental Chinese buildings and austere Muslim mosques, frequently without changing streets. Not to mention food. In one of the typical food courts of Singapore you can find as many varieties of Asian food as you could almost find in all Madrid. And everything quite cheap, specially if you compare it to the price of real estate in the island.

I spent a total of three days, certainly enough to see the main attractions. But since it is certainly one of those places that I doubt I will come back in the future (at least on holiday), I decided to see everything I wanted to see here. I spent a couple days exploring the city itself at a slow pace and witnessing the end of the Chinese New Year (here called Lunar New Year, perhaps so the other groups don't feel left out) celebrations, and the third one enjoying some of the parks inside and outside the city.

During our city explorations I misundertood the indications from one recepcionist, and ended up at the 30th level of the wrong building looking for a public lookout of the city. Luckily for us, there was an empty office in that level that we used to enjoy a wonderful (and free) view of the river and the colonial quarter. And I say we were lucky, because we later found out that the actual lookout in the correct building had been closed for security reasons for now 10 months.

The "nature" section of visit included nothing truly exciting. I climbed to the top of Fort Canning Park to discover that either the trees surrounding the hill were a lot smaller when the writer of my guidebook visited the place or he was under the effects of some illegal substance when he described the views as "brilliant". The Bukit Timah National Reserve, in the middle of the island, is a beautiful piece of virgin rain forest (and not many cities can claim to have one), but having seen my share of beautiful rainforest in this trip I was not particulary impressed. Except, of course, for the very cute macaques at the entrance of the reserve, that I could have watched for hours. Remove some of their hair, make them a little bigger and put them in a pair of nikes and you would be suddenly surrounded by a bunch of restless kindergarten kids.

I ended my stay in Singapore with a visit to the acclaimed Night Safari that, frankly, I found a bit disappointing. You ride in a Disneyland-like little train at night and you see, or struggle to see to be precise, exactly the same animals that you would see at day time. Yes, the zoo is magnificently designed and it doesn't feel as a zoo, but I just didn't get what the big fuss was about visiting it at night: the tigers were laying down, the giraffes eating from the trees and the hippos taking a swim. Just as they do at daytime. Anyhow, I fulfilled our train driver's wishes and I did "come back alive" (though the nachos I ate certainly looked threatening)

And that's Singapore. A very small country or a big city, a mix of different cultures with more stuff to do and see that you would expect, but certainly not the most happening place on Earth. Very clean, very safe and very modern, with lots of shops and 5 official languages. I guess it's like a tropical Switzerland :)

Brief update

Since many of my loyal readers (thank you all of you for making the effort of writing all this absolutely worth it) are justly complaining about the lack of information for the last two weeks, I'll give you a brief update until I'm able to write the full stories (unfortunately, internet is not as available over here as it is in other countries).

After a short break in my journey for family matters (nothing to worry about, all positive things) I arrived in Singapore, where I was to meet Victoria. Well, a VERY different Victoria that seemed to find in anything I did, said or even laughed at something to complain about. So, after a while of unhappily traveling together, we've decided to split up and each follow their own way.

Singapore was a beautiful place. Modern, clean and cheaper than I expected, although a bit dull. We visited the main areas of the city (Colonial district, Little India, Arab Quarter and, my personal favorite, Chinatown), went to the Bukit Marah National reserve where we saw some macaques that were as cute as they were unfriendly and travelled to the Zoo to join a Disneyland-like (and a bit deceiving in my opinion) Night Safari.

It was then time to leave civilization and enter Malaysia, a country that was meant to be a transition to arrive to Thailand (in fact, that's what it is for most travellers) but that I loved quite a lot and decided to stay longer. My first stop was Melaka, a lovely city where Portuguese, Dutch, English and, of course, Malayans have left some of their culture. After that was Pulau Tioman, a beautiful island with no less beautiful beaches where I dived, snorkeled, enjoyed the scenery and had some deliciously inexpensive seafood.

Next stop has been Kuala Lumpur, where I'm writing these lines. An unexpectedly quite modern, clean and safe city that I have really enjoyed. And next, Cameron Highlands (I'll be catching the bus tomorrow morning), to escape for a few days from the asfixiating heat over here (truly asfixiating) and enjoy some nice treks in the mountains.

Most of the pictures have already been uploaded, so you can check them out. About the texts, as I said, just a little pacience, I promise you I'll do it :)

Oh, and by the way, a third picture has been selected as ImageStation Photo of the Day. You can check all 3 of them out using the links on the left, under the albums.

Kong Hei Fat Choi!!

Or Happy New Year! Well, to be precise it means something like "may the next year bring us more wealth", so that gives you an idea of how business oriented Cantonese Chinese are :)

Anyway, the year of the Rooster started yesterday and what better place than Hong Kong to witness the event. The New Years parade yesterday was incredible, with the streets full of people, participants from 13 countries and what I always wanted to see live: those dancing dragons and tigers moved by a group of performers.

Lots of fun! And not less because next to me was Hiu Kwong, a local guy that had been living in the UK for one year but for whom Spain was his favorite country in Europe. He explained to me a lot of things about the parade and Hong Kong itself, and offered to show me the city the next day (that is, today).

So today we went to the Che Kung temple, full of locals participating in the New Year ceremonies, which include offering food to the deities, burning sticks or consulting local fortune tellers. Buying a wind-wheel is a must to bring good luck into the new year and hitting a big drum drives away the bad spirits from the past, and of course those are two of the things that I diligently. So diligently that the guys from Channel 4 interviewed me as the only foreigner that was so involved in the celebrations. Can it get any better!

After the visit to the temple, we went electronic shopping (a requirement for anyone visiting the city) and finally had dim sum, one of the most typical Chinese meals. Chinese eat dim sum sometime between breakfast and lunch and to me it's the local equivalent to the Spanish tapas. Your order different small dishes, most of them consisting of different types of delicious food wrapped in some soft pastry that may then be boiled, fried or cooked otherwise, all of it accompanied by endless quantities of Chinese tea. I think we had 10 different types dishes, almost all of them completely new to me and absolutely wonderful. Unfortunately, I can not tell you what they were because the menu was in Chinese only and Hiu Kwong did all the ordering.

We tried to go up "the Peak", to see the view of the city (which, by the way, has a skyline so impressive that makes New York look provincial), but it was getting foggie and I was affraid we wouldn't see much. So we walked along the city and its unique SoHo district, full of covered outdoor escalators. And to end the day, the New Year fireworks, that unfortunately I had to watch from the middle of a street (and not from the ocean front as I intended) because the whole city was completely jammed with people and it was impossible to move.

It's been a great day and being able to experience Hong Kong with a local, seeing and doing things that I would have never done, it's certainly been the highlight.

Tomorrow more site-seeing and probably more shopping, before heading for a short stop in Singapore on Saturday.

I'll post the pictures as soon as I have a chance.

And Kong Hei Fat Choi, everyone!!

Almost on my way to Hong Kong

Yes today is my last day in Philippines, but it's going to be a long one as my trip to Hong Kong is anything but simple.
In a few hours I'll get a triciclo from Panglao Island to the ferry in Tagbilaran, Bohol. The ferry will take me to Cebu Island, where I have a very convenient flight (4:00 am) to Manila (in other words, sleeping in the airport) and in Manila, a wonderful 3-hour connection before I board my flight to Hong Kong. Needless to say my first plan when I arrive in the city will be a very long nap.
My 3 days in Bohol (or Panglao Island, to be precise) have been very relaxing. I stayed in Alona beach, the type of beach I love with white sand, crystal clear water and lots of palm trees. Yes, it was touristry, but I it was nice to change.
I did a few dives and spend most of my time with Lissette and Sara, a Swedish couple (without a doubt, the most attractive couple I've met in this trip) that I met taking a taxi from the ferry. And it's been 2 wonderful days of sun, chatting and seafood by the beach.
Today I rented a motor-bike and successfully survived driving in crazy Philippine traffic. Of course, nothing better than Madrid taxi-drivers to train you for the unfriendly and dangerous conditions of traffic in this islands, so I was perfectly prepared for suddent turns without warning, people driving in the middle of two lanes and the other crazy maneuvers that my fellow "taxistas" are so proficient at.
I visited the Chocolate Hills (after missing the correct road only 58 times), a collection of cone-shaped peaks spread across a vast amount of land the way mushroom grow in a forest. I was very impress. The landscape also was quite different, with lots of rice plantations around some of these peaks.
On my way back to Panglao, I stopped to see and hold a tarsier, the smallest monkey in the world and one of the cutest things I've had in one hand.
And now, after the sunset, my nightmare trip will begin. I just hope I don't fall to sleep and miss one of the several means of transportation I'll be using (something that, unfortunately, wouldn't come as a surprise to those who know me).

Last day in Negros

Today is my last day in Negros, as tomorrow I will be departing to Bohol, which is supposed to be more relaxed.

Dumaguete, capital of Negros Oriental, turned out to be more touristry than Bacolod, although most of the tourists here are divers or, unfortunately, some old Europeans with Filipino girlfriends (at least they're girlfriends, and not something else). Still, the people in this city were extremely friendly and nice.

The weather has been the only drawback, as it's cloudy, windy and not too hot, which is quite unfortunately as this was supposed to be the beginning of my "beach travelling". Despite the unfortunate conditions, the beaches south of Dumaguete are quite nice, although they certainly cannot compete with other beach destinations. The sand is grey, full of seaweed and stuff from the trees and, in short, not very inviting (specially when the wind is constantly reconfiguring your hair and creating meter-high waves).

The diving, on the other hand, has proven to be excellent. I wouldn't call Apo Island one of the top 10 spots in the world, as they claimed, but the quantity corals (hard and soft), the diversity of fish (although not of big size) and the marvelous array of colors makes are certainly hard to match. We saw turtles (3 together) and a few fish that were new to me, as the "legged" frogfish, a strange lionfish that looked to me as a stonefish and, finally, THE REAL NEMO, with its 3 stripes, that I never managed to see in Australia.

Tomorrow I will be taking the ferry to my last destination in the Philippines, Bohol, before heading for Hong Kong to see the start of the Chinese New Year. More diving, Chocolate Hills and hoping to see some tarsiers, the world's smallest monkey, are my plans for the next 3 days.

So stay tuned!

Why I love the Philippines

Yes, I just love this country. And that's before even seeing what is supposed to be the main attraction here: its beaches and the wonderful diving!!

I mean, sure it doesn't have the fine architecture of Thailand, or the food delicacies of say Vietnam, or the wonderful landscapes of Lao (or that's my guess, as I haven't been to any of those countries yet), but the friendliness of the people make up, by far, for all those shortcomings. Kids are the cutest I've ever seen, smiling all the time and asking you questions; girls are very good looking and flirteous; and guys are very friendly and welcoming. And people just talk to you wherever they see you, which I found very surprising since most Asians I have ever met (and since I met them travelling, they probably were the most cosmopolitan ones) were extremely shy and reserved.

Yes, Filipinos are extremely social and friendly, almost like Latins (maybe due to the Spanish presence in the past?). And another additional surprise is that everybody seems to speak at least some basic English, even in very remote non-touristry areas, which makes communicating with them much easier than in many other countries. And what other country can you go that when you take a picture of someone not only they don't get angry but they thank you for it?! I have had kids in a school is Silay running after me to have their picture taken and sellers in a market in Victorias yelling and showing me their most unique merchandise so I could immortalize them with it. This is a people's photography paradise!

Crime rates seem to be quite low (except in Manila), even though every island seems to have their own "revel group" (New People's Army here in Negros, but they seem to live up in the mountains and not bother anyone except some rich local farmers). People are friendly and approachable as I said, and kids are smiling and playing all the time.

But what I found most happily surprising, given that we're talking about a quite underdeveloped country, is that even in the smallest of towns you see schools and hundreds of little people in their uniforms in them. I have only seen one child working (collecting sugarcane) and only one begging (in Manila), which is a dream situation if I compare it with that of thousands of kids in similar countries in South America (Bolivia and Peru, and even Argentina).

And last but not least, another reason why any Spaniard would love the Philipines is that not only they don't have any bad feelings for our country (unlike many of their neighbors on the other side of the Pacific), but they seem extremely proud and thankful to the Spanish contributions in the country. The San Agustin museum in Manila, which was currently holding a very interesting special exhibition to celebrate Legazpi's (conqueror of the Philipines) 400th birthday, contains a large section explaining how the Spanish built at least 2 schools in any town larger than 1,000 (in the 19th century), making the Philipines the province with the best education in the Spanish Empire. Quoting a Swedish historian, the Philippines and Japan were the most advanced countries in Asia back then due to their level of educated people.

Filipino writer Nick Joaquin, considered the best post-war author in the country, claims that it was the Spanish that gave the Phillipines a sense of country, as before their arrival it was formed by different cultural groups that fought each other. He also lists the 12 most important developments that Spaniards brought with them, and the were critical milestones in the development of the Philipines.

I don't mean to bore you with this, but having travelled in South America, where they would blame Spain even for the current weather or traffic conditions, it's very refreshing to visit a country that combines being proud of its independence and its different culture, without regreting its Spanish heritage. And that's specially ironic, considering that the Philippines is the country where that Spanish heritage is less obvious.

And I could go on regarding another ironical fact, as it's that a proud Basque, Miguel de Legazpi (among other Basques), conquered foreign territories for the King of Spain and tought Spanish, his language, to the natives and now, almost 400 years later, some of his fellow Basques have "discovered" that they're not really Spanish and that Spanish is not their language. But that would also be a long story (and a very interesting one).

But going back to why I love the Philippines, I think one of the main reasons is that is so so not touristry. And believe, that may have lots of inconveniences for some people, but its advantages are countless. Prices are cheap (I'll go to that later), there's no tourist-related crime because there are not enough tourist to make reasonable profits with that "activity", people don't see you as a money bag or as a ticket out of the country, so they're extremely friendly and curious, without any malice at all. In fact, seeing a tourist in Negros Occidental is so unusual that you become as exotic to them as they are to you, which is a wonderful experience for everyone (certainly for myself).

Little kids wave at you and invite you to play sports with them, or shake hand in a LA-gang type of way; girls turn around and smile at you when you walk by (I even had little girl yelled "I love you", while all her friends laughed, when I was leaving). People ask you all kinds of things about you and your family with no other intention that their curiosity. Except in Manila, there doesn't seem to be sex tourism, so girls are extremely friendly and innocently flirteous because they are not affraid that you will get the wrong idea. And another benefit is that you are not harassed by those that do want you to get the wrong idea.

The people here are just wonderful!

Oh, and I said before this place was cheap, didn't I? Let me just give you an idea of the sort of things 2 euros can get you over here: a room with two beds and electric fan in the biggest city in the island, a bus ticket to the other end of the island (about 250 km), half a kilo of deliciously fresh big shrims in the market,...

Who can't love this coutry!

Back into my favorite world!

Don't get me wrong. Australia and New Zealand (even despite the unfortunate incident in Rotorua) are great countries to travel in, with probably the world's friendliest people on them. But travelling over there is so easy, that it just takes part of the fun away from it.

I don't know if it's because I come from one of Europe's most chaotic, noisiest and craziest cities (despite recent attempts but some mayors to transform us into a civilized metropolis), but I just love Manila, although I have spent less than an hour walking along its streets. New smells, different people, different architecture, different language, money change stores in every corner, colorful jeepneys (World War 2 vehicles transformed into open public buses), crazy shopping malls (as the one where I'm now, one of the biggest I've seen in my life, with 4 levels and kilometers of shops, many of them quite sophisticated), trying to find out again what is cheap and what is expensive, discovering what to do (and what not to), finding my way around with almost no signs, that feeling of being in a place that has no resemblance whatsoever to where I come from... This is what travelling is all about! Or at least, the type of travelling I truly love.

I guess the fact that the Philippines is the only country in my trip that no one I know has ever visited makes it all even more exiting. A feeling that was increased when I boarded my flight from Hong Kong last night and only saw 3 Western faces seating around (and we're talking a full Airbus A-330, not a small Cessna), confirming this is not a very common European destination.

It's still soon to tell you what the Philippines has to offer, but I have the feeling that I'm going to like this place. Besides, where else in Asia can you be picked up by a taxi driver named "Armando" and hear words like "playa" (beach), "fiesta" (party) or "coche" (car) in people's conversations? No one speakes Spanish over here, but many Spanish words have become part of the Tagalog language. And that's part of what makes the Philippines so exciting so far, this unusual blend of different cultures (Asian, Spanish and American), that you can find nowhere else in this continent. At least that's what I think, as this is the first country I have ever visited in Asia.

Tomorrow I'll be flying to the Visayas, as group of islands that are supposed to have some great beaches and wonderful diving. I wanted to avoid the party scene of Boracay (can't take any more teenagers raving), but thought the extreme quiteness of Palawan (although supposed to be one of the most beautiful islands here) would be too much for a solo traveller.

So, in a few days I'll let you know if I did the correct choice.

Not yet in Manila...

... but on the way there.

A very unfortunate volcano in Indonesia has decided to start throwing ashes into the air forcing our flight to deviate, arriving late in Hong Kong and losing my connection (which did leave in time). As it usually happens in these cases, the flight I need to take now is delayed, so I will land in Manila no sooner than midnight, a beautiful time to arrive at a chaotic 9M people city with limited public transportation and where I've never been before. Hopefully I'll make it safely to the pension where I'll be spending the night.

My plans are either spend a day in Manila seeing the left-overs of the Spanish presence, or trying to find a cheap flight (I got somehow scaring reports about over-loaded ferries traveling between the islands) to a nice beach with good diving. Whatever I do, I will probably spend most of tomorrow in this city that I don't think I'm going to love.

Aroha Nui, Aotearoa! (Or goodbye, New Zealand!)

Ok, I lied, the next post is not from Philippines. It's just to let you know that today I finally sold the van (making again a gratifying profit) and will be leaving New Zealand (and the Southern Hemisphere) next sunday the 30th.

So, keep in mind that you will probably not be able to find me in my mobile phone after that date.

That's all, folks! Aroha Nui!

Almost ready to leave New Zealand

I arrived in Auckland yesterday, after spending a few days travelling along the Coromandel peninsula with my two Singaporean companions and Jaime, a guy from Asturias that we met in Rotorua and who also decided to joined us.

It's been fun, seeing nice views, enjoying the hot-springs in Hot Water Beach (where you dig a hole in the sand and have your own VERY HOT spa) and doing a few walks. But I must confess that I'm a little tired of travelling as a camper and the landscape in NZ is beginning to look all alike. And that, together with all the stress that the van theft meant, made me decide to cut my trip to the North of the island, which is supposed to be beatiful, but I just feel like changing countries.

So, I will spend a few days here in Auckland (hopefully very few) until I send my van, and then fly to the Philippines. So, after over 11 months in the Southern Hemisphere, the last five in quite easy to travel countries (despite the driving on the wrong side of the road), I will be back in the exotic underdeveloped world which, why deny it, it's what I enjoy most.

So those of you still interested in contacting me by phone, remember you don't have many days left.

The next post will probably be from Manila.

Van recovered, but all expensive things gone

Yesterday at 7:30 pm the police called me to tell me that my van had been found, dumped near a football field. They picked me up and we went there to see it, and I must confess I was shaking thinking what state would I found it in.

Luckily, the van was in perfect state. All locks working, ignition working and no visible damage at all. Unluckily, all my valuable stuff was gone: underwater housing for my camera, CD player, cassette adapter, all chargers, small money belt with a little money, my CDs (including the ones I bought in South America and Australia) and, what was truly the worse and most unexpected, my travel diary, my photo index and all my pictures in CD. It was a very happy and depressing moment, at the same time.

But this morning a miracle happened. The police knocked on my door at 8:00 am to let me know they had found more stuff dumped in a rubbish bin near the cemetery. And, to my most incredible happiness, my pictures, my diary and my photo index (that includes where each picture in my trip was taken and what's on it) were among those things. I cannot describe my happiness at that moment!

Still, many things are missing and the value of all mine is, without a doubt, in excess of 600 euro, but the van and that which was truly priceless to me has been found, and I couldn't be more grateful. The strange thing about all this is the things that the thieves took and left: they took my sun-screen, but left very expensive rollerblades from one of the girls; they took my Greenday CD, but left its case; they tooked a puffed dog from one of the girls, but left all the sleeping bags. Anyway, they did take all the electronics and it's going to cost me a little fortune (for my budget) to replace them.

And another good thing that happened today: the owners of the hostel managed to have one of their friends invite me for free with his company to do the rafting I was supposed to do yesterday. And the rafting was spectacular and a lot of fun, going down 3 water-falls, including one hair-raising 7-meter high one, the highest commercialy raftable in the world. It was a short trip, but I don't think rafting can get any better than that. I'll post a few pictures shortly.

Today we're staying at Rotorua because one of the hostel's owners' friend wants to organize a little outing to celebrate Janine's (one of the girls from Singapore) birthday, which was yesterday (and, as you could imagine, none of us were ready for any celebrating). Tomorrow we're heading for Coromandel and, please, keep your fingers cross so we don't have any more incidents.

Despite Rotorua has been the place where the worst thing in my trip has happened, everybody has been so nice to us here that I take with me an incredible memory of this town.