So here I sit in my hotel room on Phi Phi Island, the netbook on my lap and listen to Mr. Bojangles. The room is “functional” and clean, though nothing in particular. Around me, spread out on the bed, my electronic equipment: loaders for iPhone, Netbook and some other stuff, I just took out of my backpack to continue my impressions from this journey. Next to me my brand new 10-l watertight seasack, matching my watertight Ortlieb pack I chose to travel with (I had to bring my diving equipment somehow safe and at the same time light weight). Next to the door hangs my watertight and brandnew watertight Poncho, matching in colour my wonderful “MA 48 Softshell” (thanks my friends from Dive Systems Austria, this one is for you 😉 ).
It’s all about being watertight
What do you mean by I talk all the time about “watertight”? Oh, yes, you are right, indeed. Watertight. Everything needs to be watertight these days. Because water is everywhere. It’s coming down from the sky: Liters, gallons, tons. It comes pouring from the roofs, from the hills, from the trees. And water is on the pathways. It is on the small streets here in Phi Phi Don. It is even in the air, so densely as if it was fog. And it all runs into the sea.
The sea. The place where I should be now. Or at least have been for the last few hours. Be in there for scuba diving and see the famous Phi Phi underwater world. That’s why we came to Koh Phi Phi. 7.15 AM was the meeting time in the diving centre. Extra early to be earlier at the dive spots than all the other diving centres here, to have a chance to be the first ones and as such for at least some time enjoy the subsea world without hundreds of other divers. The signs looked good: 5 or 6 other divers inscribed for today, Lupo and me. Fairly few for a place with so many dive centres, though the more favourable for those who are here.
Monsun storm prevents us from diving
But no diving today. We already feared that news when we stepped out of our rooms at 7 this morning: Heavy rain and strong winds, forming quite some waves in southern bay here. And at the diving centre they unfortunately had to cancel today’s diving. Strong southern winds made safe diving impossible. Usually they have either western or eastern winds so that at least one side of Phi Phi Leh (the smaller island here) is diveable. But not today. Not this month. Folks from the diving centre tell us they can’t remember any March with so much rain than this one. And the forecast does look the same same: Rain and winds for 2-3 more days. Exact the time which we have to dive before we need to catch our flights, Lupo & Flora back to Bangkok and I to Kuala Lumpur.
So what else is there to do than sitting in the room, writing blog articles and listening to Mr. Bojangles?
P.S. Don’t worry, I brought along some more music. Gene Kelly’s “Singin’ in the Rain” for example… 😉