Two Days at Sea

It's been a packed past couple of days. We had an extended weekend because of a heavier work schedule than normal over the past week. On Sunday a couple of us caught a longtail over to Ton Sai for hiking and hanging out at the beach for the day.

Monday was a whirlwind. We woke up early to go elephant trekking through the jungle, an experience punctuated by frequent stops for the elephant to absolutely demolish gargantuan trees and branches to choke them down for breakfast. Then we drove to Emerald Pool, where we hiked and swam in the national park and wildlife sanctuary, before chowing on Pad Thai. In the afternoon we idled lazily in the hot springs, a place where steaming hot water cascades down a series of bowl-shaped rock outcroppings, comfortably reminiscent of hot tubs, before tumbling into a refreshingly cool stream shaded by countless bamboo trees that formed an archway above.

Thoroughly relaxed by the hot springs, we then made a grueling 1,237-step climb to the top of Tiger Cave Temple, a Buddhist shrine perched precariously on a spindle of limestone that erupts nearly a thousand meters in the air, as if grasping for the heavens. The physical exertion in the scorching Thai heat drenched my shirt with sweat, and more than few times I peered through sweat-soaked eyes to see precipices dropping endlessly just inches from my feet, but the view at the top erased these thoughts from my mind. The Andaman coast and familiar limestone karsts stretched boundlessly before my eyes, providing a heavenly backdrop for the verdant greenery that abounded, interrupted only by the occasional rubber tree farm that dotted the landscape.

After snapping some pictures, I headed down and back for dinner and a shower. Unfortunately, our project coordinator's mom had died the night before, so on Monday night we attended her funeral. Although the southern Thai peninsula is dominated by Islam (a fact corroborated by the call to prayer at the crack of dawn every morning), her mother was Buddhist, which meant a funeral at one of the Buddhist temples in town. Through the acrid smell of burning incense (Buddhist tradition dictates that everyone present at the funeral lights a stick of incense and says a prayer before the casket), Buddhist monks garbed in orange robes chanted prayers, while attendees honored the dead by offering prayers over clasped hands. It was my first Buddhist funeral, and definitely a unique cultural experience that enriched my time here.

Tuesday our conservation team boarded the dive boat for a two day seahorse release project that had been in the works for quite some time, a result of our partnership with marine fisheries officials here in the region. Over the course of five dives, we released and monitored the seahorses as they adapted to their new environment. On Tuesday night, we made a night dive, the first night dive for most of us. Through the glow of a flashlight, I was able to observe some unique aquatic life, including rare crustaceans, a meter-long barracuda, and three sharks! At the bottom of the ocean, in the middle of the pitch black night, the object of interest for three sharks, I came to the comforting realization that this experience combined three of man's deepest fears: deep water, the dark, and sharks. And all in a night's work.

Between dives, I fished for fish and squid with the Thai crew, pulling in enough for a delicious lunch the following day. Anchored in the middle of the Andaman Sea, we observed the dazzling array of stars before sleeping on the boat, and then woke up to make two more dives, before returning to the mainland throroughly exhausted. Which brings me to the present, my eyes heavy with fatigue, hunched over a computer, composing this masterpiece for your eyes. So without further ramblings, I'm signing off until next time.