Asia Archives - Page 5 of 5 - ETB Travel Photography

Octopus, Giant Clams, and Turtles at Fish Head Reef…The Maldives

Well, we were up by 4:30 am. The time adjustment has been poor at best for us. We certainly haven’t needed the 6am wake up call! Today our dive briefing was at 6:15 instead of 6:30 so that we could beat a few boats into the water.

Dive Sites in the Maldives

Hafza Thila in North Ari Atoll

We dove Hafza Thila in the North Ari Atoll, that is once we found the site. Our group of 6 dropped into deep blue with our dive master and didn’t find the pinnacle so we had to surface, board the boat, and drop again. At first the visibility wasn’t that great, but that seems to be the case where there a slight current. The trade off is usually for a few shark sightings as they like to rest in the current. We spotted a giant moray as we circled around the reef and other divers but the best part to me was on the top of the pinnacle. Here we found countless seastars and anemones with their clownfish counterparts. The table coral was lovely and large enough for two baby white tip reef sharks to rest beneath its ledge. Overall it was a pretty nice dive though still a bit chaotic with multiple dive groups in the area. Hopefully we won’t be competing with boats on every site. Continue reading “Octopus, Giant Clams, and Turtles at Fish Head Reef…The Maldives” →

White Eyed Eel, Sharks, and more at Kurumba House Reef and Maaya Thila

I believe I have only been on one dive boat live aboard previously, but have been on similar excursions for whale watching and sailing where we stay on a big boat and drag a dinghy behind us. I’ve never been on a live aboard when another flat decked dive boat the size of ours with tanks and a cover follows along. Though nothing fancy, it is nice to leave all our wet gear on the Dhoni.

The group of twenty four divers were broken into four smaller sections. Ramona, Michael, Julie, Dustin, Rootie and I comprised the “American” group who was led by Akko. There were also Asian, International, and German/Asian groups led by Chris, Ian, and Russ, respectively. Continue reading “White Eyed Eel, Sharks, and more at Kurumba House Reef and Maaya Thila” →

On the Dive Boat, MV Orion

Boarding the MV Orion

Today was one of anticipation and relaxation. While our B&B was nice and breakfast good, we didn’t have a whole lot to do but wait to get to the boat at 1pm. This afternoon couldn’t come fast enough. The wonderful hotel staff arranged a transfer for us back to the airport where we met up with Ramona, Michael, Dustin and Julie who we met a little over a year ago on a whale watching excursion. It was fun to reconnect in the air-conditioned Burger King at the airport as we waited for the rest of the passengers to arrive.

It wasn’t long before we boarded our transport to the MV Orion. I thought the local dive boat was acting as a ferry, but as it turns out the Dhoni is the boat we dive off while we sleep on the plush Orion. The Dhoni stays with us for our week-long journey.

Our room is spacious with twin beds, a bedside table, vanity, closets, and one nice bathroom with real toilets. No pumping the head required. The boat was constructed in 2009 and most of the crew have been with it the whole time. If only they got the A/C working a little better. We are told the rooms will cool once we start moving, but we are waiting for more guests to arrive later tonight. We shall see. As Rootie exclaimed, “I wonder if the beds with only one sheet are any indication of how cool our rooms will get.

The boat features a hot tub, bar, salon, massage parlor, spotty internet service for a $20 fee, and a great upper deck with magnificent views and a nice breeze. We spent most of our time on the deck today while enjoying the sunshine.

Rice seems to be a staple in these parts. Actually, perhaps starches in general as pasta and potatoes and rice were served with lunch and dinner along with mixed veggies, chicken, and another generally a type of beef. Nothing terribly gourmet.

Our dive gear is set up on the Dhoni for tomorrow. We have a 6am wake up call, a briefing at 6:30, and then our first dive in the Maldives (pronounced Maldeeves). ETB

Shop

Check out the photographic note cards and key chains at my shop. Each card has a travel story associated with it. 20% of proceeds are donated to charity.

photographic note card, palau sunset — PURPLE SKY

The Maldives…Here We Come!

Traveling to the Maldives

The forecast called for snow Thursday night. If the weather people were ever right I wouldn’t have been too nervous about my travel plans to the Maldives, but for some reason the Denver weathermen have yet to notice their model is almost always 12 hours behind schedule. Snow was falling at 5:30am Thursday morning when I awoke, and it continued until my delayed AA Flight took off closer to 10 instead of 9. Another maintenance problem they announced, plus de-icing. Continue reading “The Maldives…Here We Come!” →

A Walking of Tour of Narita, Japan

Eight Hour Layover in Narita

In the Airport

On my way from Palau to Bangkok, I had an 8 hour layover in Narita, Japan. As such, I took the opportunity to check out the city, a 10 minute train ride from the airport. As many mentioned on TripAdvisor, it was worth a visit. Despite the reviews, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect of the city. Would it be close enough to the airport, that with all the visitors, English would be prominent? Or would it be so small that Japanese would be the only language?

I was quickly finding out, that even in the airport, English was broken at best. I asked the volunteer to point me in the direction of the ATM. She responded, “ATM Machine?…I don’t speak English”. She reaches for her binder, turns toward the page with the ATM machine question, and points at the answer. I could only wonder how I was going to make it on the train and around Narita given the extra data plan I had paid for with AT&T wasn’t working. So much for a map!

TAKE A WALK!

The Outskirts of Bangkok – Train Markets, Floating Markets, the Death Railway, and Muang Sing

Maeklong Railway Market

What an awesome day! We started out at 7am and headed to the Maeklong Railway Market outside of Bangkok. Here, Thai vendors set out their fresh catch and vegetables in their small spaces to sell eager Thai consumers, not so much tourists. The fresh catch included of all sorts of fish, frogs, sting rays, mini crabs, mollusks, fish eggs, and more. Some of the fish were still alive. One flipped out of the bucket. Rat, my tour guide, bought it…not to eat…but to save it because it was so strong! She planned to let it out in the water at the floating markets, our next stop.

EXPLORE!

A Day Tour of Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok, home to 8 million people, is the capitol and most populous city of Thailand. It was once a small trading post during the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 15th century and grew with the modernization of Siam, now called Thailand. Now the financial city of Thailand, Bangkok is also a popular tourist destination.

Where to Stay in Bangkok

Pathumwan Princess

My tour guide, Rat, met me at the airport last night and dropped me at my hotel, the Pathumwan Princess. Guards and a barricade blocked the driveway. I had to pass through a metal detector at the doorway and a guard scanned my bag. I thought Thailand was supposed to be safe?!? The hotel was lovely. At check in, the front desk greeted me with some sort of punch and issued me a very nice room on a high floor. I had a great view of the city and of the ladies doing laps in the outdoor pool this morning.

TAKE THE TOUR!