Life as a Mermaid

So far during this trip I had been at sea level (e.g. London), well over it (e.g. Pushkar), remarkably past it (e.g. Vang Vieng) and nearly as far as you can get above it (e.g. Annapurnas). However it was yet to be known what if feels like to be in negative elevations, this is under the sea!

For the sake of completeness my loyal travel mate -Linda- and I crossed the Thai-Malaysian border to visit the Perhentian islands. The two small islands -Perhentian Kecil and Perhentian Besar- are becoming increasingly popular among Southeast Asia trotters. Nonetheless the exorbitant price of alcohol in Malaysia (heavily taxed by the Islamic government) and the better accessibility of the Thai islands has kept the levels of development and trashy tourism fairly low. Thanks to this the Perhentian archipelago remains an underwater paradise where one can easily spot lovely creatures such as turtles, sharks and sting rays mingling with schools of tropical fish.

We worked our ticket to this spectacle by learning step-by-step all the necessary theory (books and everything!) to become an open water diver. Thanks to Ravi, Nic and Benita -the professional and friendly instructors of Matahari Divers- we managed to get our licenses in a short and enjoyable time.

It was then time to put our skills to practice starting with the James Bond's back roll, a classic. Once we rid ourselves of the initial bubbles a whole new world unveiled to our eyes. First stop: Nemo's quarters. Hilarious fellow. The seafari continued through the pits and valleys of coral reef where millions of fish traveled in opposite directions emulating an Asian city in rush hour. Although our camera missed most of them (we only took it with us to one of the dives) the list of underwater highlights included a blue dotted stingray, a box fish, some little sharks and a turtle among other delights.

I know this is going to sound familiar to the readers of this blog but those days under the water embodied some of the most unforgettable sights of my trip. Somewhere sometime I read that one can see more wildlife in ten minutes by a coral reef than in ten hours in a jungle forest. Having done both myself, I do agree. Perhaps it is due to a (fake) sense of self-confidence but most of the fish wont hide from scuba divers. On the contrary the carry on with their daily routines and in some cases they might even show as much interest in us -the outsiders- as we do. An example this was an amazing underwater trip escorted by a school of barracudas that engraved forever in my memory.

PS: Thanks to Geraldine for some of the pictures!

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A lo largo de mi viaje me habeis visto a nivel del mar (p.ej. en Londres), algunos cientos de metros sobre el (p.ej. en Pushkar), varios cientos de metros sobre el mismo (p.ej. en Vang Vieng) e incluso miles de metros por encima de el (p.ej. en los Annapurnas). Lo que todavia no habia experimentado es lo que se siente al estar algunos metros bajo el mar!

Para resolver esta incertidumbre mi compañera de aventuras Linda y yo cruzamos la frontera entre Tailandia y Malasia para embarcarnos en un viaje a las islas Perhentian. Estas diminutas islas del mar del Sur de China ganan mas y mas adeptos cada dia, especialmente entre buceadores de todo el mundo que llegan atraidos por los fondos virgenes lejos de sus hipertransitados vecinos del norte (p.ej. Kho Tao, Kho Phi Phi en Tailandia).

Tras una semana de preparacion teorica y practica en la escuela de buceo Matahari por fin conseguimos nuestras licencias PADI y con ellas el billete a un viaje inolvidable. Primera parada: la guarida de Nemo (sisi, el de la peli). De ahi en adelante mantas, pequeños tiburones y la perla del dia: una tortuga! Se que os va a sonar a topico pero mi viaje submarino ha sido una de las actividades mas especiales que he hecho hasta ahora. En algun lugar lei que es posible ver mas vida animal en 10 minutos en un arrecife de coral que en 10 horas en medio de la selva. Mi experiencia corrobora esta afirmacion. Es dificil de explicar lo que se siente al ser aceptado como invitado especial en un banco de barracudas atravesando los fondos avisales... los colores, los movimientos, el silencio sepulcral unicamente roto por tu propia respiracion. En fin, inolvidable.