I went to Koh Tao, Thailand to get my Open Water License for SCUBA diving. Koh Tao is a small island off the Eastern Coast. Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan are two neighboring islands that are fairly well know. When my cousin Mel visited, we actually hit both of those islands, but they were way too young and full of partying. Koh Tao was a mature party vibe. But there were heaps of outdoor bars geared towards relaxing and chatting with friends.

I spent about 7 days in Koh Tao in total, and a few days before leaving my diving instructor told me about something called a “liveaboard”. This is where you can live aboard a boat for a few days while diving. Off the Western Coast of Thailand they ran these liveaboards to various islands and diving spots. But I had heard stories about one diving spot called “Richelieu Rock”. Named by Jacque Cousteau, Richelieu Rock is 30 miles or so from the coast and a pinnacle of diving in Thailand. It is also widely known as a top ten diving spot in the world. I felt spoiled even considering diving a top ten within my first ten dives. I decided to pull the trigger.

Bomb Manta from Thad Anderson on Vimeo.

Let me preface with this…..diving is extremely tiring. Every 10 meters equals an additional atmospheric pressure. We were often diving for 50 minutes as deep as 30 meters. This was absolute bananas on my body. The first night we took off at 10 pm and traveled to the first diving site during the night. I awoke the next morning at 6 am, a quick snack, dive, breakfast break, dive, lunch, break, dive, break, dive, dinner, then an optional night dive. I ended seeing a giant 15 foot manta ray, a whale shark, and a leopard shark. I made some great friends as well. Def one was one of the best experiences of my life. Till tomorrow.

So I am going to try and update more. There is so much happening, I often don’t know where to even begin explaining what has transpired. Since my last post heaps of things have happened. I’m gonna give a short synopsis of things every day or so…..

Catching Up Post #1-The FUN-eral

I arrived to Chiang Mai, Thailand from Luang Prabang, Laos and there was some huge street festival going on outside my hotel. After some sleuthing, (well I just asked the hotel clerk) I found out the head monk of Chiang Mai (The hub of Northern Thailand) had died. They only change monks every 20-30 years so this was a pretty big deal. The princess of Thailand showed up with her barricade, along with 15,000 spectators. This funeral was 4 days long and free food was given away for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Food was prepared in a kiddy pool size wok that was stirred with shovels. This sounds like an exaggeration, but see the picture.

This entire event was held on the parameter of an enormous Temple. Beside the Temple an massive four story elephant with wings had been built. The wings moved, the trunk moved, it was quite elaborate. At the end of the four days was a firework display directly over the crowd. As the finale, they put this monk’s casket on top of the giant four story elephant with wings, and lit it on fire. It. Was. Bananas.

As a result of the funeral, I met two groups of people that really enjoyed. First I met a few Aussies …Reece, Jake, and Marty. I spent almost every night in Chiang Mai with these fellas and then another week after Chiang Mai. While we were all at the funeral, I met a group of Americans…Shoshie, Moshe, Jessica, and Jason. They’re all from Cali and I ended up hooking up with them later on in the trip. They renamed the funeral the FUN-eral because it was so much fun. All in all, the FUN-eral was amazing to see, and I met some great folks.

FUN-eral from Thad Anderson on Vimeo.

This video is at the Riverside Tiki Bar with Fluke and a few travelers. I loved this night.. I’m still learning…….& searching…..for truth.