 |
| Screaming in pure bliss midway through my first jump! |
So I wanted to give you an exciting update about my adventures... Yesterday, I had to say goodbye to my two travel buddies because they head home to the real world so I'm officially on my own. We didn't want to have some sappy teary-eyed goodbye, so we decided to go out with a bang and headed to Phuket Jungle Bungee Jump. For some time now (I'm not sure exactly when it started but it's been at least 5-6 years) I have been afraid of heights. Slowly over the past year, I have conquered this fear by exposing myself to situations I would normally avoid. It started when I was a counselor last summer with indoor rock-climbing and diving boards at the pool. More recently, I did the Slingshot in Eilat, I did cliff-jumping off a waterfall in Chiang Mai and last week I did rock-climbing in the middle of the sea without any sort of harness. So yesterday was finally the real test: a 50m (165 foot or 15 stories) drop above a lake in Phuket that would make Evil Kneivel do a double-take. My buddies let me go first to avoid a long wait and after a quick ascent to the top, and a man counting down with the most authoritative voice I have ever heard, I fell forward into free-fall! The jump was absolute insanity and one of the most incredible things I have ever done. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face for 20 minutes after as Goose and Dan completed their jumps. A second free jump was included, so I thought "why not?!" and did it again, the second time inclusive of a full dunk in the lake below. Unbelievable experience and so proud that I have gotten over my fear! Skydiving lies ahead at some point...
Now I'm on my own in a seaside town called Krabi. My arrival has been strange as the hostel I'm in is nice and cheap, but the town has been ravaged by floods the past three days and over 200 people have died, mostly due to capsizing boats and mudslides. Thankfully, my boat made it through the storm a few days ago... This was awful news accompanied by more bad news that there is no running water, which means no showers and no easy way to go #2. Guess I'll have to keep improvising, I'm becoming pretty good at it...
Today, despite warnings from my family to avoid boats altogether, I went sea-kayaking and met lots of cool people. It was raining quite hard but we had partial cover some of the time when we went through caves. I paddled through two really cool caves, the first called Anaconda Cave because it's shaped like the innards of an anaconda, and the second called Cave of the Garden of Eden because it leads to an amazing lagoon that some would compare to the birthplace of Adam and Eve. We had an awesome seafood lunch and then headed to a place called Ghost/Skull Cave. It was a huge cave full of stalactites and stalagmites and paintings all over the ceiling that date back over 2000 years! Very cool and a good first day on my own.
Now I'm trying to figure out my next move. My plan was to finish off in Thailand with my Open Water Scuba Diving certification course, but the island that I would be doing it on is not the safest place to be right now. There are thousands stranded there and a lack of food and water and today they sent Thailand's only navy carrier there to rescue tourists. I have contacted the diving resort and am eagerly awaiting a reply to see if diving will be an option...
Miss you all!
Ciao for now,
Max
No comments:
Post a Comment