I'm in Thailand since almost 2 weeks and I really like it so far. After a night bus trip to Krabi, and a mini-bus to Koh Lanta, I finally ended up on a beach :-) Something I was dreaming since the last cold night at 5800m in Nepal... such a relief! The water is so warm... but now, after being here for a week, I start to find it a bit chilly sometimes. It's really easy to get use to the heat.

So I came to Thailand to go diving, and I went straight to different diving center on Koh Lanta to find one to do my PADI, the open water. With Scuba Lanta, I finally ended up doing the advance as well to enjoy more the different dives I'm planning here. The team is really great and their teachers as well, and for once on the islands, it's not a swedish own diving center. It's fun to speak with the instructors or people working in the diving shops to see how they decided to stay on the islands. One of my instructor is a french guy, Guillaume, and he's on Koh Lanta since 7 years... Most of them originally came to Thailand only for some holidays, and finally called home to say what they would never be back... In some extent I can understand it. I wish I had more time in Thailand and in Asia, there's so much to see here, and you don't want to rush everywhere. The life on Koh Lanta and the parties make me think about the life you can have in Chamonix (ski resort in France), it's kind of the same but different ("same same but different" as you would say here).

I did 7 dives here on 2 spots Koh Bida and Koh Haa. The marine life is so colorful and full of life. There're fishes everywhere and the game is to recognize them afterward, or to find a specific one underwater. My top list I saw is the leopard shark, sea snakes, groupers, anglefish, stonefish... I have to remember more names from the fish ID book tomorrow... And I wish I had a camera with a waterproof box... I saw pictures from the instructor, Guillaume, and it's amazing the color you can get. I didn't believe it before I saw his pictures.

The plan for tomorrow is to go to the famous Hin Dang diving spot and hopefully to see manta rays... That's a dream to swim around them... And maybe more leopard shark or whale shark ... One of the best spot in Thailand! More live news with my GPS messages tomorrow.