'Strange?', I thought and kept on swimming around, hunting for the more colourful fish.
It wasn't until I had to swim through a huge swarm of jellyfish that I started to think that maybe I should be looking to head back in. But everyone else was having a great time, so my worries subsided.
Until it struck.
Kapow, a sting to my right flank, followed closely to one on the shoulder. It was at that stage I decided things definitely weren't that 'ducky'. I hauled myself on board, and just in time it seemed, as all the other snorkelers started instantly complaining about stings and such. Some came aboard with huge rashes, bigger than Ben Hur, some were. I briefly considered allowing Renee to urinate on me, but I would have rather died in terrible pain.
The stings weren't dangerous, or even severely harmful, just off-putting. It finalised our snorkeling adventure right there and then. Floating around to the other islands seemed to be just time filler as we grew more and more disappointed with our decision to come out in the first place.
The last few days have been spent relaxing on a beach, eating Tempura battered delicacies, and attempting to hunt for jobs on the internet. I had also forgot to mention - we visited the floating markets when we were in Bangkok. Took an hour to get there and was somewhat worth it to see what was so different about it all. Turns out, it is just like a regular market but you get around via boat. An interesting idea and a great way to buy some more extra crap that I dont need. Photos of that as well as Koh Chnag below:
With this final and relaxing stage of our 7 week long return to Australia, I fear and also sadly digress that this may be one of my final blog posts................
Alas, all good things must end and the show must go on. I have no doubt that I will continue travelling, however the frequency and longevity of such will not be anywhere near as extreme as what it has been over the last five years this blog has been running. As such, these posts will die down, perhaps not altogether, but less frequently for sure.
It has been a great period of life during my travels. I have been to 168 cities in 38 different countries (with hopefully many more to come).
I have seen the Colosseum of Rome, the schnapps factories of Austria, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Leaning Tower in Pisa, the Acropolis of Athens, the Pantheons of Italy and France and the Parthenon of Greece, the smile of the Mona Lisa, the clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, the fantastic green of the Northern Lights, the impressiveness of the Taj Mahal, the sunrise from the Ghats of Varanasi, the Skyscrapers of New York, the Guggenheim of Bilbao, the Coffee shops of Amsterdam, the ruins of Angkor Wat, the 1969 islands of Halong Bay (most of them), the beaches of Croatia, the bazaars of Morocco, the waterways of Venice, the mighty beerhalls of Oktoberfest, the monster in Loch Ness (I think), the cliffs of the Twelve Apostles, the Sagrada Familia of Barcelona, the poverty of Albania, the beauty of Lauterbrunnen, the fleeting glimpses of Montenegro and Liectenstein, the mean streets of South Central LA, the nice streets of Southfields UK, the Wall built by Hadrian and the Wall built by Berlin, the bars of Bruges, the amazing fireworks celebrations of New Years in Lisbon, the Dome in Florence, the villages of Laos, the Towers of Malaysia, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the Great Pyramids of Giza, the fish of the Red Sea, the border of Israel and the wonder of Petra, the bottom of a Guinness glass in Belfast, the ducks at Lake Bled, the Concentration camps of the Nazis and the Killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, the pirate ship of Sweden, the lakes of Luxembourg, the biodomes of the Eden Project, the inside of many pubs (lets not try counting them), the stadium of Cardiff, the Mountain of Matterhorn and the Mount of Maunganui, the temples of Thailand, the Cathedrals of England, the Casino of Monte Carlo, the back alley illegal beer markets of Jaipur, the Running of the Bulls, the Palace of Sintra, the Pilseners of Prague, and the islands of Greece.
I have seen these sights with many good friends and my thirst for travel has not dwindled, although my bank account has. To see the world is one thing but to experience it is something completely different, and I hope through these past blogs that consist of insights and highlights, praise and complaints, & ambitions and fears that it has been an experience you have shared also.
Lets not think of this as a final post though. I do have Australia to see, and I do have a few small / medium sized trips that I would love to get off my chest should a few extra dollars wriggle their way into my pockets. Do check in from time to time to see if any of those wishes have been answered, but until then.
Adios, Au Revoir, Vaarwel, Laters, Tam Biet, Ciao, and Pozdrav
And of course, Merry Christmas
P.S. I leave you with a parting shot taken from our balcony window only moments ago.
