Salalah: Doing it again!!!

The events described in this post took place on or about Sept 10th, 2010 in Salalah, Oman.  For those of you viewing this through Facebook 'Notes', the original post is available on www.henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. It will enable you access to photo galleries and other multi-media material which don't transfer into 'Notes'
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Well, as I don't really want to go into detail about how crappy my Summer was, I won't.  Let's just say that I was injured for my entire trip home, didn't get to take a better job at the premier University in Oman, and was thouroughly busy with family stuff the entire time.  Not only that, but I came back to Oman in the middle of Ramadan (see previous post, Ramadan: Thirty Days  of bad road...), and everyone I new was still back home on vacation.  It was pretty rough, but I managed to soldier through.  Everyone eventually came back, things started to look 'normal' again, and the semester was set to start.  The thing was, everyone came back pretty refreshed, and here I was completely blow-out and stressed.  I needed something.  I needed a vacation!

The one good thing about weathering through a Ramadan is the week-long work-holiday that comes at the end of it.  It was the perfect opportunity to get out of Dodge. The question was just where.  Here's when one of my favorite people come in to save the day!  Marie, a friend, confidant and co-conspirator, put forth the proposition that I come back and visit Salalah (see previous post Salalah: My meterosexual weekend).  It didn't take much convincing (or it might have been my idea and she might not have taken too much convincing), but I quickly decided to go out to Salalah for the Eid holiday.


I had planned to take an entire six-day vacation.  Though things being as they are, it quickly changed to a four-day whirlwind journey into the jewel of the Dofar region, during Khareef.

Khareef is the rainy season/monsoon season.  Everything is totally green and lush, and it rains almost every day. It is completely different from anywhere in the Gulf.  People come from all over the region to enjoy the balmy clime, while the rest of the Gulf enjoys brutal heat and scorching sun that is the norm for this time of year.  Herders come from all over to graise thier animals in lush green pastures.  It is definitely the time of year to go to Salalah.

We did a lot of the same stuff as last time.  Though there were some new experiences as well.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves. I've also included some videos below.  You'll notice that they are primarily about camels.  Camels were everywhere while I was in Salalah (as you will see in the video).  They were blocking the roads at certain points.  Even though it was a little inconvenient at the time, I still think that seeing the massive beasts up close was worth it.  Any way.... I hope you enjoy!

Camels

Fun Diving, Hurting Oneself, and Leaving Koh Tao

From Hurting oneslef, Ko Tao

The events described in this post took place on or about July 10th, 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand.  For those of you viewing this through Facebook 'Notes', the original post is available on www.henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. It will enable you access to photo galleries and other multi-media material which don't transfer into 'Notes'

So, as with the plans of mice and men, so do Henrick's plans often go awry. In my initial planning phase of my vacation, I charted out all the things I wanted to do and sketched the whole vacation out. I would dive the whole entire time. Right up until the day I was going to leave (doing the morning dive and leaving in the evening). Ok, no problem right.... wrong! I hadn't taken into consideration one big factor. I was flying from Ko Samui to Bangkok. Where's the problem you say> That is where you are wrong gentle reader! There's a big problem, it's called nitrogen! Now, if your unfamiliar with diving, and the rules thereof, here's the basic deal. Most of the safety and precautionary measures in diving (and that's most of them actually), focus on measuring, limiting and preventing the buildup of this noble gas. As a beginning diver you find all about the properties and behavior of the stuff. It can be very dangerous. Especially when combined with Boyle's law, and the rapid reduction of air pressure which comes with elevations associated with flying. So, in a nutshell, I had to not dive on my final day. Now, therein lies the rub. What was I to do with the last morning of my vacation? I got to thinking... that's usually where all my troubles begin.

After a bit of wracking my brains, I came up with the solution. I would rent a scooter like a had a few days prior and drive around Ko Tao Island and take pictures. I would do this as the excess nitrogen drained slowly out of my blood and tissue, and I returned to normal levels of the gas in my body. Seems like a good way to avoid the rapid release of soluble Nitrogen in the airplane that would probably result in something catastrophic.

I rented the bike the night before and had it all ready for the morning. I drove out towards the pier and took a bunch of photos. I was just driving to check out this look-out point that seemed really interesting from the map, when just as I rounded the corner I took a spill! Not a half an hour into my photo-sojourn! Long story someone took me to one of the local clinics (which specialize in motorbike accidents). Got treated by a female, Thai, Dr. Mengele (it was terrible), who was nasty to me even though I was obviously in shock, then sent on my merry way back to Big Blue to pack and get ready to leave... all with a pretty huge, freshly stitched and traumatized foot. AWESOME!!!!

Long story short, I got off the island with some help and a lot of patience from those on the ferry, at the airport, as well as those on the plane. I checked into a hotel near the airport, and managed to get out on my 6:3o flight.

THe plane ride back was made most uncomfortable due to my foot injury. It was a difficult six hours, but the staff at Qatar air was totally cool and accommodated me. In Qatar, I had an eight-hour layover. I immediately checked into the VIP lounge to relax, forking over the 50$ it cost for comfortable couches, a little cold buffet, wifi, and a place to charge my computer and Iphone. This is my advice to everyone... do the VIP lounges if you can! Sure, it costs a little bit of money, but being comfortable in transit defrays the stress of air-travel. Do it, because I said so, and I know!

With a little bit of hobbling, I managed to drive back to Nizwa later that night (round midnight). Instead of going directly home and relaxing my wounded, fatigued self, i went to my friend Jared's house, where I knew my Nizwa buddies would be congregating. I arrived at 1, and got to participate in the tail-end of the three day joint-birthday bash for Jared and another one our friends Emily. It was a great time and I ended up getting to bed sometime in the next morning, after we watched the sunrise and had omlettes. A pretty good day, given the circumstances around it all.

Arriving on Koh Tao: Advanced Open Water and Tech Diving

The events described in this post took place on or about July 3rd to the 9th on the Island of Ko Tao, Thailand.  For those of you viewing this through Facebook 'Notes', the original post is available on www.henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. It will enable you access to photo galleries and other multi-media material which don't transfer into 'Notes'



I took the eight o'clock bus out of Kosan road and headed toward the islands. It was a double-decker that was packed with what mostly seemed like backpackers and misfits. It wasn't that comfortable, but I was really excited for diving in the Gulf of Thailand. The nervous anticipation overcame the second rate conditions for me. Overall, the only thing that bothered me was the overwhelming compulsion to know where my wallet was at all times (including napping with it as my pillow). It was about a 10 hour bus ride. We reached the dock, and switched the bus for a hi-powered ferry right about as the sky was starting to lighten up for dawn. From there it was the Lumpraya ferry, and in an hour or two we arrived early morning in Ko Tao.

I checked into Big Blue (the resort I had booked for this part of the vacation, and met my instructor Deano. A really cool Irish guy. He would be responsible for conducting my advanced diving certification. He was accompanied by his dive-master-in-training Matt, who was a London Brit. Here was the really cool part. Apparently there wasn't anyone else starting there advanced open water certification that day only me. So, I ended up with a 3-day private course, with two experienced divers as my companions. This made it AWESOME. It was all about me the whole time. Totally GREAT!

As per the requirements of the certification, There were a few required 'components' of the certification. I had to do a deep dive, an underwater navigation dive, and the rest I could tailor to my own liking from a extensive menu of options. I ended up choosing a few others, and managed to 'cross-train' a Nitrox dive with my deep dive (which is why, I believe, I didn't get narced).

Ko Tao was beautiful, and I had a great time living in my little bungalow at the end of Sairee beach. I had also taken a scooter up the mountain to a really nice vantage point and taken some pictures. It was actually pretty treacherous.

After I had done my certification, I still had a few days left, where I had planned on doing osme recreation diving. Then, as fate would have it, my instructor Deano told me about this try-a-dive thing at the Tech-Shack. I really had no idea what i was in store for, but agreed anyway. The next morning we met in front of the Big-Blue-Tech office and began our 2-dive technical course.

Tech diving is really fun, although by its very nature it's not meant to be a recreational activity. It is the skills and proficiencies you need to work in the professional diving field. This includes knowing how to use a bunch of new gear (and re-learn all the old gear, now with a technical diving spin on it), having to incorporate a bunch of new techniques into your repertoire, and having to face a brand new scenarios underwater.

The gear is a lot cooler in tech-diving. First of all you carry two of everything because tech-divers dive alone. This also includes two0tanks instead of one. You feel like a navy seal with all that jazz on. You also have to learn how to fin backwards. Do in-place rotations (helicopter spins), and fend off assailents meant to represent other tech divers who have run out of air, and are accosting you for yours. All in all very cool and the guys at the Tech-shack were really cool, caring, and extremely into what the were doing. Click the link below to view a gallery of tech-diving pics, they're pretty cool!

Tech Diving

I finished up the week with two recreational dives at Pottery and Japanese (two of the local Sairee beach dive sites. They were pretty cool. We did some pretty cool swim-throughs and played around groupings of rocks. There was a turtle and some other really interesting things. All-in-all, some really nice dives.

I just have to mention here, that Big-Blue diving resort was great and I am really glad that I went there. The diving experience was immense and I really enjoyed myself almost beyond words. The people there were also great, and the staff was freindly and generally amazing. If you dive and are planning a trip out that way, I highly recommend Big-Blue!

Then there was my injury on the last day.... to be continued....