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.