Snorkelling

I am recently back from a vacation in Phuket. I absolutely loved it :-) Apart from the usual vacation type things (beach-bumming, speed boating, getting drunk, getting more drunk, canoeing, getting tanned, getting drunk yet again, gorging on seafood, making a fool of myself on the ramp), I had a new experience - snorkelling. Alas, I dont have any pictures to share. So I shall have to remain content trying to describe the experience.

Snorkelling is essentially scuba diving without the scuba gear and without the diving :-) You put a really tight mask around your eyes and nose, and bite into a clamp which lets you breathe only with your mouth. Then you go underwater, floating just under the surface of the sea. And if you are anywhere near the coral reefs near Rang Yai near Phuket, you try to get used to all the fish ramming into your eyes, hands and body :-)

The fish are truly spectacular - shiny and multiple colored. The sea floor is invisible - its covered with coral. The water is cool and mighty. Strange patterns, shapes and forms become suddenly visible. You realize the fragility of your breathing. You try to get used to the strange wheezing sound that signifies your breath. And you wonder at your insignificance and loneliness in this wondrous world. The sea is lovely, dark and deep. It is at once dignified and dangerous, unfamiliar and friendly, ever changing and always the same.

I would LOVE to go snorkelling again :-)