Coromandel Trek

From Tauranga Dan skipped work for a week and we headed North, spending one night at the family ‘Bach’ (NZ holiday home) before travelling all the way North of the Coromandel region, parking the car in Colville and embarking on a three night trek around the tip of the region. From Fantail Bay to Port Jackson to Stony Bay I’d say we’d experienced some of the best views, worst blisters and hardest earned soak in a Thermal Pool by the end! A couple more more rough nights were spent at the ‘Bach’ picnicing, checking out the little shops and car hunting at the only internet hub. There wasn’t a chance Dan was bringing back a set of fireworks he had brought the whole trek so we set those off on the beach. The perfect ending to an amazing week!

Let the Journey Begin!

Yet another exciting chapter of my life has begun. October 31^st 2012 I arrived in Auckland, New Zealand. I was met by a friend and fellow traveler, Daniel, I had met two years ago on my excursion through Thailand. He excelled the position of a tour guide as we drove the 2 hours North to Whangarei where I stayed with him for the next couple days. That weekend we headed back down to Auckland where I was lucky enough to sit in on the somewhat eventful 4x4 portion of a forestry course Dan was taking with two other co-workers. Let’s just say I’ve never seen a man so very calm sitting in a truck with so few wheels on the ground as a team of safety patrol were dispatched. From there we spent the night in Auckland, where I met the rest of the team Dan works with. Sunday we said our goodbyes as Dan went back to Whangarei and I hopped on a bus destined for Waihi – a little town with a big history of gold mining located at the base of the Coromandel Region. After 2 days of exploring the mines I was off on another bus stopping in Tauranga, a beautiful ocean side town which I explored for a couple days on my own before meeting back up with Dan and meeting his family all together to celebrate the marriage of Dan’s cousin Isaac and his beautiful bride, Ana. Congratulations!

Homeward Bound

After a few days back in bustling Bangkok I jumped back on a plane destined to Bali (the place I had made my home for two and a half months before embarking on my whirlwind travel of South East Asia.) Over my remaining three days abroad I crammed in seeing everyone from my dive studies who where still around, visits to our beloved night market and two solid days at the beach getting that last minute tan.. Yeah it was a pretty rough couple days..
Where to next? Well for some reason I decided Vernon would be a great place to start my newfound dive instructor career... But hey, maybe that will give me a chance to crack open the Spanish books because Central America is next on the list!

Cambodia

Of the past four countries I have visited, each had been impacted in some way during the Vietnam War. I found the continueing struggle, however, to be the most evident in Cambodia. It started with a heart-breaking visit to the Teul Sleng Museum, once an elementary school, transformed into a prison and place of torture during the Khmer Rouge Regime now showcases eerily complete documentation on each prisoner. Evidence of the horrific genocide is also well preserved at one of the many 'Killing Fields' in Cheung Ek, where the mass graves remain. To this day bones and bits of clothing continue to find their way to the surface with each rainfall, reminding us of the nation's unnecessary suffering. Being so lucky to live in Canada, I found it hard to believe that in this generation in Cambodia each person has experienced or are a son/daughter of someone who lived and likely died during such suffering. Everyone had a story of their own.
Cambodia isn't all heartbreak though. It is also home to the infamous and breath-taking Temples of Angkor. Right up there with Stonehenge and the pyramids, it's a mystery how such an incredible stone civilization was ever created. Together with a guy from my hostel, we hired a tuk-tuk for the day, bought a 1-day pass and explored the temples from sunrise to sunset, with no better place to retire for the day than Siem Reap's very own 'Pub Street'. I finished my tour of Cambodia with a stop in Battambang where we visited Cambodia's only winery, climbed Phnom Sampeau to visit the 'Killing Caves' and took a ride on one of the only few remaining bamboo trains.
Back in Thailand I will begin my journey home.

Vietnam

The next stop on my Southeast Asian adventure was, I think, one that intrigued me the most. Thanks to Hollywood and my limited knowledge on this foreign country I might have expected to be greeted by a war-torn nation. Instead I discovered a country thriving on their rising tourism industry, some breath taking architecture, beautiful beaches, and yes, a history you could lose yourself in..

I began my journey in Hoi An, where you could stay busy for days soaking up the atmosphere, chatting with the curious locals,  and browsing the food markets, tailor shops and handicrafts stores. I even introduced myself to the local cuisine with an excellent cooking course held in a nearby village! I didn't stick around for long though, as I caught the next night bus headed south to the beach town of Nha Trang where I got my much needed diving fix before heading even more south to a much smaller beach town. Here I kicked back for a couple days. I couldn't miss hopping on one of the jeep tours to the red and white sand dunes - a perfect taste of the desert. The white dunes even made me miss the snow a bit.. and the red ones provided us with a memorable sunset! One more indulgence of some super fresh seafood before jumping on a bus again to the chaotic and bustling Ho Chi Minh City where I finished my time in Vietnam with a bit of history at a couple of the museums. I also checked out the Presidential Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral and post office - a surprising must-see!

Stay tuned as I'm off to Cambodia next!

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Laos

On March 6th, in the company of two fellow travellers (Katie and Yukari), I bid farewell to the cultural abiss that is Thailand, and said hello to the laid-back ways of the people of Laos. We crossed the Mekong river, survived the zoo of tour groups that was taking over the tiny immigration desk, and entered into the small border village of Huai Xai. From there we caught the ever popular 'slow-boat' to embark on a two day jouney to Luang Prabang. After two days being crammed on a boat with people, bags of rice, grass and anything else that would fit, a night in the sleepy village of Pak Beng, and almost capsizing the boat, we finally made it to the cultural capital of Loas. Richly influenced by the French, the mix of markets and baguettes was quite interesting! After two days Katie wasn't yet ready to move on, but being short on time Yukari and I continued on as a twoesome via a night bus to Vientiane. Here we tried to learn a bit more about Laos' unspoken history by taking on the National Museum as well as the very informative COPE Center, which works to provide support and spead awareness of the victims of the unexploded bombies left behind after the War of Vietnam.
From Vientiane we carried on by bus to Tha Khek, where we found a tuk-tuk driver to take us around to three of the many unique and breath-taking caves in the area. We didn't hang around for long however, as we were off again to the hammock loungers paradise of Si Phan Don - better known as the Four Thousand Islands. No more than a day to rest though as Yuki and I parted ways, her off to Cambodia, and I back on a bus and up through Paske to the border of Vietnam!

Thailand

My SouthEast Asian adventure continued on February 18^th as I boarded a plane in Denpasar Bali, and flew via Singapore to Phuket, Thailand.  After spending only a couple days hanging out at Karon and Patong beaches, I took a combination of local buses up Phuket and onto the mainland of Thailand where I stopped in Khao Sok. From what I experienced, this is just a one street town that mainly serves as a gateway for tourists to experience the beauty that is Khao Sok National Park at their own pace. A variety of treks were available ranging from a half to multiple day guided trips. Eager for some adventure, I signed myself up to leave the next morning on an overnight camping trip. The trek turned out to be great, although not what I expected. The first day I was picked up along with an older German couple and four guys. Our hilarious and appropriately named guide, ‘Big Man’ brought us by pick-up to the pier where we went by long-tail boat about an hour to a group of bungalows. Although I was kind of excited about camping in the jungle, the bungalows set on the water would be difficult to complain about. The view was stunning – towering limestone cliffs, engulfed in lush green forest, all overlooking emerald green lakes as far as the eye can see! Our next two days were one-of-a-kind, spent hiking through the jungle, stopping to take a swim in the waterfalls along the way, trekking an hour through Nam Ta Lu Caves, home to hundreds of bats, some of the biggest spiders I’ve ever seen and I don’t even want to know what else.. We swam in the lakes, kayaked, ate some incredible Thai food, and even ended the day right with some local Thai rum!

From Khao Sok I bussed to Surat Thani. I took a night train from there to Bangkok, where I somewhat successfully avoided the madness for two days before taking another night train to Chiang Mai. I spent a couple days walking the old city and abundance of markets before taking a minibus to the tiny hippy town of Pai. I finally braved my first Southeast Asian motorbike rental, and Pai was definantly the place to do it. You could choose to venture in any direction from Pai and be greeted by miles of amazing mountainous roads leading to waterfalls, several little villages including a China Town and even a Piranha Fishing Farm! Pai came alive in the evening, when the streets of the tiny town became lined with venders selling various foods, clothing and no shortage of anything hemp. I even tried to ‘relax’ with a traditional Thai massage as the woman attempts to crack every bone in your body..

Back in Chiang Mai I met with Jin and some others who I had met last year through my work with Maetaman Elephant Camp. We took a day trip to Doi Ithanon – supposedly the highest peak in Thailand. What a neat experience! I was the only foreigner in the group of maybe 14 Thais, including three monks. They were all so welcoming and we spent the whole afternoon taking endless pictures with the spectacular view as a perfect backdrop!

From Chiang Mai I continued North by bus to a little border town called Chiang Khong, only separated from Laos by the Mekong River. I met up with two girls also heading into Laos and it looks like we will at least begin the journey together.. Stay tuned as the adventure continues and I head into Laos next!

Adventure: Phase Two

It's done! Phoebie Barta is officially an Open Water Scuba Instructor. Now the plan is to not act on this in the slightest but travel Southeast Asia for one month. Ridiculous? Probably. 
The 28-day IDC was a blast! And I couldn't have asked for a better crew to do it with - fellow students as well as instructors! I wish them all the best in their dive careers and our underwater paths will cross again someday, I'm sure!
What was left in Bali of our rival IDC teams, Scuba Doo and Phoebie's Angels, kicked off our first week in the lives of hard-working and dedicated dive instructors by heading off for four days to the breath-taking island of Gili Trawangan, where you can physically lay down in every single bar.. All I can say is it was a hard place to leave.. and we even managed to find our way out of our tropical comas to go on some incredible dives! After staying an unplanned extra day we finally got the sense to make our way back to Bali where we still didn't know what to do with ourselves not waking up before the sun every morning to go to the dive shop. I felt it was probably time to move on or I would just continue to spend endless days drinking Bintang at beach bars. I bought a flight to Phuket, Thailand, and here I am with no plans whatsoever..

Life as a Divemaster

I've been in Bali about six weeks now. It was a bit of a rough start and, due to a few setbacks, I do admit to struggling to see the bright side of things at times. However, I did just that. I struggled through it and here I am, still with Blue Season in Bali, getting ready to start my IDC (Instructor Development Course) on the 14th. As of Christmas Eve Phoebie Barta has achieved Divemaster status! And a special thanks to Neil, my mentor and extremely experienced/knowledgeable diver I would have to say! Since then I have been assisting with courses and tagging along every chance I get to learn as much as I can from the local guides here. Its incredible how well they know the sites and seem to just be able to 'sense' the marine life around them. Our typical day looks like this: Up at 5:30am to leave for the shop by six. Load up all the tanks/gear we will need for the day's diving. Breakfast! Then the guests arrive and we make ourselves available to lend a hand wherever needed. We are off! Either on the boat or, more frequently, to one of the beautiful off-shore sites on the North-East side of the island by bus (about 2-2.5 hours) Then we dive! We do either 2 or 3 dives with a lunch break in between. There are some amazing things to see out here, some of my favourites being the various brightly coloured nudibranch, lion fish, scorpion fish, frog fish, ribbon eels, black tip reef shark, barracuda, circling jack fish and even a couple manta rays!! I am still hoping to see a mola mola as Bali is one of the few locations in the world they are spotted frequently. So i'll keep my fingers crossed! Once we are back at the shop we wash down all the gear and unload the tanks before heading home. At this point almost all of the interns can be found at the beloved night market, where a wealth of diverse and delicious balinese food awaits, after which we are usually off to our favourite bar, On-On's, where you can almost always find us either shooting some pool or winding down from our stressful day at 'work' over a few Bintang.