Erik's World Tour continues...

[NorthDiver]

Originally posted by Erik
Thanks Gabriel, I'm really interested in the stuff you've been posting.
I looked up your profile, but nada! Let us know a little about you if that's cool....we're all ok here, the freaks don't last too long, so no worries
Warmly,
Erik Y.

But sven is still here, trying to get to my sister!!! But she really like sealshaped people so maby some day..

And Eric, you really have been essential to this forum!!!
Looking foreward to hearing from you!
No, not you sven!

Lasse

Water/sea like soup here now 20 cm visibility... :waterwork

 

[Stephan Whelan]

I met up with Erik and Neeka last night for dinner, was also joined by BryanW (using the Forum names here )

Had a great time - awesome to actually meet more of the top people who make up with kind and caring community. I hope to meet more of you during the coming months and years!

Anyway, best of luck to Erik and Neeka on their travels, although don't worry - Erik has promised he will be popping into Internet Cafes along his journey to keep up with his dose of DB and maintain his title of Top Poster!

 

[Iyadiver]

Damn... My first visit to this side of the forum. I thought I am not yet a qualified freediver so I stay away from this one.

Don't worry people, DB beloved Erik & wife is going into a paradise....Indonesia....my place....my city. I'll take care of him here, maybe smuggle him into a bar if Neeka not looking .

Internet here is available at every corner, just like mushrooms in the humid air, only US$0.5 per hour of use ....... 56K modem connection.

Jakarta has everything to offer ( bombs not included:naughty ), for those who has never been here one might think you will end of in BedRock with Wilma and Fred Flintstone................man this is a modern city. You will be surprised to see houses sporting 10-20 footer parabolic antena dish, u probably think Jakarta communicates often with E.T. Quite a sight to see a Porsche trying to overtake a three wheeler mini taxi ( like those in India ).

Cellular phone is very good. Computers are so cheap and advance cause u need not buy branded IBM, you can get those non-branded "Grasshoper" we call it. Cars much more expensive than US but way cheaper than Singapore.

10,000 plus islands nation wide, u can spend a life time backpacking and you can't see it all. No less than a hundred dialects nation wide but everyone speaks the national language.

Some of the best diving spots in the world, world reknowned Manado, Bali, Wakatobi.........damn so much more....but some are expensive to go.

Any kind of food is available here, including junks ones like McDonald, Wendy and bla bla bla.

Erik & Neeka will love this (god forsaken) country......... I mean with me around

If you like wave surfing, we have at least two world class "Gland" locations.

Freediving buddies.............hhhmmmm...... me ?:waterwork . Must get Eric to teach me how do it. I am aiming for no more than 60 seconds and 60 feet. My 3 packs a day smoking is not something I will want to give up:head.

I'll get Eric to meet up with a few Aussie freedivers, one of them is the designer/owner of Collins Speargun. He lives here in Jakarta and..................... he loves it here.

Maybe we get Eric to open a freediving class to allow him to be "alive". Getting the student might not be the problem, getting the visibility to exceed 30 feet in nearby water is the problem
:waterwork

I'll give him a welcome present. I'll take him to the famous World War 2 wreck. The 565 feet long USS Houston and the original HMAS Perth (5% smaller ) , both sank in 1942. In most cases he must strap a tank to see them, shallow (120 feet ) but water is hostile.

You guys won't miss him. By the first month or so of his stay, he will be back on line again at DB...........guaranteed.


IYA

 

[Erik]

Mr. Cairo

Hello amigos, I'm in sunny and polluted Cairo, a small city of 15 million (cars that is) and enjoying it. We've been having a great time being harrased by touts and having Neeka stared at (blond)
It is very interesting of course, we went to the BIG museum today, will do the pyramids tomorrow, then we're headed for the Sinai to get a few weeks of diving in. Sharm El Sheik is mandatory for a few days, even if we're not big on tourist spots, then we'll hit Dahab and further North for more laid back sites
We couldn't stay in the UK, as it was costing us much more than we expected, but it was good to meet Bryan W and our fearless leader Stephan ....we had a great time with some good laughs, and he has now lost all respect for me (banana and urinal jokes must have done it )
I'll write again once I've done some diving, since this IS a diving forum.
Warmly (40C)
Erik Y. (and Neeka)

 

[Neeka]

UPdate from the wife

Erik is sick... so I will give you guys a little update on the trip so far. We went to the Pyramids and they were of course fantastic, and climbing in them was superb. We decided to abandon our plans of going south to Luxor, and decided instead to head to the Red Sea area. We had originally decided to go to Sharm for a few days as it seemed to be a "MUST" but decided to press on to Dahab. It is less touristy and a definate place to go if you want to relax. ON our travel here, we took the AC bus that reeked of toilet for 8 hours. But one interesting point was that we crossed the suez underground while an aircraft carrier was passing overhead. Definately an interesting sight to see a huge boat cruising past in what seems to be in the middle of the desert!

We arrived into Sharm late and then haggled to get to Dahab. Our hotel is beachfront, and our room is only a few short steps from the beach, and just another 30m or so over shallow water and you drop off to a 20m wall teeming with life. We arrived late at night but that didnt stop him. He donned his gear, headed out into the black night and tried to do some dives without any lights! He came back relieved that he had been in the water. We got up the next morning to the sound of waves, and the ever present drone of the AC, had a great breakfast and took in the scenery of Dahab. Great craggy red rocky mountains that come into brutal contact with the blue sea give it an outstanding topside view, and of course the fantastic walls underneath. Red sand everywhere, the sun shining constantly, and a constant warm wind blowing in from the sea. The wind the first day was quite strong so we decided to wait until after lunchtime to dive.

Dahab is small, and you cant get lost here. The people are overly friendly and seem amazed that you managed to take the time out to learn a few arabic words. They love Erik, and have called him " hey lucky man!" to be walking with me! We have been invited in for Egyptian hospitality to drink tea (chai) and smoke shisha. Neither of us smoke so tea was enough. From our hotel beach area you can see the cliffs of Saudi Arabia in the distance, we were both surprised to see that Saudi was that close here.

The sea.... is oustanding. Great huge corals everywhere, soft, hard, staghorn, you name it, it is probably here. I have seen huge parrot fish, unicorn fish, lionfish and tons of others that I just dont know the names of. The water at the coldest is about 28C and the visibility is definately over 30m vertically if not more horizontally too. It is quite salty here so we are having to use more weight. Me, the mere mortal that I am, cant get down very far, and am prone to use tanks to do it, did manage to get down to a 16.6m depth all by mysefl! WOO HOO! Erik however, without trouble went to 32m on one of his first dives. He is diving with just a henderson vest on, but says that the water is cold enough to get a 3mm suit on for the dives. The air temp is high 30s to low 40s so it makes the water a nice relief from the heat.

Reading back on this, I know that if Erik were here he would give me grief about using too much detail... sorry if I did! Hope it gives you an idea about the place though! We will be checking out some of the other sights in the area soon. Im sure ERik will fill you in on all the details of that too! HAHA!

Warm wishes
Neeka

 

[Abriapnea]

Hi Erik and Neeka ,
Good to hear you are enjoying Dahab . I worked and trained there two years ago ,ifyou swim out app. 50 m. in front of Lighthouse reef you will be in around 50 m. water -great training site , just watch out for windsurfers Please keep a lookout for my markerline , forgot it out there
As with Iya and Ender , I hope to have the opportunity to meet and make you welcome in S.E. Asia . You have been a great inspiration to us all .
All the best to both of you .

 

[M-2]

Wow, you're bringing back some memories! I spent two months bouncing between Cairo, Sharm, Dahab, and Luxor two years ago. I really miss it. Egypt is a beautiful country. I've really enjoyed reading your updates. Hope Erik gets better and your travels continue to be a wonderful adventure!

Cheers,

-Michael

 

[icarus pacific]

she's a Blonde! Erik, you dog!!

Thanks for the update you two. I tried returning a mail to you but it came back :head

Glad you're OK there in Egypt or as I say, testostrone territory. I remember almost fondly, the odors, rather like someone put out a charcoal fire with that evening's consumed beverage...:yack Remind me to tell you how to crash a wedding in Port Said if you get down there. :mute

Best of everything to you.

sven

 

[thin_air]

sweet to know you two are having a blast

sick in paradise erik>? man, i feel sorry for you...

but as long as your having fun... life is good



happy that the diving is good
and remember, in the words of goldfinger..
"Don't wanna rest
I don't wanna breathe"- goldfinger

 

[Erik]

Better

I'm better now, thanks! I just had too much sun and maybe some of the local tap water by accident. Yesterday I was up to snuff, and did a couple of easy 37 metre dives with statics at the bottom...no line , just the sea! Then spent hours diving the Lighthouse as suggested by Ariapnea....amazing diving here, even in 1 metre of water.
You Europeans are probably familiar with the Red Sea, as it is so close, but we Westerners usually only get to Mexico and the Carribean....I have to say that this is MUCH better diving.
I dove on a massive Napoleon for a half hour yesterday, and Neeka saw a 2 metre Grouper....all in 20 metres of water!
Take care all....Anderson and the QBN especially go easy on the Cayman ladies, ok \
Erik Y.

 

[Abriapnea]

Glad to hear you are better Erik , If you are back in shape you MUST try some freedives in the Blue Hole . The arch is in the north eastern (seaward ) curve and starts at 53m. at about 10 am the light shining through is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen u/w .
Neeka , try a scuba at Islands south of Dahab .
Enjoy !

 

[Stephan Whelan]

Erik,

I'm glad you and Neeka are enjoying Dahab. I don't remember if I told you but I took a group of students out there to Scuba a couple of years ago - had a great time although it's easy to get a bit too relaxed!

Which hotel are you staying in Dahab? If you can get a chance try and bluff your way into the Hilton on the far side of town - now that is complete luxury if a touch on the excessive side. Perhaps one day i'll tell everyone the story of how I got thrown out of there :naughty

Anyway, enjoy and if your passing by Reef 2000 scuba centre drop in and say a hello to Dave (the owner) for me.

 

[icarus pacific]

name dropper!

Originally posted by Stephan Whelan

Perhaps one day i'll tell everyone the story of how I got thrown out of there :naughty
QUOTE]

Oh, do tell! C'mon...dish!!

I'll relate my crashing a wedding in Pt. Said :rcard Very heady stuff.

sven

 

[thin_air]

im up for a good story, stephan go ahead and tel:hmm :hmm


good to hear your better erik, hope you and neeka are still having a blast

and i want to hear about sven crashing a wedding