Snippet from Thailand Trip

To begin with, I am terrified of sharks, I think I watched Jaws too young!!

So when the girls wanted to go snorkelling, I was nervous! We were heading to Phi Phi Island for the weekend and we'd hired a long tail boat and a guide to take us, Kelly was his name, Australian guy who was a great laugh.

A laugh until the moment came when I asked "are there any sharks here" to which his response was, "yeah, but there all out there" sweeping his hand to indicate the depths of the Andaman!

Wrong answer Kelly! The very acknowledgement that there "could" be sharks sent me into a nauseating panic and I gripped the side of that, now totally inadaquate, wooden boat!

We'd gone out from Phi Phi to an Island about 20 minutes boat ride for a picnic and the plan was also to do some snorkelling and see the reef, which was claimed to be beautiful. The girls got in the water as I frantically scanned the surface of the water for the tell tale fin!!

I realised I was being irrational, and talked myself up into getting into the water (the driver of the boat was also looking at me a bit weird, like I might be a bit of a loon), so I donned my fins, popped on the mask and used the ladder on the side of the boat to lower myself into the water.....

Well, the current of the sea was pulling my legs under the boat while I was still hanging onto the ladder and then, I don't know where it came from, the theme tune from jaws was pounding in my ears!! Thinking this a sign from the divine, I legged it quick smart back into the boat and sunbathed for a bit!!!

Well the girls got back in after about an hour raving about how great it was, I was jealous and I wish I had seen it for myself, but thank the lord for underwater cameras!!! We were heading back into Phi Phi as the sun was setting and lo and behold the engine to the boat conked out completely and suddenly we were stranded in the middle of nowhere and it was getting dark and the waves a little bit choppier.... already nervous me, was now on full scale panic, I think I lost it for a few moments as I remember singing, 'row, row, row your boat'.

So picture the scene, 3 Scottish lassies, 1 Australian guide and a Thai boatman, in a long tail boat, in the dark, in the middle of the ocean, no engine and no means of getting anyone to come and help us. The Thai boatman was messing about with the engine trying to get it to work, Kelly is looking a little worried and my so called friends decide they need to go to the toilet - I KID YOU NOT!! Both of them, adults, I'm more than certain they'd grasped the self control ability several years ago, but oh no, not today. they want to hop overboard, in the dark, to do whatever they needed to do. I expressed my concerns that I didn't want to explain to their parents why they didn't come home in one piece and they didn't seem to worried!!

Row, row, row your boat - I think I may have started rocking back and forward at this point!

Then a miracle happened, from the darkness came another long tail boat with a couple of tourists in, thankfully the moon gave enough light for them to see us and we hitched a lift in with them. It was pure chance, as we were the last boat out and these other tourists had been running a bit late in heading back so we were really lucky that they seen us!!!

We got back on dry land and headed back to the beach hut. Now, my irrational fear is purely when I am on/in water, as soon as I'm on dry land I'm fine, so us girls got changed and hit the bars for a night of Mai Tais and a bit of dancing. Happy to live another day!

Still wish I'd gone in - but there is a shark out there and it's still looking for me....