Beautiful Tallinn...

Having been to Tallinn with the AWC in 2011 and during Eurohash in 2013, we never actually expected to go back again. However, when we found out that there were still spots for Interscandi (a hash weekend organized by Scandinavian kennels held every two years in cities once occupied by the Vikings), we decided it was time to attend for the first time. The Friday night pub crawl was a walk around the historic city center. As you can see, it is a beautiful city. 

 

A Rough Start to a Fun Trip...

On July 1, we got to see for ourselves why Schiphol had earned the new nickname of Shithole. We got there crazy early for our morning flight and then had to wait 1.5 hours for the baggage drop-off to open. Before we could scan our boarding passes, we got into a line which made us exit the airport and walk pretty far down the street. 

Eventually we were able to scan our boarding passes, but were then forced to the back of the waiting area so people behind us ended up ahead of us while we had to wait until small groups were allowed to climb the stairs to get in line at security. 

When we finally got to the top of the stairs, a sign showed the expected waiting time for security was 45 minutes and our flight was departing in 45 minutes from the opposite end of the terminal. Jimmy had a chat with a guard at the priority line and she said we could switch to that line once our flight was 30 minutes out. He told her we’d just wait to the side for the 15 minutes and a few minutes later she cleared us to join the shorter line. It turned out to be a good thing that several passengers then let us skip ahead of them because our flight was already boarding when we got to the far side of the terminal. 

It had been nine years since we were last in Tallinn and that time we arrived by ferry. The views from the plane were impressive.

We ran into a few hashers in the airport and we took the tram and then walked together to the host hotel: Tallink Spa and Conference Hotel. Rather than the usual hostel accommodations, it was nice to have another hotel room with a jacuzzi tub.

 

Ashlynn’s Marine Project...

During the nearly six weeks in Koh Pha Ngan, Ashlynn dove for five weeks. The first few dives were lessons on dive research by staff from the NGO CORESea (Center for Oceanic Research and Education).  

These photos show happy underwater moments, but don’t show that most of their one-hour long shallow dives were used to count the number of Drupella sea snails and record which type of coral they were found on and are presumed to eat.

Here’s a nice shot of a Drupella. Ashlynn used the data collected for her bachelor’s dissertation, which earned an A. You can read her team report by scrolling down on this post.

Ashlynn tried free diving and really enjoyed it. She also enjoyed the warm water.

 

Meanwhile in Thailand...

When Ashlynn applied to participate in the University of Glasgow Thailand Expedition Team 2022, she thought it was a long shot since the application stated you needed a driver’s license. 

Not only was she chosen for the team, but she was assigned to be a project leader!

After months of fundraising to cover their costs – airfare, swanky villa, food and diving – the team boarded a flight on June 5 from Gatwick to Bangkok... 

…where they spent one night. You can read more on their blog post.

The next morning they caught a flight to Koh Samui, where they had a much appreciated four-hour layover on the beach before catching a ferry to their final destination: Koh Pha Ngan.

Koh Pha Ngan is an island of around 10,000 inhabitants. Here’s the team’s post about the island.

The eight students shared a four-bedroom villa with two kitchens, three bathrooms and an infinity pool. 

Ashlynn actually felt guilty that it was so fancy compared to what the locals lived in, but that didn’t stop her from enjoying the pool. 

A professor from University of Glasgow joined them for the first week to train the team on conducting terrestrial research for the amphibian project. Ashlynn thoroughly enjoyed walking in the jungle at night with a headlamp searching for frogs; she said it was like being part of a kid’s adventure book. 

There were two marine projects; more on Ashlynn’s later, but apparently the fish project hit a lot of snags.

Ashlynn quickly learned why driver’s licenses were required: to drive a scooter. Lucky for her, the scooter rental company didn’t have strict rules. Lucky for us, she survived driving a scooter with just a quick lesson from one of the other students. 

 

Spotted in June...

On a hash trail in Voorburg in early June, I spotted this creepy display both in and out of a house...

…and this beautiful  canal. 

Later in the month in Leiden, I saw this naughty display in the window of a house...

…and these pretty flowers.

In Voorschoten, I spotted a big bird on a lamppost...

…and a mermaid playing with a dog.

And at the end of the month, I saw a bunch of beautiful jellyfish on Wassenaar Beach during a walk with Terri. 

While I didn’t actually spot Jimmy since I wasn’t there when this photo was taken, it’s extra special because he was wearing one of Dad’s Hawaiian shirts.