My Month in Thailand and Malaysia

3:40am Wednesday 9th April 2008

I was not prepared for the change in temperature as I stepped off the plane in Bangkok on the 28th of February. It was quite a shock to the system as it was so hot and it took a lot longer to get things done. Or so it seemed. Bangkok is a lively and noisy city, if not a little bit dirty, and certainly more chaotic than the Chinese cities we had been to.
On the first day we ventured to Khoa San Road which is a bustling street stuffed with backpackers, market stalls and pubs. It had a really good atmosphere and we all got over excited by the bargains on offer. It is a good place to meet people too although there are also a lot of weird crrazy travellers who had obviously spent too much time on their own.
The next day the heat was too much for me and as I rushed off one of the rickety public buses my sight blurred and I fell on my knees onto the pavement, with Penny and Daisy trying to catch me. I thought it would be a good idea to get up againa and passed out into the arms of a Thai man who took me into his cafe to cool down. Needless to say I returned to the cosy hostel and stayed in bed for the rest of the day, deciding to take things easy.
It is so hot and sticky there and almost impossible to keep cool. As soon as you step out of the shower you are sweaty. The mosquitos also took a liking to me which meant I was a constant itch. We ventured to the Grand Palace which is very grand indeed. It is a residence of the ever popular Thai royal family. The King is much admired and in every cafe or public building there is at least one picture of the King and Queen. The palace was extremely ornate and beautiful. It is also home to the Emerald Buddha which is in fact tiny and made out of jade. It was sat atop a huge pile of gold.
We also went to see the Reclining Buddha which is a huge Buddha lying on his side. It shows the Buddha just before he dies and it is very impressive to behold. His feet were made of mother of pearl and were much bigger than me.
Bangkok cannot go back without a mention of the delicious street food. Along the roadside there are small stalls no wheels, like a large version of the kids plastic kitchens, and you can order fresh food like noddles and seafood for just 50p and you see it being cooked in front of you. It is a wonderful tast experience.
A not so fantastic experience are the tuk tuk rides. We ventured to go on one a few times but it is a rather hair raising journey as you zoom through heavy traffic on a small motorbike style cart, especially when your driver decides to do a wheelie.
Having had enough of cities we took an 18 hour epic journey to Patong in Phuket, where we left soon after. Unfortunately tourism had ruined what was ever nice about this place. It was a scummy, Westernised resort with neon lights, bars and a beach, including the regular sight of old Farang men and young Thai girls. We stayed here long enouhg for Daisy and Penny to get severely burnt sunbathing and for me to get covered in mosquito bites.
We caught the boat to the idyllic island of Ko Phi Phi which is off the West coast of the Andaman shore. It is a small island with small, pretty narrow streets selling the usual souvenir items. Phi Phi Don, where we stayed, was devastated by the tsunami in 2004 but everything seemed up and running and there was little sign of the damage it caused.
No cars are allowed on the island so there is definitely a remote feel which makes it feel very relaxed and chilled.
Unfortunately, due to my red friends we could not really leave the room as the sun was so strong. ON the second day we got up early and walked to the beach on the other side of the island. It was strenuous climb but it was certainly worth it as we had the beach to practically to ourselves and it was beautiful.
The next I managed to procure a swollen ankle due to an insect bite becoming infected on my ankle. We all lay in our beds as if were on a hospital ward and wondered if this was how a paradise island was meant to be!
Once we had mostly recovered we went on a boat tour to Phi Phi Leh which is the uninhabited island. We snorkelled and saw a lot of fish but also lots of dead coral, a result I presume of too many boat tours. We went to May Bay which is where the Beach was filmed. We then watched the sunset from the boat which was extremely peaceful and calming.
Our next destination was a town called Krabi in a province of the same name. We used it as a base to visit the surrounding sights. We went on an elepahant trek which was one of the most scary experiences of my life. I was on my own so I, of course, got the unrulym stroppy elephant who trumpeted and growled (that is how it sounded) nearly all the way around the hour trek. My elephant handler had a heavy hand and had to control the elephant with a short metal prod far too oftn. He kept hitting him on the head. All I could do was apologie to the poor elephant in my head and pray that I could return alive. I even managed to enjoy it at one point as the elephant calmed down and the scenery was spectacular but one hour was certainly enough for me!
We visited Ao Nang and Railley Beach which are beaches in the area. We also me a crazy bunch of people in Krabi which gave us Sangsom whiskey to sample which I took a liking to.
We continued on to Surat Thani where we stayed for two nights in order to visit Koah Sok National Park. It was definitely worth a visit as we trkked through beautiful rainforest to small waterfalls. We saw monkies swinging from the high trees and even went for a dip in the river. The travel agent in ST was quite amusing. He went by the name of Mr Joke and took a bit of a shine to us. In return for the special deal he was doing us he wanted three kisses so needles to say when he came scampering over when the bus dropped us off in ST we made our excuses and sped home quickly!
The next day we headed off to Ko Toa which is an island off the East coast. It is a haven for divers and Daisy went there to do her PADI diving certificate. It was a lovely island and during the day whe every one was diving Penny and I had plenty of time and space to explore.
One day we trekked up hils and down rocky paths along the coast. We saw many exclusive resorts with just a smattering of people on the beach. We arrived in Thiang Og bay where we snorkelled and saw black tipped reef shark, who swam past us minding their own business.
That night we also went to a bar at Sairee Beach called Lotus Bar. It was such a good place to go and we met all sorts of nationalities including Israeli, Australian, Dutch, Swedish and Chilean. Needless to say the buckets of sangsom whiskey, coke and red bull helped us stay up until late.
Daisy completed her diving course successfully and loved every mintue of it. On the 19th of March we ventured on to the notorious island called Ko Phangan, famous of course for its Full Moon Parties.
We stayed on Leela beach in some very interesting beach bungalows which are not as glamourous as they sound. It consisted of a small shack on stilts with holes in the floor and roof and there was a make shift en suite, if you could call it that. It could be almost cosy but four nights was probably enough! However the location was fantastic as we were right on the beach and only a ten minute walk from Haad Rin, the main town.
We were geared for relaxing and partying so we spent our days on Leela beach and our nights on Sunrise beach where all the party goers went. The Full Moon party was on the 21st March. We painted ourselves with UV which seemed a bit pointless as there was no UV lights at the party. The beach had such a wired atmosphere and was bursting with people. It was so easy to meet people as every one was chatty and friendly. The party has quite a reputation for drugs but I did not see any or get offered any. However, there were some people who had obviously taken something more than alcohol. There was a section which had a place for people to go to sleep. As the sun came up it was funny watching people waking up and wondering where on earth they were. We made it back to the bungalows at 9am and tried to sleep to no avail. That day was quite slow!
We departed on the night boat two days later which was an experience indeed. We were on the bottom deck crammed in like animals and we could not even stand up straight. There were only thin mats to sleep on. I was quite relieved to get off even though we had a whole day of travelling ahead of us. All in all we were travelling for 28 hours and we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital city, at midnight.
Thankfully we stayed at Daisy's friend's, from England, flat which was lovely. Her friend, Kathy, is teacching there and we each had a room to ourselves which was such a luxury. I like KL as it is very accessible and yet diverse, We went to Little India which is where a lot of the Indian populatioin live, have shops and restaurants. I had the most delicious lamb curry there.
We also went to the Central Market which was bursting with souvenirs and goods. That evening we went to Chinatown and picked up a few bargains.
The nest day we got up early and went to the Patronus Towers. They issue 1600 tickets free a day so we got there early to claim ours. We went up 41 floors to the double decker sky bridge which gave fantastic views of the city. It was a good experience even if we did have to endure a corporate video about Patronus, the oil company.
In the afternoon we caught a very late bus to Cameron Highlands which is in North Malaysia. We arrived two hours later than expected. The hostel driver had been waiting and had been waiting and during that time he had consumed a fair amount of whiskey so was in high spirits. Luckily the drive was not too far and we arrived in one piece at Father's Guesthouse. It was quite different as the dorms were actually in army barracks. Nevertheless it gave a certain charm to the place.
On our day there we went and visited the tea plantations which were beautiful. They are planted up on hills and the leaves look so green and lush. We learnt all about how they make tea. They do not make enough to reach the demand of tea drinkers in Malaysia so they actually deport some from India.
We visited the tea centre and I tried Palas Supreme tea.
We also went to a mossy rainforest which was stunning. The guide showed us the uses of different plants. For example he showed us a plant which helps with leech bies although I am sure I will have have no idea what the plant looks like if a leech ever sinks his teeth into me. The rainforest itself was intriguing. It is actually balanced on rocks and the moss and trees actually grow on them, If you jump enough the trees actually vibrate. It was extremely cool which was nice and made it easier to trek.
In the afternoon we went on an hour and a half drive to deeper forest to visit the Orang Asli people which literally translates as the original people. The drive itself was interesting as the roads could only be described as dirt tracks with large holes in which made the ride extremely bumpy! On the way it poured down with rain and the guide happily joked about land slides.
We arrived at the village which comprised of about 8 to 10 houses on stilts. We went into the chief's house which was entirely made of bamboo with one room to sleep and live in, with a side room for the kitchen which had a sink and cooker. There instruments, toys and hunting weapons were all made of bamboo. Unsuprisingly they rely more on bamboo than on money. They gave us tapioca to eat and tea to drink and we had a try at blowing darts from a blow pipe. The people were very friendly and the children seemed so happy running around with their home made toys. It was definitely worth a visit.
On Friday the 29th we caught a bus which took us to KL and then to Singapore. By this time I was tiring of bus journies and was relieved to arrive in Singapore that evening. We stayed at a hostel called The Inn Crowd in Little India which was a vibrant area to stay in.
On our first day we went on a walking tour of Little India and we went to the temples in the area which were beautiful. The Hindu temple we visited was so brimming with the India Community come to worship which created an intense atmosphere. The women's saris were a sight to behold as they are so bright and colourful.
The Singaporeans seem extremely friendly. We asked one lady directions and she guided us all the way there which was about a 5 minute walk.
We went to the financial district which is the Singapore everyone knows-immaculate, efficient and in order. We saw where the English trader, Sir Stamford Raffles landed and we looked at the older colonial buildings. We also ventured to the famour Raffles Hotel but all we could do was look in in envy as the residents tucked into delicous looking cakes. Our budgets did not stretch that far!
On the 30th March we left Singapore and headed for Cairns in Australia, where I will spend the next month.

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