Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok

On our last day in India we hired a car and driver to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. It was an early start (5am) and a long day because we did a round trip back to Delhi for our flight to Kuala Lumpur. We arrive in Agra after a 5 hour journey which turns out to be quite an unpleasant place! The Taj Mahal is breathtaking, so grand, smart and symmetrical - it’s stunning. Despite the oppressive heat and touts, it was definitely worth the long journey and a great way to end our time in India.

An over night flight into Singapore and a short hop to Kuala Lumpur with western food and lots of wine - went down very well and put us in good spirits for our arrival in KL (despite only having about 4 hours sleep in the past 48 hours). Some of the first things we noticed were how clean everything is, everyone seems very friendly and getting around is a breeze compared to India. The taxi driver (who we think up until now was ploughing a paddy field) finally got us to the Red Dragon hostel in the heart of Chinatown, our first experience of shared bathrooms complete with mould but by now we are too tired to care. After a day or so walking around KL we discovered there is not really that much to see and the city is not designed for pedestrians - the roads and rail take priority over walkers. The heat is now bearable, it’s hot and humid but a different type of heat compared to India. In 2 days we saw Merdeka square (all set up to celebrate 50 years of independence), Little India, Chinatown and the Lake Gardens. A trip up the Menara Telecommunications tower gave us a fantastic view of KL (apparently far better than going up the Petronas Towers).

From KL we took a coach (which seems to be the way to get around in Malaysia) to Georgetown which is on Penang Island about 500km north from KL. After walking around and looking at some seriously grotty hostels, we eventually came across the Banana Guest House which is also in Chinatown - a cramped and chaotic area in central Georgetown, with a reputation for ‘exotic’ nightlife, visa runs and motorbike snatch thieves! A funicular train ride to the top of Penang Hill Station gave us nice views of Penang Island, surrounding areas and across to mainland peninsula Malaysia.
The original plan was to cross from Penang to Langkawi Island and then across to Ko Lipe which would be our border crossing into Thailand, from Ko Lipe we would then get onto southwest Thailand. The plan was slightly flawed due to the fact that because of monsoon there are no boats from Langkawi to Ko Lipe and all the resorts on Ko Lipe were closed! After a bit of time researching options we decide to cross over to the east coast of Malaysia to the Perhentian Islands, where it’s in season and only moderate monsoon conditions.

The bus from Georgetown dropped us at Jerteh, where we were met by a deserted town and 4 blokes telling us they would take us to Kuala Besut to get the boat to the Island. It turns out they were un-licensed taxi drivers working for the boat companies, all desperate for our business. Luckily we worked this out and avoided the scam and managed to get our boat tickets independently - but it did mean hanging around in the dark until 7am! Expansive white sandy beaches, turquoise water and a jungle interior greeted us on Pualu Perhentian Kecil. The island is undeveloped with no cars, phones, banks and limited generator electricity. Our accommodation at the Lemon Grass Chalet consisted of a basic beach hut (wooden shed) with a bed, fan and mosi net - all for 4 pounds a night. The shared outdoor bathroom lacked the joys of a flushing toilet or hot water and the showers were shared with a variety of wild life - namely frogs and geckos. We had a much needed chill out week on the beach sunbathing, swimming and snorkeling over colorful fish and coral.

A boat, taxi and a local bus took us from the island to our first overland boarder crossing from Malaysian Rantau Panjang to the Thai town of Sungai Kolok - passports stamped and visa issued with no problems. Our first Thai train took us to Chumphon, an 11 hour, 900 mile journey on a spacious but uncomfortable train. Our 1am arrival lead us to the nearest hotel - Marakot. Although Chumphon is only really a stop-over to the Thai Islands, we enjoyed a few days there experiencing southern Thai life. One of our options was to pop over to Ko Tao for some more beach action but we discovered a deserted Thai beach just outside of town. We are starting to realize how little time we have in Southeast Asia and the long distance we want to cover. The first observations as we move through Thailand include the countries fascination with uniforms (even the ticket inspector looks like the head of the Gestapo), the people are very friendly, the food is unbelievably cheap and tasty and a smile goes a long way.

A 500km, 8 hour train journey got us into Bangkok; overland travel gives us a real perspective of the changing scenery as we head north. There is so much to see and do in Bangkok; it’s a real mix of ancient temples and huge space-age shopping malls. Khao San road is the place to be for backpackers, with cheap accommodation, beer and clothes, western food, there’s even a Boots (Vanessa stocked up on cosmetics!). We have arranged our Laos and Cambodia Visa’s, been to the Grand Palace to see the Emerald Buddha, Wat Pho to see the huge reclining Buddha, Siam Square, Jim Thompson’s house, Patong Night market (ping pong ting tong!). Tomorrow we are off to the Floating Market and the Bridge over River Kwai before continuing north to Sukhothai on Friday.

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