Finding a Piece of Paradise

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Well, the Vegas odds-makers are stumped. Who would have guessed, given recent history, that Justin would be the first to fall to sickness and injury? We got to spend an extra couple of days in Kuala Lumpur so that Justin could visit a doctor and get some antibiotics for his bronchitis. Then, once this cleared up and we got to Thailand, he slipped climbing onto a barstool (he wants to be clear that he was on his way up, he hadn't started drinking yet, and it was really tall). The result was a slightly swollen knee that is doing much better after lazing in a hammock for a few days. There are worse places than a Thai island to rest.

The factor that made the days in Kuala Lumpur bearable was a great hostel - Le Village. A really chill place with great people and rooms with picturesque windows. We spent several nights watching movies (OK, we watched American Idol, too) and talking to other guests, including Tobi, a German guy with some great recommendations as we was coming from where we were going. We got out one night to the "Golden Triangle" district of KL and wandered through the night markets. We also got a little religion in - evening prayers at a Hindu temple and a visit to a KL's largest mosque.

Between Kuala Lumpur and Thailand, we stopped on the island of Penang off the northwest corner of mainland Malaysia. A strange but nice Irish guy led us to another good hostel right in the middle of town. We didn't get very far that night as we stumbled on yet another Lunar New Year festival just a block away. We sampled more food and walked through the stalls and were in bed in time to hear the fireworks go off outside our window.

The next day was long and frustrating, that including 3 buses, a ferry boat, a border crossing, lots of miscommunication, an overpriced taxi, and an out-of-budget hotel room. We'd heard that the Thailand's east coast islands (Phuket, Ko Phi Phi) were way more developed than the west coast even after the tsunami. If that's true, we're glad we came east because Ko Samui was bad enough. Europe's version of Cancun was not really our thing, but happily the day ended with some delicious Thai takeout and in-room cable TV for the Super Bowl at 6am that morning. Justin put on his Bears jersey (no longer good luck) and watched the Thai commentary commercial-free broadcast ("touchdown" is the same in both languages; The Rolling Stones are an embarrasing shadow of themselves here as well). After the game we left Ko Samui and its ripoff taxis for Ko Pha Ngan. After a little searching, and another rip-off taxi, we finally found our secluded Thai beach at the High Life Bungalows. So, we took a couple of days off so Christine could get sufficiently sunburned and Justin could go diving (his knee is fine).

We've met several people here that have been "visiting" for months and even years. (Bob, an American Vietnam vet, has been here 10 years. When asked what he did in the states, he said that he was a "grower," but he had to leave Hawaii 14 years ago and then had to leave Fiji a few years later when he had a really good crop. We can only guess what he was growing). There is definitely a part of us that would just like to stay here for the remaining five months (tempting at $3.50/night), but we're moving on tomorrow for Bangkok.

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Photos

Watermelon carving
Chris' favorite

The Super Bowl
Justin watches at 6am

Our little bungalow on the beach
It's not the Four Seasons, but it's not bad for $3.50 a night