Team Thailand (& Malaysia & Singapore)

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We flew into Singapore to embark on the next, and final, leg of the journey.

In Singapore we stayed in Little India, a bustling suburb where the streets are lined with shops selling spices and all sorts of exotic produce. The city centre is not exactly as exciting. It is clean. It is orderly. It is, well, a bit dull.

We hurried on to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. This was far more the Asian city I had expected: the markets were over-loaded with hawkers selling fake copies of everything, people ate at roadside stalls, the traffic was insane, and there were numerous shrines and temples. From KL we visited the psychadelic Batu Caves, which were adorned with statues of Hindu gods. We visited Buddhist temples where the prominent symbol seems to be the Swastica (though something tells me the Monks are not active Nazis).

We visited the island of Penang before heading into Thailand, and making straight for Ko Phi Phi. Phi-Phi was devastated by the tsunami, but seems to be recovering from the total destruction of it's infrastructure. Indeed, the place is like a beach resort, but a tropical paradise beach resort. It is possible to melt into the Phi-Phi beach life. Aside from watching lady-boys dance (and then demand money) and Thai kick-boxing, it is the most relaxed place in existence.

After Phi-Phi we stayed in another place of natural beauty, Phucket, before going to the party island of Ko Pha-Ngan. Unfortunately I was not able to make the most of the week-long stint living in wooden huts beside beautiful secluded beaches because of dengue fever. Not fun I can tell you. Luckily I raised myself from the dead for the (in)famous Full Moon Party, which is basically a lot of drunken people together on a beach. If I were a professional wooden hut robber, I know which night I'd strike the resorts...

Bangkok was next on the agenda. We stayed on the neon-saturated Kho San Road. From there we visited some great places, such as the royal palace, and a string of temples. A major trend in Bangkok, where everybody (at least pretends to) love the king, is to wear the royal colour of yellow. At rush hour there is a sea of yellow vying for position. When we rode on tuk-tuks we were continuously kidnapped and taken to jewellers or tailors (commission anyone?!) where the well-dressed workers tried to sell goods to the rich, yet startlingly poorly-dressed, backpackers. It didn't work.

In the countries we have visited the press is tightly controlled, and political dissent is promplty stamped out. There have been many cases of political corruption in the individual countries, leading to people having a healthy distrust of the political system. But our experiences have found the people to be very friendly and happy to help the farang (white asses) regardless of the necessary evil that is tourism.

Next: Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos

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