Advertisement
Published: February 24th 2008
Edit Blog Post
OK OK, it's late, it's very late and to make things worse we've squeezed 2 of the largest countries in SE Asia into one blog. Very lazy and inexcusable I know. But there are some pretty beach photos to look at!
Thailand
We arrived in Thailand at the beginning of December...long time ago now. I'm writing this blog entry from Ko Phi Phi in Thailand where we are on our second visit to the country having had a 5 week break in Malaysia which was very much needed....
To be honest our first foray into the Land of Smiles wasn't the rip-roaring success we hoped it would be.. First off we paid a cursory visit to Chiang Mai in the North. Chiang Mai is one of SE Asia's most popular trekking destinations, elephant riding, white water rafting and what not. But we were all trekked out after Laos so we ducked out after a few days to the bright lights of Bangkok. Straight off Mathias got ill, a combination between another dodgy night bus journey and no doubt some undercooked bacteria. He spent an unenjoayble few days staring at the white, gossamer thin plasterboard walls of our 5
euro jail cell on the Khao San road. While he suffered on, I (between nursing duties) hit the shops, and ended up parting with a lot of money in return for a large amount of crap. Filled with splurging enthusiasm I went to a hairdresser who put orange stripes in my hair in exchange for 4 days of budget money. Our only attempt to sample the nightlife left us so hungover that we had to check out of the hotel 6 hours late.
We thumbed our noses at cultural activities such as visiting the Royal Palace, instead we walked the streets to soak up the real culture and had people trying to scam us on every corner. We weren't impressed. No more cities thank you very much!
Christmas was spent on the island of Koh Lanta. It's a rather quiet, somewhat unspoiled island with lovely beaches and some strange inhabitants. It wasn't much kinder to us than Bangkok. We stayed in a pretty vile bungalow resort on the very southern tip.It was peak season and accomodation was at a premium so basically we just opened our travel wallets and let them take what they wanted. I think we
stayed in 5 different bungalows in the resort. The 1st one we were put in had a holes in the wall and a huge hairy spider. One night was enough. They moved us to another bungalow with a minimum of fuss, some evil looks and muttered Thai profanities. The second bungalow also had the issue of double occupancy as there was a family of rats in our attic, one of whom decided to pay us a visit in the middle of the night. He ate a hole in my shorts and the wristband of my lovely Diesel Watch (RIP).. The third bungalow had a rat too, but he had better manners and was happy to sit and watch us from his perch below the attic.
On Christmas Day we had breakfast in a French Bakery, owned by a manic Frenchman and ran by a woman obviously used to dealing with a different type of clientele (Ahem). Full restaurant and one waiter. When Mathias's coke hadn't arrived after an hour and they brought the wrong food we voiced our complaints. Cue a very unpleasant scene.. It all combined to leave us with a rather bitter aftertaste regarding Koh Lanta. It
was a beautiful island but some of the people were really horrendous.
Its one redeeming feature was our diving expedition! Check out the video, we are certified divers- Hurrah! I'm already considering a change in career! Mathias had been dying to try it and was not disappointed. Its the most amazing experience- turtles, moray eels, clownfish (Nemos) and all sorts of pretty things. no sharks though..maybe next time! Unfortuneately next time will be a few months away because poor Mathias perforated his ear drum as a result of (but not during) the dive, something that wasn't diagnosed until more than 2 weeks afterwards.
Our plan was to spend New Years on Koh Lipe, a truly stunning and not yet very developed island close to the border with Malaysia. I have never seen whiter sand or more turquoise water and the people were just fantastic. Sadly Mathias's ear was continuing to get worse, it had become infected, the island nurse wasn't able to help so on New Years Eve we had to get a boat back to the mainland to the city of Had Yai and visit the hospital...who also misdiagnosed it.
Malaysia
We love Malaysia!! I
just had to say that. Its a beautiful country with the most genuine people you could find anywhere. And they fixed Mathias's ear when the Thai's couldn't.
Seriously though, Malaysia is a big change from other SE Asian countries. It's much more developed , most people speak English, wealth appears to be more evenly distributed and its an Islamic state. A different vibe but a welcome one. Malaysia is a vibrant, diverse society. There is a sizeable Chinese minority as well as a less populous Indian one..so apart from the great dining options that gives, it makes for a country which is open to different races. We travelled quite extensively along the west coast and went from one horse town to one horse town traversing the country to get to the east coast islands. Not once did we have an unpleasant experience. We got to travel on local busses for local PRICES!! We ate in local restaurants and were charged the same as everyone else. People smiled, greeted us, spoke to us on busses, offered help and directions and in 5 weeks we didn't get a sniff of a scam. It was wonderfully refreshing and made travel so easy
and hassle free.
Some highlights of Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur- a SE Asian city that is nice, actually nice, with friendly people and not overpriced. That has to be a first.
Pangkor Island- Not a highlight on most tourist trails, it's a west coast island, strongly Muslim, with lovely beaches, funkey hornbill birds, tons of monkeys and the biggest cockroaches we have ever seen. They must have been on steroids and apparently Malaysia does have the worlds biggest cockroaches. They overran our room (well there were at least 5 of them) so we ran, shrieking to another bungalow. Despite the invasion, we loved the island
Random small towns in the peninsular interior- Although the west coast has a strong chinese influence, the interior and east coast are strongly Malay and muslim. As a woman I can honestly say I had no hassle whatsoever, the people were just lovely. It helps to wear trousers to your knee and t-shirts with sleeves. Although there wasn't much to see in these sleepy towns, the interactions with the locals made the stops worthwhile.
And the biggest and best highlight............
The Perhentian Islands
We arrived just at the end
of the monsoon season, waves were big but the sun was high in the sky and rainclouds stayed away. Easily the best beach we have ever been to. It is one of the few unspoilt undeveloped tropical paradises left in SE Asia. Just check out the photos! We stayed in a basic bungalow on the beach for 3euro a night (no electricity mind you). The island is also home to giant monitor lizards, they're a cousin of the Komodo dragons in Indonesia and look like wee crocodiles. Well not so wee actually, some that we saw were more than 5ft long. They're meat eaters too but thankfully not aggressive!
It was here that we celebrated Mathias's 30th birthday, and spoiled ourselves in the only posh restaurant on the island (ie it had wine). He may be old now, but at least he celebrated in style 😉
So now we are back in Thailand for our last 5 weeks or so, visiting islands that we missed the first time around. I'm happy to say our experiences so far are 99% positive.
We're happy and healthy and working on our tans. I will write another blog before we
leave, just some more waffling and beach photos :-)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.08s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 7; qc: 52; dbt: 0.05s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb