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Published: March 5th 2009
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Scorpions
Singapore Singapore 5/9 - Switching continents I landed in this tiny country. Checked out Sentosa Island which was a bit over-the-top touristy. The night safari zoo was cool and riding a bike around Pulao Ubin during a massive monsoon turned out to be a lot of fun.
Pulao Tioman 5/14 - Got into Malaysia and hit some culture shock. The heavily Islamic population took some getting used to - lots of stares and unfriendliness. Took the ferry out to this island off the east coast and shared a bungalow on a tiny beach. The scene was very quiet and empty. The food was excellent though, fresh shark for dinner for only $5.
Kuantan 5/16 - This province capital was awful. Unfriendly people and nothing to do. My hotel room had more roaches and bugs than I had seen in all my rooms so far combined. Got up early so I could get out of this city as soon as possible. On the bus there were two police and I realized the guy sitting next to one had his hands cuffed behind his back. Guess there was no police car availible.
Pulao Perhentian Kecil - Ran into a couple people
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Sunset Tioman
Malaysia I met on Tioman and we headed to Chinatown. The next day I made the trip to Kecil which was easily the highlight of my short time in Malaysia. This island had the best crystal clear, warm water I have ever seen. The island is small and is covered in jungle. The snorkeling around the island was amazing. Its hard to describe the true beauty of this place. The Malaysians that lived on the island were much friendlier and more accepting of foreigners.
Hat Yai 5/23 - Thailand offered a much better attitude from the people than I got in Malaysia. Hat Yai had little going on other than long stretches of street markets with everything you can imagine for sale. Headed to Songkhla on the coast and spent a few days there, but found few options other than hanging out on the beach.
Surat Thani 5/26 - Got back on the travelers circuit and spent a night here before taking a boat to the islands. I met a young German guy that had originally come on a 2 week vacation, but ended up sticking around Ko Pha Ngan for the last 2 and a half years. I
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Alcohol warning for Muslims
Tioman
Malaysia spent one night on Ko Samui, but found it to be overrated so I took the morning ferry to Ko Pha Ngan. I did a boat trip around the island and checked out some of the more isolated beaches. Took a hike up to some of the waterfalls in the hills. Ran into a few guys I met in the Noosa Everglades. The clubs lined up on the beach of Hat Rin blasted music and went off every night.
Chaiya 5/31 - I decided on a change of pace from the craziness of Ko Pha Ngan. Headed up to a Suan Mok for a 10-day Buddhist meditation retreat I read about. I didn't really realize what I got myself into. It was a silent retreat and involved a "lot" of meditating. Within the first few hours a few people of the 70 that started threw in the towel. I went 48 hours before I couldn't handle it anymore. Sleeping on a concrete bed with a wooden pillow, waking up at 4am, not being allowed to talk or even read... It was one of the longest 48 hours of my life, but I don't regret it.
Krabi 6/3 -
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Perehentian Kecil
Malaysia Not really sure where to go next I literaly flipped a coin and headed for Krabi and the western side of the peninsula. Did an island hopping trip and experienced the visual masterpiece that makes up the scenery. Crystal clear water surrounding tons of undeveloped islands.
Ko Phi Phi 6/6 - Definitely the best time spent in Thailand was on this island paradise where "The Beach" was filmed. A smaller version of Ko Pha Ngan with a lot of great people, no roads or cars, and a "no worries" vibe to it. I spent 8 days here. Explored the island, went jungle trekking, sea-kayking, snorkeling, partying, learned to play Thai chess from the locals, and spent many hours on the beach. During the full moon the fire show at Hippie's was unbelievable. Considering this island was one of the hardest hit from the tsunami, it made a nice recovery.
Phuket 6/15 - I should have never left Ko Phi Phi. Phuket was a complete waste of time. Commercial tourism to the extreme. Saw my first McDonalds in Asia. All the shops along the beach had smooth-talking Thais trying to sell me a suit at a "special price just
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Perehentian Kecil
Malaysia for me". I had already bought my plane ticket out of Phuket so I was stuck here for the next few days. I moved to a more isolated beach that was quiet, but expensive, at least I could avoid the hectic scene of Patong. Rented a motorbike and went riding.
Phnom Penh 6/21 I arrived in the capital by plane and got a room by the Boeng Kak Lake where most backpackers stay. The only way into the area is a single lane dirt road with huge bumps and open sewage holes causing a nightmare for any cars attempting to drive down it. Heaps of garbage were piled up on the corners waiting to be collected. But otherwise it was a nice place to stay, away from the noise and pollution throughout the rest of the city. The flow of traffic in the city is in a constant state of organized chaos. All vehicles ignore the lanes and merge wherever they can fit. A red light is just a color. Drivers spend more time honking their horn than using their brakes. Crossing traffic does not involve waiting for a gap in oncoming vehicles, but is done by driving out
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Perehentian Kecil
Malaysia in front of them and forcing them to drive around you. Same goes for crossing the street on foot.
I took a city tour that started off with a stop at a shooting range. The "menu" (which I wasn't allowed to photograph) offered everything from shooting a handgun to firing a bazooka ($200) to tossing a grenade into a pond. One guy paid his $30 and unloaded 30 shots from an AK-47. The next stop was the killing fields at Choeung Ek. This is a mass gravesite of thousands of victims that were tortured to death by the Khmer Rouge. Another site showing the atrocities of this time is the highschool turned prison, S-21. The classrooms were turned to cells and some contained the torture devices used on the victims during this genocide. We moved on to the Royal Palace and its impressive pagotas to finish this unusual eye-opening tour.
Battambang 6/25 I was mobbed by touts as I got off the bus and went with a guy offering $2 rooms at his hotel. Took a daytrip to see some of the pagotas and temples. Walking back to my hotel, I saw 4 kids sitting on the sidewalk
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killer sunrise on Kecil
Malaysia huffing glue. The sad thing was that none of the locals eating dinner across the street seemed to care. After eating Eel soup for dinner I found some hotel employees outside having beers and food, they asked me to join them. I sat down and ate some crickets and a frog on a stick (tasted like chicken). Took a bikeride through the riverside villages on the outskirts of town. I could tell it was not a very common route for foreigners by the curious looks I got. Every kid I passed shouted, "Hello!". Met some travelers that were working in schools or volunteering at a hospital. They all shared the complaint of how corruption and inefficiency plague the systems here.
Siem Reap 6/29 Made the trip by boat and got a good view of the river villages. The city is a major tourist spot with a lot of beggars. The problem is that many tourists give in to them causing the problem to escalate and encourage begging as a way of life. The next morning we went into town and hired a guide for seeing Ankor Wat. We spent the next two days exploring many of the spectacular ancient
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Longboat
Islands near Krabi
Thailand temples. The amount of work and design that went into each Wat is hard to imagine.
Sihanoukville 7/6 After stopping over in Phnom Penh for a few days I ventured down to the south coast. I enjoyed the nice stretch of beach, good nightlife, and fresh seafood. Took a boat trip to some of the islands. The snorkeling was a joke as the visibility was poor and there was little to see anyway. We had fresh Baracuda on Bamboo Island. On the way back we stopped to swim in the ocean. Our boat driver failed to mention the current. After realizing we were floating away from the boat we started swimming back toward it, struggling to make any progress. What looked like a 3 minute swim took 15 minutes. On the way back to shore after everyone was dry the sunny skies quickly transformed into dark clouds that dropped a monsoon for half an hour.
Kampot, Kep 7/10 Four of us ran into a problem when we booked a taxi to Kampot. Basically the driver wanted us to pay the fare for 2 more passengers if we wanted to leave now, otherwise we would wait for 2 more
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Ko Phi Phi
Thailand people. The scam was that the car was already completely full. This is one example of many incidents I found in Cabmodia. The next day we took a trip to Bokor Hill Station. We got poured on in the back of the pickup during the 3 hour drive to the top. The unmaintained dirt road looked more like a river bed, but somehow the truck made it. We checked out the former King's abandoned vacation home. Next we saw the eerie Bokor hotel filled with thick fog. We got into the tiny town of Kep. Really quiet except for the dogfights that went on at night. We took a boat trip to Rabbit Island not too far from Kep. There wasn't much besides a restaurant and a few bungalows making it a good place to relax for a few hours on the beach.
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