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Published: March 4th 2008
EMERALD CAVE LAGOON, KOH MUK
AFTER A 10 MINUTE SWIM IN PITCH DARKNESS, THE BEACH WAS A WELCOME SIGHTi am now in penang, malaysia, having travelled here by train from hua hin in thailand overnight last night. since my last blog i have spent time with my mother, accompanying her on her holiday to thailand. after that i spent a few days in hua hin, with ekk.
spent 48 hours showing my mother the sights of bangkok. then it was off on the overnight sleeper train to trang, in southern thailand. from Trang it was a rather nightmarish minibus and two ferries journey to our resort on kantiang beach on koh lanta, the lanta marine park view. not as good as a had imagined, as quite an old resort, we changed rooms twice before we were satisfied. (the first room we had was literally falling apart!)
we spent 4 nights there, the 1st day going on a longtail boat tour to four nearby islands, including the emerald cave lagoon on koh muk. this is an enclosed sea water lagoon only accessible by swimming though a pitch black cave, with only about 1 metre between the water surface and cave roof. the next day we went on an elephant trek to tiger cave, and the day after that
KANTIANG BEACH, KOH LANTA
VIEW FROM OUR CLIFFSIDE BUNGALOW a speed boat tour to koh rok. this was billed as the best snorkelling spot in thailand, but i didnt think so. still very nice though. the evenings in koh lanta were spent on the balcony of a bungalow, which had a beautiful view of the bay, and also sampling the various local beach restaurants.
we then went by direct express boat to koh phi phi, staying at the same place i'd stayed in over christmas. the first afternoon we were there we went on one of the sunset tours of phi phi leh. the highlight of this was swimming/getting sucked though a small cave opening which led from the open sea to the back of maya bay ("the beach"). my mother and a few others on the tour lost their glasses in the drama, but mine were safely packed down my trunks!
the next day we went on a trek to the north of phi phi don, visiting some beaches. we came back by longtail boat via some beautiful limestone coastal scenery you can only sea by boat. i think we both got too much sun that day! the day after we hired a longtail boat for
FEEDING ELEPHANTS
EN ROUTE TO TIGER CAVE, KOH LANTA the day and visited some of the best snorkelling spots around phi phi don. very clear water on that day and lots of variety of colourful tropical fish.
the next day we went up to the viewpoint, from where the tsunami damage from 2004 is still all too evident. in the afternoon, after 3 nights on phi phi, we caught the the ao nang princess express boat to west railey beach on krabi. we nearly missed it as the boy from the hotel who was meant to be meeting us at the pier with our luggage turned up with only about 30 seconds to spare!
from west railey, we went over to east railey and stayed at the new railey garden view resort, which is hidden behind "the last bar"'s grotty kitchen (never eat there!) we didnt, but we did both end up being sick from something we ate on railey east in varying degrees.
we spent 3 nights at railey. the first day we went on a trek around the cape, visiting tonsai rockclimbers beach, via the jungle walk from railey east. then we took the scrambly path to railey west for lunch. in the afternon
KOH ROK
MY MOTHER FEELING THE HEAT we scrambled up to the viewpoint, then halfway down to the inner princess lagoon. then it was a final walk to phra nang beach, where my mother had a beach massage and we viewed the sunset. the next day we hired a longtail boat to visit poda, chicken and tub islands. we went to places i'd hadnt been to since i was there with ekk when we first met in november 2003!
after that day, we hired a taxi to get us to don sak, the ferry port for koh samui. where we met up with ekk. the taxi took less than 3 hours, far shorter and better than the cattle run joint tickets you can buy. they can dump you at their depots for hours waiting for connections. the resort we stayed at on samui wasnt the one i had booked, as that was too grotty and old, and also far from the action. we ended up at the chaweng gardens beach, which recently has been rebuilding itself, while still keeping its garden setting. naturally prices have risen, but the rooms are really good and all is still brand new. id stayed there in 2004, in an old
EN ROUTE TO "THE BEACH" ON THE SUNSET TOUR, PHI PHI LEH
THE HOLE FROM HELL, TOUR GUIDES LED US THOUGH THIS, WHILE HUGE WAVES CRASHED OVER US, SUCKING US BACK AND FORTH... bungalow that has since been demolished. as well as the beautiful room, it is also right in the heart of chaweng. the bars were half closed most of the 4 nights we were there though, due to thai buddha days and elections. however we managed to scrape together some entertainment most nights. took my mother to star club ladyboy cabaret on the last of our 4 nights there. (it was closed the other 3 nights!) she actually enjoyed it...
the first whole day on samui i was too ill to do anything, so my mother amused herself around town with ekk, while i lay in a darkened hotel room. by the evening i was feeling better, so we booked a speed boat trip to ang thong national marine park for the next day. the highlight of this was a 500m trek up to the viewpoint.
the following day we took the ferry over to had rin beach on koh pangnan. this was the day of the full moon party, i had thought about going to it, but instead opted not to, due to the heavy rain and wind which plagued our last 36 hours on samui.
it was
PHI PHI DON
LUNCH STOP ON SNORKELLING TOUR BY LONGTAIL BOAT then back to don sak by ferry the next afternoon, then on to surat thani train station for an overnight sleeper train to bangkok. we arrived at 8:30am the next morning, saying goodbye to ekk at hua hin station en route at 4am! in bangkok we stayed at the siam@siam hotel near MBK. very nice, but after chaweng gardens, it seemed a bit tired. nice breakfast though, and also a free cocktail hour from 6-8pm everynight, if you stay in an executive room! also a great pool overhanging the side of the hotel tower.
spent just one night in bangkok before my mother had to make her way to the airport and her flight back to london. bangkok now (since 17th february 2008) has a SMOKING BAN, for all air conditioned places, including bars, restaurants and clubs!
took a taxi directly from the airport to bangkok's southern bus terminal. from there i took a bus to hua hin and met up with ekk again. spent five days there. hua hin seems to be a place where elderly scandinavian couples go to die, it is also full of lady hostess bars. the gay night life is minimal, about 5
PHI PHI DON
RAINBOW CAUSED BY SPRAY AND SUNSHINE AGAINST THE LIMESTONE SEA CLIFFS "bars" scattered around town, which have just a motley collection of local guys (not all necessarily gay either), hanging around outside offering massages (of the dubious kind only). still i was there only to see ekk...
i was sad to leave ekk there. but here i am in malaysia, staying at a cheap hotel in Georgetown, Penang, on the border of chinatown and little india. i am spending 3 weeks in malaysia before heading back to thailand, hopefully with a new 3 month visa. havent been here since i came here with ekk in 2004. 2nd first impressions is that it is still very different to thailand. i arrived at butterworth, by the international train that originates in bangkok everyday. it is also the main train station that links penang with the rest of malaysia. it is also the interchange with the long distance bus station and also the ferry to penang island. however, not an ATM in sight to get some local cash!! Thailand would have ranks of atms of every bank lining all routes. you can also tell your in a different country by the relative low standard of public cleanliness.. it is also a lot more
humid here.
will take a five hour bus to kuala lumpar either tommorrow or the next day...
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