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Published: November 26th 2006
Our last tropical Island (in thailand) was Koh Lanta, and what a beautiful island it was, possibly rating in the top 2. Finding a room proved to be strenuous as everywhere appeared to be fully booked, after a long, hot, hilly walk we discovered a fantastic secluded spot on the beach. Koh Lanta has not yet been overdeveloped so you can still feel isolated and away from it all and have the beach all to yourself. Our last days revolved around snorkelling, lying in hammocks, drinking with locals at our private bar, having massages (a Thai Massage you should note is not a relaxing experience however, every muscle is pummeled, streched and battered, your bones almost pulled out of joint and you body streched in positions you couldnt possibly imagine!! Whereas with an oil massage although the pain is less they do get far to intimate for my liking), and savouring our last few Thai meals by eating excessively.
The only downside to our resort was finding another snake in our room at night time, again right next to my foot as I opened the door, but this was black with grey flecks, ugly and nasty. Obviously it disappared when the satff came to inspect but when I returned later so did the snakie, I decided to throw objects at it as it was near the door, in the hope it might leave, but it didnt budge. Everyone came to have a glimpse throught the door and our friend managed to get it coiled up on a stick and throw it out fortunately!
We met a great group of laid back Kiwi's and Brits (one who had a bizarre taste for fish eyeballs!) and drank the nights away on the beach, along with the particularly friendly young Thai bar staff and their freinds. So kind infact a Thai boxer and a Yaba dealer offered us a motorbike tour of the island the next day! Of course we accepted the invite at 4am and arose after 6 hours sleep to meet them, unfortunately they didnt show.
Sadly the fun had to end, temporarily at least, and we set off on a 20 hour bus journey to Malaysia. It was a rediculously sweaty affair with a 4 hour wait in Hat Yai (unsafe Southern province) but we encountered no problems as we hid in an air con'ed shopping mall! Oh dear I just checked the BBC and look what I found http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5353648.stm). We arrived safely in Kuala Lumpar at 4 am (actually 5am but we didnt realise there was a time change until 2 days later!), where our only choice was to experience the delights of the dorm rooms. The hostel was like a prison (having first hand experience!) with long corridors, very narrow rooms with 8 people cramped in and bars on the windows. My bed sheets stank and had clearly not been changed for a long time, I dread to think how many people had slept on those sheets. The bed was also covered in clothes and bags but not wanting to wake the others i pushed them to the end, held my bag next to me and hoped there were no bed bugs.
KL is very different to the other cities we've seen in South East Asia, comparitvely richer with rich cultural diversity. Cleaner streets and far fewer cockraoches too. Luckily we managed to get last minute cancelled tickets up the Protronus towers (approx 450 metres high), the tickets normally sell out each day by 8.30 am. The view from the 41st floor was awesome. We walked around Little India (had the best Indian curry ever!)and China town and experienced the trains which proved to be very good and cheap.
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Paul P
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Great blogs kiddo. Wait till you reach Melbourne with all those dodgy Aussies.... Def will feel different to Southeast Asia. Hoepfully you won't get any more snakes in your shower...or maybe a different variety..and by the time you hit NZ..you'll feel right back at your old home (with all those baa baas and moo moos!)... ; )