Thailand - Malaysia - Thailand

---

London 9th October 2008
The trip to Heathrow was an experience in itself - trying to figure out when Kylie would get to my house so we could all go to the airport together was starting to get to Alex, and at one point she said she'd meet us there, which didn't go down too well. But she made it in the end and all was good - we got to the airport on time but couldn't get seats together on the second leg. We got there 2 hours before the flight as well... The flights were okay, but I'm not impressed with Qatar Airways AT ALL!!!! I usually like aeroplane food, but I didn't finish any of my meals. And the cabin crew weren't too friendly. But we didn't let that get us down, and as soon as we got to Bangkok, we got a taxi to the guesthouse and settled in nicely.

Bangkok 10th - 13th October 2008
For some unknown reason, Alex enjoyed Bangkok the last time so he was looking forward to staying there for a couple of days, but I couldn't wait to get out. We could tell it had changed as soon as we got there. People were much pushier and definitely not as friendly. What happened to the land of smiles???? Very disappointing. We soon learned that some people are just really greedy and trying to squeeze pennies out of all the tourists. We got ripped off quite a bit, but what can you do? The government gets away with charging tourists ten times what the locals pay to enter a national park, so why should the Thai people feel they can't? I think it's very unfair - it's not about the price. Yes, Thailand's cheap, even with all the ripping off, but it's the principal. The fact that they try and charge ridiculous prices (relatively) to farang has made me start feeling really bitter. I'm sure you get ripped off everywhere, but at least in Europe there are set prices and everyone pays the same. And the people haven't stopped staring at me - I'm guessing because they think I'm paid for - so that hasn't helped my quest to enjoy this holiday. We ended up staying in Bangkok for a little longer, as we ended up booking a flight to Krabi, so I had to spend more time in this horrible city.

Krabi 13th - 15th October 2008
We got a Thai Airways flight to Krabi, which was a thousand times better than the alleged 5* airline we got to Bangkok. They even gave us snacks and unlimited drinks - it was a 1 hour flight! So we all left very impressed. The holiday's picking up...

When we got to Krabi, we checked into a weird looking hotel - not nice, bit creepy, but not horrible. We got a triple room and checked out the night market for dinner. It was a nice place, not too big so Alex liked it. And we found a small bar where there was a live band playing covers of classic songs. Kyles and I enjoyed it, dancing at the back, while I think Alex didn't mind it, but you can never tell with him. Unfortunately, on the second day I got traveller's diarrhoea and was room-bound while the others brought food and medicine back. Not really a great start to our adventure, but I started getting over it after a couple of days and we could leave to go to Raileh.

Raileh 15th - 18th October 2008
The journey there wasn't great, what with having to get a songthaew to the pier then a long tail boat to the island, and my tummy still not having recovered fully. But we made it, and tried to find a place to stay. We came into West Raileh, where we stayed last time and Alex asked a few places how much their rooms were - in the region of THB 1,500!!! Slightly out of our budget, so we trekked it over to East Raileh, where the cheaper places are, and walked up and down trying to find a resort from the Lonely Planet guide. We couldn't find it and we were all hot and sweaty, so we ended up settling for the Diamond Resort, where we got a triple room for THB 500. They had a pool and a restaurant, so couldn't complain. The bungalow was right at the back and it smelt a bit, but nothing too bad.

We spent our days here in the pool and walking to Phra Nang beach - this was the second best beach we saw on our last trip. Alex and I were so looking forward to coming back here, but when we got there, it was SO different - much busier (there were families for crying out loud!!!) - and the water wasn't as calm and clear. I was actually quite upset by this - we'd raved on about it so much to Kyles and it was yet another big disappointment. This holiday was NOT going well...

On our last full day on Raileh, Kyles and I went rock climbing, which was awesome-o! I'd never been before so it was all new to me and oh my god - my arms!!!!! The area we went to was quite busy with other climbers, but we went the highest out of everyone - think our man said 30 metres. There was a little cave at the top that we both got to sit in (at different of course), and the view was amazing. The holiday's picking up...

Khao Sok National Park 18th - 20th October 2008
We stopped over at Khao Sok on an unplanned detour - not that any of the holiday's been planned at all! The journey getting there wasn't great, as yet again we felt like we got ripped off. We had to get 2 buses from Krabi, and the second one left from a random place in the middle of nowhere, so we were pretty stuck if we didn't get the particular bus that we did. The woman charged us much more than it should have been, going by all the online posts we'd read, but again - what could we do? She was weird. Had weird eyes.

When we got to Khao Sok, some dude asked Alex where we were going. He told them Baan Khao Sok, and he said he could take us there for THB 20. So we jumped into his jeep and he took us over. We had a look at the bungalows and they didn't have any triples, because they all had 2 singles next to each other. So we left to have a look at some other resorts. Our driver took us down the main road and told us about various places, including his own resort, but after a while we decided to go back to Baan Khao Sok and take 2 bungalows. So we went back and Alex gave him the THB 20 - which we later found out should have been THB 0 because all drivers get commission from the resort anyway. Damn cheek. But THEN he had the audacity to say THB 20 EACH and when we said no, he gave us some sob story about how he once saved the life on an English woman and she never thanked him so when we go back to England, if we see her, we should say something. wtf???? I was all for letting him drive off without the money, but Kyles insisted and gave him THB 50. This is what I'm talking about - people all over the place trying to make money using shameless tactics.

Once we settled in, it started to rain heavily. I was the only one with a poncho, so I walked down to the restaurant, where I met the owners who were really friendly. I managed to get a brolly for the others and walked back so we could all go down for some dinner. I got pad thai, which came out wrapped in an omelet. Interesting. And spicy. It's the best pad thai I've ever had! The holiday's picking up once again...

On the second day, we did one of the walks in the national park - when we got there, we found out that only 2 of the 7 waterfalls were open at the time, so we didn't really have much of a choice. As soon as we started the walk, we were joined by a nice dog, who ended up being our guide and stayed with us the entire time until we left later in the afternoon. We called her Jenny. We weren't sure whether it was a girl dog, so she ended up as Jenny the ladyboy dog. The waterfalls were a huge disappointment - they were mere trickles! We were even told that they'd be big because of the rain. Booooo. We didn't stay too long, as we'd planned to swim in the water once we were there, but the others had leeches on their shoes along the way, so we didn't really trust the water. Kyles had a little swim though. On the way back, we saw a load of monkeys that were screaming at us and looked like they were going to throw their poo at us. But Jenny the ladyboy dog saved us with her barking - what a super dog!

Had Khom, Koh Phangan 20th October - 2nd November 2008
We got the boat over to Koh Phangan with the intention of staying there for the rest of the holiday. We met a half-French half-Chinese guy on the boat who said he used to live in Had Rin on the south of the island, where the full moon parties are held, but he had to move, because it wasn't nice. So now he lives in Had Yao. We planned to go to Had Khom, which is at the top of the island - the furthest we could get from Had Rin. When we got to the pier, we had to get a songthaew taxi to Coconut Beach Resort. Parts of the road were good, others were just dirt road. It was night time by the time we got there, and we weren't too sure how to get to the reception, but after some stumbling around in the dark, we managed to make it and got a nice triple bungalow. The reception/restaurant was accessible by walking a couple of planks across from the main path. Can't be safe.

We spent the rest of Kylie's time here - the beach was beautiful, and the electricity available only at night. After a week at Coconut Beach, we moved to Ocean View, because the people at Coconut weren't good at the whole customer service business. They're friendly enough, but they're full of shit! They told us all sorts, such as they're fully booked from 1st November - we later found out it's actually their quietest time. Aside from us, there was only 1 other guy staying there! When we moved to Ocean View, our experience improved, as the people there are actually genuinely nice. We spent the rest of Kylie's days chilling on the beach and eating good if not slightly overpriced food.

Thong Nai Pan Yai, Koh Phangan 2nd - 5th November 2008
On Kylie's last day, Alex and I decided to head to another beach on Koh Phangan - we might as well, now that we're here. We got a songthaew there and when we got there, the beach was amazing! Probably nicer than Had Khom. The weather was perfect, and we managed to find a bungalow at Pen's a few yards from the beach. And there was 24 hour electricity, which meant that Alex could have his beloved ice cream. So he's happy. There was even a really cute puppy to play with. We called him tuk-tuk - he was so cute.

Had Khom, Koh Phangan 5th - 28th November 2008
We planned to go back to Thong Nai Pan after a few days, but we ended up staying on Had Khom. After a few days, I caught chicken pox!! I was confined to the bungalow for over a week until I stopped being infectious :-( The resort guys took me to the doctor where I got a load of pills, and even got me some herbs to help with the fever. Alex had to carry all my meals back to the bungalow for me every day til I got better. And those plates were heavy, bless him.

During the last couple of days, I was allowed out and ventured to the restaurant for my meals. We even played Thai rummy with Big - the first night we won THB 250, the second time we lost THB 50, and the last night we lost THB 250. So overall we lost THB 50 to him. Not bad for beginners, methinks. The guys had been really good to us, so we got Big a bottle of whiskey before we left, which he appreciated, as noone had got him booze before. All in all, an amazingly relaxing 7 weeks that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Maenam, Koh Samui 28th November - 1st December 2008
We got a boat over to Koh Samui, where we'd booked into Hutcha Resort, which Bovy's (owner of Ocean View) friend runs. We got a 3-for-2 deal and the room was really nice. We tried to air out our damp clothes that had gotten moldy in the bungalow at Had Khom. We checked out the beach, which wasn't that nice - there was a view of construction work going on, and the sand wasn't soft. However, it was nice to be able to walk out of the resort and have a choice of different food for dinner. We ended up eating at stalls a lot, as it's cheap and easy. We planned to get a load of washing done in KL, so we both bought a T-shirt each to wear for then.

It was SO overdeveloped compared what we'd just come from. It was like a really busy village. Guess it was preparing us for the next leg though. On the last night, Alex made us go to an English bar so he could watch the footie. It was Man City vs someone (possibly Man Utd.), and they lost. I managed to get Southern Comfort there - woohoo!

Kuala Lumpur 1st - 7th December 2008
We flew from Koh Samui to KL with Firefly, which is a Malaysian airline. It should have been a couple of hours, but we ended up spending the whole day travelling, as there was a huge delay boarding the plane. It was a bit worrying at first, because it was a budget airline, and we wondered whether there was something wrong with the aircraft, but when we got on, it was actually really nice. Much better than Easyjet, and they even gave us a snack!

We checked into Swiss Garden Hotel, which we'd booked online as a treat. The room was well nice, and there was a separate shower unit and bath - Alex was overjoyed! Definitely much better than we're used to living in, so we made the most of it. The city itself wasn't that enjoyable, I found. The main thing we'd both been looking forward to was the food. What a disappointment. The Chinese food was extremely mediocre, if not crap, the Malay food was okay, as was the Indian food. I didn't like it - way too busy, and nothing much to offer. I dragged Alex to the Petronas Towers (he's not a huge sightseeing fan), but when we got there, the woman told us that we had to queue up in the morning to get tickets, because they have a set number allocated for each time/day. She said to get there around 08:30, which is WAY too early for us nomads, so we left after I bought a souvenir from the shop. However, she did also tell us that the Menara KL was better than the Petronas, but it costs about MYR 20. I considered checking it out when we left.

We wanted to head up towards Thailand after 3 nights, but we'd timed it badly and it was the weekend when we wanted to leave. So all the buses to Kuala Perlis were full, and we couldn't get out. Grrrr. We had to spend the weekend in KL. We couldn't really afford to stay where we were, so we moved to the Bintang Garden Hotel, which was in a better location, but the room was awful. Firstly, there was very little natural light. Secondly, there was a cockroach running around. We called it Richard. Thirdly, there were loud annoying kids on our floor that wouldn't shut up. Fourthly, there was construction work during the day. Fifthly, there was a really loud bar pumping out music late at night. Sixthly, we were in KL. We spent the last few days eating and chilling. I even had to comfort myself with a vanilla milkshake from Macs.

Pulau Langkawi 7th - 8th December 2008
We managed to get a flight from KL to Langkawi with Air Asia, which is another budget airline but not as nice as Firefly - they didn't have a Courtesy Corner with free unlimited drinks and snacks. When we got there, we got picked up from the airport and taken to the hostel that we'd booked online. The room wasn't that nice, but we were only staying for 1 night. It was late and we needed food, but the ATMs close down at midnight here, so we couldn't get any money out, and we only had MYR 10 in cash! We managed to find a place where we could get some cheap roti canai and a fanta, so all was not lost.

Satun 8th - 10th December 2008
After our 1 night in Langkawi, we headed to the pier, where we bought tickets to Satun - a Southern province in Thailand. The boat was small and I managed to sleep the whole way. The woman next to Alex was eating sweetcorn out of a cup and offered him some. When we got to Satun, we only got a 15 day visa instead of a 30 day one. There was a notice up saying that it had changed on 25th November, and there was nothing we could do about it. So that kind of messed up our plans and we had to figure out what to do next. We met a woman in the taxi that was going to the same hotel, so we got chatting to her and she showed us around. She's originally Singaporean, living in Langkawi with her Malay boyfriend and has to do a visa run every month. She even got us a cheaper hotel rate - go Agnes! We spent a couple of nights there, eating our lunches and dinners with Agnes, and generally relaxing. There's not much to do in Satun - it's not a tourist destination, so very few farang, which was nice.

Koh Bulon Leh 10th - 13th December 2008
We decided to get a boat over to an island to make the most of our time here. So we went to Pak Bara by minibus, where we could get a boat from. On the boat, there were us, a couple of English women, and a Swedish couple. The boat kept breaking down on the way, and what should have been a 1.5 hour journey turned into a 3.5 hour journey. It wasn't too bad though, as the sea was calm and the sun was shining, so Alex and I were sitting out the front enjoying the scenery. When we got to Bulon, we tried to find a place to stay. We walked up and down the entire length of the beach, finding just one affordable place at THB 500 - but that was with no windows (only a hole in the wall) and no fan. So we ended up spending THB 1,200 for a bungalow at Pansand, which had the best reputation on the beach. It felt like we were paying above the odds, but again, we didn't have much choice. The rate included breakfast, and we ended up staying for 3 nights. There were all sorts of bugs at night - we had centipedes, cockroaches, beetles... But the beach was amazing - definitely the best beach we'd seen this time round. There was also snorkelling just off shore, which was nice. Lots of little fishie. There were also loads of sea urchins further down the beach, which scared us out of the water. Shame to leave, but couldn't really afford to stay any longer.

Pak Bara 13th - 15th December 2008
The boat we got back to the mainland was the same one that had taken us to Bulon. Luckily he seemed to have fixed it, but then it broke down not far from shore. We managed to make it in good time though, and decided to find a place to stay for a couple of nights before having to do a visa run. It's a quiet place - only 1 main road where everything seems to be, and all the stalls close at night. So the only choices we had for dinner were our resort and another restaurant near the pier. I managed to practise my Thai, asking for rice with 2 fried eggs. She understood - yay!

Satun 15th - 17th December 2008
Back in Satun for a night before heading to the Thai-Malay border to get a new visa. We checked back into the Sinkiat Thani hotel, and tried to find out information about the visa run. There wasn't much online, but we had enough to try and make our journey the next day. We ended up getting an old songthaew to Wang Prachan, where we managed to get a new visa in a few minutes. It felt like we were getting off the beaten track, because the guy was going down all the back streets and we seemed to be experiencing carbon monoxide poisoning. Oh the fun!

Trang 17th - 18th December 2008
We got a government bus up to Trang, which was a bit of a mission, because there didn't seem to be a timetable for it. We ended up waiting about an hour for the bus, which wasn't too bad I guess. The doors and windows were all open and the driver sped along, so by the time we got to Trang, my face was numb from the wind. We wanted to check into the Sri Trang Hotel, but ended up at the Trang Hotel, which wasn't that nice. It was okay. Looked like a place that would have cockroaches though.

Koh Libong 18th - 20th December 2008
We decided to go to Koh Libong, because although it's the largest island, it's not visited so much. When we got there, the beach looked nice and we managed to get an affordable bungalow. We thought we'd stay there for the rest of our time here before having to go back to Bangkok. Unfortunately, by the end of the first day there, we'd changed our minds about the beauty of the beach and the comfort of the bungalow. Alex saw a family of big cockroaches on our ceiling and there was an ants nest in our sink! So we cut our stay short, trying to decide what to do next.

Koh Lanta 20th - 27th December 2008
We ended up going to Koh Lanta, because Alex wants electricity and hot water! We found a resort at the Southern end of the island, which has nicer beaches. Alex managed to get a deal because we stayed for a week. They really pushed the snorkelling trips, but we just chilled on the beach. We tried the seafood BBQ at one of the restaurants on the beach, which was nice, but not worth the THB 400 we paid for it. The people at the resort were friendly enough, but I didn't get a good vibe from them. It just seemed fake.

Trang 27th - 28th December 2008
One last night in Trang before flying to Bangkok, where we'd have a couple of nights before heading back to London. We had dinner at Wunderbar, where I ordered baked tomatoes with cheese served with a baguette. It was weird. But very filling.

Bangkok 28th - 30th December 2008
Back to Bangkok for 2 nights before flying back to London - can't wait, oh those arctic winds and drizzly greyness. Yum. We stayed at Thong Ta Resort and Spa, which is probably the second best room we've stayed in on this trip! Very nice. Except a load of ants ended up in the sink after Alex used mouthwash. Managed to get rid of them though. Thankfully, we'll be out of here soon. We got ripped off AGAIN at a restaurant because they're a bunch of no good poo poo heads. Grrrr....

Summary
As it's been 3 months, I feel it necessary to write a little summary of this holiday. At first, I was excited about spending 3 months chilling out on an island somewhere, especially after finding so many beautiful places here 3 years ago. But now I feel like I should have left those places as good memories and gone instead to discover new places.

On the up side, we did spend 6 weeks on Koh Phangan, and bar the week I had chicken pox, had a really good time. We made friends and got used to relaxing every day - something you never get to do properly in London. We learned that it's probably better to live in one place for a longer time than travel around all the time. It's more relaxing and fun - you can always go to other places from there, making it your base. Alex says there are too many flashpackers around. Backpacking doesn't really exist anymore. These days, all you hear is people going on about how many different places they've been to, almost as if they're just checking off as many cities/countries as they can without really experiencing them.

Another positive is that I now know for sure that I will never return to Thailand. The country has been spoilt by all the development - they seem to be rushing it all through and ruining every last bit of land that they can. Except, of course, for the national parks and protected areas. They don't seem to understand that all the development combined with the pure greed of some of the people will push people away and they'll lose business. Well, return customers anyway. OK, me at least. And what with the economic crisis, it's just not right!!

Kuala Lumpur also left me with little to write about except the lack of friendliness, courtesy, and good food. What happened?? We met a woman on the boat from Langkawi to Satun, who told us that over the years, the price of the food in Malaysia has gone up while the quality has decreased. What's that all about? Disgraceful - you'd never be able to get away with that in London. It's just expensive all year round.

The best places we went to were those that were quieter and away from the main tourist track. I guess it applies everywhere, and I can't wait to explore the rest of the world, but I'm done with Thailand and Malaysia. I'm sure a lot of people will disagree, but if we were all the same, the world would be a boring place and would probably implode.

---

Photos

Bangkok
Khao San Road

Bangkok
First dinner in Thailand

Bangkok
Our hotel room - we could only afford 1 bed

Bangkok
4 statues at Wat Po

Krabi
Before I got ill - the hope in our eyes

Raileh
Luce, Kyles, Alex

Khao Sok
Pretty flower

Khao Sok
Attacking monkey

En route to Koh Phangan
View from the boat

Koh Phangan
When it monsooned, Alex turned into a lizard

Koh Phangan
When the sun shone, Kyles turned into a coconut

Koh Phangan
The sky at night

Koh Phangan
Daily view from the bungalow

Koh Phangan
The crew on the beach

Thong Nai Pan Yai
Tuk-tuk the cute puppy

Thong Nai Pan Yai
Daily view from the resort

Thong Nai Pan Yai
Tramp in the sea

Koh Phangan
Alex did some chefing

Koh Phangan
Long Thailand Rice Tea

Koh Phangan
Alex's attempt at photo taking - I'm pretty sure he was supposed to be focusing on the person...

Koh Phangan
Thai rummy

Koh Phangan
crabby on the beach

Kuala Lumpur
Modeling the hotel's offerings

Koh Bulon Leh
The softest sand I've EVER felt