Advertisement
Published: September 27th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Sepia Tone Paradise
A shot of Long Beach After meeting up with Brett and RT, and experiencing the hustle and bustle of Bangkok for a while, we wanted to get out and start travelling again. So we hopped on the night train headed south for the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia. This train ride wasn't exactly what we expected as it turned out to be 21 hrs through the most unstable part of Thailand. We also discovered that the term "first class" means different things in different countries. In Thailand it was a far cry from what it means at home. Sure we had AC and a sleeper, but they weren't exactly handing out complementary champagne and honestly the toilet amounted to little more than a hole in the floor of the train. Russ compared sleeping on the train to the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland since every so often you swear that the train car is going to derail. After some pretty intense card games and sporadic napping we arrived at the border. We ended up taking two cabs and Russ and Brett had the ultimate cab ride from hell. When we met back up at the harbor they were both white-faced and could stop saying how they were
Perhentian Island
A view from our hotel balcony fearing for their lives the entire time. The boat ride out to the island was awesome. A perfectly sunny day and the water was so blue. Most of the island is dense jungle and there are no roads only sand paths. The craziest thing is that there are 6 ft monitor lizards running around the place. We ended up finding a thatch bungalow overlooking the beach to call home for a few days. Through out the next few days we spent the majority of of the time snorkelling, laying on the beach and drinking fruit shakes. We were hoping that we would be able to go spear some fish but found out that the whole place was a marine park. While snorkeling we saw turtles, some huge sting rays, 30 lb Parrot Fish and just about everything else you can imagine. We ended up meeting some great people to drink Monkey Juice (the local Malaysian liquor) with. As a side note we are not sure why they call it monkey juice or what it is made of, but it tasted pretty good. It turned out that a guy we met was making a documentary on the backpacking culture so RT
Cruisin' in Malaysia
On our way out to the Perhentian Islands and Ryan did some interviews. It might just be their big break, but we'll just have to see. After spending about three days on the island, we had to get a move on if we were going to reserve a spot on Ko Phan Ngan for the Full Moon Party. On the way back we had another nerve racking experience, but this time it was on our boat ride. We must have had 23 people plus backpacks on this boat that was designed for no more than 10. We all strategically chose our seats and then contemplated our escape route in case we sank. Brett was the only smart one though because he sat next to a buoy. He later explained that his escape involved tying a buoy to his backpack for flotation. Transport in this region is taking some serious years off our lives...I swear. This journey only got better once we got back to the border. It was perfect timing for a monsoon. The wind was howling and the rain coming down in sheets. We got across the border soaked to the bones, had no taxi and the rail station was about a kilometer away. We said screw
The Festivities
The nightly gathering on the beach it, let's walk we're already soaking. This was good in theory but with the rain came the thunder and lightning and it was directly over our head. As we walked down the roads the water became deeper and deeper. At one point, the water was knee deep and we actually saw a fish flop out of the road and flip around on the sidewalk. A bolt of lightning struck a little too close for comfort so we decided, it was time for a beer with the locals. When we finally did arrive at the train station there were no more trains leaving that day. So we talked to a few people who told us that the tourist bus was the best, and only, option. Apparently, the south of thailand has problems with muslim extremists wanting a seperate state. The local buses, police stations and military posts tend to be main targets. The crazy thing is that they do not target tourist bus and trains because the tourists bring loads of money to the region. Luckily nothing happened and we arrived safely. After another 20 something hour marathon we arrived on the island pretty worn out. Ko Pha Ngan is a
Shake Faces
Russ giving it all he's got...true dedication pretty touristy island, there are even 7-11's...which run rampant in southeast asia. Aside from the few hikes and sunbathing the only real thing to do and the main reason people come to this island for is the party. Throughout the four days leading up to the party the island gets jammed with thousands of travelers and slowly turns into a madhouse. Every night there is a pool party or beach party or whatever kinda party that goes on until 6 or 7 in the morning. The night of the pool party we went home early...3am...and were awoken at 5:30 by some guy who put his hands in our window and tried to steal stuff off our night stand. Luckily, we had nothing up there and that RT heard him. We all woke up as RT chased the guy off, but it made us realize just how aware you have to be around here. All of the theives come here specifically to prey on drunk travellers. Another night we ended up at a local bar called the Cobra Bar. We saw one the most ridiculous things ever here. It starts with a man dodging snake bites from a python (he actually
Welcome to the Jungle
Action shot walking through the jungle. got bit on the finger), then he put that away and brought out the main event. KING COBRAS!!!! He was dodging snake bites to the face, kissing the damn things and at one point brought two of them out at the same time. (There should be a video of this up on Brett and Ryan's blog www.mytb.org/brett---ryan). After the show Ryan noticed the scars on th guys hands and started talking to him about getting bit. Turns out he has been bit a whole lot, but three times by a cobra. He nonchalantly said that if you get hit by the cobra you need to tie a tourniquet on the limb to stop the venom from going to your heart, smoke a big joint to slow your heart rate and get to the hospital before you die. We all comtemplated how the hell you would put a tourniquet on your neck if you were bit in the face, but decided not to pose the question. After this insane show we all decided that that was one job we are glad that we don't have. The next day was the actual Full Moon Party...imagine 5000-8000 people on a beach where they
Silhouettes
RT, Brett and Ryan at the summit of the hike only sell drinks by the bucket, throw in some fire dancers, people limboing and jumping flaming ropes and passed out bodies all over the beach and there you go. It was by far the craziest party we had ever seen. If you want to see a video of Brett becoming a local celebrity by mastering the jump rope, just check their blog. The past four days we have been running on very little sleep and are ready to move on. Where to? We are not quite sure, but we'll be in touch.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.128s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 11; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0954s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Kimberly
non-member comment
Raging for sure!
Wow! This blog is great!! So many great things, especially the guy in Brett's bed, ha ha! Russ you need to try to kiss some Cobras, holy shit! Sweet, glad you guys partied like rockstars with buckets of liquor.