After two pretty hectic days of travel in Thailand (more on which later) we finally stopped in one place for long enough for me to update my blog finally! So here it goes...
After a much more manageable 4 hour flight (SO much shorter than our other international connections) we made it to Kuala Lumpur and jumped into a taxi to our hostel. We had booked into a place in Bukit Bintang and were dropped right in the middle of backpacker-central once more! In China as foreign backpackers we were in the minority but KL saw travellers and holiday makers from all over the world. I was struck instantly by the blend of cultures in Malaysia - Ethnic Malays, Chinese Malays and Indian Malays living amongst one another and in KL particularly a number of western and other immigrants. We took advantage of the mix and enjoyed some northern Indian cuisine - Alice and I opting for a chicken korma at the restaurant just up from our hostel! We pretty much just went to bed after an exhausting day travelling. The next day after a lie-in we headed out for a full day sight-seeing. We found the Petronas Twin Towers and the TV Tower with little problem but our less than effective map, torn from a magazine and missing its centre, meant that finding the rest of out quarry was more difficult! Having apparently walked right past the Central Market and Chinatown we made it to the National Mosque - a beautiful modern building of azure blues, pure whites and shimmering silvers we donned the necessary robes to cover our insufficiently modest tourist clothes and got some amazing photos! We then moved on to the National Museum where I got a feel for Malaysian history (Islam arriving in the 14th century, the Portuguese in the 16th and independence from Britain achieved in the later 20th century followed by a number of years of peaceful reorganisation and formation of the country we know today) and then headed back to the hostel for dinner. Afterwards we headed back to the Petronas Towers for a free concert 'Twin Towers @ Live' where we watched Colby O'Donis and the Malaysian Prime Minister launch Petronas' new petrol product. The latter was rather bizarre as he and the 'first lady' were greeted by rapturous applause - I doubt whether any British PM, even when they have achieved a level of public enthusiasm, such as Blair in the early years, receiving such a welcome at a gig, particularly if they were pushing a new product fur some company - but clearly the Malaysians quite like their political leaders!
The next day we headed out in the afternoon, after Ben and I had our hair cut (myself by some Algerians for 25RM about £5) to Chinatown and the Central Market that we had missed the previous day - thus time opting for a taxi to take us straight there! The girls got some new hand luggage (which they have since filled with more buys!) and Ben some new shorts but I was unable to find the aladdin pants I had been searching for bur enjoyed a nice hazelnut frappaccino at the indoor Market!
We got up early the next day and headed to the bus station to get on one to Penang. 5 hours later we arrived at the island and took a taxi to our hostel - they insisted we had two with all our bags which was a bit annoying as the driver in KL who took us to the bus station had a much older car which still got us there fine - but we had little choice and so headed off. Penang gad a strong Chinese influence with lots of Chinese script and communities around - and indeed our hostel, the Red Inn was run by Chinese Malays. We had dinner at the Malaysian food court not far from the hostel, my Laksa was a bit disappointing but I finished off the girls' biryanis (apparently I'm turning into my grandfather as the group's human dustbin lol!) and then bought a waffle with ice cream, peanut butter and chocolate sauce which was delicious!
The following morning we took a look around Georgetown taking in all the sights including the Town and City halls, Fort Cornwallis, the beautiful First Anglican Church, the Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption, Little India and a Chinese Ancestor Temple! The girls and I opted to rest in the hostel in the afternoon as Ben went out to take in more of the area - we still hadn't quite adjusted to the heat! That night we headed to little India for a curry and then to bed ready for Thai New Year the following day.
We got up in the morning - took advantage of the free breakfast the hostel provided again (toast, noodles, pancakes, banana cake!) and then headed to the port to book our ferry to Langkawi. We then took a taxi to the Burmese Temple with a funny driver who thought at first we were mad to be going to the Temples but then laughed as we explained that we wanted to experience the madness - which ensued quickly! Barely out of the taxi and we were drenched as the local Buddhists took great delight in chucking water on us, plastering us with flour and talc, getting us dancing, shaking out hands and taking photos with us! We were celebrities fir the day as group after group came up to us and asked for photos with us - even when we had sat down on the curb to relax with a beer for a minute - creating something of a photo-spot! It was all so much fun and frankly I have never been as drenched before in my life or had more different colognes and deodorants sprayed on me! I smelt like a $2 rent boy lol! that afternoon after a quick change of clothes we headed out to the Chowrasta bazaar - which was a bit of a busy except for the books that Alice bought and that I found me some aladdin pants for 25RM - using my excellent bartering powers ;) (in reality I said I wanted to spend about 15RM ideally and the guy wanted 35 so we instantly met in the middle - but I'm still chalking it up as a win!). Enjoyed some Malaysian street food in the form of a 'Prawn Mee' for tea.
We decided to hire some scooters from outside the hostel the next day, which proved a great move. Ben and Alice as the only licence holders took on the driving as Charlotte and I rode on the back respectively. It was amazing way to take in the island seeing the Toy Museum, the Floating Mosque, a tropical fruit farm where Charlotte and I shared an amazing plate of fresh fruit with the most flavoursome watermelon I have ever eaten and visited the Snake Temple! Navigation was difficult with the maps we got from the hostels but we made it round the island just about - well including an unplanned diversion over to the mainland via the Butterworth bridge as Alice took something of a wrong-turn! We made it back in one piece in the end and after a go driving the scooter up to the fruit farm I want one when I get hone now! That evening we headed back to Little India for the best curry I have ever had - a delicious lamb Rogan Josh!
An early start the next morning (6am!) saw us head off to the island of Langkawi, a beautiful piece of paradise off the west coast of Malaysia and not far from the Thai mainland. We arrived about midday-ish and checked in before getting some lunch. The girls and I spent the early afternoon shopping - myself for some swim shorts that wouldn't fall down every five seconds (plumping for some super-cool Snoopy ones for only 15RM and a beach towel for only 12RM - before I headed to the beach to join Ben! That evening we enjoyed some take away burgers and watched Glee, Fashion Police and some awful reality TV on E! in our hotel room! The following morning I headed out to the beach early to get some sun before the heat of the day and the other guys joined me later. We broke for lunch at 2pm and I spent the rest of the afternoon watching pop-star bios on E! deciding to make the most of the luxury of satellite TV and unable to take the heat any longer haha!
We had to get up early to make our connections over to Koh Phangan - on the opposite side of Thailand from the mainland reached from Langkawi - in what was supposed to be upwards if 12hours of travelling to make it to the island the night before the Full Moon party. When we arrived into the port at Satun in Thailand we were assured our mini-bus would be along in an hour. Nearly 2 hours later we were packed onto a bus with a driver who was unsure where he was going - or so it seemed as he was constantly on his mobile. We were transferred onto another van in Satun town only to have to change onto another one just outside of Hat Yai! It seems they merely chucked us on the first bus to Surat Thani as after hours on the bus dropping off locals at their doors on the way we finally made it to Surat Thani port. However, we were an hour late for the last ferry straight to Koh Phangan and at the wrong port (the day port being about 90 minutes away at Donsak) and so didn't even have to option of getting a speed boat to the island to make our booking! We ended up getting the night ferry - which meant a night sleeping on a crammed ferry right next to each other and some complete strangers on a bed about half the size of a single laid on the floor! We decided to embrace it as 'all part of the experience' but not after a much needed bottle of Tiger beer! I slept a lot better than I had expected and arrived at Koh Phangan at about 5am. After about a hellish hour or so looking for our hostel - with little help from the locals who merely pointed in unspecific directions, we made it to our hostel and slept til midday ready for the party in the evening! After lunch, dinner and a power cut we finally managed to get ready and donned some fluorescent paint before meeting up with some friends from Australia and heading to the beach! The Full Moon Party was so much fun dancing all night on the beach and enjoying some incredibly alcoholic buckets we made it til about 5am before heading to bed!
We paid for our revelry the next day as we got up for our transit back down south to Krabi which took about 10 hours. Happily, except for an hour without a seat from Donsak to Surat Thani all things went a lot more smoothly and we made it to our B&B in Ao Nang, Krabi in the late evening! After a well needed lie-in I headed out to do some laundry and then set about writing this blog post (which I've done on my iPod Touch so I apologise for any randomly incorrect words and typos) deciding I needed a chilled day to sort myself out! The next few days promise the Phi Phi islands and a trip to Hua Hin to see the Thai King's Palace - more on Thailand soon - here's hoping my impressions improve! Lol!
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