Hello. I made it to Bangkok in one piece, although the journey there was not the best experience of my life. I arrived at the bus station in KL in plenty of time for my 9pm bus. No one who worked there seemed to know which platform it was leaving from, although plenty of people saw fit to order me to walk all around the bus station with my heavy bag on. I asked all the bus drivers, no one knew where I was supposed to go. Eventually someone told me which platform it would be, so I sat there and waited. 9pm came and went but I was assured that it was ok and the traffic was just bad. At 9.30 I was told I had missed it, although I'm not convinced it ever turned up. Then one of the bus drivers shouted a lot on his phone in Malay and made me follow him around, then ordered me on to a different bus and told me to get off at somewhere I'd never heard of. He was very impatient when I said I didn't understand. It turns out I was being taken to a different bus station where I could pick up the bus I was supposed to be on, so that was ok. The bus dropped me off in the middle of nowhere at 5.30am, with no one around. Luckily a taxi turned up and took me to the border. Queued for ages twice because I was in the wrong place the first time but no one told me. Made it across the border, absolutely no westerners were around for any of this trip so far. Then I had to get an hour long mini bus ride to another town, where I bought my bus ticket to Bangkok. That bus journey was 12 hours. When I arrived in Bangkok there were very few people around again. A nice local lady told me which local bus to get, so I eventually made it to the backpacker district at about 10pm, absolutely exhausted despite having slept for most of the journey!
Haven't done much in Bangkok really, apart from eat and drink a lot, although I did visit the grand palace which was very grand. I met up with Charlie, the guy I first met in Singapore, which was nice. On my first day here a tuk tuk driver offered to take me to some sights, which actually meant he took me to a jewellery shop so he could get some commission. He then said he wanted to take me to another shop which I needed to look around so he could get a voucher for free fuel. He wasn't happy when I said no and insisted he take me to something worth looking at. He then took me to see a big Buddha thing, which was nice, but when I went back to get back into the tuk tuk he had disappeared, even though I hadn't paid him! I had no idea where I was, but was quite glad to be rid of him and I managed to walk back to my guest house so all was well. Also had an unfortunate experience with some women and some pigeons. As we were walking down the street they forced some bags of corn into our hands, insisting 'no you very lucky!' when I said I didn't want it. Then they ripped open the bags so we had hands full of corn so there was nothing to do except throw it to the pigeons, and then they demanded money for the corn. When I said no I thought the toothless old lady who had given it to me was going to hit me, and she actually started scratching one of the guys I was with who ended up giving her 3 quid! I was not impressed.
Went out drinking last night and today was a very bad hangover day, on account of the unnecessary number of buckets. I was very surprised when I looked at my watch and saw that it was 6am as I was leaving the bar this morning.. So I am now tee total, and my body is a temple.
I'm moving on tomorrow on my own, heading to Kanchanaburi, which I'm looking forward to. More updates to follow shortly!
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Friday, 26 August 2011
Boiling in Borneo and busting it over to Bali
So not quite as successful with the title of this one but you get the jist. Hello! My plans have started to fall by the wayside, unfortunately to the detriment of my bank balance but I am trying not to think about this too much (have spent double my daily budget so far but it can only get cheaper from now on, I am PRAYING).
So I spent a night in KL, before flying to Kuching in Borneo. I ended up going with one of the Irish guys from the Perhentians (Alan), which was a very nice turn of events indeed. We stayed in a very nice hostel, and spent a few days wandering round the town looking for meat on skewers, visiting a marvellous market with pets for sale, looking around some very rubbish museums (one of the highlights was a tiny photograph of a bike with the caption: 'bicycles are still used in Sarawak today'), and lying down to sleep at every possible opportunity (outside museums, on a square of grass surrounded by roads, on steps next to fountains - I blame the heat). Also went to an Orangutan rehabilitation centre where the orangutans are semi wild, and do their own thing most of the time but come along at feeding time for tourists to gawp at. I enjoyed that a lot and it was cheap! The entry fee was about 60p. We then waited for about an hour and a half for the return bus to turn up, before a kind man in a mini van told us we were waiting in the wrong place and drove us about a mile down the road to the right place. That was good, especially as the bus stop was by a market where we were able to buy more meat on skewers. Also visited Bako national park and spent a night there. Did a couple of treks, including one that led to a very beautiful secluded beach. Had a little swim in the sea and when I came back some monkeys had chucked my stuff around but luckily all they took was an empty food bag. I was supposed to head up to Kota Kinabalu, but unfortunately I somehow failed to organise myself properly to do that. Probably should have done that since I had a flight booked out of there, but never mind. I then made an impulse decision to go with Alan to Bali, where he was meeting his friends I met on the Perhentians. Trying not to think about the cost of that. We flew to Bali and then the next day got a slow boat and then a mini van and then another boat to an island called Gili Trawangan. The whole journey took about 8 hours. Gili T was very beautiful and relaxing. I was quite charmed by the little horse drawn carts jangling around the island all day long. Ate lots of good fish and delicious Gili Gelato, drank lots of local rum and generally had a relaxing old time. The accommodation was fairly disgusting (the toilet only flushed if you filled the cistern up with the shower first, there was no sink and they didn't bother to empty the bathroom bin before I arrived) but it only cost me 3.50 a night so I just tried not to spend too much time there.
After the Gilis we headed back to Bali. We splashed out on the fast boat for that as it only took an hour instead of 8 but it was awful. We were sat near the back and the fumes from the 5 engines, lack of fresh air and the ridiculously bumpy journey left me feeling terrible. We spent the last couple of nights in Kuta as it was near the airport. Kuta has a bit of a bad rep (I think it's like Ibiza for Australians) but I thought it was ok. Lots of surfers and market stalls, and a beach for me to lie on so I was happy. Went out in the evening for one of the guy's bdays and found a place that did free drinks between 10 and 11 and had free food. Took advantage of that!
Am now back in KL for the fourth time, and am having a day of catching up on emails. Parted ways with the Irish guys this morning after 3 hours sleep and got a 6am flight. I'm getting two buses to Thailand tonight at 9pm. The whole thing will probably take about 24 hours. I will stock up on snacks after the last hungry bus journey. Looking forward to Thailand though.
Send more word from blighty and from your fine selves.
Lots of love xxxxd
So I spent a night in KL, before flying to Kuching in Borneo. I ended up going with one of the Irish guys from the Perhentians (Alan), which was a very nice turn of events indeed. We stayed in a very nice hostel, and spent a few days wandering round the town looking for meat on skewers, visiting a marvellous market with pets for sale, looking around some very rubbish museums (one of the highlights was a tiny photograph of a bike with the caption: 'bicycles are still used in Sarawak today'), and lying down to sleep at every possible opportunity (outside museums, on a square of grass surrounded by roads, on steps next to fountains - I blame the heat). Also went to an Orangutan rehabilitation centre where the orangutans are semi wild, and do their own thing most of the time but come along at feeding time for tourists to gawp at. I enjoyed that a lot and it was cheap! The entry fee was about 60p. We then waited for about an hour and a half for the return bus to turn up, before a kind man in a mini van told us we were waiting in the wrong place and drove us about a mile down the road to the right place. That was good, especially as the bus stop was by a market where we were able to buy more meat on skewers. Also visited Bako national park and spent a night there. Did a couple of treks, including one that led to a very beautiful secluded beach. Had a little swim in the sea and when I came back some monkeys had chucked my stuff around but luckily all they took was an empty food bag. I was supposed to head up to Kota Kinabalu, but unfortunately I somehow failed to organise myself properly to do that. Probably should have done that since I had a flight booked out of there, but never mind. I then made an impulse decision to go with Alan to Bali, where he was meeting his friends I met on the Perhentians. Trying not to think about the cost of that. We flew to Bali and then the next day got a slow boat and then a mini van and then another boat to an island called Gili Trawangan. The whole journey took about 8 hours. Gili T was very beautiful and relaxing. I was quite charmed by the little horse drawn carts jangling around the island all day long. Ate lots of good fish and delicious Gili Gelato, drank lots of local rum and generally had a relaxing old time. The accommodation was fairly disgusting (the toilet only flushed if you filled the cistern up with the shower first, there was no sink and they didn't bother to empty the bathroom bin before I arrived) but it only cost me 3.50 a night so I just tried not to spend too much time there.
After the Gilis we headed back to Bali. We splashed out on the fast boat for that as it only took an hour instead of 8 but it was awful. We were sat near the back and the fumes from the 5 engines, lack of fresh air and the ridiculously bumpy journey left me feeling terrible. We spent the last couple of nights in Kuta as it was near the airport. Kuta has a bit of a bad rep (I think it's like Ibiza for Australians) but I thought it was ok. Lots of surfers and market stalls, and a beach for me to lie on so I was happy. Went out in the evening for one of the guy's bdays and found a place that did free drinks between 10 and 11 and had free food. Took advantage of that!
Am now back in KL for the fourth time, and am having a day of catching up on emails. Parted ways with the Irish guys this morning after 3 hours sleep and got a 6am flight. I'm getting two buses to Thailand tonight at 9pm. The whole thing will probably take about 24 hours. I will stock up on snacks after the last hungry bus journey. Looking forward to Thailand though.
Send more word from blighty and from your fine selves.
Lots of love xxxxd
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Melting in Malaysia
Hello!
As you may have already worked out I am now in Malaysia. After I left Singapore I went to Melaka where I spent a couple of nights in a delightful little hostel. Melaka was teeny tiny but quite charming. Lots of colonial history and pretty churches etc and plenty museums to feed my enquiring mind. Some of the museums were better than others; I wasn't a big fan of the literature museum which pretty much just consisted of laminated text about various Malay authors and where they grew up. It was the start of Ramadan when I arrived, and where I was staying was right next to where they do the call to prayer in the morning and evening, so I had that to wake me up at around 5.30am each day. From Melaka I went on to Kuala Lumpur, where I met a Canadian girl on a shopping mission so I ended up getting an excellent insight into the workings of shopping malls in KL (they're pretty much exactly the same as anywhere Western except the food courts are better). Aside from shopping I also visited the Lake Gardens (nice), the Petronas towers (impressive from the outside, couldn't be bothered to queue up at 8.30am to get a ticket to go up to the top...), and just generally wandered round examining markets and mosques. Also had a fish spa nibbling experience which was exceedingly tickly but nice, and a lot cheaper than in London (I think I paid 2 pounds). Had a wild night out on my last night, which started off in the Sky Bar with views of the Petronas towers and then moved to somewhere cheaper where it was happy hour all night.
After that I moved on to the Cameron Highlands with Andy, an Australian guy I met in KL. Stayed in a dingy guest house with grumpy staff, visited tea plantations (very beautiful), and went on a rainforest trek led by a topless, handlebar moustache-wearing guide with scary tattoos and some kind of animal horns on the front of his 4x4. The trek was good - got to see the Rafflesia flower in bloom, and had a little dip in a waterfall, then stopped off in a slightly dodgy Indian restaurant on the way home. The town where we were staying was really dead in the evenings which was a bit dull, especially as I wasn't keen to get back to my guest house too early, but we found a nicer hostel with a bar where we met some English girls (these Brits get everywhere) and spent the night playing cards and drinking beer.
The next morning we got the mini bus to Kuala Besut, and then the ferry to the Perhentian islands. The 6 hour mini bus ride was fairly awful, on account of the bumpy winding roads, my head repeatedly banging against the metal bar on the window, and my recently acquired travel sickness, but I made it in one piece. We stayed on Long Beach on Kecil island which was postcard beautiful but not at all long, and where all the guests were backpackers around my age. I went snorkelling on day two (and burnt my back) and saw and fed some pleasing tropical fish, sharks (didn't feed those) and a giant turtle. Days were spent scorching myself on the beach and occasionally mustering up the strength to get some food or a drink, and evenings were spent at the monkey bar listening to the charming local band and drinking 'monkey juice' (some kind of unidentified spirit that's a bit like rum that all the locals love - very tasty). All the people I spoke to were delightful, including Ladin (I can only guess at the spelling), a local boy who taught me his dance moves at the beach bar, and a group of Irish guys who were all very amusing. I could quite easily have stayed there for longer, if it wasn't for the flight from Borneo to Bangkok which is already booked, so I made my way back to KL today and am flying to Kuching tomorrow. The bus journey was 9 hours, but the long distance buses are much nicer than any we have in England so it was peachy. It would have been peachier if we could have bought some food on the way, but since it is Ramadan nowhere was selling anything to eat or drink.
Having a great time but I must have word from my cherished ones. Send me your tales from home and tell me things about the rioting! Absurd!
Lots of love! xxxx
As you may have already worked out I am now in Malaysia. After I left Singapore I went to Melaka where I spent a couple of nights in a delightful little hostel. Melaka was teeny tiny but quite charming. Lots of colonial history and pretty churches etc and plenty museums to feed my enquiring mind. Some of the museums were better than others; I wasn't a big fan of the literature museum which pretty much just consisted of laminated text about various Malay authors and where they grew up. It was the start of Ramadan when I arrived, and where I was staying was right next to where they do the call to prayer in the morning and evening, so I had that to wake me up at around 5.30am each day. From Melaka I went on to Kuala Lumpur, where I met a Canadian girl on a shopping mission so I ended up getting an excellent insight into the workings of shopping malls in KL (they're pretty much exactly the same as anywhere Western except the food courts are better). Aside from shopping I also visited the Lake Gardens (nice), the Petronas towers (impressive from the outside, couldn't be bothered to queue up at 8.30am to get a ticket to go up to the top...), and just generally wandered round examining markets and mosques. Also had a fish spa nibbling experience which was exceedingly tickly but nice, and a lot cheaper than in London (I think I paid 2 pounds). Had a wild night out on my last night, which started off in the Sky Bar with views of the Petronas towers and then moved to somewhere cheaper where it was happy hour all night.
After that I moved on to the Cameron Highlands with Andy, an Australian guy I met in KL. Stayed in a dingy guest house with grumpy staff, visited tea plantations (very beautiful), and went on a rainforest trek led by a topless, handlebar moustache-wearing guide with scary tattoos and some kind of animal horns on the front of his 4x4. The trek was good - got to see the Rafflesia flower in bloom, and had a little dip in a waterfall, then stopped off in a slightly dodgy Indian restaurant on the way home. The town where we were staying was really dead in the evenings which was a bit dull, especially as I wasn't keen to get back to my guest house too early, but we found a nicer hostel with a bar where we met some English girls (these Brits get everywhere) and spent the night playing cards and drinking beer.
The next morning we got the mini bus to Kuala Besut, and then the ferry to the Perhentian islands. The 6 hour mini bus ride was fairly awful, on account of the bumpy winding roads, my head repeatedly banging against the metal bar on the window, and my recently acquired travel sickness, but I made it in one piece. We stayed on Long Beach on Kecil island which was postcard beautiful but not at all long, and where all the guests were backpackers around my age. I went snorkelling on day two (and burnt my back) and saw and fed some pleasing tropical fish, sharks (didn't feed those) and a giant turtle. Days were spent scorching myself on the beach and occasionally mustering up the strength to get some food or a drink, and evenings were spent at the monkey bar listening to the charming local band and drinking 'monkey juice' (some kind of unidentified spirit that's a bit like rum that all the locals love - very tasty). All the people I spoke to were delightful, including Ladin (I can only guess at the spelling), a local boy who taught me his dance moves at the beach bar, and a group of Irish guys who were all very amusing. I could quite easily have stayed there for longer, if it wasn't for the flight from Borneo to Bangkok which is already booked, so I made my way back to KL today and am flying to Kuching tomorrow. The bus journey was 9 hours, but the long distance buses are much nicer than any we have in England so it was peachy. It would have been peachier if we could have bought some food on the way, but since it is Ramadan nowhere was selling anything to eat or drink.
Having a great time but I must have word from my cherished ones. Send me your tales from home and tell me things about the rioting! Absurd!
Lots of love! xxxx
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)