Thailand - Ko Phi Phi (Again)

We are back in the island of Ko Phi Phi to meet up with Jeremy and his co-workers, consisting of twenty-year-old ice skaters. (So Bill is happy.) Jeremy is Bill's cousin whom we stayed with in Buenos Aires last July:

When we were in Ko Phi Phi couple of weeks ago, we hadn't like it very much. The island was too crowded, but mostly we didn't like it because we were in the midst of a huge fight that lasted forty hours. I forgot what the fight was about, but I am sure it was Bill's fault.

We like Ko Phi Phi much better this time. We are staying at a more laid-back beach and it's fun being in a big group.

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Bill and me not fighting:

We are, however, back in the land of topless sunbathers. There's a topless girl walking on the beach, another one playing Smash Ball - it's like being in a Girls Gone Wild video. (So Bill is happy.) I am not sure why this annoys me so much. I'd like to think it has something to do with lack of respect for the culture-blah-blah, but I think I am just getting old.

We are staying in a concrete structure rather than a bamboo bungalow and yet I saw a frog and a lizard in our room, engaged in a stare-down contest. This morning, I woke up and turned my head sideways in the bed - lying next to me on the pillow was a cockroach-looking bug the size of my thumb. Bill heroically killed the bug and only squealed twice in the process.

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Bill snorkeling:

Monkeys eating bananas at the very originally-named Monkey Beach:

This is Bill getting a haircut at Krabi, the last town we were at. I will never understand Bill's choice of hair salons - he passed up a perfectly normal looking barber shop and walked into this one that not only cut hair, but sold wedding dresses, tea, dried fruit and took wedding pictures:

Thailand - Krabi

Hoping to see something 'cultural', I dragged Bill away from the beaches into the mainland town of Krabi for couple nights. We took a songthaew (truck with seats in the back) to Wat (Temple) Tam Sua.

In the songthaew:

Wat Tam Sua:

As recommended by the guidebook, we climbed up 1272 of steep stairs to the top of a cliff for the view and the Buddha statute.

The view:

The Buddha statute:

I didn't think it was worth the hike up. This is me about to pass out from all that exercise in the heat:

Bill at a street food stall - all restaurants, from the expensive ones to the street ones like this, have at least four condiments on the table for the four fundamental Thai tastes: spiciness (crushed chilly peppers), sourness (vinegar), saltiness (fish sauce or soy sauce) and sweetness (white sugar):

Thailand - Ko Hai and Ko Mook

Looking for even more island-paradise-ness, we took a boat down to Ko Hai in the very southern part of Thailand. The island of Ko Hai doesn't even have a road - the only thing there is a beach with some hotels on it. It's like Cast Away with air conditioning.
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The beach there is great - white sands, crystal clear water that stays shallow forever, and corals with different kinds of tropical fishes for snorkeling. The speck in the picture is Bill and he is still walking!:

It seems visitors to this part of Thailand are mostly Scandinavians (everyone is blond). We are having a hard time locating English books in thehotel book exchange. The only English book I could find was 'Disahamma - Mankind's Pathway Dhamma' in which 'the author describes how a householder can grow the Buddha nature within himself and finally attain nirvana.' I miss TV.

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Bill is half way through my old copy of 'The Devil Wears Prada' and is glad that he doesn't work in fashion:

These are longtail boats used to ferry people between the islands:

On one ride, the boat engine stopped suddenly when we were in the middle of the sea. I almost put on the life jacket that I was sitting on, but realized that it was just the captain turning off the engine so he could answer his cell phone. Make that Cast Away with air con and cellphone reception.

This is the island of Ko Mook:

Thailand - Ko Lanta

Finally! We found the quiet, peaceful island paradise for the over-thirty crowd that we were looking for. No shame in going to bed at 9:30pm here:

We have been very lazy - doing nothing else other than sleeping, eating and going to be beach. Loving the cheap Thai food - shrimp has replaced chicken in our diet. This is the restaurant at our hotel:

Getting massages on the beach for $8/hour:

The trials and tribulations of Bill's day -

He doesn't quite fit into the hammock:

He has to chase a stray cat out of the beach bungalow:

He is afraid of mosquitos:

Thailand - Phuket & Ko Phi Phi

Phuket:

After a long, bleak, tearful month apart, Bill and I reunited in the island of Phuket. Yay! Bill almost immediately started complaining about how much space my stuff was taking up in the small hotel room. The past month is not looking so bleak after all.

Phuket has miles of beautiful beaches. But they are filled with unsightly topless sunbathers. Public Announcement - please, no topless sunbathing in Asia, and absolutely no topless sunbathing anywhere once gravity has started taking its toll.

Another unsightly aspect of Phuket is its 'go go bars' and seemingly temporary financial couplings seen at breakfast tables (Mosaiced to protect identity):

Waiting for my grilled octopus at the night market:

Ko Phi Phi:

We left Phuket and took a boat to Ko Phi Phi, very popular with backpackers. Despite my aversion of beach huts (see Tulum, Mexico post), it seems to be the popular type of backpacker lodging in Thailand. This is our beach hut:

The drunk British boys in the next beach hut left their boom box on and locked the door when they went out for the night. So we had to listen to Justin Timberlake into the wee hours of the morning as we silently chanted 'die, batteries, die!'

Ah, the joy of backpacking (yes, I am struggling to get back into 'backpacker' mode):

Malaysia - Pankgor Island, Tana Ratah (Cameron Highlands) and Georgetown (Penang Island)

First, it's been a while and I know I've been pretty lazy about blogging the various stops along the route through Malaysia, so . . .

After Kuala Lampur, I headed to Pangkor island, a small island just off the coast about 4 hrs. north of KL. It was nice and fairly deserted:



The seafood in Malaysia has been phenomenal (and phenomenally cheap):



The weather on the coast is extremely hot and humid, so I decided to head for the Cameron Highlands, a hill station founded by the British during the colonial era, for a few days to cool off. Needless to say, given it's history, everywhere you go you can drink tea and eat scones -- kind-of bizarre:




I did a little hiking in the area -- this one is me almost falling into the river trying to get ready for the self-timer shot with the camera (yeah, climbing on wet rocks while hiking alone in the jungle - brilliant):



Another waterfall (this time no dangerous wet rocks):



Chinese temple in the country:



Once I had sufficiently cooled off, I headed back down to the coast to Penang, another island just off Malaysia's west coast. I spent most of my time in Georgetown, a fairly large city:



Malaysia has a great ethnic mix, with about 61% indigenous Malay people, about 27% Chinese, 7% Indian and 5% other (roughly). The Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures are all very visible. For example, in Georgetown, a very much Chinese city, this Chinese temple:

is a half block from this Indian temple

which is a half block from this mosque:

Of course it's not all just great culture in Penang - there is plenty of shopping and beach time to be had as well:

Now that I've met back up with JeeHeon here in Phuket, Thailand, I'll turn creative control of the blog back over to her, so it will soon be back to the normal enjoyable read it once was.