Lunar Lunacy

Sawat-dee, my friends, relatives and other random correspondees!

No mail for a few days, but I am now firmly ensconced in Thailand. Had a bit of a 'mare with the trip up here but all rather more chilled now.

I'm currently on Ko Pha Ngan, having spent a few nights staying on Ko Samui (although the middle night was actually over here, in the lunacy that was the Full Moon Party). Before that, I had a few nights in Penang (Georgetown, to be specific), which were actually pretty quiet.

The night I got there it was midnight before I could check in, after a hellish trip up from the Cameron Highlands which lasted at least 2 hours longer than I'd been told it would, and left me wishing for the usual ridiculous air-con, as the bus I was on was rather too warm and sticky for my liking (and the gentleman sitting next to me was somewhat pungent). The next day I slept in a bit in the morning, then went for a wander around town, before looking around the Cheong Fatt Tse mansion in the afternoon, which was fascinating if a little lengthy at times (the lady showing us around was a bit of an enthusiast, and I had a lot of sympathy for the non-native English speakers, as she chatted away at a hell of a pace!).

That evening, I met up again with Lies, who'd been on my bus up to the Highlands, and went for a really nice Indian meal. I'd been thinking I might go out for a bit after that, but the atmosphere in a lot of the places I looked at just wasn't that lively (and in a few it was a bit TOO lively), so I headed back to my hostel, dodging the beckoning ladies of the night who infest Chinatown on my way home.

My last day in Penang, I wandered around the old centre of town and then tried to go up Penang Hill, only to be informed on my arrival at the foot of the funicular railway going up there that the track had to be closed for unscheduled maintenance, and would not be open until the next day. "Bugger" quoth I. So that day didn't really accomplish much, but I at least had a fun evening, ending up having a few beers in the "Soho" pub in town, the downstairs of which is your usual pseudo-British pub, but the upstairs looks like it's been lifted from some mad faux-Edwardian gentleman's club or something, with elaborate wallpaper, chandeliers and the like. Tres bizarre. And I ended up chatting and drinking away (slightly longer than I'd planned) with a trio of Irish lasses and a whole posse of RAAF boys, who were on exercises with the Malaysians over in Butterworth (other side of the strait from Georgetown).

Then came one of the longer days of my travelling life, as I headed up into Thailand. Looking around Penang, I was unable to find anywhere willing to sell a "normal" coach ticket, everyone was flogging Minibus ones, so in the end I had bitten the bullet and got myself a minibus ticket to Surat Thani in Thailand. Approximately 8 hours away from Penang. Leaving at 5am. Yuk. Yuk yuk yuk. My mood upon rising at that hour of the day is never exactly cheerful, and it deteriorated rapidly once I was shown into the back seat of the minibus, next to a German-Hungarian couple. My head was resting against the roof, and I had to either tilt sideways or try and lean back to avoid it bumping the whole time, the latter complicated by the absence of anything remotely resembling legroom. NOT a happy bunny.

By the time I got to hop out of said vehicle for a break, just before the border, I had a noticeable crick in my neck and had failed dismally to get much sleep. This after around 2.5 hours. The torture continued through to Hat Yai, the main transit town on the Thai side of the border, where I discovered that I was to be swapped into another, different minibus for the leg up to Surat Thani. This time I wasn't in the back. Hurrah! My neck got some relief. Unfortunately, I think there was actually even less leg-room in the middle row of seats, which didn't help my legs or my attempts to sleep one bit (neither did the Thai girl who kept dozing off, falling against my shoulder, waking up again, and then dozing off again).

On arrival in Surat, I found that I gave up on my original plan to try and sort myself out a decent boat ticket independently of the damned minibus company and just bought a ticket through them. Which then resulted in more "hurry up and wait" sitting around, before a quick trip in a sawngthaew (a pickup or minivan with bench seats in the back) and a further transfer to a coach, all of which confused the hell out of me and meant I only realised too late that I had left my shoes on the second minibus. Aaaargh!

After a dozy car-ferry ride over to Samui, and another of what are becoming increasingly frequent sawngthaew rides, I finally made it to my accommodation, on Bo Phut beach in the north of Samui. There I had some good food, a couple of cocktails and beers, and promptly crashed out. The next day I lounged a bit on the beach, swam in the sea for a bit (until getting put off by some of the stuff floating in it), legged it back under cover just in time to dodge a rainstorm, and headed off in the evening on the first speedboat over to Ko Pha Ngan.

The moon was bright, the water was like a millpond, and the speedboat had power to burn, so I had a great time on the way over. On arrival, the sun was already down, the neon and flourescent paints were out in force (along with the ever-present flower-garland- and glow-stick-sellers), and the night was just getting started. And it turned into a fun night, albeit a long one. I spent much of the early part of it hanging around with a bunch of South Africans, before eventually bumping into some of the people I'd met on the Perhentians - Ricky was pissed as a fart, and already at the "I love you guys" stage, which was quite amusing, but I was disappointed when the girls who'd originally persuaded me to shift things around and come to the Party just completely blanked me when I went over to say Hi. Ah well, never mind. After that, I hung around with various random people until the sun rose, when I finished off my bottle of water (yes Mum, I was actually moderately sensible, and didn't drink to excess) and headed down to brave the surf and get onto the next speedboat back to Samui. Where I crashed out and slept for most of the day.

Today I was back on the move again, bringing my stuff with me back over to Pha Ngan, where I'm about to do the logical thing for a Saturday night and go find a bar showing the football from back home. Ah, bliss!

And that's where I'll leave this, as it's turned into a bit of a monster e-mail and everywhere here in Had Rin (the main backpacker enclave on Pha Ngan) seems to be in a cartel that keeps the internet prices fixed (at quite a bit more expensive than Malaysia!).

Hope you're all well, wherever you are and whatever you're doing. Take care and have fun,

Pat

Highland Haunts

Selamat Tengahari!

Just a quick note today, as I haven't been up to that much in the last couple of days. I'm now up in the Cameron Highlands (at least for a few more hours, before I head on to Penang), which means I've had to accustom myself to the idea that Malaysia can actually be cold. It was also exceedingly damp yesterday, but luckily today has been much more pleasant. The trip up here was somewhat eventful, though, taking in an unscheduled stop at the coach company's depot where the driver and a couple of friends proceeded to get out various tools (most notably an angle-grinder) and forcibly remove one of the panels from the side of the bus - from what I could gather, something had gone wrong with the hinging on it, and they were worried it might fall off, so they decided to rip it off themselves. Whilst this was going on, we were "entertained" by what appeared to be a Chinese youth choir - in truth, they weren't that bad, but the combination of their singing, the whine of the angle-grinder and the rumbles of the thunderstorm going on in the background were rather disconcerting.

Last night I then had the pleasure of some rather nice Indian food at dinner (complete with Naan bread cooked right in front of us), and then the fun of finding somewhere in a Malaysian highland town that would show the England game. Astonishingly, one self-proclaimed "sports cafe" was doing so, allowing me my first look at post-Sven England (I missed the Greece friendly) as they cruised past Andorra. However, by 2am (when it finished) I was well and truly knackered, so glad to retire to my bed in one of the converted Nissen huts (WWII corrugated iron shelters). And very glad of the blankets, which was something I wasn't expecting to need for a while (apart, of course, from on the coach/refrigerator-on-wheels trips).

Today, I've been wandering around on a trip up to the tallest peak in the Highlands (Mt Brinchang), yomping about in the rainforest on its slopes, and looking around a tea plantation and factory. Dav, you'd have been in hog heaven.

And that's it for the mo - just a few days left in Malaysia, and then the madness that is Thailand awaits me.

Take care and have fun,

Pat

More Malaysian Madness

Hello again,

Having returned from the island paradise of Pulau Perhentian to the joys of the big city (eg cheap internet), it's time for me to drop out another quick update.

Basically, I spent about 4 days on the beach.

For most people, that would seem a natural way to spend the holidays, but those of you who know me well will know that it's nigh-on unprecedented for me. The difference here would have to be the truly gorgeous nature of Long Beach, on Perhentian Kecil (small island), combined with meeting a fun crowd (or two) of people.

Only downside of my time there was that I basically wasted about a day and a half feeling rough as a wombat's bum after an ill-advised encounter with an omelette, but I was sensible (yes Mum, I know, it can happen sometimes) and kept myself out of trouble for a day or so and got through that. It did mean that I didn't get around to any of the snorkelling, kayaking and the like I'd planned to do, but I had a wonderful time there anyway.

I'm now in Kuala Lumpur (KL), ahead of National Day tomorrow, which should be a bit of an eye-opener. After that, the plan is to hit the Cameron Highlands and then Penang before heading into Thailand, where I may actually be in time for the Full Moon party at Ko Pha-Ngan. I know it's cheesey, touristy and everyone does it (and I don't even particularly like dance music...), but I figure if the schedule just about lines up then I'd be mad not to, and I'd been planning to spend some time on the island anyway.

I may have to get accommodation on Ko Samui and go over by boat for the festivities, though, as I'd be arriving too late to have any real chance of finding accommodation on the island itself for the party. I'm also under orders to try and catch up with a bunch of English girls I met on the Perhentians, who semi-adopted me as a kind of "elder brother" figure - they reckon it should be easy to find them, as they'll apparently have bright orange elephant hats on (complete with trunks). The mind boggles...

Anyways, that'll do for the moment. Hope all's well with all of you! Take care and have fun,

Pat

PS Zaz, I totally see what you mean about occasionally wanting a duvet on Malaysian coaches now! Overnight trip on one was an interesting experience.

I'm melting, I'm meeeeelting....

Hallo once more!

Well, my travels continue, through thick and thin, and I'm now in Malaysia. In absolutely no change from Singapore, the weather remains hazy, hot and stickier than a spillage in a glue factory. Hence, given my well-known discomfort in any remotely hot and humid weather, I spend the whole time feeling like I'm about to melt, apart from when I'm in Air-Con.

I'm also feeling utterly stuffed at the moment, having been out eating lots and lots of Satay - there's a place in Melaka (where I'm currently set up) which does a cross between satay (muchos peanut sauce) and Chinese steamboat cooking - you get a big bubbling pot of peanut sauce in the middle of the table, and various skewers of stuff that get stuck in it and cooked. Given that said skewers cost 50 sen each (half a Ringgit, or about 7p), it's oh so easy to get carried away and end up with a big pile of skewers on your tray. Not that I did that. Errrr....

Singapore ended up being quite good fun, I spent a good deal of Sunday afternoon in a microbrewery, then went to the Asian Civilisations Museum and the Night Safari on Monday, and did a walking tour around Little India on Tuesday (yesterday). The evening then turned into an impromptu game of Ring of Fire with a bunch of the other backpackers in the hostel, which all got a bit messy, and I apparently did my usual trick of falling asleep in my chair after I'd had a fair few beers. Only, on this occasion, some smart-alec decided to cover my hair in shaving foam, which then went everywhere when I woke up and scratched my head.

Today was spent largely on the buses, going from Singapore over the Causeway to Johore Bahru (JB), then on to Melaka, travelling with an American lad called John. After not meeting that many American backpackers (as opposed to tourists) before, I've now met quite a few in just the last couple of months. The poor boy's going to be a lawyer when he gets home, but I won't hold that against him...

At any rate, that's where I'm at now, and tomorrow night I will be taking the sleeper train up to Kota Bharu (right up in the northeast corner of peninsular Malaysia) from where I plan to go on to the Perhentian islands. So in less than two days' time I should be back in tropical island paradise country. Hurrah!

Hope you're all well! Take care and have fun,

Pat