Scooting around Thailand

We love Thailand! It was great to move on from Malaysia and to trade in the roti for the spicy Thai curries. And they are delicious!

We had a great start coming into Thailand. As soon as we got off the boat, a bus left for Krabi, our first stop in Thailand. We got chucked on a motorbike and brought straight to the departing bus. A few hours later we got to Krabi, a very crowded touristy town. Despite the crowds, Krabi was great. Initially we only wanted to stay two nights, but we stayed for six! We just couldn’t get enough of the food and beaches. Krabi also made us a bit greedy. There are so many market stalls there with so much stuff you don’t need, but it’s all so cheap… We splurged out on tailor-made suits and they turned out really nice. We sent them straight home, so hopefully the ship will make it to Melbourne in three months.

Ko Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh (where ‘the Beach’ was shot) are only a short boat ride away from Krabi, so we decided to go there for the day. The ‘the beach’ beach didn’t quite look like the beach in the movie and was packed with people! The water was beautiful though and the rock formations were quite spectacular so no wonder they shot the movie there. We got the opportunity to snorkel a bit around the islands, but this wasn’t too exciting. It was just gorgeous to see all the huge rocks sticking out from the sea. The water was so clear and so blue, it was really nice. Though we won’t go on an organised day tour again…

Again we rented a scooter for a couple of days and we happened to ride past a Honda shop. We were curious about the price of a new scooter and the cheapest was only about $1200, new. That got us thinking and we ended up shopping around for a scooter the whole day. Just as we were about to buy one, we found out that, as travelers, we’re not actually allowed to just buy a vehicle. We needed some papers from the Thai immigration. We had to wait for them to open again on Monday, so we had a bit of time to ponder over the possible scooter purchase.

We got to the immigration office early on Monday morning. We wanted at least try to obtain this permit to be able to buy a bike. The immigration office told us we needed our hotel to sign some papers (to proof we stayed there) and to come back once the papers were signed. The immigration office was located half an hour’s ride away from our hotel, so we got on our scooter and left the office to get the papers signed. They were a bit hesitant and the hotel to sign the papers for us and wanted us to check in for another night (we had just checked out, thinking we might be on our way that day with our new scooter, how naïve!). Eventually we got the papers signed without having to pay for another night, so off we went to the immigration office again. Once we got there, they told us the papers we just got the hotel to sign weren’t enough; we needed to obtain some photocopies of the owner’s ID as well as some other receipt… We got the immigration officer to write it down for us in Thai, and off we went again for that half an hour ride back to our hotel. Once there, the staff were again a bit hesitant to give us the paperwork and told us to go back to the immigration office to meet the owner of the hotel there. We found this a bit strange, but OK, off we went again for a half hour ride to the immigration office. Of course the hotel owner wasn’t there. After we asked the immigration officer some more questions and told him we really only wanted to purchase a motorbike, he got onto it for us and found the documents needed. Apparently they were already in the office when we were asked to get them from the hotel! Anyway, the paperwork was prepared, the money paid and after only 5,5 hours we had the permit to buy a scooter!

Because we had already looked around on Saturday we knew what we wanted and where to get it. Eventually we bought a second hand Honda Click scooter (110 cc), dubbed ‘Eleanor’. Buying Eleanor wasn’t as straight forward as we had hoped, but with lots of giggles, hands, feet and a calculator we agreed on a price, a new front tyre and a different seat. If we’re going to travel around this country by bike it may as well be comfortable.

Eventually we stayed at our hotel for another night. While we had bought the scooter, it wasn’t registered in our name yet. On Tuesday we headed for the land and transport department, where no one seemed to speak English. We got there at 8.30am with all our stuff and Jenny had to sit and wait with the bags while David was going to arrange the paperwork. The shop we bought the scooter from was happy to arrange this for us, but it was going to take a couple of weeks. We eventually arranged all our paperwork and at 11am we were on our way! By the way, our motorbike is registered until the year 2553 - Thailand is a few hundred years ahead of our western time.

The first day on the bike was an experience. We got so sore after only 30 km! We pushed through though and ended up about 140 km further north, at Kao Sok national park. Stunning rock formations and rivers were part of the scenery and we were very happy that Eleanor brought us all the way there. We stayed at a lovely and cheap guesthouse (we paid a lot in Krabi, compared!) and got a bit drunk from the Chang beer, probably to soothe our stiff muscles.

The next morning we took off for Ranong, another 260km away. This time, the ride was much smoother and more comfortable, we were already getting used to it! Saw some elephants on the way, eat nice food from a local market and just putted along the highway. Eleanor can do about 100 kph with the two of us plus luggage. Not a bad little bike. We got to Ranong, stayed the night and moved on to Ko Phayam (after storing Eleanor away safely for a couple of days), a little island just off the coast where Thailand and Myanmar meet. It’s very laid back here with a nice beach and a few little places to eat. After Ko Phayam, we push on to the north, after a visa run to Myanmar first.

So far Thailand has impressed us a lot. The people are nice, the food is delicious, the beaches are beautiful, the roads are good, the temperature is pleasant, and so on. We love Thailand!

Family fun in Malaysia

The past couple of weeks in Malaysia have been great. Jenny was very happy to see her family again and with her parents we travelled through Malaysia for ten days. Not too much, because they’re not quite used to (or want to be involved in) ‘chicken bus’ transportation, or sitting in a bus for hours on end. So our first stop from Kuala Lumpur was the Cameron Highlands, supposedly ‘only’ 3,5 hours away from KL.

Unfortunately David had, unknowingly, purchased a ticket for the old, normal bus (as supposed to a VIP bus). This bus was an old piece of crap and not very comfortable, but at least it moved, albeit very slowly. All the other buses passed us along the freeway. Since the Cameron Highlands were quite high up (hence the name), about 1800 meters above sea level, the bus started climbing up with a lot of effort. Eventually, after five hours and only twenty kilometers more to go (which could have taken another hour), the bus gave up and started smoking badly. Black smoke entered the bus very quickly and we were sitting right at the back, and all these Malay people got off the bus very slowly. We got off and the bus was declared dead. Luckily, another one passed not too long after, and squeezed all of us in, it had way too many people on board! After a long trip that should have been comfortable and taken only about half as long, we arrived at our guest house. Now this is how we normally travel, mum and dad, sorry to drag you into it! We really tried to arrange some comfortable transport! At least the rooms were nice.

We stayed a couple of nights in the Cameron Highlands, where we visited tea plantations, the main attraction of the Cameron Highlands. We had our own taxi driver for a few hours. We felt so rich! It was a great way to get around. Up in the mountains the weather was wonderfully cool, a nice change for us, since we’ve spent the last five months in hot weather. The nights were spent playing ‘Kolonisten’ (Settlers of Catan – board game) and eating lots of stroopwafels, pepernoten and rookworst!

Penang was our next stop. We spent a few days in our own apartment with swimming pool where we entertained ourselves with more Kolonisten games! The beach was a three minute walk away and local busses brought us to Georgetown and Penang National Park, where we saw big monitor lizards and something that looks like a salty (small one) in the water, but it could have been a lizard. Penang has great food and we introduced the parents to the spicy Indian food. We love the roti and curries they sell at the Indian shops and we’ve had it basically for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the past three weeks. All the kilos we lost in Indonesia have come back in Malaysia. The food there was wonderful in comparison!

Langkawi island was our last stop and we spent most of our time there. We stayed not far from the beach, although the water wasn’t as nice as what our travel guidebook had promised. We rented a scooter and explored the island for three days, which was a lot of fun. Langkawi was a very relaxing holiday with a bit of swimming and lots and lots of Kolonisten! It was a good opportunity for David to learn Dutch, and he’s done very well these last couple of weeks.

It was such a great opportunity to meet each other in Malaysia and it was a lot of fun! After ten days we had to say goodbye at Langkawi airport. Jenny’s parents left for Kuala Lumpur and we were going to Thailand the next day.

We are in Thailand now and it has a good vibe! We thought we might find it a little too touristy here (which it is, actually), but it’s nice! We’re staying on one of Krabi’s beaches and it’s just so full of people, food stalls, restaurants, cafés, shops, touts, lady boys, etc. It’s very vibrant and we like it! The beaches are nice and the water is very clear. Tomorrow we’re going to be the ultimate tourists by day tripping to Ko Phi Phi, where the movie The Beach was filmed. Last night we choose three suits and five shirts to be tailor-made for us, so we have to go through a few fittings today and tomorrow. We’ll have to work again soon (we’ve already been away for over six months!), so we may as well look good for the interviews!

Shop till you drop

Welcome to Malaysia, the world of mega malls! At least in Kuala Lumpur. It's lovely to be back in Malaysia. A couple of years ago we went to Borneo, which we thoroughly enjoyed! The last week has been a bit of a waiting game; waiting for Jenny's sister and her boyfriend (Anke & Tim) and her parents to arrive, but it has been very nice and relaxed!

(Jenny in mega mall, complete with rollercoaster!)

David was looking for a new Deuter bag, new shoes, new sunglasses. And Jenny needed new flip flops, new prescription glasses, a new camera and a new phone. And we found it all (except the Deuter bag, still looking!)! Kuala Lumpur is a shopping mecca. It is quite cheap here and Jenny has been very impressed by David's shopping abilities! We shopped till we dropped to find his beloved Trans Alpine Deuter bag. Unfortunately, we haven't found the specific bag yet (only the fake thing), but it allowed us to shop and shop and shop and to hop from one mega mall to the other without Jenny even having to promise David an ice cream once we finished shopping!

Poor David couldn't find any shoes in his size, so he had to get is old shoes fixed on the corner of some street. It worked out well. In one shopping plaza, the ceilings were so low our heads actually touched the ceiling! We're not being giggled at so much anymore, but people still stare in amazement at our height (and we're not that tall!).

Apart from shopping we have admired some old Dutch architecture in Melacca, a city ruled by the Portuguese, Dutch and English before Malaysia was finally independent 50 years ago. Melacca was a nice relaxing place and we stayed in the best hostel ever. While we are happy not to be in Indonesia any more (although of course it wasn't all bad), we admit to miss bungalows with private bathroom and banana pancakes for breakfast! However this hostel in Melacca was great. Cheap and very clean. And very important, free WiFi, but that seems to be everywhere in KL as well. But new to us...

The weight we lost in Indonesia due to sickness was easily gained in this last week in Malaysia, due to the delicious Malay/Indian food we've been consuming. We've forgotten what hungry feels like and stuffed our faces with roti, roti, roti and devil curries to die for!

Yesterday we had a wonderful family reunion! Anke and Tim, Jen's sister and her boyfriend, had a stop-over on their way to New Zealand and we got to spend 12 hours with them! We had a great time catching up. It's been nearly two years since we last saw Anke and Tim and David hadn't seen each other for over three years! we had a great time, although it was a bit short!
(sisters reunited)

Jenny's mum and dad are arriving in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow morning and we will spend ten days with them. Our plan is to go to the Cameron Highlands and then to Langkawi. Perhaps they might set their big toe in Thailand, since we're so close to the border once we're in Langkawi, but we'll see.