20
May

Koh Lanta- Thailand our time with Lek and Leanne

Posted from Ko Lanta, Krabi, Thailand.

What is it about mini bus drivers in Asia? I’m thinking there I an underground betting syndicate which controls them, with drivers forced to race from place to place as quickly as possible. It’s like grand theft auto, but live. It seems quite ordinary for us to be in packed minivan, in the rain, overtaking a motorbike, that is already overtaking a tuk tuk, whilst we go round a corner, up a hill, across double yellow lines…. all way to fast and in a van with bald tires. Such was our ride from Trang to Koi Lanta.

But we made it safe and sound all the same. We got a quick feed at the curry house beside the 7/11 just as our host Lek arrived in a tuk tuk to pick us up. We drove to his home in the jungle on koi Lanta with houses sporadically placed between jungle and rubber plantations. There we met Leanne, Areeya and haroon. Leanne is English, came to Thailand and fell in love, in every way. With Thailand, with Lek, with the lifestyle. Theirs kids Areeya and Haroon were like hard boiled lollies – tough and sweet. It was very comical to here this English accent coming from the mouth of Areeya who looked very Thai.


Life was basic but wonderful. Lek owned some plots with rubber trees on them which he worked, and he had a few cows. He was also a guide into the local caves which he discovered when he was 15. He took us on a trip into them which was fantastic. We saw a flying lizard, much like a small sugar glider but in lizard form. The caves themselves were unlike any other with the walk itself quite rough and the inside of the caves unlit totally. We saw scorpions and spiders inside the caves as well as stalactites and stalagmites. In terms of structural beauty the cave was not the most impressive we’ve seen, but the immensity of the cave and the vast numbers of caverns was incredible. We had to squeeze through on all fours to exit at the back of the cave.

Dinner was always a wonderful affair, first there was purchasing food from the markets – and you never knew from one day to the next what would be there either. Dinner invariably was curry, fish, chicken and vegetables. Our kids were not so keen on the food initially but soon were gulping it down.
We hired some motorbikes and soon considered ourselves proficient on them, doubling the kids around the island. The little mopeds were quite speedy, though it was rarely possible due to the conditions to go above 50 safely. We spend a day tripping round the islands with Lek, collected some shells which he promptly knotted up into necklaces for us. Very nice touch, he managed to somehow not only make 2 for everyone, he made them perfectly suited to everyone with designed differences in each.

Leanne and Lek shared a relaxed but loving attitude towards parenting their children, not sweating the small stuff which showed in their kids’ attitude to life. Good and bad thing happened, but nothing was to be dwelled on, and fun was to be found everywhere. Our kids and theirs spent hours playing on rope swings, doodling around the house, Haroon was very impressed by Orlando’s car and backugan collection and spent hours playing with them.

No comments yet

19
May

Here we come Koh Lanta -Thailand

20 of May 2011

We left Kota Baru( Malaysia) this morning at 8am heading to the Thailand border in Sungai Kolok in a bus. We are heading to our second Couch surfing family in Koh Lanta – Thailand.
In Sungai Kolok we carried our heavy bags across the border. No Taxies on the other side only motorbike taxies. We were told that they would have no trouble taking us but we declined and decided to walk to the train station. Oh my, we finally made it completely trenched 20 min later, don’t forget it’s the buildup of the monsoon season Hot Hot Hot. Thailand is already turning out to be cheaper than Malaysia and we loved feeling like Kings and Queens.
Our train ride which was second class from the Thai border to Hat Yai cost us only 30 dollars for all of us. The train had open windows and fans above which seem more than enough to keep us cool. On the train there had many heavily armed army dudes. I did ask if i could take photos but got a smile and a big no. Apparently this was left over from the up rise last October in Thailand
It took us about 5 hrs on the train and then we had to catch a mini bus to Trang which is where we stopped for the night as it would take another bus and another 3 hrs to Koh Lanta. I am so excited to be in Thailand finally. We ended up finding a super cheap hotel room, that had 3 king seize mattresses put together, one large bed for all 4 of us. We went down the street to find some amazing dinner and then collapsed into bed by about 11pm.

No comments yet

18
May

The Perhentian Islands- Malaysia

Posted from Kuala Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia.

The night before we left to go to the Perhentian Islands we were told as it was the weekend, it would likely be booked out and expensive. We’d received different reports on where to go to, but settled on Coral Bay on the small island. The minibus ride was an experience. Double yellow lines were considered a suggestion only, it seemed fine to overtake another car which was overtaking a motorbike which had 2 adults and 2 children on it. But we got to the boat to go to the islands alive. We bought our tickets and just made it onto the boat.

The boat was overloaded, short on life jackets and loads of fun as we roared over, bouncing all the way. We arrived in coral bay and Nici and I left the kids in the local resort whilst we went hunting for accommodation. A walk along coral bay revealed nothing left except what could only be described as a shithole of a place, for 70 ringits a night per room. Highway robbery considering it had no power point, not lights of fan during the day and it had a swamp underneath from waste water. But we were there, and the beach was ok so we stayed.

Later in the day we walked to the other side of the island to find the beach far nicer, with softer sand rather than coral intermixed with sand. Loads more places(all also full) but we set our minds on Moonlight guesthouse right up the end. Nici went back the next day, booked us in and we caught a water taxi around. We stayed one night in a poshish family room, and 3 nights in less glamorous but still fine double rooms for 90 ringgits for two rooms. With this saving and with only a little coaxing from Nash, the dive shop manager, we booked in for our advance open water dive course.

Neither Nici or I could even remember how to put our regulators on, but by the end we were fine with all equipment setup, had done a wreck dive, a deep dive and an advanced buoyancy dive. Our divemaster Sharon was really good, Nash was your typical brash Scouse boy. We’d already met dozens of lads like him so knew his heart was likely gold even though his exterior was less polished. You needed a sense of humor, and to turn off you political correctness and sexist filter which a couple at the shop struggled with. But in our case, Nash sorted out a good price, helped us change some cash, pretty much bent over backwards to make things work for us so we were well pleased. We did the course with 2 girls, Sarah from Bermuda and Rachel a Malaysian local
The diving was awesome. Look – it’s not pristine live coral abounding everywhere. We saw a lot of evidence of human damage to the coral, coral bleaching and the crown of thorns starfish were there in big numbers. But the fish were amazing, especially at the temple and sugar wreck dives. We saw giant morays, turtles, sharks (small and not scary) massive hump headed parrotfish and too many other beasties to name.
We ate out morning noon and night, with the average feed per person costing $3AU. Beer was expensive, but it’s and island so go figure. There was a party of one kind of another every night which we kind of attended once, but I was so fagged from diving I was not that keen to go more. Nici would have liked to party more. We snorkeled with the kids and they got to hand feed fish, swim with turtles and reef sharks.
The water was an amazing 32 degrees, you had to keep getting out to rehydrate.
At the guesthouse there was a cat with 4 kittens. The kittens would roam the restaurant all day till mum came to round them up for a feed. She was an excellent mother. We also made friends with Meelo the monkey. She was a little character. Rejected by her mother, hand raised by one of the staff, she lived in pretty tough conditions being on show for one and all most of the day. A large monitor lizard roamed the area and had apparently tried to eat Meelo so she would not sleep without someone there to protect her during the day even when she was exhausted. She often got tired and irritated and bit people, but if you made it clear you did not wish to make demands of her, she would run over, plonk herself in your lap, look into your eyes and chirp herself to sleep. She loved to play in the sand, and swim in the ocean. She was a bit standoffish to the kids, and scratched them both at one time of another.
The staff at moonlight were great, the kids were adopted them and were especially fond of a young woman named Boon who thought they were delightful. Zac and Deedee were especially nice and made sure we were well looked after.

It was a most relaxing fun time on a beautiful sandy island and we were very sad to leave.

No comments yet

14
May

Jungle Train to Kota Baru, Malaysia

After a few days in the amazing Taman Negara Rain Forest we needed to head north to the top of Malaysia. I had always dreamed about taking the train up the infamouse Jungle Line.
Our day started with a 2hr ride on a Long Boat along the Tembeling River.Than a mini bus back to the Train Station in Jarantut where we boarded one of the express trains to Pasir Mas. It was a fun way to see some more of Malaisia.Some Jungle, some rivers, some country towns and lots of oil Palm and rubber tree plantations.

train ride in Malaysia


We got off the train in Pasir Mas after 4hr and took a taxi to Kota Baru 40 RG. We starting to get very good at our bargaining, but somehow managed to upset this taxi driver, luckily he was our first one, every other taxi driver had been so helpful but this one chose not to speak to us for the entire trip.
Kota Baru was an eye opener for me as it seemed extremely religious. Every woman was covered and I managed to get some very dirty looks from other women. Throughout Malaysia people have told me that I look Malaysian, apparently Indian Malaysian, who knows, but I decided to cover up more the next time, when we return to Kota Baru again. We stayed in a very basic, probably below basic Australian standard Backpacker that night but we were happy. KB backackers were full off advice,and extremely helpful . They also booked a mini bus for us for the next morning 8am to take us down to the boat, that would take us to the Perhention islands.Before we left Australia we had never heard of the Perhentian islands, but as soon as we entered Asia everybody mentioned it as one of the highlights of Malaysia.
From the Jungle to the beach–YEAH

No comments yet

13
May

Taman Negara Jungle – Malaysian

Posted from Jerantut, Pahang, Malaysia.

13-05-2011
We are currently on a 5 hr train journey from Jurantut to Kotah Baru which is at the top of Malaysia. We just came from the Malaysian jungle- Taman Negara, which we really didn’t get enough time at . We spend a day and a half wondering through incredibly hot and humid jungle tracks.

We spend the first morning doing a 3.7 km walk through the jungle, to the biggest canopy walk in the world with leeches and mosquitos as our constant companions, but we had to deal with very little compared to the people that camped out for the night in the jungle. We didn’t feel that our kids were quite up for a night under the stars in the jungle, knowing what animals would be lurking in the dark, but I’m putting this one down as a place to return to in the future.
We had lunch in one of the floating restaurants and then hopped onto a boat to head up the river which had been rising for the last day, due to high rainfall. We visited the local Orang Ali people, aborigines that came from south Africa a long time ago to Malaysia, that now live along the river bank, pretty much doing as they please. They live in very simple huts made out of palm leaves and they mostly live of the jungle and as modern time has it, yes of course the shop down the river as well.
Our Guide mentioned that this tribe is not modern yet since they have still not found a religion. They only believe in the trees and the land around them. Hmmm !!
We all learned how to make fire as well as shoot poison darts, our kids were amazing at it especially Ayesha. Somehow I felt strange being in these peoples space, watching them like I would watch animals in a Zoo. After that we went down rapids in the long boat, yeah what fun that was for the kids. Note to self: when you get somewhere and your kids look at you funny like “what are we doing here Mum” break the ice by doing something that rocks their little world and then everything will seem ok.
We stayed in a very basic dorm room which only cost us 10 ringets per person. Lucky we bought our own mosquito nets, a must for the jungle, dwellings are not bug prove.
It’s amazing seeing all these simple villages in the jungle with very happy and relaxed people. Life seems simple but good. Tomorrow we are heading to the Perantian Islands for some beach and snorkel time.

No comments yet

11
May

Elephant sanctuary Malaysia

No comments yet

10
May

Batu Cave -Malaysia

No comments yet

7
May

Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

No comments yet

4
May

Disaster strikes in Singapore

Posted from Singapore.

The plane ride to Singapore was uneventful. The kids played card games, on Ayesha ds and my iphone, watched the inflight movie…. Typical western civilization plane travel. The excitement started when we got to Singapore.

Nici was feeling very nervous about carrying all our passports and visas and voiced her concern at doing so. As we passed through customs I put mine and Orlando’s in my pocket and then we went and found some free internet to track down Vem’s place, our host in Singapore. Somehow, we managed to confuse two different people, address and phones and contacted the wrong person to say we were coming…. Though we did not find this out till later.

We made our way to the cab rank and got in a cab to be told by the driver the address we had was incomplete. Nici ran back into the airport to get the street address for our apartment building and meanwhile the cab driver decided I should unload all the bags and the kids and we should get another cab. I thought this was pretty shitty, but thought he must have arranged this with nici when she was talking with him outside the cab. I also thought I had got all the bags….
Nici returned from inside to find me standing on a traffic island, kids on the side of the road and me trying to organize our bags so we could get straight into the next cab.

Nici did a quick bag count and realized we were missing a bag. I had not checked the front seat of the cab since I thought nici had taken her backpack with her. It had left with our cab driver. Nici passports, both of Ayesha’s passports, Orlando’s German passports, nicis cc’s and wallet, $450 Singapore dollars, nicis iphone, nici’s Nikon d90 camera power pack, our Russian and Chinese visas….. all gone the moment we arrived in Singapore.

For 6 hours we tried to get the airport police to check the cctv footage to find the number plate of the cab but for some reason this could was not achieved. We filled out reports and stuff around until finally we gave up, resigned that we had started with a major disaster. We had budgeted on staying for free with Vem for our first night, now we found ourselves looking at $300 a nite hotel rooms. We opted instead to stay in the red light district for $100. Being Singapore, it was far less in your face the kings cross so it was really quite ok. Treated the kids to fried noodles for breakfast…. A bit of a change from weetbix…

Rang the police and central taxi organization but our bag had not turned up. We rang Vem and organized to meet her in the center of town. Our cab driver was great, and reassured us we would most likely get the bag back… this was Singapore! We nodded but did not share his confidence. Vem was wonderful, and we very much enjoyed staying with her and her family. We would never have got to see the real Singapore without her and she also made our traumatic start somehow not so bad. 2 days later and no word on our bag and we were almost about to give up hope and start the lengthy process of reapplying for them when the taxi company rang to say they had our bag. If had everything in it, not a thing had been touched. Amazing.

Singapore has a fantastic train system; it’s cheap and easy to get around. Everyone is very friendly and helpful. We spent a lot of time in China town, but also visited little India and Arab Street. We did the typical Singapore shopping for computer and things and saw Singapore at night.

Holy shit it was humid. Sticky sticky sticky. We knew it would be but never imagined just how sticky it would be.
[Gallery not found].

No comments yet

3
May

Leaving Australia to fly to Singapore – just a few hickups

Posted from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

At the Airport in Melbourne


And away we go…. We made our flight to Singapore but not without a level of drama. Firstly, we noticed a crack in the side undercarriage of our hire car the day before we had to fly out. Of course, we had not taken the extra insurance, and our travel insurance did not start till the following day. Looks like we were going to be stung for $700. We were running a bit late, needed to get fuel, got to the post office, the chemist drop off the car, argue about the damage, then check in. We knew we might have some problems checking in as well… more about that in a minute.

We decided to come clean with the damage and claim we had not caused it(we hadn’t) even though it was not on the inspection report. Luckily, the hertz guy was very reasonable and didn’t worry about it. Whew. We had panicked about it for 24 hours. Next, after lining up for 30 minutes we tried to check in only to be told no, sorry, no can do. We did not have proof of onward travel. Of course we didn’t, we were buying train tickets in Singapore. Apparently even though Singapore does not care, Jetstar does as they could get in trouble for letting us on the plan without such proof. It’s all bullshit, they just want to sell you a “fully refundable ticket” which for 4 tickets costs $120 in admin fees. My tip? Never fly Jetstar. So we rush to the ticket counter and buy 4 fully refundable airfares to Kuala Lumpa. Raced back to check in. The tickets we had just bought apparently were no good, there was some problem with payment. More waiting, finally we are told my CC has been refused! Great, leaving to go overseas and my cc has been cancelled for some reason. Nici buys the tickets on her CC and we finally check in.

All sweet. It’s kind of a stupid requirement. We now had proof of onward travel that would allow us to fly to Singapore, and we cash in our tickets when we got there…..So basically we had proof of ability to purchase a fully refundable ticket. Oh well. Beaurocracy.

I ring my bank, phone credit ends in the middle of the call. Ring on Nic’s phone, get through… CC is fine again. Fill my script, race to the gate and we make it with time to spare(flight was 20 minutes late which also helped). We just had time to buy some Macadamias chocolates for our host and we join the line as the final call is made. We board with no further problems and we are on our way.

No comments yet