After bidding farwell to our few friends in Ton Sai we boarded a long tail boat back to the mainland and ended up in Krabi for the second time. This time we actually stayed in town - at a place called GOOD DREAM hotel - where their motto was: not buying expensive furniture/art deco in order to keep their rooms affordable for backpackers. Did you come here to look at the art on the walls or to sleep? A basic clean bedroom after six nights in a bug-net-bungalow seemed luxurious enough to me. The shower was almost hot as well.
Yesterday we left Krabi and bused further South to Satun a town near the Malaysian border. Satun had much to be desired - such as English speakers, resturants and budget logging for backpackers but alas we did find the one travel agent in town.
She sat down with us for over an hour to give Ashley detailed advice on how to do a one-day visa run into Malaysia. The agent drew maps and wrote out instructions in both Thai and English. She then brought out a map of my next destination in Malaysia - Pulau Langkawi and recommended places to stay on the island. All the while she was also tutoring her sons with their homework and would accept no payment from us for her services.
Back at our hotel in Satun, I ran into an older man who cheerfully asked, "Where do you come from? Do you speak English?" So I tell him Seattle and he said he spent three weeks there; he is from Taiwan and his name is John. John then invited me and Ashley to dinner with him and his friends. Feeling a little under-the-weather from our 5+ hour bus trip we opted for some curry dishes at the restaurant next door.
I have come to notice that Asian people think nothing to stop you in the street and ask, "Where did you come from?" And by that they mean your nationality as well as just today... Which is almost inevitably followed by "Where are you going?" And well, most backpackers don't know exactly where they are going... but I have learned to be ready with an answer of sorts regardless.
Such as... "I think tomorrow I will go to Malaysia...then after that to Bali...then I don't know. Do you have any suggestions?"
