Evening
all, and a “sawadee” from Bangkok, Thailand. Another adventure begins in
the form of south east asia. Well, to be more precise, the south east
Asian mainland. Its been two weeks since my two week travel hiatus in
Hong Kong and I have taken in three countries in the form of the
sterile Singapore, the less sterile Malaysia, and well, a grubby
Southern Thailand. I am glad to back in the travel saddle.
My
travel itch was satiated by setting down to four days in Singapore with
the intention of heading towards Thailand asap. But I was surprised
with Singapore, and have to merit my time there. A night safari,
sentosa island and the vast botanical gardens pay testament to the lush
natural beauty of the small island, but really and truly the place came
alive at night. A shout out goes to my old school friend, Amit, who
works at Barclays capital out there, showing me how city boys abroad do
it. I suppose after working all hours the market sends, you either
smash the weekend or you sleep in until Monday. I’m glad we did the
former. Perhaps the finest hour on the island came when myself and a
fellow hosteller, Tim, racked up a $200 bill at the Jewel Box
Restaurant and bar on Sentosa island posing as Lonely Planet
Journalists. Initially as a side commented joke, it morphed into a full
on blag. We ended up interviewing staff, taking photos of the poolside
location (with my Nikon D40 DSLR),and talking to the Marketing
manager,"Joan", at Head Office about misplaced emails. Below, you can
see me taking advantage of one of their cocktails, aptly named the
"waterfall'. It was a little late to tell them that I normally gag when
drinking sambuca, let alone a flaming cascading one through a straw.
Malaysia
was nice. After 3 nights in the Red Palm hostel in Kuala Lumpar, it was
hardly a bastion of excitement. That said, it was a nice time to chill
out and eat some awesome food. My day started with the delectable Roti
Channai, a fried flat bread with a curry sauce accompaniment. The curry
noodle, Laksa, came also with great recommendation. I headed up to the
gorgeous, if slightly lacking in atmosphere, Perenthian Islands in the
north east of the country. Wonderful fine sanded beaches with amazing
water, it was a fine backdrop again, to chill out to. Well, I am in
South East Asia after all; Pace of life slows right down- rat races do
exist, just with real rats, and overexcited Asians with a penchant for
a flutter.
I
write now from Krabi having visited the Khao Suk national park, after a
torcherous 36 hours from the Malay Border. Khao suk itself was nice as
a peaceful interlude to the beaches of the south. A huge national
jungle (temporarily shut down due to the tragic deaths of eight cavers
two days prior to our arrival), it was ace to soak up the greenery that
it had to offer. A slight revelation came to me in that week however,
of how Thailand has become saturated to the max with people who are
less travelers and more holiday makers. I got into a mini debate with
two people I had traveled with from Malaysia, and it surprised me at
the ignorance that one in particular displayed when regarding the
culture of Thailand. The refusal to learn any Thai words beyond 'hello'
and a fractured 'thank you'. It was an attitude of not attempting to learn words as "everybody understands English, its an
international language". It struck me further seeing either groups of
lads in strutting themselves and sunning it in Krabi, or the typical
old men/young Thai girl combination, that the fact that there's very
interaction with locals apart from that of the server and the customer.
The established trail seems to have turned into the Costa del Thai. I
decided to allow Ko Pa Ngan and the full moon party. I'm no Michael
Palin, but I hope that this effect will lessen as I take a trail north
from Bangkok, though I feel I might have failed initially by staying too close to the Th Khao San in my desperation to find a bed at 5am.
Anyhow,
all is still good where I am. I even dreamt of coming home the other
night- I was like: "I bloody regret not tubing in Lao. Why the hell did
i decide not to tube in Lao before I came home?? I didn't even get to
see the Ankor Wat". I was glad to still be on Rai Leh Beach when I woke
from that stupor.
Speak soon, all. I do miss you in spite of my protests and my waxing
lyrical about this wonderful small world of ours. I look forward to the
day when I meet up with old friends and new.
Much love,
Michael xx
