04-03-2010 BANGKOK - MELBOURNE, Hard to say goodbye

Last day in lovely Thailand. Walking from Rambrutti to Chinatown. Weird market with lot of local people around illegal childporn dvd's, weapons, knives everything. Taking a boat back to pier no. 13 (Kao San Road) for free. Seeing dead floating dogs in the river. Again BKK was stinking hot. Spend our last money on take-away market food and eat it in the mini-van, I'm gonna miss this.

4 hours before departure on the airport, checking in as the first. Eating pizza's and spray some parfume testers to kill the sweaty smells. I had to say goodbye to Karien, her flight was leaving on hour earlier than mine. This was a really hard goodbye. What do you expect, becoming so close and really good frriens, experiencing very good and some hard times. It was unforgettable. If I see her again after her adventure in Indnesia? We don't know...

In the low-cost Jetsar flight I dind't expect anything. Because my ticket also said 'No Meal'. But strangely enough there was a code behind my name and I received everything, without paying for it! Several meals, blankets, travelpillows and much more. The boring other people in the plane looked strange at me, why does a dirty smelly backpacker get that? Yeah, I had a good, quiet, relaxing 9,5 hour flight.

03-03-2010 BANGKOK; Arrival with the sleepertrain

Long sleepless night after the conversations of last night. The guy below was still looking drunk. Peanutbutter and breadbreakfast like everyday last week. The train arrived in Bangkok with a delay of 1,5 hour at 12:00. The tuktukdrivers were ghetting crazy, 300 Bath for a ride to Th. Rambrutti! AFter some discussions and telling them we were here many times we jumbed on bus 53, just behind the trainstation. This one takes you to Kaosan Road for FREE! Finding a descent and aircon guesthouse was difficult. But Karien managed to find just the perfect place! What a team :-)

Spending so much money on cheap clothing and other stuff. This will not be possible in the next months. A long heavy day. A hostel staffmember kicked my out of his place because I just asked for something. He made me angry after his behaviour. Streetfood took ages, but the cocktails and sheesha tasted good. To lazy deep in the night. More Pad Thai Chicken to calm down. The last wonderfull night in Thailand...

02-03-2010 CAMERON HIGHLANDS - BUTTERWORTH - HADYAI - BANGKOK

Same busdriver as two days ago. Bye bye strawberries and tea. After 5 hours arrived in Butterworth, dissapointment all over when they told us the train to Bangkok was full today. When we got back at the busterminal the minivans were full too. The next big bus to Hadyai was delayed. Shit...

The busride to Hadyai was longer then expected, many (3) checks at Immigrations. Thailand was different. No more English or people that understand it. Temples and chaos everywhere. Hdyai was burning, and the tuktuksdriver became vey agressive since last time. 2 persons pulling my arm and didn't want to stop. We ignored them and managed to book a sleeper train, the most luxury class. It seemed to be the same train that left from Butterworth! So it was not full...all the hassle for nothing. I left Karien alone for a few minutes and boys started bothering her again.

The trantrip...a drunken loud and sick guy on the bed below Karien and words from Karien that made me very unhappy.Yes, travelling and different plans...for some people that's too difficult...

01-03-2010 CAMERON HIGHLANDS; Climbing the highest point

09:00 started, local bus was not working. They tried more busses, all were broken down. They got us out of the bus and put other people in it. Another guy hit the battery a few times with a big pieve of iron, flames came out of the bus , but the engine was working. They left and we stood there, receiving back our money. Taxidrivers were argueing and didn't want to take us. We had some delay to get to the start of Track 1. In good weather we climbed the highest mountain in the Cameron Highland, Gunung Brinchang (>2000 metres). Not as spectecular as Mt. Kinabalu but still worth a steep and mozzy climb. Karien hit her head very hard, I felt down from some slippery mozzy twigs and lost all our water. Karien found a watch that was lost by some people we met further on the track, they exchanged there bottle of water for their watch, perfect :-)

The top of the mountain was full with communication towers and fog. And there was also a road down, people driving with a minivan to the top to make a picture there...lazy people. On our way down on the otherside a lot of nice flore in the mozzy forrest. I even spotted something that nobody told us about; White Gibbon! Butterflies are just relaxing on your chest and head if you keep still.

The teafields were amazing when the sun came through. Running in the green fiels was fun. The way down took already 17km, time to start hitchhiking again. The nice Jemen people dropped us at the first town, we had delicious expensive food at Strawberry Moments...I love these sweet strawberries! We took another lift with somebody else, hitchhiking is so easy in Malaysia. There are way more tracks in the Highlands, but we were out of time after 7 hours of walking and climbing. All the other things here (strwaberryfarms, beefarms, cactusfarms, rosefarms or whatever you wanna see) are very commercial. Don't expect something special, it's all about earning money.

Viewing the sunset from a different place this time, on top of a big contruction building. Dinner was experiencing a lot of patience. Karien finished her meal for ages and the crew forget my dish over and over again. After more then an hour it was there. No nightmarket today.

28-02-2010 GEORGETOWN - CAMERON HIGHLANDS

We are going with a steep old swiss train and a coable car up to the top of Penang Hill, at least this was the plan. After crossing the town of Air Hitam it seemd that the Railway was closed since last week for construction work. The hill will be closed for 1 year! So there was only one thing left to see around here; Kek Lok Si Temple (the largest temple in Malaysia). Just against on of the hill sides there is this huge Burmuse/Chinise/Thai styled temple. After Chinese Newyear so still very busy. The entrance is free, you only have to pay for the steep train to reach the last part of the tower; the immense statue. We were back a little earlier so Karien went shopping and I visited the town by daylight this time.

The busride to Cameron Highlands took crossing the 13km long bridge to the mainland. Entering the area around Ipoh looked more like Halong Bay (without the sea) with allthese mysterious rocks out of the ground. Arrived at Tanah Rata just after sunset. Finding a quiet nice geusthouse with very thin walls. And it was raining on the road, very hard. So temperatures are better here. The Dutch Karaoke bar was closed, so we spend some time on the food market.

27-02-2010 PULAU LANGKAWI - PULAU PENANG; New Years party!

Honest as we are, we payed for our last guesthouse. It was possible to just walk away. SPending some time on the beach of Cenang, the weather was cloudy today. A lot of parasailers, 1 smashed very hard on the beach. On our way to the jetty pier we were in the middle of the bicycle race of THE IRON MAN (Cycling, running, swimming). The boattrip to Penang took around 3 hours and we arrived in the middle of Goergetown. With all the skyscrapers it looks like a big modern city. There are also a lot of old buildings and temples, what makes it a World Heritage Site. Seeing it by night is much better then during the day for a lot of building, because some look shit by daylight.

Most guesthouses were full. We found one of the cheapest in Malaysia. Just 26 Ringgit for a matrass on the floor, mosquitos and geckos everywhere, but still with aircon. And the name of the street; Lovelane, how romantic...

And what do you think, it was the closing of Chinese Newyear so finally a big party! Asian people everywhere, doing wishes and other games. The town was filled with the smell of incentives. Fireworks on many places, dancing dragons, some big stages with performances and good food. The performances later that night were funny, crappy housetunes with samples and melody's we heard 15 years ago. But if you haven't heard good housemusic for a long time, then your legs want to jump :-)

A lot of walking, so time for some drinks at the Reggae Bar. First we went to a barstreet with expensive bars and clubs. We walked into the club calles Slippery Senorita's (what a name haha). And they experienced a power blackout. So everybody walked around with candels and mobile phones to find their way. The cocktail and the terraces outside were like lemonade. I was in a partymood!

26-02-2010 PULAU LANGKAWI; The end of the resortlife

Our last unlimeted food at the resort buffet, shit. We enjoyed it. Plans for today; crocodilefarm, handycrafts and mangcrove cruise. The last one was worth a visit. We hired a boat for 300 Ringgit and cruised over the river through the mangrove forrests. Amazing. Views were spectacular. And we started feeding the eagles, the huge beautifull creatures came from everywhere. AFter a while we stopped at a fishfarm with Tuna, Barracudas, Reefsharks and a lot more. I put my hand in the mouth of a stingray and cuttles with a weird looking crab. The spittingfish were fun too. Karien was freaking out when the fish eat the bread off her finger, I just laughed and laughed. The trip took around 2 hours so for me a good oppurtunity to get some extra tan on front of the boat. Cruising in some caves and again Karien freaked out in the Batcave, whahahaa. So much fun today. Going back on the Andaman Sea. This is defenately a MUST-DO when you're on Pulau Langkawi!

When we got back at the resort we were surprised by a big group of those cute balck monkeys with the white 'glasses'. So cute, but it was freaking out day for Karien...there was a monkey between her legs that scared the shit out of her. That's why she hit my head, thanks Karien ;-) We dropped her parents at the airport and said goodbye to all the other groupmembers. We started searching for a guesthouse at Cenang, very hard and everything full. We arranged a place that was just finished with building. Shopping on the streets and walking on the beach at night. I wanted a last good partynight. The two cool beachbars are Little Lylia (with live bands and reggae music) and Babylon. Both with good cocktails and a lot of backpackers. LKarien was not feeling good so we went home...

26-02-2010 PULAU LANGKAWI; The end of the resortlife

Our last unlimeted food at the resort buffet, shit. We enjoyed it. Plans for today; crocodilefarm, handycrafts and mangcrove cruise. The last one was worth a visit. We hired a boat for 300 Ringgit and cruised over the river through the mangrove forrests. Amazing. Views were spectacular. And we started feeding the eagles, the huge beautifull creatures came from everywhere. AFter a while we stopped at a fishfarm with Tuna, Barracudas, Reefsharks and a lot more. I put my hand in the mouth of a stingray and cuttles with a weird looking crab. The spittingfish were fun too. Karien was freaking out when the fish eat the bread off her finger, I just laughed and laughed. The trip took around 2 hours so for me a good oppurtunity to get some extra tan on front of the boat. Cruising in some caves and again Karien freaked out in the Batcave, whahahaa. So much fun today. Going back on the Andaman Sea. This is defenately a MUST-DO when you're on Pulau Langkawi!

When we got back at the resort we were surprised by a big group of those cute balck monkeys with the white 'glasses'. So cute, but it was freaking out day for Karien...there was a monkey between her legs that scared the shit out of her. That's why she hit my head, thanks Karien ;-) We dropped her parents at the airport and said goodbye to all the other groupmembers. We started searching for a guesthouse at Cenang, very hard and everything full. We arranged a place that was just finished with building. Shopping on the streets and walking on the beach at night. I wanted a last good partynight. The two cool beachbars are Little Lylia (with live bands and reggae music) and Babylon. Both with good cocktails and a lot of backpackers. LKarien was not feeling good so we went home...

25-02-2010 LANGKAWI, cablecar and beachtime

Weather is looking good today, almost clearblue. Went to Oriental Village, very touristic with many (souvenir) shops. Bargaini g is not possible here. You can also ride around with a Segway. We took the cablecar up to the highest point of the island (just 751 metres whahaha). Good views and some walks to other platforms. Walking over a canopybridge on top of the mountain. We only saw one of the 7 waterfalls in the distance. All the other ones were dry at the moment. Down in the village I was with women, so that means more shopping. We grabbed a ball from one of the shops and strted to play football, the people were not that happy about it :-)

We spent our whole morning here. The afternoon was for the beach and tanning. I was climbing rocks and crossing the sea to a virgin island. Drinking some rum and enjoying relaxing life here. Dinner at a Chicken restaurant near the resort; cheap and lovely. You only had top wait a little while :-)

24-02-2010 LANGKAWI; bicycletrip and Cenang Beach

Todays there's a bicycletrip with the resort people. Just relaxing, we were the youngest of the group :-) Sweating like crazy in this heat. Visiting some plantages, farms and other sights. Opening and eating fresh coconuts, vistiting local homes and I wanted to look in there fridge. Some people shower outside and life can be very basic. Children at the school were a little bit too enthousiastic and screamed to us just to say hello. The end of the trip was for tasting all local special dished and snack, I couldn't stop eating.

On our way back we stopped at the small luxury harbour. The shops and restaurants here are dead. The yachts are huge and expensive, but what are they doing here? There is nothing around this harbour. Walking back on the beach with a few beers.

The group was cool, with some people from my hometown Rotterdam. We went shopping in the town of Cenang and there I met Kent and Flemming again from Denmark. I lost the rest of the group. Before we had dinner at a cheap Chinese place, unlucky as I am I had bad chicken. Stomachproblems! Stopping at many places to go to the toilet was not fun.