Thailand to Langkawi

Last night we decided to go back to the seafood places and have the red curry crab again for our last meal; good choice.  In the morning we started out at 7am at the coffee my house where we also ordered sandwiches on exotic home made bread for the long day ahead.

Our minibus came dead on time but it looked like we were the last pick up as he had to get all the luggage out and put the back seats down for us to sit in.  From that point on we had luggage on our laps.  I joked that we had other pickups to do but the joke turned on me.  We stopped several more times; the isles were full and so were all our laps.  There was no chance of anyone getting off at the two ferry points other than the lucky ones sitting by an exit.  Never mind it only took us 165 minuets before we were at Trang.

What a relief to get out and stretch but there was only time for me to get to the toilet before our taxi turned up. Poor Claire had to wait.  Our taxi driver spoke no English and we spoke no Thai but he drove like the wind.  We made amazing time and only stopped briefly for a toilet stop and we were off again.  We were expecting to catch the 3.30 ferry to Langkawi from Satun but we actually made the 1.30 one.  He got a tip which was probably more than he was paid for the drive.  As we were going into the terminal he managed to get a fair back to Trang from one of the passengers just embarking from our ferry.  It was his lucky day!

There are between 99 and 104 islands in Langkawi.  Hows that work?  Well, if you count them at high tide, there are 99 and if you count the at low tide there are 104.  I said to Claire that if you were to count them after Beer o Clock there would probably be even more.  Claire thought that I photographed at least half of them but it was very hot, humid and misty so I only included one.

We put our watches foreword by an hour.  Well I didn’t because I don’t have a watch.  Well Claire didn’t either as she hadn’t changed her watch since we left Malaysia on our second day.  I did change the time on my iphone though.  Our taxi driver was slow and hopeless but we eventually got to our hotel about 3km out of town.  It is right on the beach though so thats a bonus and we will get a motorbike tomorrow anyway.  Our room is ok but there is nowhere to put anything so it will have to stay in the backpack and we have a tv but only three local channels.  within 15 minutes of dropping our bags we were in a taxi back into town for beer, food and supplies.

Our taxi driver dropped us off at the Yellow Cafe where we chatted to the barman from Pakistan.  Its amazing how a couple of beers relax you.  We stayed to watch the sunset and headed back and ate at an Indian hotel for a change before stocking up with supplies and getting a taxi back to our miserable room.  Claire is cross with me because she doesn’t like it; me thinks that she forgot that it was her that booked this one.  Im hoping that she will see things in a different light tomorrow; especially if the sun is shinning.

We at least managed to get the free wifi outside our room where we are sitting now and a little crab just came up to greet Claire but she wasn’t amused.  Bed now; a tiring day but not as long as we expected.

Island of the Strong Eagle

One of the main attractions of Langkawi is that it has been duty free since 1986.  Especially since alcohol in the rest of Malaysia is very expensive.  The ferry port area is the main built up area where all the duty free goods are but tourists tend to stay by one of the white sand beaches elsewhere on the main island.  Our guide book says, “Las Vagas has the strip, Bangkok has Khaosan Road and Langkawi has Pantai Cenang.”  That’s where all the action is and thats where we are staying.  However, we are in low season, but for us, its the best place to be at this time of year; I don’t think that we would like it as much in the high season.

There are places to stay to suit all budgets; real cheap but probably grotty places to top end luxury but Claire says that mostly they don't seem to have great reviews.  We are in a mid range place at around £30 a night but its a little off the beaten track around 3km from the action.  This place has all the infrastructure for a top end resort with its private beach.  It has good build quality and nicely sized rooms but its just lacking in a few details to make your stay comfy.   Its called Senari Bay Resort; see senaribay.com .  Its actually an advantage to us being just off the beaten track as we always have a bike anyway.  They have a bandstand type place on the beach with hammocks that could very easily be a bar and a huge conservatory type place with a terrace where they could serve food.

The construction out here is similar to other places in Asia that we have seen; wooden scaffolding and supports.

Not sure what you all think of Big Brother, especially since it restarted on channel 5?  Anyway, since the last half of the first series, when Harriet told me all about the concept, I have followed it avidly.  We started to watch the new channel 5 celebrity one before we left and I understand that the normal one follows this Friday.  Anyway, I can’t say much, other than I have a strong feeling that Georgina’s Big step Brother Harry might steal the show.   Someone record it for me please.

Last day in Lanta

Just looked back at our blog that we kept when we were here last time in January 2007.  When we were in Lanta we stayed in the Southern Lanta Resort and Spa which we thought was great value at 1800 Baht (£36) a night.  Unfortunately we had to move on after one night because they were fully booked.  We got a tuk tuk and visited many others, settling for the Lanta Sea House next door before renting a bike.

The good thing about stopping on Klong Dao Beach in the high season as there are so many bars along the beach at night for a pub crawl.  Its really interesting.  Claire was fascinated when we found the lady-boy bar but we were both to scared to take any photo’s.  We are now staying on Long beach further south in low season so there’s not much happening.  This suits us but its a pain that lots of places are closed.  For example, the elephant trekking has closed and there are no ferries further south to Langkawi etc.  The escape cabins, where we are this time is perfect for us because we rent a bike and can easily get around.  Having said that, we are only 3km from the northern end anyway so a tuk tuk ride would only cost you about 60 pence.

Let me update you on the tablet front.  I ran out of my hormone tablets and they didn’t have any at the hospitals in Phuket so I emailed my doctor, explaining the situation.  He emailed back saying that they cannot prescribe medication when we are out of the country but not to worry about it because I would have stopped taking them by now anyway.  I’m pretty relieved to have stopped them actually, as I was turning into a woman.  Headaches at bed time, I walked with my arm bent at the elbow and I swear, I even started to multi-task.  Claire is happier now that Im not taking them as well; I think she threw them away really.

Yuko Showed Claire and I around the 2 bedroom cottage today which is lovely and spacious.  I have included three photos below.  It also has a kitchen, dressing room and bathroom and is even closer to the pool than us. Yuko said that this is the first room to be taken; that's why she is building another of these in the adjacent field.  This should be ready for this November when the high season starts.  You can book directly through www.escape-cabins.com or through www.agoda.com.  Highly recommended and great value for money!

Like yesterday, today started with torrential rain but it soon passed and became hotter as the day progressed.  We started off with the coffee shop breakfast then booked our tickets to Langkawi for tomorrow.  We didn’t find a travel shop cheaper than 1250 Baht each.

We headed on down to south Lanta on the west side where the tarmac roads run out and you get progressively more pot holes in the concrete block surface.  Don't drive through puddles on a bike, if you can avoid it as there is likely to be a pothole in the middle.  We had a quick walk around a nice place called Sri Lanta.  Once you get to Same Same but Different the concrete blocks run out and its dirt track all the way to the reserve.  It was quite treacherous and Claire wouldn’t let me continue so we went back to Same Same for a drink.

We weren’t quite ready for lunch yet so we decided to go over to the east coast and get lunch in one of the new places in Lanta Old Town.  We passed a bad bike accident on the way, looks like they didn’t make the corner.  It wasn’t long before the ambulance came past us as the hospital is in the south west of the island.  You pass the turning for the caves along that road but Claire still wasn’t ready.

We had a very spicy but very tasty lunch overlooking the sea on stilts before heading back up the west coast.  I spotted an unmarked turning going inland so decided to explore a little.  It takes you through the jungle and we went past a place with 4 elephants before reaching the east coast and riding back for some serious relaxation before our big trip tomorrow.  We did see two monkeys in the south but the disappeared before I could get my camera out.  Maybe no time to write tomorrow but I will try get some pictures along the way.  I still hope not to miss a day blogging as I am currently one day ahead at the moment when Claire did her blog.  Me thinks its about time for her to do another one and let me get on with my book.  I could easily live the rest of my life like this; next stop Malaysia for our next holiday in Langkawi!

Ko Lanta Noi and mainland Thailand

I woke up before our little cockerel friend next door this morning.  I felt like waking him up by shouting human sounds but it wouldn’t have been fair on the other guests.  I managed to sneak to the toilet before Claire woke up with her camera and read on my ipad until 6.30am when she woke up.  Lazy bones.

Last night I got a few dvd’s from reception but we ended up watching a film on one of the film channels called The Island.  Claire says that we had seen it before but I could only remember tiny parts of it like a distant memory belonging to someone else.  Claire went to sleep while I watched the last of the Terminator films.  It hammered it down with rain as soon as Claire went to sleep but now, this morning it seems to have cleared really well.  I thought that maybe it was enough to reduce the humidity and that we will have another good day but by 8am it was hammering it down again.  My forehead is not sore any more but my back still is and I can tell that I will peel because my skin has that dry insensitive feeling.

It stopped raining around 8.30am so we ventured down to the German Bakery for breakfast but they didn’t open until 9am.  We carried on down to Saladan and found a little place that opens at 7am called Coffee My House and ordered the set breakfast.  They also have lots of different assorted breads so we will go there on our way to Langkawi.  We were surprised to see a huge German sausage on our plate but the orange was fresh.  We went to have a look what time and how much the ferry was and ended up getting on it; it was only 11 Baht (22p) for the bike and the two of us.  This ferry goes to Lanta Noi which has no tourists and only one beach but nobody was on it as it had started to drizzle.  We drove as far as we could and back taking a couple of photos at a sort of pier at the end.

Most of the houses on the small Lanta island are built on stilts and come in all shapes and sizes.  Even the Mosque was on stilts.

There is another ferry point to the mainland so again we had a look at the cost which was 35 Baht (70p) this time; extortion.  We ended up getting on that as well, trying to suss out our route to Trang on the mainland where we must get a taxi to the Malaysian ferry point to Langkawi.  We were almost out of fuel but managed to fill up just before going over to the mainland.  We rode for ages until we spotted a sign in English to the beach.  The weather was getting batter as the day went on but, again we drove for ages without finding the beach.  I spotted a cow tied up through his nose in a paddy field and then a bull fight in a field in the middle of nowhere.  You don’t get to do this on those organized tours and all the children wave to you as you drive by.  I guess that they are not used to seeing huge white fat blokes riding a motor bike with a little Blondie on the back.  It seemed to make their day anyway.

We had to turn back as our petrol was getting low again.  I told you we had ridden a long way.  We just made it back to the ferry point and filled up on Lanta Noi again before riding to the other ferry point and back to Lanta Yai.

By this time our sausage had gone down and we were starving again and Claire was dying for a beer.  We went back to the seafood restaurants near the ferry point that we had a drink in the day before.  I may have over ordered, we had Crab in red curry soup, chicken Pengan, pork and shrimp Pad Tia, Morning Glory in Hoy Sin sauce with garlic and a steamed rice.  All washed down with 3 large beers and a bottle of water.  We ate around half of it but the crab curry soup was amazing.  Next time I will only have that.  It was so hot, I was hallucinating.  Can you imagine the state that I was in after breaking open and eating the crab, covered in red curry with my bear hands?

The whole bill only came to 600 Baht (£12).  Ohh, I found out that the fine for not wearing your helmet while riding a bike is 200 Baht each so I just put 400 Baht in my top pocket ready.  No trouble though, we rode bast a police station and parked on the ferry next to a police man wearing flip flops, smoking without a helmet.  Mind you, he looked like he had his truncheon down the front of his trousers.

The last picture is looking up Saladen high street.  I think Claire has found us a nice hotel in Langkawi while I have been writing this and the added bonus is she didn’t have to pay by credit card.

Well, thats about us finished for the day again; time for some relaxation and writing time while Claire finishes off her white wine.  An exciting day that started out from a drizzling no hoper.  Last day tomorrow before at least an 8 hour traveling day back to Langkawi in Malaysia.