Toodlepip Thailand!

The guidebook says there's not much to see in Chumphon, and I guess that's pretty accurate, but I managed to keep myself occupied! On Thursday, I had a wander around the town and spent even more time online (well, I'd not been on at all for a week in Ko Tao!) as I killed the hours before the night train to Butterworth, Malaysia. I bought my ticket in the morning and somehow ended up with surplus baht! Could I find a bank that would exchange them for ringgit? Erm, no. No can do. Nope. Sorry.

Anyway, in my quest to change the pesky notes, I wandered into the Farang Bar, which incidentally, was the place I'd had toast at 4 a.m. before boarding the Barf Boat to Ko Tao, just over a week earlier! It looked much different in daylight/no rain! There I got the waitress to right down "sticky rice and mango" and "Thai iced tea" in Thai, as I was having no luck locating either in Chumphon by myself! Also, I was advised that it would be easy to change my baht at the train border crossing and met Ivor, a helpful expat from London, who was more than happy to give me the lowdown on Georgetown, my next port of call.

I must admit, after Ko Tao, I was feeling at a loose end and didn't have a plan of action, so heading down to Malaysia was my way of keeping moving/occupied! I didn't know what I was letting myself in for. Anyway, after an hour with Ivor, I had a little map drawn up for me, indicating a reliable guesthouse, an ATM, a 7-11, directions to Little India and the night food market! By the end of it, I was feeling rather excited about Georgetown, and by Ivor's recommendation, consumed the most amazing curry I've ever had! That evening, I ventured out to the night market in Chumphon, with my little Thai notes, and successfully procured TWO iced teas and a helping of sticky rice! Well, it would have been rude to leave Thailand without doing so!

The train to Butterworth was over an hour late by the time I clambered into my upper bunk, but the earplugs and eyemask were soon donned and off I rocked to sleep. Good job really, I had fifteen hours ahead of me before I would arrive at my destination. Put it this way, I survived three overnight buses in Vietnam, so anything else is just child's play! The border crossing was smooth, I just had to hop off the train, get stamped out of Thailand and into Malaysia, before hopping back on again.

By this time, the beds had all been collapsed and the seats were comfortable enough - good job as trains in Malaysia are s...l...o...w! I know this, as my GPS never registered more than 35mph! I was only using it to check how near we were to Penang, as I didn't want to be one of those stories, you know, "Tourist Asleep On Train Held For Questioning By Singapore Officials." Or something equally incredulous!

It was around 2pm by the time I arrived in Butterworth and I was on a mission - no, I didn't need a taxi thanks, I would be taking the ferry, no I didn't need a taxi thanks, I would be walking the 900m to the guesthouse! Luckily, I got the last single room at SD Guesthouse and it was time for a nap!

View of Butterworth from Georgetown

That evening, I ventured into Little India in search of chai! And I found it, delicious and only 33p a cup! I also had a chicken massala - imagine my face when a banana leaf appeared and blobs of stuff were placed upon it! Imagine my relief when some rice and a curry-like dish appeared AND the waiter asked if I'd like a spoon, phew! It wasn't bad really, just different to curries at home. Fair enough really, as Indian food in the UK is actually more Pontefract than Pondicherry (or at least more Birmingham than Bombay!)

On Saturday, it was a scorcher, so of course I spent most of the day walking miles and miles in the heat! I managed to locate two geocaches (one a multi) and visit Fort Cornwallis, which was as pointless as the Rough Guide described, but cheap enough not to matter. On Sunday, I took a local bus to Kok Lek See pagoda, apparently the largest in the world outside of China, and it was rather impressive. Even more impressive was the massive tower of scaffolding surrounding the bronze statue of the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy atop the hill! I thought they were building some kind of super skyscraper behind the temple, but it was only after I had paid to take the lift up to see the statue did I realise the reality... I swear, they know I am coming. First it was Notre Dame back in 1994, then Angkor Wat at sunrise. If the Opera House is covered in scaffolding in December, it wouldn't surprise me. If Machu Picchu is, I will require a large sum of compensation from the Peruvian government!!!

Kek Lok See Pagoda

When I got off the bus, I didn't notice a bus stop for the return journey, so off I set in the midday sun from when I'd came, in the hope that soon there would be a point from which I could make it back to Georgetown. After a good half hour, I was resigned to the fact that I'd be getting a lot of exercise, when a bus came around the corner - I started to sprint and lo, a bus stop appeared in front of me, just in time! "Very good running, very speed!" quipped the driver! Nutter! When I disembarked he asked my where I was from and "Would I like to be his friend?" Nutter!

That evening, I headed out for more Indian delights, this time locating another chai vendor very close to my guesthouse who served me it in a polythene bag for only 18p (in your face, Starbucks!) I had chicken tandoori and a plain naan, and it was absolutely delicious, before heading back for the evening.

Today, I went on another local bus to Penang Butterfly Farm, made it back again safely without having to sprint (although I did need to ask for directions to the bus stop), had more chai, booked a flight to Bali next Tuesday and booked a bus ticket to the Cameron Highlands tomorrow. I hate trekking, as you may remember, loyal Blog followers, but hopefully I'll be amused enough by tea plantations. I reckon I'll spend just a couple of nights there before moving ever south to Kuala Lumpur!

So that's Malaysia so far! Although I'd forgive you for thinking that I'm in India! I'll save that for World Tour Two!!!

The Best Few Weeks Ever...

Well, you may have noticed that it has been quite some time since my last post, and so much has happened over the last fortnight, that I don't even know where to begin! I can't remember everything with my usual clarity, so I'm going to have to resort to some bullet points - which is good for you, dear reader, as this would otherwise be one of the longest blog entries on record!

After Bangkok, I headed off to Kanchanaburi for a couple of nights. It was a great little town and I stayed in a lovely little guesthouse with a pool. I met Stephanie on the way there and we had a great time at Erawan National Park, where we walked all the way up to the 7th level waterfall, before coming back down for a swim! That afternoon, we rode along the Death Railway and visited the "Bridge Over The River Kwai" and it was great to see a little more of Thailand.

The Bridge Over The River Kwai

On Sunday (9th), we visited the Thailand-Burma Railway Museum, which was very informative and put a lot of the previous day's sights in to context. It was then time for a quick lunch before heading back to Bangkok. I'm so pleased I had a few hours to kill, it gave me plenty of opportunity to part with more cash on Khao San Road... I don't need any more t-shirts!!!

The bus journey down to Chumphon was OK, but OMG, the ferry crossing over to Koh Tao was honestly the worst boat journey of my entire life! I was alright at first, as I'd been napping, but the sound (and smells) of everyone else throwing up roused me from my slumber and I very nearly joined their club! The sea was incredibly rough, it made the Scillonian Ferry look like the Swans at Alton Towers!

It was absolutely bucketing it down when I arrived at Mae Haad Pier, and I was glad to be quickly whisked off to Buddha View Dive Resort, where we were quickly checked in and handed towels! After a good few cups of tea, I felt much better and quickly got to know the other guys from the Open Water course: Justine (UK), Paul (UK), Giuliano (Italy), Elin & Jostein (Norway) and Jeremy (Australia).

We started the course on Tuesday morning where we met our instructors, Jesper (Denmark) and Lizzie (UK). It wasn't long in the classroom before I was thinking to myself "I want to do what this guy does for a living!" We had great fun, even before we had made it into the pool that afternoon. It was still raining, which in a way didn't matter as we spent well over an hour underwater without surfacing, yet I don't think I've ever been that cold in my entire life! It was so good to get out!

On Wednesday, we went out to sea for our first dive - it was fantastic and once you learn how to scuba-dive, it becomes second nature. On Thursday, we took our Open Water exam in the morning (only got 2 wrong, damn it!) and then had two more great dives, and another two on Friday morning (during which we were filmed, so I am now in possession of an absolutely hilarious DVD)! It was a little sad to finish the course, but not too much so, as the Buddha View gang had already convinced me to do the Advanced course as well! So roll on Saturday, more diving!

The Best Open Water Group... Ever!!!

On the Advanced course, I dived five more times:

- Deep dive to 30m (but didn't get to see the whale shark there!)
- Navigation Dive (visibility was bad and I forgot how to use a compass!)
- Night Dive (we had 4 out of 6 conditions where you shouldn't night dive!)
- Underwater Naturalist (where I took a camera, but forgot how to operate it!)
- Underwater Photographer (where the lens fogged up after I'd figured it out!)

So, by Sunday afternoon, I became a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver! On Monday, I booked a fun dive in the afternoon, as I really needed to catch up on sleep after four 6am starts in a row. But, would you believe, I was wide awake again, so I got up and had breakfast. There, I met up with Giuliano and his friend Riccardo, who had been taking the Emergency Rescue course. They were waiting for a taxi to take them out on a fishing trip. So, Emma, the voice of reason, has a personality transplant, packs a bag at lightning speed and jumps on their taxi to the pier, leaving a cloud of dust and many apologies to the dive staff in her wake!

Well, I have never fished in my life before, and it showed! But luckily, after a while, I caught a little tiddler that had to be thrown back in, as it was too small to eat! Eventually, I mastered the knack and by the end of the day, I'd caught 11 fish, many of them big enough to hold on to! After getting back to the resort (and realising that we all looked like lobsters after a day on the deck!), we gave most of our haul to the kitchen staff and barbecued plenty of snapper and trevally for dinner. It tasted so good, even better for having caught it, cleaned it and cooked it ourselves!

And then it was Tuesday, Happy Birthday to ME! I had one of the best birthdays ever - in the morning, I went out again for two fun dives and so it was great to be able to take a leisurely pace and not worry about crashing in to the rest of the group! The visibility had greatly improved, and I saw so many different fish, it was like being in another world. That afternoon, I was robbed by the Thailand Postal Service (£30 for 3kg Surface Mail?????????) and later met up with the guys at the resort for a few birthday drinks! I had dinner with Team Italy again, and was so surprised when they said they were treating my to an Aloe Massage on the beach. I probably should make it clear at this point that we went to a proper massage place and they weren't actually offering to do it themselves, LOL!

So after an hour, we were all so relaxed that I assumed we'd all just crash for the night. But no, off we jumped on a scooter to Mae Haad. Half way there, Riccardo spotted a little Mini Golf place and made a quick u-turn! In the end, we found tenpin bowling there as well, so we opted for that instead. When I say tenpin bowling, what I mean is a little lane in a wooden shack, where a guy sat at the end to rack up the pins, and then rolled the bowls back along a track to us at the start! I won the first game hands down, but was completely slaughtered in the second. I would like to point out that I had nearly polished off a small bottle of rum at that point, and I would have won both had I been sober!

It was then back to the resort for a few more at the Eazy Bar, in one of the most chilled out bars ever. It was a great end to a great day. So, it was really hard this morning to tear myself away from Buddha View and all the great people I've met there. I've never felt so welcomed in my entire life, absolutely ALL of the staff are great and I'll never forget the support I had from Lizzie, Jesper, Perry (NZ), Darren (WARRINGTON, UK!!!) and Charlotte (UK) - thanks to you all, so so much!

So now I am in Chumphon for the night, and I have absolutely no idea what my next move should be. There's not much to stay here for, but I don't know if I should head over to Koh Phi Phi (which is beautiful, but will bleed me even drier after all the diving extravagances thus far), or take the train directly into Malaysia. I'm really at a loose end and soooo tired from all the scuba, I just can't think straight!

Watch this space...

Back In BKK!

I made it, here I am , back in Thailand!!!

Today ran really smoothly:

Up at 7am, mango shake & bread at 8, minibus at 9, arrived at Hanoi airport at 10, checked in by 11, in air by 1, landed in Bangkok at 2, on express bus by 3, on Phra Athit Road by 4, checked in and online by 5pm!

I'm in Merry V Guesthouse, as recommended by Amanda & Tom, it's cheap and cheerful, with the best internet price in the area! I stayed a mere 2 minutes away at the Navalai, so I know the area - it was great to hit a city that I felt familiar with!

I now need to have a chill out and find out the best (and cheapest) way to get to Siam Square - I'm meeting A&T at the Paragon Cinema for JAMES BOND!!! Can't wait. Just need to get out the GPS now to find the restaurant from my very first night in Asia, all those weeks ago...

Vietnam Redeemed!

I've just read through my last post and good grief, wasn't I a Victor Meldrew?!! You'll be pleased to know that things are much better...

I went off to the DMZ on Wednesday, and visited the Vinh Moc tunnels, which were rather impressive. It was another wet and grey day, but it gave me the opportunity to meet some new folks, including Aurelie from France, who I later shared a room with back in Hue that evening (spreading the cost, yippee!!)

Thursday arrived and the rain had abated, so off we set to explore the city and by some miracle, the sun came out and it was very hot, much more like it at last! The Citadel is a very bizarre place - it was obviously impressive at its zenith, but the ravages of time and war have reduced it to but a shell of its former self. It's undergoing a LOT of renovation at the moment, so hopefully in the not-to-distant future, it will regain some of it's former glory.

Aurelie departed for Hoi An at 2pm, so I spent the afternoon chilling out with The Bourne Identity - the book - which after only a few pages, was obviously quite different from the film. I spent my time until 5.30pm so engrossed in the story that I bought the copy (which was the hotel's property) for a ridiculous $5!!! That may not sound much, but this thing is over 20 years old, is falling apart and was only $5.95 AUSTRALIAN dollars in 1981!!! Still, I knew that to buy a new copy somewhere, $5 was a much better deal!!!

I later boarded my final (woohoo!) night bus and I actually got a bed at the back that had plenty of legroom and was completely flat, so I could actually recline properly. It was a great relief; however, being deposited on the banks of the Red River in Hanoi at 7am on Friday morning ("free transfer to the Old Quarter will come soon" - yeah, right!!!) cancelled out any slight positive feelings I may have developed for the system!!!

Eventually, I made the 4km+ trip to the right area of town in a taxi with some fellow scammed travellers and the rain returned, I have never seen a sky so black in my entire life! I made it to the guesthouse that Aurelie had recommended and it was refreshing to meet Lee, a lovely Vietnamese girl who was honest, upfront and straightforward about everything - she didn't have a room for me (and wouldn't promise me one for later) but I was welcome to hang around for a few hours should one become available. Thank goodness one did in the end as the rain was so torrential, the thought of scouting for alternative accommodation was NOT appealing...

That afternoon, I ventured out in the rain, but it was so bad, it was impossible to do anything enjoyable. Many of the streets were flooded up to knee-deep and my feet were raw from walking in soggy sandals. I decided to book my trip to Halong Bay for Saturday, in spite of the rain. I figured it better to be stuck on a boat with a group of new people, than stuck in a hotel room on my own... And I was right! The weather in Hanoi on Saturday morning was still blooming awful, but as we set off east, the rain lessened and it was merely overcast at Halong Bay. I was soon onboard the boat, where 14 people set off around the limestone karsts and ventured inside Surprising Cave (which, surprisingly, was a surprise to the man who discovered it!!!)

Halong Bay, Vietnam

After that it was time to kayak around at sunset, before heading back to the boat. We dropped anchor for the night and then everyone started to jump off the top deck into the bay. I was thinking "How ridiculous!" until I then realised that it was about time I did something a little reckless instead of playing it safe all the time (sorry Mum!) So, I clambered over the railings and then instantly froze solid as I viewed the drop below - a good 5 metres I'd say (which doesn't sound much, but it is, honest!) It took a good deal of procrastinating, but I eventually took the plunge, and after finally emerging, all I could do was to shout back up to the guys on the boat "I did it!!! I did it!!!" to rapturous applause!

It was great to swim in the dark as it was possible to see tiny phosphorescent plankton in the water, excited into light-emitting action by our splashing around. It was extremely magical, it was as if the stars had been reflected in the sea. However, treading water for a good half hour straight doesn't half tire you out, no matter how fascinating the results!

On Sunday, we reached Cat Ba island. I sensibly elected NOT to trek through the national park, as some boxes don't need ticking, especially after Chiang Mai! I enjoyed chatting with my new roommate, Mark from Australia, as we waited for the rest of the group to make it down from the "steep" climb. They assured me that I had made the right decision as the trail description was accurate!

After checking in at the hotel, we had free time to explore Cat Ba Town and its beaches, which were very beautiful, but a little chilly seeing as it was quite overcast. However, I have never been so pleased with grey skies, especially as they weren't unloading another deluge!!! That night, the boat gang ventured out for drinks and we ended up having some deep debates about religion, politics, environmentalism... my brain hasn't been that stimulated for years!!! It was great to meet some cool people - Dave & Lyn from Australia and Amanda & Tom from the U.S.

We returned to Hanoi yesterday afternoon, and it was great to see it had finally stopped raining, so Amanda, Tom, Mark & I headed out for some great pork balls with noodles (of which the name I have forgotten!) and a delicious mango shake! Today, I managed to see a little bit of Hanoi, enough to feel I can leave in the morning without hanging my head in shame (although I must admit, on Friday, I never thought it would be possible as the rain was never-ending!) I visited the Hoa Lu Prison and Temple of Literature, before a tasty lunch of more pork balls and another AMAZING dish that I cannot even describe and that I do not know the name of! Hopefully, I'll be able to find it online at some point! We then watched the traditional water puppet show, which was great fun before heading out for yet more mango shakes!!!

Old Quarter, Hanoi

So, as I type this as I wait to meet the guys for dinner (yes, I haven't stopped eating for about three days!) I can honestly say that I have finally clicked with Vietnam and that Hanoi is NOT the city I thought it would be, based on everything I had heard before. I could see myself visiting here again some time in the future, a concept that was incomprehensive but a few days ago. I'm really looking forward to flying back to Bangkok tomorrow, but luckily I will leave with fond memories of Vietnam. I just have to work out my next moves through the islands and on to Malaysia!

BTW, I know I've gone on (and on) about the rain a lot, but on the Vietnamese news, it said that Hanoi has just had the most rain for FORTY YEARS!!! Believe me, it has been newsworthy!!!