Some rambles about our rambles: Malaysia-Thailand

Since our last post we have had a busy few days, which started with a short ferry journey from Penang to the island of Langkawi. The crossing was fun, we bumped into a few familiar faces and strangely the entertainment on the boat was a collection of high octane, violent action films. We spent 3 days in Langkawi relaxing, enjoying the beach, spectacular sunsets and fake meat curries! Seriously, the fake meat here (which is actually tofu) is incredible.

There were many beautiful beaches to choose from, this beach was a popular choice for water sports in particular Banana Boats- always humorous.

Langkawi was to be the last stop in Malaysia on our trip. The month has passed quickly and we have visited many weird and wonderful places. Malaysia was nothing like I expected it to be, every time I thought I had the country sussed along came the next city, which brought with it something completely new that blew me away. When I look back on our time in Malaysia I think that I will remember the incredible food, welcoming friendly people, a wonderful mix of cultures and of course, my first squat toilet!

Terima Kashi Malaysia!

Sà-wàt-de Kâ Thailand!

From Langkawi we embarked on our journey to Thailand. This journey made me feel like I was in the film Planes, Trains and Automobiles. First we caught a taxi from the hostel to the ferry terminal where we boarded our ferry to Satun, Thailand. After a quick and painless border crossing we knew we were officially in Thailand when we were greeted by our first Tuk-Tuk. The Tuk-Tuk dropped us off at a bus station in the middle of what appeared to be nowhere, just as I was beginning to wonder if we had been duped a lady waved us over to what can only be described as Barbie’s tour bus.

This photo did not capture the true brilliance of this bus!

The bus was bright pink- not just the exterior paintwork but the interior carpets and curtains. The roof was decorated with quilted leather and diamantes. At the front of the bus was a 40 inch flat screen with surround sound- that’ll be us then listening to Thai rock music for the remainder of the journey. Yes, we had arrived in Thailand, how we had missed it!

The Barbie tour bus took us to yet another middle of nowhere bus station. 15 minutes later a mini van arrived to pick us up. No pink curtains or quilted leather here, just a driver who had a penchant for gangster rap- particularly the Eminem variety. Give me Thai rock and roll any day!

The ferry crossing took around 15 minutes, we then drove through Ko Lanta’s smaller island to another ferry which again was a quick crossing. Safely in Ko Lanta we were dropped in the middle of the town. Now we just needed somewhere to stay. Who better to trust as your accommodation guru than a man with a motorbike and sidecar? (Unfortunately I was so taken aback by this there is no picture but I promise I will post one next time we catch one.) This was no ordinary motorbike and sidecar. This one had a roof. Within that roof the driver had an array of brochures for different accommodation in the area, which he proceeded to pass to us and read as he drove along, to think 30 minutes ago I was concerned that matt had no seat belt on the mini bus. Funnily enough we choose one of the closest accommodations, which has proved to be a good choice.