Am There, Doing That
Backpacking in Northwestern Malaysia and Southwestern Thailand

It was a hot day ... and a sunny day ... and a drenchedly humid day too? That's kind of the way of life in Southeast Asia. Krabi, in Southwestern Thailand to be more specific.

Life has been pretty good of late. The biggest concern at any given time tends to be what food I'll eat next. It may be cliché to say, but the food in this part of the world is fantastic. I haven't hit too many fancy joints, but the cheapo roadside eateries seem to hit the mark just nicely. Its not just the local food either. I shared one of the best Italian dinners in memory last night with my brother, right here in Krabi.

My brother Mark and I have been traveling together for just over a week now. After a few hiccups along the way, he eventually made his way to Penang (Georgetown) Malaysia. This may not seem too spectacular, but after a long journey starting in Cork, Ireland, he was very happy to see a familiar face. He did surprisingly well with his first authentic Chinese meal, chopsticks included. Before the day was over, we even managed to find him some Guinness beer so that he wouldn't miss Ireland as much.

Penang itself was a bit of a strange place. Though I never left the city, which I probably should have, I can't say that I much cared for the place. However, we were staying in Chinatown, over Chinese New Year. (For those of you who don't know, Chinese New Year really has a huge impact in all of Asia. Virtually everything in any place somewhat Chinese closes down for a minimum of 2 days, more likely 4 days or longer. People of Chinese descent tend to travel at this time as well, which makes for a peak season at least equal to the Christmas travel season at home.) Aside from things being closed down, the city seemed quite dirty and had an inordinately high number of street people/beggars/bums, whatever word you'd like to label these poor people with. Penang was the first British settlement in Asia way back when, so it did have some Colonial-type buildings and an interesting cemetery. My Dad spends a bit of time in cemeteries, so I was thinking about him at that point. Lets just say I'm glad I don't have to mow the lawn there!! (For you latecomers in the life of Dennis, I once freelanced as a lawn mower, specializing in churches and cemeteries.)

The humidity and heat zapped a days worth of energy after only about an hour, so the rest of the time was spent seeking shade and comfort. Enough was enough - left early the next morning on what was an unusually long trip to cover a relatively short distance. From Penang, we caught a 2 1/2 hr ferry to Langkawi (also in Malaysia). We then caught another ferry from the same terminal, taking another hour or so to reach Satun Thailand, just barely across the Thai/Malay border. A songthaew (pickup truck with benches in the back -- common mode of travel in Thailand) took us from the pier/dock/jetty (boat stepping off point) to the city itself. From here we caught an "ordinary" bus to Lagnu. Another truck took us to Pak Bara. 8 hours of travel enough? Nope, we needed another boat, taking us another 90 minutes to our charming destination of Ko Tarutao. Before I go further, I feel I need to explain something.

Ordinary Bus, also called a Regular Bus: Easy to spot due to a bright orange exterior, and wildly decorated interior. A large stereo system plays local Thai favourites at a painful volume. No need for air conditioning as all of the windows are open or missing, allowing for a pleasant, airy ride. The wooden floor helps absorb some of the bumps that the shocks miss. These buses are a great way to see the countryside as they stop everywhere. There is no such thing as a "bus stop" with these buses. They stop everywhere. Also features an amazingly loud airhorn blown at random or with cause. Average price per km -- 1.4 cents Canadian. I'm not sure, but I think that is a pretty good bargain.

Ko Tarutao (make up your own pronunciation -- I tried a variety, and all seemed to have equal chances of being recognized by the Thai ear) lies a mere 5 km from the northern tip of Langkawi. Langkawi is a heavily touristed resort island in Malaysia. Tarutao is a large, quiet, well under-touristed island in Thailand. There is a staggering, brilliant difference between the two. Tarutao is the namesake island of a large Marine National Park. So far, this is the best example of a National Park that I've seen in Thailand. The government has kept all development away except for the bungalows (chalets/huts) that they've built themselves. They are quite expensive to rent out; so that, in addition to the inconvenient travel, makes it an unpopular choice for most backpackers. The island was clean, the beaches beautiful, the noise nonexistent ... they even had recycling bins there. I loved it. I read the comments book, and everybody was bitching that it wasn't like every other island in Thailand. Great, stay away!!!

Anyhow, after a night of cheaping it on the beach (tents are much cheaper to rent than chalets), we were off to our next locale, Ko Lipe (lee pee, or lee pay -- both were common). This was one of the only islands of the archipelago that is inhabited. The good old sea gypsies live there -- chao leh in Thai. I'm not joking - they are actually called sea gypsies. Their community numbered a thousand or so -- they operate a number of "resorts" (I'm not so sure that this word translates well in Asian languages) on the island. They offered pretty basic barebone thatch or bamboo huts. Compared to the other islands that I've seen and heard of in Thailand, it was nice. Pretty quiet ... the word "chill" would be very appropriately applied to this whole region. Quiet, with one notable exception - Ko Tarutao has SQUEAKY sand. The pure white sand has a strange, crusted snow-like texture to it, and it makes a squeaking noise when you walk on it. Unbelievable eh?? Sea gypsies and squeaking sand. I'm never coming home!!

In brief, we spent nearly a week in the area, snorkeling, getting food poisoning (my brother got it much worse than I did -- welcome to Asia), met some nice people and had a good time. My brother's first ever day of snorkeling netted him (and I) a lionfish (a very beautiful, docile, highly poisonous fish), and three sharks. Even though you know the sharks were too small to be dangerous to humans, or so the story goes in these parts, being circled by metre + long sharks gets the heart and adrenaline pumping. Quite a thrill to have one swim by you no more than a few metres away.

After we had more or less recovered from the "shitty" sickness, we headed back to the mainland. The benefits of the previous week of isolation slowly wore off over the course of the six or so hours of boat travel, and two hours of (regular) bus travel it took to reach Trang, a little further up the western coast of Thailand. I had briefly stopped there on my last trip to Thailand, and knew that it was at least reliable for a decent hotel to stay in. We did just that, finding a room with with elevated beds and running water. Quite a luxury after a week of sleeping on the floor of a rat and cockroach visited, electricity- and running water-free hut. Didn't see or hear cockroaches or rats, so we were moving right on up in the world. A good nights sleep energized us enough to filter through the dozens of emails received from our fans ... err, family and friends. Another 3 hour regular bus adventure highlighted by a rather snarky, elderly, red-head-hating Thai woman brought us to ... Krabi.

Today we rented some motorcycles, feeling that our life-forces were again ready for a formidable challenge. I managed to survive my second flat tire experience. Though I wouldn't describe the experience as fun, I did learn a few things. The treatment that I got from the locals was amazing. Even though they didn't have a hope of speaking English, they pointed me in the direction of the next service shop (this could be a whole story in itself!). It was closed -- another kind woman drove her motorcycle as slowly as possible, keeping just ahead of me as I pushed my limping cycle to the next next shop. My bro helped push the bike the last 500m or so to the shop, where the technicians quickly replaced the damaged tube, and had me rolling again in under 5 minutes. Total cost: $3.50 Cdn. Amazing. The guidebooks for Thailand would have you believe that everybody is a crook, and out to take your money. No different from home, I'm sure there are some people like that here, but I've found that most are extremely kind and generous.

The coming days should be exciting for the travelling Flood circus. I'm scuba diving tomorrow in the Ao Nang area; assuming that my head is of the non-imploding variety, unlike my last dive in Malaysia where my sinuses exploded at about 15 metres, I'll sign up for a 3-day, 3-night live-aboard trip touring the southern parts of the Andaman Sea. My brother will settle for the wealth of other outdoor activities that the Krabi area has to offer. We are both banking on continued enjoyment of "The Land of Smile."