Asian Adventures
Hey
I'm waiting in Stuait Thani for an over night ferry to Ko Pha Ngan. To be honest I'm a little apprehensive about the ride. The boat is really just a barge with a few "beds" in it. I plan on sleeping with one eye open.
That aside I'm having an amazing time in South East Asia. Singapore was, as every traveler describes, a very nice city with nothing to do. Two days there was more than enough. On my third morning I hoped on a public bus to the border of the tiny island state.
I spent 6 days working my way up through Malaysia. Melakka didn't have much to do but I met a cool Dutch couple and hung out with them. As for KL I really didn't like the city. It was noisy dirty and a bit sketchy. I've also heard that Bangkok is even worse. From KL it was off the Perhian island via that fastest speed boat I've been in. The boat was no more than tub with two 140 HP engines strapped to it. The islands were really beautiful but much more expensive than the rest of the country.
After a few days in paradise I had to come back to the mainland as I was running out of RM and there are no ATMs on the island (the island only has power at night). I than had to cross the Thailand border which was kinda of crappy. Literally the minute I stepped into the country I was greeted by monsoon (that's what you get for visiting in the wet season). I met an English bloke and two California girls at the border and traveled with them for a few days. This was a major mistake. The girls had a collective IQ of maybe 8 and were useless at making decisions.
Traveling through Southern Thailand was probably the sketchy leg of my trip. The road had millitary check points every 40km or so each with barbed wire, pillboxes and scores of machine gun toting rangers. It was a little un-nerving. Once clear of the military presence we went to Hay Yai where we ate at a 60s bar and heard the funniest attempts at some classics sung by a Thai band.
Spent a few nights in Phuket (tourist city) which were interesting. The bars full of fat old white guys trying to pick up Thai girls (and Lady-Boys) who in turn expected a few drinks and 1000 Baht . BI rented a step scooter one day which was amazingly fun but very deadly. For thos of you who don't know what a step scooter is it's a 100 - 150cc bike that has a semi-automatic transmission. I decided to ride from our hotel into the city on the other side of the peninusla which invluved some trecherous mountain roads and frantic Thailand traffic.
And now I'm here. Well hopefully I survive the nights ride. Can't wait to see all you guys when I get back.
-Drew
I'm waiting in Stuait Thani for an over night ferry to Ko Pha Ngan. To be honest I'm a little apprehensive about the ride. The boat is really just a barge with a few "beds" in it. I plan on sleeping with one eye open.
That aside I'm having an amazing time in South East Asia. Singapore was, as every traveler describes, a very nice city with nothing to do. Two days there was more than enough. On my third morning I hoped on a public bus to the border of the tiny island state.
I spent 6 days working my way up through Malaysia. Melakka didn't have much to do but I met a cool Dutch couple and hung out with them. As for KL I really didn't like the city. It was noisy dirty and a bit sketchy. I've also heard that Bangkok is even worse. From KL it was off the Perhian island via that fastest speed boat I've been in. The boat was no more than tub with two 140 HP engines strapped to it. The islands were really beautiful but much more expensive than the rest of the country.
After a few days in paradise I had to come back to the mainland as I was running out of RM and there are no ATMs on the island (the island only has power at night). I than had to cross the Thailand border which was kinda of crappy. Literally the minute I stepped into the country I was greeted by monsoon (that's what you get for visiting in the wet season). I met an English bloke and two California girls at the border and traveled with them for a few days. This was a major mistake. The girls had a collective IQ of maybe 8 and were useless at making decisions.
Traveling through Southern Thailand was probably the sketchy leg of my trip. The road had millitary check points every 40km or so each with barbed wire, pillboxes and scores of machine gun toting rangers. It was a little un-nerving. Once clear of the military presence we went to Hay Yai where we ate at a 60s bar and heard the funniest attempts at some classics sung by a Thai band.
Spent a few nights in Phuket (tourist city) which were interesting. The bars full of fat old white guys trying to pick up Thai girls (and Lady-Boys) who in turn expected a few drinks and 1000 Baht . BI rented a step scooter one day which was amazingly fun but very deadly. For thos of you who don't know what a step scooter is it's a 100 - 150cc bike that has a semi-automatic transmission. I decided to ride from our hotel into the city on the other side of the peninusla which invluved some trecherous mountain roads and frantic Thailand traffic.
And now I'm here. Well hopefully I survive the nights ride. Can't wait to see all you guys when I get back.
-Drew
Tuesday, August 01, 2006 @ 6:39 a.m.
2 Comments:
Is Phuket pronounced the way it seems it might? It sounds like you're having some mighty adventures, Drew - you're going to be bored as hell when you come back!
Drew is gonna go crazy when he gets back. Drew we are waiting for you to come back before we go to the cottage so you better be up for it . . . I wanna hear camp fire tales of Phucket and beyond.
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