Where's the sunshine??

People rave about the sun and sandy beaches of southern Thailand, so what better place for a reunion with my folks, right?! Well, unfortunately for us, the weather did not want to cooperate this time around. Our first afternoon in Ko Samui, we were able to enjoy our beach front and sip cocktails on the patio furniture. However, after that, we were pretty much indoors. Good thing we got ourselves a nice and clean beach bungalow so that we could sit on our porch and watch the rain pour down and the hellacious winds blow for the next 4 days. Who wants fun in the sun when you can play cards all day, walk the beach in your raincoat and splash in the puddles?

Check out the palms blowing below (the picture is hazy from the rain that was falling) and the rain -filled streets of Ko Samui.

We got over the hopes for sun and ended up being grateful for the moments when we just had cloudy skies and sheets of rain weren't coming down. We rented a car and toured around the island. It was an experience! The car was a piece of junk and with the rains, the water would actually splash up through the floor boards. White knuckled at the wheel, my dad battled the pools of water on the road and the fellow Thai drivers in order for us to explore the island and get out for a bit.

After 5 nights and 4 full days of enduring the rain, we decided to try our luck on the west side, where we'd heard weather was supposed to be better. So we packed our bags, said good-bye to the lovely Home Bay Resort on Mae Nam beach and caught ourselves a ferry and then a minivan to cart us over to Phuket.

Yay for the Fat Kid Treats!

Oh yum! Every time I've talked to family at home, I've expressed my strong wants of a warm, gooey, chocolate chip cookie. Who'd a thunk that in Thailand my wish would come true. Not only was it a delight to have my 'rents arrive, but with them, they brought me specially packaged fat kid treats!! My cute cousin Katie carefully wrapped cookies from CA (serious love behind these things - wrapped in bubble wrap even), sent them to my parents before they flew out, and were successfully delivered in one piece and ready for me to devour. On top of that, my sweet little sis threw together a Halloween package with my favorite candies and I got to munch away on those as well. So even though I've been digging the noodles and rice over here, it was a special treat to get my favorite sweeties to tide me over until my return to the States.

From KL to Ko Samui: Finally Meeting up with my Folks

It's been a long time traveling south from Malaysia all the way to Surat Thani, on the eastern coast of Thailand. I took a 14 hour train ride in a sleeper train that was quite clean and comfortable and exceeded any expectations I had. You eventually learn in SE Asia to go in with low expectations, and then you might end up pleasantly surprised! :)

After the 14 hour train ride, passing through immigration, and hopping off at Hat Yai, I'd come to the conclusion that I wasn't going to make it to the island today. I would just plan to meet my parents in Surat Thani and we would head out to Ko Samui together. In Hat Yai, I bought another train ticket, without doing much research, and ended up on a 7 hour ride to Surat Thani (the busses and minivans are both much faster). The woman at information told me it was only 4-5 hours, and I believed her. My bad! The train ride was cheap and it was public transport and we all herded on the cars like cattle, battling for a seat. I scored myself a slab of hard, wooden bench and the A/C consisted of a large open window behind my head that not only kept the wind blowing through my hair, but also let the water spray in during the few rain showers we had on the travels north. It was a lovely ride though - the scenery out the large open windows was beautiful, hilly and green. Besides a slightly sore butt, I couldn't much complain about the travels so far.

Once landed in Surat Thani train station, turns out I was not yet in Surat Thani. So I was headed for yet another mode of transport and took a 30 min. bus ride into town. Finally arriving at my destination at 7:30 pm, after taking off the night before at 8:40 pm. I was well traveled, ready for a shower and hungry for a decent meal. Scoped out a place to stay (where my bed that night actually felt as though I was sleeping on a cement floor), found some dinner at the local food stalls and then went and talked to my buddy, Lek, who I'd arranged to pickup my parents at the airport. I was supposed to be in Ko Samui, so I told him I wanted to be a surprise for my parents in the morning. And sure enough,when he picked them up and brought them back to the office, he had played right along and they were quite surprised! It was a joyful reunion with my parents and I was happy to see them. They had traveled safely and we were looking forward to some beach time together. Unfortunately, heading out to the island by ferry that day, we were only greeted with rain showers.

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur

It's been an interesting adventure trying to navigate around this country with the Malaysian holidays in full force. Although I planned for a 10:00 a.m. bus to Kuala Lumpur from the Highlands, I was stuck on the 4:30 and due to traffic on the roads with the whole country migrating to family and friends for Hari Raya, I didn't get to KL until 10:30 pm. I was really glad that Fletch, an English boy, decided to accompany me on the journey - as I was the only white girl on the bus, and 1 of 3 females. An overcrowded bus of Malay men gawking at you isn't always the most comfortable situation for 6 hours. Once in KL, we had to find ourselves a place to rest our heads. Options were limited and after scoping out 4 sketchy places, we ended up at a crazy little place called Wheeler's just a block off Chinatown. The one thing it had going for it was a rooftop bar with a view, to add a sliver of ambiance to the less than appealing accomodations thrown at us for the night. It was definitely a evening to snuggle close to my sleep sheet and protect me from the questionable sheets below me.

A main draw in KL are the Petronas Towers, which allow only a limited number of people up them per day. So Fletch and I were up at 6:15, on a train at 6:45 and standing in line with all the other tourists at 7:15. Turns out, they don't actually issue the tickets till 9:00, so it was a long 1 hour and 45 minute wait for us. Luckily, we had a couple of chatty Malay tour guides in front of us who were happy to tell us all about their country and the sites to see in KL. Eventually, we got our tickets and rode the elevator to the 41st floor of the towers and walked the sky bridge that connects the two towers. It gave us quite a view of the city - slightly smoggy I do believe.

After the tours, I had to get down to business and find myself some transportation north. I talked to several travel agents who weren't willing to help me because I was too late to book a flight (procrastination is my middle name) and they didn't arrange bus or train travel. So I went straight to the source and figured an overnight train would be my best bet. Once at the train station, I totally lucked out and got the last seat in an A/C sleeper train. Phew! It would have been a long 14 hour ride on a hard bench seat and the warm air blowing in through the open windows on the car. It did not take me all the way to Surat Thani, but it got me to Hat Yai - the border town in Thailand, and then I'd have to figure out next steps from there.

So really, it was just a brief 24 hours in KL and I'd like to go back to Malaysia. Before heading off to my train, the Dutchies arrived (they'd stayed an extra day in Cameron Highlands). We grabbed a drink together on the Wheeler's rooftop and said farewell. They were so great! I was nearing the end of my adventure and they were just beginning, so I gave them some tips on the hot spots...which mainly consisted of recommendations on places to eat in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos!

Strolling through the Cameron Highlands

With the interesting travel delays and disruptions due to Ramadan and Hari Raya, the group that I've met up with convinced me to head over to the Cameron Highlands with them. Actually, this was my only option, because the company would only take us on their holiday because there were enough of us to fill a minivan and make it a worthwhile trip for them moneywise, to haul all 8 of us to the highlands. It was actually kindof nice...like we had our own public transportation. So we said good-bye to our tropical paradise and headed out, by boat first, to the mainland and loaded up the minivan.

Well, because of the traffic on the roads from the holiday and the rain that was pouring down, our trip took longer than anticipated. We rolled into Tanah Rata (one of the towns among the Cameron Highlands) and were taken straight to the Daniel Lodge, which only had dorm rooms available. I haven't done the dorm thing yet, because I like knowing my valuables are locked up in a room, but since this was our only option, I had to say go for it. So, there was a row of like 10 beds and we all just picked one and called it home for the next 2 nights. Even though I was indoors, I felt as though I was camping, given the mattress was thinner than my thermarest I use when sleeping in a tent, and above us was a large blue and white plastic tarp to catch any rain that came through the cracks in the wooden roof. Plus, the guy that checked us in said to be sure and throw away any food we had because the mice would be sure to come and get it if we left it in our bags. Haha! This was quite the switch from my princess days at Railay Beach with Lani.

Basically, when you come to the Cameron Highlands, it's green and hilly and people are interested in seeing the tea plantations, strawberry farms and doing some mountain hikes. It's a cooler climate and it was beautiful! We spent the next day on quite the adventure. We decided to take a public bus up the road near the strawberry farm and tea plantation. Well, we thought we were on the 11:30 bus, but we just sat, and sat, and sat some more. At about 12:30, all of a sudden another bus pulled up and we had to switch over. Well, it was already overcrowded, and we didn't get seats, so we were stuck standing in the back as we weaved through the traffic up the road. And actually, the traffic jam was horrendous! Again, the craziness of everywhere we were traveling to was all a result of the holiday. The people were traveling to and from to visit family, friends, and have a few days off of work. Our bus driver would not tolerate waiting in line, so he was pulling off road and into the other lane with oncoming traffic to pass it all up. It was a crazy experience. Had anything like this happened in the States, quite literally risking each of the passengers lives, his license would've been yanked in a second! Only in SE Asia I tell you!

Anyway, we ended up hopping off the bus and doing a hike into the Boh Tea Plantation. The green terraced hills were lovely and once we got to the tea shop, we all sipped on some tea as well. It was a little bit like Starbucks, the line was out the door, but it was still a tasty little treat to enjoy, harvested right off the lands surrounding us. To the right is part of the crew, Fletch, Ed, Jeroen, Lonneca, Randy and myself.

After tea, we tried to take a shortcut to the road and got lost. We had to turn around and hike back out the way we'd come. When we finally reached the main road, it was beginning to get dark, but the area is famous for strawberries as well and I had to see the strawberry farm. Luckily, it was right off the main road. We wandered around briefly and then to make the trip complete, I purchased a 100% strawberry ice lolly (that's what the English call a popsicle). Quite delish! And rather than catching the crazy bus back into town, we opted to walk. However, somewhere along the way it started to pour down rain, and we were still 6 km from town. We flagged a cab and the 6 of us piled in (see below). The cabby really didn't have a problem with an overcrowded taxi, just as long as we all payed our way. It was quite a crazy day of transportation issues and wandering through the tea trees.

Malaysia Border Crossing and the Pehrentian Islands

As you know, unfortunately, I've lost my travel partner to the States and I have now hit the road solo. Because of our time being cut short in Myanmar, I had to cross a border to avoid my Thai visa expiring before returning home. So, I headed south to Malaysia...and the border crossing was an experience. No service actually takes you across the border, so you get taken to the border by an overcrowded minivan and then you hop out and walk across the Thai/Malay border, expected to sort things out on the other side. Fortunately, there were 2 other travelers headed to the Pehrentian Islands as well, so we were able to share a taxi to Kuala Besut. But first, we had to find a bank to get the currency, since there were no ATMs or banks in the town we were headed to or on the islands. Not knowing how expensive things would be, and not knowing the exchange rate of US dollar to Ringit, trying to guestimate how much cash to pull out was more than I wanted to think about after a long 10 hrs sitting cramped in the back of a minivan. But I sorted things out and we eventually made it to Kuala Besut, but not early enough to catch a boat to the Pehrentians, which meant we stuck it out a night in this 1-hotel, 1-restaurant town.

The next morning was interesting as well. Because of the largest Muslim holidays, Hari Raya and Ramadan falling on the 13th and 14th of October, me even trying to travel anywhere on those dates was out of the question. Who knew?! So, I spent the morning frustrated and concerned about how I'd head north back into Thailand to meet my parents by the 18th. The bus I wanted to take to Kuala Lumpur was booked up until the 23rd of October. Seems a little ridiculous, huh? For 10 days, there was no bus I could get on to get me out of here. So being unable to make any sort of travel plans, I just decided to head out to the Islands and cross my fingers that things would work out...somehow.

Once out at sea, can I just say how absolutely incredible the Pehrentian Islands were! It was like I'd entered a tropical paradise.

There was nothing to do but be a beach bum, go snorkeling, and play volleyball and frisbee on the beach. And I totally lucked out and met a fantastic group of people. There were 4 Dutchies, 1 German, 2 Spaniards, 2 English and I actually found a fellow American guy who had been traveling for 8 months. It's been a super fun group and we refer to ourselves as the 'United Nations' - y'know, kinda bringing all countries together or something. And our snorkeling trip was incredible!! It is the clearest water I've ever been in and visibility is top quality. We saw sea turtles, little sharks, colorful coral, and all sorts of fishies. (the snorkeling pic below is with Lonneca from Holland)

After a full day on the beach and a round of volleyball, each evening we would catch up for dinner, which consisted of a delicious fish bbq on the beach - from the catch of the day - and then there was only 1 small bar on the island to mingle and hang out at. (this pic is with 3 English girls, Carly, Nicola and Monica and a Canadian, Jane - who I just met that night. We had a fun time dancing barefoot in the sand).

And then, how can you stay on a tropical island and not watch the sun come up one morning?! So I pulled an all-nighter to watch the sunrise on the ocean - which was beautiful. And then the real highlight came with the fact that 2 of the locals fed us their celebration food they had prepared for Hari Raya. It was incredible! It's food that they prepare special, only once a year, and since I'd expressed my hunger (surprise, surprise), we snuck into a kitchen in one of the chalets and they brought out part of their special holiday feast to share with us. Although I'm not 100% sure what I ate...some sort of meat dish and rice wrapped in a banana leaf, it was tasty!

It all seemed so surreal. Here I sat at a table, looking out on the palm trees and sandy beach, watching the sun peak through the clouds and paint the sky, and eating Malay food, prepared special for the once a year holiday, with 2 Malay men, 2 English girls and a German guy. It's quite fun to think about the types of experiences and memories that can be made when traveling.

Considering I wasn't even planning on coming to Malaysia, I'd say the Pehrentians were quite an enjoyable part of this trip so far.

Total Princesses at Railay Beach

Well, we went ahead and spoiled ourselves with our recent days at Railay Beach. It was the end of Lani's trip and we'd just suffered through sickness in Myanmar, so we figured we deserved to be princesses for a few days in southern Thailand. We splurged on a nice hotel, with AC, television and a pool with an incredible view at the base of rock cliffs and green palm trees surrounding us. The weather was only so-so, with occasional patches of sunshine and then intermittent rain showers. We basically spent our days relaxing - between the pool and the beach, which is just what we needed at the end of Lani's travels and to help us mend from our illnesses.


We did a day trip to Ko Phi Phi Island, which was beautiful, but our weather was poor. I'd say the island is still in repair-mode from the tsunami, and I can't imagine how nice it must have looked before the water damage and such. But there were definitely tourists still visiting and it is on the mend. Our morning was spent in the pouring down rain, and then the waves were too high on Phi Phi Le Island to see Maya Bay, which is where "The Beach" was filmed. But we did do some snorkeling and we had a lot of fun seeing the colorful coral and swimming amongst the fishies.

And then our time together on the Southern Thailand islands was all coming to an end. On our last night together, we sat on the beach and watched the sunset - wuite romantic, huh? It was really the fitting way to end our trip, since we have been quite the cute couple for the last 3 months. :)

And then it was a sad day the next morning knowing that I was losing my travel buddy. We caught a boat together to Krabi town and then I left Lani waiting for her minivan and I hopped in a little truck, which they call the public bus, and rode into Krabi alone. I sorted out a place to stay for only $3/night - it was pretty much a prison cell with painted walls. And then I did some research amongst the travel agencies to figure out how I was going to get across the border into Malaysia.

Our Time in Myanmar - Cut Short

As most of you have probably seen on the news, Myanmar is in disarray right now with the monks protesting in the streets and the outbreaks of violence by the "government." But Lani and I had already forged the path into the country before the violent uprisings started and we luckily left Yangon/Rangoon the day that actual deaths occurred. However, our time in the country was still cut short and it will be a place I have to return to one day to fully understand, appreciate and explore. With my brief experience, I did fall in love with the people. The men all stroll the streets in serongs and to be more beautiful, the women wear paint on their faces. When walking down the streets, everyone just stares at you and I've felt a little bit like a freak and a celebrity at the same time. So regardless of the endless gawking, they are absolutely lovely and given their hopeless situation with the government, I am more than impressed to see the wide smiles on their faces and what appears to be, happiness.


The rest of the country however, leaves a little bit to be desired. The roads are rough; the taxis are in terrible condition (we're talking cracker boxes with their doors falling off, that need to be jump started, and may just kill in the middle of an intersection); the streets are filled with potholes (you gotta stare at your feet when walking to avoid a broken ankle); their isn't money for power to light the streets at night so it feels quite strange even going out after dark. But I guess these are the interesting things that make traveling an experience.

As for our time in Myanmar, we spent a day and a half in Yangon, wandering the streets and visiting the Schwedagon Pagoda. That is where the thousands of monks gathered in the afternoon to protest, so we tried to avoid too much time in the area. We hopped a miserably long and hot 19 hour bus ride north to Inle Lake, Lani got hit with nausea and when we arrived in Inle, she spent the next 2 days in bed. The day she got better, I decided it was my turn to be sick. And fortunatetly for me, we'd decided to only take a 12 hour bus ride that day to Mandalay. And given the fact that Myanmar is like taking a major step back in time, the bus was extremely unpleasant and I was unable to get comfortable with my body aching and alternating between the chills and a fever. We arrived in Mandalay early in the morning and I spent the next 3 days in bed. Lani did a little exploring by herself, but given the fact that both of us had been weakened by sickness and the country can be challenging to get through, we decided it was best to book a quick flight to Bangkok and head to a doctor, where conditions would be better.

On a more positive note, like I said, the people in Myanmar are incredible! We had such good experiences interacting with them and I'm happy we got a small glimpse into their culture. My boat trip on Inle Lake was beautiful and I fell in love with our boatmen, Myasa and Meento, who were the cutest father-son duo I've ever met.



Meento is only 12 years old and was just as much a captain as his dad. And when Lani was feeling better, she wanted to hit the lake up as well, so I went again to accompany her and we had the same guides. And this time, we were lucky enough to have Myasa take us to his home - which was such a special experience to be welcomed into this family's home and meet his wife and children and share a cup of tea, sitting cross legged on a bamboo mat on their floor. The children loved having pictures taken of themselves and this experience with the family was definitely the highlight for me during my brief Myanmar experience!