Sure not feeling crabby in Krabi

THAILAND!

Greetings from Koh Lanta,

Well, I made it to Thailand, and it's beautiful. It's Wednesday night right now. Let's backtrack a few days, when I left you last.

On Sunday I headed out of the city to Kek Lok Si in Air Itam (outside George Town, still on the island of Penang). It's one of the largest Buddhist temples in Southeast Asia, it is pretty big. It's got a few prayer halls, walkways, and statues. It is very, very colorful, almost gawdy. I did get pictures, but I forgot to bring my camera with me to the internet cafe now, I'll get them up later. It was really cool to see, it was very decorative. Unfortunately, the 30m tall bronze statue of Kuan Yin was in scaffolding. Otherwise, I enjoyed it. The town is also famous for Laksa, a spicy noodle soup. Of course, I had to get a bowl. I foud the busiest place I could and ordered a bowl. Blech. I had a hard time eating it. The broth was really grainy, from spices I guess, and it got all on the noodles. The flavor was whatever. This time, Mikey doesn't like it.

That day I also had awesome Indian food. I had tandoori chicken with naan and chutneys, tasty! I wasn't there at a peak hour, so the guy cleaning up came over to talk with me. I bring this up because I want to tell you about how many of my brief conversations go.

"Hello"
"Hello"
"Where are you from, sir?"
"USA"
"Which part"
"Northeast, near Boston"
"Ohh. Who do you think will be next President? Obama? McCain?"

I can't count how many times I've had this conversation with various people I've met. We do get a chance to talk about other things, but this always comes up. Everybody is very clear and knowledgeable of American politics.

On Monday, I went to the Botanic Garden. It's right outside George Town. I was waiting forever at the main terminal for a bus. Then a fellow staying at the same hostel as me came over and said hello. He asked where I was going, and informed me that the bus I was waiting for comes by very sporadically. However, he was going there as well, and knows a different bus that drops you a 15 minute walk away for the garden. So we headed off and walked to the garden while talking about traveling, Malaysia and more. We headed different ways upon ariving in the gardens. They were alright, more of a park with a few exotic trees. One thing, next time you find yourself in the Botanic Garden in Penang, don't do the rainforest walk. I don't know why I did. No one else seems to do it. It's very steep, with a rock covered path. Of course when rocks are wet, we all know how much traction you get. Zero. Lots of fun. Fortunately it wasn't too too long. I never knew if I should have turned around or kept going, as I didn't know how long it was, and thus where the halfway point is.

I spent the rest of my afternoon deciding where I wanted to go next (after Penang). I knew I wanted to go to Thailand as I had always planned. I wanted to find somewhere nice in Southern Thailand, which is on the way to Bangkok. I decided to go to Krabi Province. From there I would go (probably) to Koh Lanta. Koh Lanta is inKrab Province, but buses go to Krabi town (the province capital). So I booked a ticket with a travel agency in Penang (which also runs, and has an office in, my hostel there). I was to leave Tuesday, the next day, at 5 am. The bus journey was to take 8 hours to get to Krabi Town (I had to book the travel to Koh Lanta once I got to Krabi Town). Thailand is an hour behind Malaysia, so for simplicity's sake I will write everything in Thailand time. Therefore, we were to leave at 4 am from Penang, outside the hostel. We did, picking up a group of 4 people on the way. We were in a mini-bus. A mini-bus is really just a passenger van, but they call it mini-bus, I don't know why. It holds 10 passengers, 2 up with the driver, 2 behind that, 3 behind that, and 3 more behind that. It was only the driver, myself, and the group, so we had plenty of space. Other important information, our bus had to stop at Hat Yai, in Thailand, where I was to board another bus. The reason being that Malaysian buses (and trains) can't go north of Hat Yai, which is a major transport center. Along the way we go through Malaysian Customs to exit and then through Thai Customs to enter. We continue on, arriving in Hat Yai. We arrived at 8 am, 4 hours after we left.

This is where it gets interesting. It's 4 hours from Penang to Hat Yai, and 4 hours from Hat Yai to Krabi Town. The travel agency in Penang said it was an 8 hour journey. Makes sense. What they failed to mention is that There was a gap of time between the two legs of the journey. When I arrived in Hat Yai, we were dropped at another travel agency, who works with the Penang one. When I unload, and the guy at the Hat Yai agency asks me where I'm going, he informs me I must wait an hour for the bus to Krabi Town. It leaves at 9. I then ask him how long it is to Krabi Town, and he tells me (I find out for the first time) its 4 hours. Wonderful. So now its a 9 hour trip, and but everything is going to pln in their minds (i.e. no delays/ breakdowns etc). Well the bus arrives at 9:15, because it had to pick up other people first. We then drive around Hat Yai for another hour and fifteen minutes, picking up people all over the city. We finally leave the city at 10:30. At this point, two and a half hours have been tacked on to the total Penang-Krabi Town trip. Well, our driver was able to knock a half hour off that. He drove like a ad man, nearly giving me about 47 heart attacks. He also carried a two foot sword, I saw him take off the sheath momentarily when we took a rest stop. Who knows....

We arrived in Krabi Town at 2 pm (2 hours later than anticipated). We were let off at a travel agent (of course). I booked a 3 pm mini-bus ride to Koh Lanta (an island). this bus was to take 2 hours. So, in the meantime, I had an awesome skewered piece of chicken which was really spicy. I forgot to mention the awesome bowl of noodles I had in HatYai while I was waiting. My first meal in Thailand, really awesome. Thin rice noodles in a light broth with cilantro and bits of pork and fishballs and more. It was delicious.

My 3 pm bus arrived at 3:15 (it was picking up others). It picked up other for another 45 minutes, thus really leaving at 4. We made our way to Koh Lanta. We needed to take two vehicle carrying ferry rides along the way. We arrived at 6 pm.

14 hours of travelling all together.

I got a taxi to a place to stay at I had read about. It's called Where Else. I get my own bungalow (made of straw and such), with an attached, quasi-outdoor bathroom with toilet and shower (no hot water). It does have electricity and a mosquito net. The cost- 150 Baht, about $4.45 US a night. We're right by the beach.

Koh Lanta is beautiful.

I've never been a beach person, but I really like it here. It is the offseason (rainy season). It's raining buckets right now. However, there's still plenty of good weather too, the rain comes in bursts. Still, accomodation is cheaper and it's less crowded. I won't complain. This is my vacation in a vacation I guess.

The island is really chilled out. The rest of Tuesday, yesterday, was spent hanging out, I was exhausted. I met a few other travelers who were also backpacking through Southeast Asia, and decided to hang out for a few days.

Today, I got a taxi into town. By the way, taxis in Koh Lanta are just a motorbike with a big covered sidecar which can fit like 4 people. I had a great breakfast of a really fresh, fried fish (I don't know what it was, small enough for it to e one serving) with rice, some cucumber and soup.

I also rented a motorbike.

It's really easy to drive, though I do go slower than others to be careful. The roads are wide and I stay to the side so others easily pass me. People go at all speeds, others go slow as well, so I'm not blocking traffic or anything. It's a lot of fun to drive (yes Mom, I have a helmet). I'll try to get you guys a picture of me with the bike. I rented it for two days, and it's less than $10 US a day, what a deal.

i also took time today to walk on the beach and hang out and see some of the island on my bike.

Dinner was also fried fish with rice and cucumber (very common here). This was a different kind of fish, pretty flat (not a flat-fish though, like flounder). it was in this ripping-hot suace which looked just liked pureed chilis. I liked it though.

Well, I'm getting tired. I just realized how long this post is. I'll fix all the typos later.

Take it easy,

Mike