Krabi - Thailand

5/20/05

Krabi (pronounced gra-BEE) has scenic karst formations near the coast and even in the middle of Mae Nam Krabi (Krabi River). Over 150 islands surround the area and hundreds of years ago Krabi's waters were a favourite hideout for Asian pirates because of all the islands and water caves.
Although Krabi is essentially more Taoist-Confucianist and Muslim than Buddhist there are some nice Buddhist temples around.
We went to see the Tiger Cave which is located 6 km from Krabi. The Thai name is Wat Tham Seua. The main hall is built into a long, shallow limestone cave. Past the cave, through a little village, there is an arduous climb of 1272 steps to the top of a karst hill where there is another Buddha footprint shrine and a good view of the area.













Behind the hill there is a forest with many nice caves and interesting rock formations.



From Tiger Cave we went back to Krabi to have lunch and bought some snake-skin fruits at the market.



Krabi has the most original traffic lights we have ever seen so far....



We headed to Laem Pho to see Su-San Hoi, known in English as the Fossil Shell Beach. It is a graveyard where 75-million-year-old shell fossils have formed giant slabs junting into the sea.



The beach was full of tiny crabs digging holes in the sand creating funny patterns.



We also passed by Ao Nang, a lovely but dominated by tourists. Most of the package trips from Sweden end up here. It is full of shops of all kinds, massage, tailors and boat tour companies hunting the tourists. The view from Ao Nang though is a wonder. The rocks standing straight up from the water are impressive.





We ended the day at the night market in Krabi where we had the cheapest food ever. For 15 baht ($1US=40baht) each we could eat a huge selection of Thai food.

We called Stephanie, a friend from New York living in Thailand for more than one year teaching English. She was in Railay, exactely where we were planing to go the following day to rock climb, so we set to have breakfast together the next morning in Railay.

5/21/05

We left early from Krabi to Ao Na Mao where we caught a longtail boat to Railay. An interesting thing is that they use Isuzu car engines.



On the way we saw the Chicken Island, named after its shape. The Thai name is Ko Poda.
In Railay we met Stephanie, found that she is now living in Ko Phi Phi and arranged to meet her there again.
After breakfast we went to look for a company to rent the climbing gear and find the spot. The gear cost mere 600 Baht for half a day and the area we climbed, in the east side of Railay, known as Muy Thai was in a walking distance from the store. The place is just amazing, with rock formations by the water.





Bolts are on the rock so all we needed was the quick-draws and head up. The west side is called Ton Sai if you want to check on the Internet the routes.





If you like rock climb this place shouldn't be missed!!!

After rock climbing, we went to the hiden lagoon. we first climbed the hill covered with an amazing vegetation. The trees and ferns are gigantic.



From the top of the hill it is possible to see the Railay peninsula.



Then we headed down the hill on the other side to reach the lagoon but, after climbing down three dangereous spots, we decided to go back up. Moreover, we were getting eaten up by the horrible mosquitoes.



Then we went to explore the west side which is composed of numerous caves.



We went back to Krabi at the end of the day.


5/22/05

The plan was to visit Hong Island, but for some reason, no tour agencies were selling trips there, only chartered private boats could take us there. So we went to Ao Nang in the hope to find someone wanting to go to Hong Island and share the cost, 1700 Baht. We were approached by many boat drivers and let them know we wanted to go to Hong Island but not alone. Then we sat by the beach and appreciated the amazing view and the brise of the sea.
After an hour of staring at the horizon the boat driver found another couple willing to go there, a Thai couple from Bangkok on vacation.

Hong Island is located 25 kilometers away from the town with spectacular beaches and hidden lagoons full of tame colorful fish. We spent the day swimming and snorkeling on a deserted beach. We saw so many different fish!!!











5/23/05

On that day I relaxed in Krabi while Angie went to a Thai cooking class where she learned to prepare around 7 traditionnal Thai dishes. She brought some back for dinner and it was delicious!

Kota Bharu

5/18/05

We left Kapas around 10 A.M. In Marang we jumped in a bus to Terengganu and there we took another bus to Kota Bharu, where we arrived around 2 P.M.

Being hungry guess where we went? yes, to the market.



We had more interesting food ...



... and walked around the city.

5/19/05
Here we spent the whole day travelling, from Kota Bharu to Krabi. We left around 11:30 A.M for Rantau Panjang, a Malaysian city at the border with Thailand 1:30 hour away. We had to walk across the border, the bus does not go to Thailand. The immigration was also easy and we didn't have to pay anything.
In Rantau Panjang we hired a mini-van to Hat Yai, 3 hours away. There we had to bargain with different companies to find a cheap transport to Krabi, where we arrived around 10:45 P.M. Travelling is cheap but not always easy. :D

Pulau Kapas - Malaysia

5/14/05 to 5/15/05

The trip to Pulau Kapas was long but comfortable. From Cameron we took a bus to Tapah where we arrived around 4:30 P.M. and spent time in the night market trying many different things. They use a lot of steaming for cooking and we tried a couple of rice coconut desserts, all delicious.
At 09:30 PM (5/14/05) we took another bus to Marang, the fishing village where the ferry to Kapas departs. We arrived there at 07:30 A.M (5/15/05).

We had to withdraw money before going to the island but the only ATM available in the village didn't work. We had to take another bus and go to Terengganu, which is the next village 18 kilometers away, just for the money. :(

On the way back to Marang something unconceivable in the western world happened. The bus driver stopped to do some personal paperwork. First he had to figure out which building he had to go in the city and then the whole bus waited for around an hour until he was back to resume the trip.
It is like if the bus driver going from NYC to Boston drives to the DMV to renew his driver's license while the passengers wait for him to take the test. I just couldn't believe he was doing that. When he was back in the bus he looked at us and said a 'sorry' with a nice smile in his face.

Another thing that surprised us was the fact that none of the other passengers seemed to be really bothered for the delay. Nobody got angry, shouted at him or any sign of offence, well ...
Eventually we got to the ferry and arrived in Pulau Kapas around noon.

Wow, what a place. There are no facilities here, just a few bungalows, the beach and the forest. The beach is around 500 meters long and the whole island had maybe not more than 10 tourists.



It was very very very very hot, so the first thing was to fall in the water.



At night the owner of the hotel made a barbecue with fresh fish, squid, lamb and chicken, there was also orange juice, salads and fruits for dessert.
We met a Scottish guy that also left his IT work to rover the world. He biked for 5 months in India and was on his route in Southeast Asia.

5/16/05

The second day in Kapas is easy to describe, it was completely devoted to the art of relaxing.



The only thing going on to see was the huge iguanas in the swamp behind the hotel trying to catch their lunch.



5/17/05

Here we met more interesting people doing some serious travelling, a couple made of a German (but son of Portuguese couple who moved to Germany) and of a French girl who also travelled 2 months in India and 10 other months in Southeast Asia. Another couple, an Indian guy and a Japanese girl are moving from country to country since 1991, wow, I dare anybody to beat this two. :D. The last couple was a Dutch girl with a Malaysian guy and their baby. In summary, we were only international couples!

The rest of the day was again serious relaxing.





Malaysia is very cheap, with an excellent transport system, interesting food and it is so beautiful, I don't know why it is not a major destination for vacation.

5/18/05

Paradise time was over by now, we had to leave for Kota Bharu and then Thailand.

Cameron Highlands - Malaysia

5/12/05

Cameron Highlands is a place where tea has been planted first in 1926 and the British back then brought Indian people because of their knowledge about the tea. Chinese people also migrated there and started a vegetable plantation and also strawberry farms. So Cameron Highlands is also known as the garden of Malaysia. The production is sold in all the markets of the country.

5/13/05
A big part of the population here is Indian and where there is Indian people there is Indian food. So we had a delicious Indian lunch but the Malaysian way, in a banana leaf.

We scheduled a tour to the tea plantations for the next day and did nothing else but to relax and rest.

The hotel was neat and very clean, just for you to have an idea; to go to the second floor of the building shoes were not allowed. Everybody was barefoot, guests and staff. There was a beautiful garden with colorful flowers that we could see from our balcony, great place to relax....

5/14/05

We left at 8:45 am as scheduled but it was quite cloudy, so our guide suggested to visit the Central market waiting for the weather to clear. There we bought local strawberries which were really sweet.



We then headed to the summit of Gunung Brinchang at over 2000 meters. It was still cloudy but the view was nice anyway. We were surrounded by mountains, all covered by a mossy rainforest.

On our way down we stopped for a short walk in the forest. The trail was muddy and the soil was spongy. It was a strange sensation to walk on it. The trees were covered with moss, orchids and pitcher plants.



These last ones are also called 'monkey cups' since the monkey drink the liquid they contain which actually makes them high. Thanks to the sweet liquid these plants attract insects that are then trapped and digested by the plants.



After the walk we were supposed to visit a tea plantation and the factory. But the factory was closed due to a Hindu festival. Indeed a big part of the tea workers come from Southern India and gathered for the festival in the middle of the tea plantation. They allowed us to join them and there we had some Indian sweets. More and more people arrived, Malaysians and Indonesians also. Indeed, now more and more contract workers come from Indonesia to work there under a 3-year visa and then head back home with the money they made.





We also stopped at what they call the 'Butterfly Farm' but in fact there are many other impressive bugs.





These can also be found in the forest while walking.



Some have developed an amazing camouflage that makes it hard to spot them from few meters away. Try to find the 'leaf frog' in the picture below.



The 'leaf insect' is also quite hard to see.



At night we caught a bus to Pulau Kapas, an island on the Northeast coast of Malaysia.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia

5/10/05

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, which just 120 years ago was a city of minors turned into a modern and prosperous capital. Kuala Lumpur means 'Muddy Confluence' but the city has nothing of muddy, it is very modern and clean.

In the morning we went to the Cambodian Embassy to request our visas.
We crossed the area where all the embassies and ambassador houses are. The city is very spread out and not everything is in a walking distance; but in the other hand, everything is well signalized, so it is easy to walk around on your own.
The visa would be ready after 2 days. After that we walked around the modern part of the city, also known as Golden Triangle, dominated by the Petronas Towers, which holds the title of the world's highest.



A weird scene is to see that many of the people working in the offices all come down to the street to have lunch in the numerous food stalls around.

We tried to walk to the National Art Gallery, a nice art museum with free admission. But after a while we realized that it was too far, so we took a cab. By looking on the tourist map of Kuala Lumpur you can't really tell how far it is because the scale is not respected. The Museum was nice and it hosts the weirdest collection one can imagine. Hand fans! There were all kinds of hand fans, from all over the world and time. Who would ever think of making an exposition of such thing?

They had also other more interesting stuff like calligraphy by Venerable Master Hsing Yum. It was an exposition about some of his phrases which are works to convey blessings, happiness and gratitude to others. In other words, a collection of Buddhist thoughts like.

To give others confidence.
To give others joy.
To give others hopes.
To give others convenience.

But it was all in Chinese calligraphy. The exposition is called To Enlighten Sentient Beings and it will head to US, Europe and South America in an effort of promotion of Buddhism.

From the art gallery we went through the Chow Kit market. It is a market that shows the diversity of the population of Malaysia which is composed of Malaysian, Chinese, Indian and Indonesian people.

The malls were not left outside of our itinerary, in one of them Angie tried Nyonya food, a kind of cuisine which consists of the marriage of Chinese and Malaysian cuisine born from the mixed couples.

We spent the end of the day in Jalan Bintang, which is a very animated street where you can find most of the restaurants of the city. We even found a Churrascaria (Brazilian barbecue), German and French restaurant.

5/11/05
This was a slow day. We slept until late in the morning but early enough to find the traditional 'nasi lemak' for breakfast, rice cooked in coconut milk accompanied of tiny crunchy fried fish, a spicy chilly sauce, peanuts and a half boiled egg. This is the first thing Malaysians usually put in their stomachs in the morning, wow!.

We decided to follow an itinerary specified in our Lonely Planet that seemed interesting and we saw what I'm going to call 'The Lonely Planet Effect'. The day before we were kind of on our own in the city and we didn't see other tourists, but here it was different. We came across more than a dozen of couples all carrying the same book, walking exactly in the same streets and stopping on the same corners to check the map and figure out which way to turn.

Our first stop was the National Mosque...



From there we crossed the train terminal ....



... and went to the 'Kompleks' Dayabumi, an interesting modern skyscraper but with a Muslim architecture.



We stopped at the central market for a fresh juice and then checked the streets of Chinatown. There we had some Chinese sweets, dragon fruit and Cendol, a soy drink very popular in Malaysia with red beans and green jelly noodles, coconut milk sweetened with brow sugar syrup.

Malaysia is certainly a mosaic in terms of religion and although the majority is Muslim the practice of religion is free. In Chinatown there are many temples reflecting this. Most of Indians here are Hindu.



The Chinese brought Buddhism and Taoism beliefs.





Christians compose a small fraction of the population and of course there was also a church, located on Merdeka Square which means Independence Square but no pictures...

After the temples we got some fruits, 'rambutan' (the Malaysian word for it means hairy) and litchis ...



... and rested the rest of the day.

At night we went out for dinner at the Old Chinatown Café, a touristy restaurant but with relatively cheap prices and very interesting food.

There we had: Nonya Rendang Chicken
- Chicken pieces cooked in a spicy coconut paste with kaffir lime leaves; Ikan Assan - Slices of Mackerel cooked in tamarind with a sourish and piquant taste.
For dessert: Bubur Cha-Cha - Yam, sweet potato, sago and screwpine leaves cooked in coconut cream and sweetened with palm sugar (Gula Melaca); Pulut Hitam
Black glutinous rice broth cooked in coconut cream.

5/12/05
The last day in Kuala Lumpur we picked up the passports at the Cambodian Embassy and went back to the same restaurant to have lunch because it was so good the night before.
We had duck soup with tangerine peels and tamarind juice, yummy!.

At 2:30 P.M. we took a bus to Cameron Highlands, crossed a coconut plantation on the way. There we found a nice relaxing small city, cool weather and very friendly people.