Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Adios Thailand, hello Malaysia

Our 2 months in Thailand were complete. We came back to Koh Phangan with no Full Moon Party to relax on the quiet island. It was only a short stay but it was good to be back again. We returned to Light In Bungalows and was surprised to find that we were recognised and greeted with warm smiles. Before we left Thailand, we thought we couldn't go without experiencing a Elephant trek. So we paid for a 1hour ride on Nelly. It was quite scary really, we were sat on top of this huge animal, trusting it with our lives. But we survived. And we enjoyed it, we got taken to a great view point where we could see the ocean & mountains filled with lush Thai trees.

Since we have gone into April, we noticed the temperature rise quite a lot. It was now
unbearable to sit in the sun. This made us look forward to the coolness of the Cameron Highlands.We left for Butterworth, Malaysia at 06:00am and after a few change overs & a long mini bus ride we finally arrived at 10:30pm Malaysian time. We only stayed in Butterworth for the night and got up early once again to catch the 8:30 bus to the Cameron Highlands. The 3pound bus ride took us on a 6hour journey with the best views & scenery we have ever seen. It was like a Jungle in the sky, Huge mountains with clouds covering the tops, Plants, Vegetation & Tea Plantations.
We were 5000ft above sea level and the air was crisp & clear. We arrived at Tanah Rata early afternoon and found somewhere to stay almost immediately. We put on our trousers for the first time in 3months and had a look around the town. As it started to get dark, we threw on a jumper and drank a cup of tea, crazy! It wasn't that cold but we were used to it being a lot warmer. The cameron Highlands is a good place for hard core walkers. On our first proper day we walked the Jungle path 4 to the Parit Waterfall & Watch Tower. What would have been a nice Waterfall was a little bit smelly with trash floating around at the bottom. And the Watch Tower with a great
view was collapsed into a pile of wood. We were quite surprised that we came across this in such an amazing place. Robinson Waterfall was better but we were still not impressed.We had a busy few days visiting strawberry farms & enjoying the best strawberry juice and sundae's. The Butterfly & Insect farm was also fun. Our favourite day was our tour day. We were the only people doing the tour so it was nice, our tour guide Nick was really good. We drove up to the top of Gunung Brinchang. The highest point in Malaysia accessible by road. 6,666 feet above sea level. Trekked through the Mossy Forest and got to try some wild Cinnamon. Stopped at a view point overlooking 234 hectares of Tea plants. Visited the BOH Tea Plantation, danced and tried blow pipe hunting with the Orang Asli Tribe and finished the day with a dip in a really nice & clean waterfall.....at last!

Koh Tao, Thailand

After a while away, we were ready for Island life once again. We caught our bus from underneath Hua Hin clocktower at 8:00am and after another maniac bus ride, arrived at Chumphon 4hours later. Chumphon is were Southern Thailand begins and were we caught our Catamaran to Koh Tao. We didn't expect the boat ride to be so bad but when the employees started giving out sick bags & tissue before we even set sail, we started to get worried. And right we were to worry. As you all know for the last 2years we have caught the Brittany Ferries crossing from Plymouth to Santander and every time we have both complained about how bad the journey was. Well we both felt even worse on this boat. For over 2 hours we had to put up with a very choppy ride with more then half of the boat vomiting, unfortunately we came under the sick category! poor us!
But as soon as we started to approach Turtle Island (Koh Tao) the sea calmed and the sun was shining again. And the boat ride was totally worth it. We found a room just before Hat Sai Ri Beach. Koh Tao is very big on caring for the environment, not every place has 24hour electricity and like everywhere else in Thailand, toilet roll down the loo is a big no no! Our first few days where cloudy in the mornings. We even had a 10minute downfall a few times. But the sun always found us by mid afternoon and by the end of our time on the island we found it extremely hot. On our second day, we decided to walk the South West coast of the island and had a amazing day. By following our Koh Tao map, we came across secluded beaches and paradise. We also found some great snorkelling spots. Koh Tao is one of the worlds most popular places to get your open water diving certificate, its also pretty cheap to do so. The waters are crystal clear, shallow and filled with coral reefs and tropical fish. Some of the marine life around the island include The Whale Shark, Black Tip Reef sharks, Blue Spotted Stingray and much more. We were lucky enough to see a puffer fish.
We went on a snorkelling boat trip that took you around the whole island. It was a great day and a funny one too. We started of by climbing down onto our boat "Thai style" which is by stepping of the pier, down onto the bars on the side of the boat and swinging onto it. Then you have to climb over 2/3 boats to get to yours! After this we realized our boat was stuck in between 5 other boats and the end boat was sinking. It was filled with Thai men trying to put pressure on one side of it and a machine pumping out the water. Everyone was screaming instructions to each other and after 20minutes we were on our way! We stopped at shark bay.......and saw no sharks! gutted! And also snorkelled in some amazing reef sights with Beaked Coral Fish, Harlequin Sweetlips, Parrot Fish, Long Fin Banner,Titan Trigger, Butterfly, Double Barred Rabbit Fish and sooooo much more species that only Leanne and Dave would know. We ended our boat trip on Nang Yuan Island, we came here 3 years ago and was again blown away by the beauty of it. Nang Yuan is 3 islands all joined together by a huge sandbank and surrounded by massive boulder rocks and live coral....so no fins allowed! After plenty of Musaman Currys, fried chicken in ginger and spring onions and banana & coconut shakes, our week on Koh Tao had come to a end. This is a very beautiful, peaceful and amazing island and we will miss it.
Our time in Thailand is nearly over and we will finish our last 4days back on Koh Pangan. We cant believe it has gone so fast.

Phetchaburi, Cha-Am & Hua Hin. Thailand.

PHETCHABURI
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There was no reason at all to stay in Pattaya any longer so we made our way to Phetchaburi, on the upper southern gulf of Thailand. It took us about 5 and a half hours and cost us a fiver each.
phetchaburi is an old Thai town not really seen by tourists, we only noticed a handfull of westerners in our two day stop. We hired a taxi driver for a few hours to take us to Khao Luang & Bandai Caves. The caves were nice and cool inside with plenty to see. Bats hanging from the cave tops, large buddha's, monks and monkeys. After this we went to Phra NaKhon Khiri
and caught a cable car to the top where we had a look around King Mongkut's palace. it's a national historic park, where sam was asked to cover up her sexy legs. Cobblestone paths then lead us to temple Phutta Sai yat and Sa Bua. At the top there are great views over Phetchaburi and the palace.

CHA-AM
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We caught a local bus to Cha-Am which took about one hour. Cha-Am is full of modern Thai culture and is a getaway spot for Thai families. It reminded us of being at the british seaside without the fish and chip shops. The long beach is full with multi coloured deck chairs, buckets and spades and screaming children. A blackpool for the Thais. The few shops and restaurants
that were there, closed early. But they did have a few sleeze bars where we could play pool and laugh at the good old english causing trouble. Another short stop before making our way further down the upper southern gulf.

Hua Hin
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It took us 40 mins to get to Hua Hin and we travelled there in a kitted out mini bus with widescreen tv and surround sound. The driver dropped us off outside the Hilton hotel where we didnt stay. Hua Hin also has a very large beach but is more accomodating to tourists. With plenty of bars and restaurants. Still not a place we would come on holiday too. In the evening we had a look around the night market and walked through the streets of Hua Hin. The following day we
visited the "famous" Hua Hin railway station. The train station features a beautifuly restored royal waiting room and a steam train. We then walked to the kings summer palace which was supposed to be open to the public, we were not allowed in so maybe he was there.

Pattaya, Thailand

Another 8 Hour journey took us from Koh Chang to Pattaya. From Pattaya we should be able to get to our choice of destination, Phetchaburi.
Pattaya is a really busy resort, popular with old & young white men looking for a Thai gal. It's not really a place we would choose to go but we both ended up having a nice 2days.
On our first evening we visited the Pattaya Central Mall. It's a great modern place, with lots of shops to look around and a cinema/bowling complex on the top level. We had a look around and thought we would treat ourselves to watching Alice in Wonderland in 3D. It was great. We both really enjoyed it and as we were sat there I think we both forgot we were in Thailand. At the beginning of the film whilst they are playing the trailers, they play a short film and ask you to stand and pay your respect to the King of Thailand.
On our second day in Pattaya we went to see "Big Buddha" . It was interesting to see because it was so huge! All around it there are lots of different types buddhas for every day of the week, they all have a meaning and the Thai people all come here to worship.
On our way back from Big Buddha we caught a taxi moped. Us and the driver on 1 bike, crazy!
Next we will be catching a local bus to get us to the Upper Southern Gulf.

Koh Chang, Thailand

We left Haad Rin (Koh Phangan) in the back of a truck which dropped us to the port to take us on a 3 hour boat ride to Don Sak. From there we took a coach to Surat Thani, two taxis and finally a ten hour coach ride to Bangkok where we arrived at 5 in the morning, the whole journey cost 12 pounds! After a power nap we went to explore Khao San Road. A busy tourist road in Bangkok full of bars, market stalls, food venders (selling fried water beatles, maggots, crickets
and scorpions). After indulging in none of this sam and matt booked their bus and boat ticket to Koh chang and Kyle sorted her transport to the airport. In the evening Khao San turns into a mad road where thai people still manage to open more stalls onto the already cramped street. We awoke the next morning bright and early and said adios to Kyle. After a 7 hour journey we
arrived on Koh Chang and went to our first stop, Klong Prao. Here we spent three nights of peace and tranquility on the deserted beach, eating fresh fallen coconuts for lunch, skillfully opened by Matt. We then moved to our next stop further south, Kai Bay, where we found our own little stone haven in a luxury resort. Taking full advantage of the swimming pool and free BBQ and only paying 10 pounds a night! Moving on to our final stop on Koh Chang, Hat Tha Nam (Lonely Beach) We stayed at a mellow place owned by a German guy called Thomas. The food was good, the beer was cheap and every night at 7pm he would play the latest movies
on a 50" screen. We spent the days relaxing on the beach in Matts hammock, playing pool, getting kicked out of a 5 star hotel and probably drinking to much beer. Which was all payed for with the 2000 baht (40 pound) that Matt found on the beach! Due to the blood splashers in Bangkok (Protesters) Kyle decided not to fly back from Australia but to spend some more time with her sister, we are hoping to meet up again in June. Her geographical skills will be missed but we must say we haven't had as much local attention brought to us, since her departure. In a nutshell we really liked Koh Chang, its really different from the southern Thai islands. It has a jungle feeling to it and the beaches are more natural.

Koh Phangan, Thailand

We caught the 13:00 boat to get us from koh Samui to Koh Phangan. Koh Phangan hosts the biggest beach party in the world, the full moon party, so we were all looking forward to getting there and seeing what all the fuss was about.It was quite cloudy on our way over and by the time we arrived at the pier, it was raining! We couldn't believe it. Our first proper rain fall in 5 weeks. Koh Phangan was already getting busy with people ready for the full moon. But we luckily found a place to stay, a bit more pricey than usual but we were prepared to pay it. Our first few days we spent looking around, on the beach and eating chocolate chip cookies. There was a nice buzzing atmosphere. Sam celebrated her 23rd birthday, swimming in the ocean and bathing on the beach. We also went out that night and danced the night away on the sand, whilst drinking buckets. Buckets are Koh Phangan's speciality, the beach is filled with stalls selling mini buckets of alcohol, with ice and plastic necklaces made from straws thrown in for free. Monday came quickly and it was time for the full moon party of March 2010! With our body's painted in luminous colours. Matt winning the body art competition, we headed for the beach. There was a nice vibe around, everyone was happy, drunk, dancing and jumping through burning rings of fire. Different types of music was being played from various beach bars. And fireworks were going of all night long. The atmosphere was great. When you get tired of dancing, you just sit on the sand for a while, next to some sleeping strangers before getting back up and dancing some more!
The full moon continues till 11am the next day, we on the other hand didn't stay to the end. Our dancing sand legs felt it the next day! On Andy's birthday we hired a 4x4 and drove around the Island to do some exploring. Our first stop took us to Phaeng waterfall, to our amusement, there was no water. This made us laugh. We drove on some more and came to a few small temples and a marble Buddha. And then onto Paradise Falls which....had no water! we couldn't believe it. We later found out that apparently the day we arrived was Koh Phangan's second rain fall they have had in 13months, Hence the lack of natural flowing water. Never mind, Andy continued to drive whilst Matt had fun standing in the back. The so called roads, were the worst roads either of us had ever seen. They were just a dusty, dirt track really. We eventually found a waterfall, with water and had a great time chilling on the rocks and swimming at the bottom of the fall. After this, we found some luxurious beaches that were practically deserted and well worth a visit.
All together we had a nice time on Koh Phangan, the buzz of the full moon party soon
passes over to a relaxed atmosphere and a gorgeous beach. A place we wouldn't hesitate to
return to, if given the opportunity to do so.

Koh Samui, Thailand

Another early start to get us to Koh Samui. What was meant to be a nice air conditioned bus ride to Don Sak in the Southern Gulf of Thailand....turned out to be the hottest, fastest and bumpiest bus ride ever, thanks to a unique bus driver!!
From Don Sak you get the ferry across to Na Thon, Koh Samui and from there you can get a Sawngthaew (mini bus style taxi) to Hat Chewang. Chewang is the most popular beach in Samui. Me and Matt had been there before so were both looking forward to returning and seeing how the place had changed.
Chewang is a nice place, there are lots of shops, restaurants and relaxing beach bars to keep you busy. Our first night we chilled on the beach once again. We had been away from the beach for a few days so it was nice to get back on one with a cool beverage....Pina Colada for sam :)

We had ourselves a bit of a luxury room, t.v, wifi, 1 minute from the beach and a swimming pool, not bad at 4 quid each.
The rest of our time in Samui was filled with days at the pool, Cheap Thai food and a bit of bartering. Matt kept himself busy by having another tattoo on his other leg. No sun, sea and sand for him for a week! All worth it of course!!
Our last evening in Samui was the funnest. We visited Koh Samui's Bar Ice. A bar which is -7 degrees, everything is made of ice. As its so cold you cant have glasses and bottles, so even your drink is given to you in an ice cone! In the bar they also have ice elephant sculptures, tables and a tuk tuk. pretty clever. Wearing flip flops wasn't the best idea.
All together it was a relaxing week in Koh Samui, sometimes its hard, never having to do anything or be anywhere.
Still a feeling were getting used to after 5 weeks.