Photos - South East Asia #7 - Bangkok
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Sunday, March 29, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Fri 13 Mar – Phuket Province
Certainly one of the more expensive days on the trip, but the 1000 baht ferry fee to the Phi Phi Islands and return was worth it, particularly for the cruise by the smaller, uninhabited Phi Phi Leh, one of the world’s most magic places.
Phi Phi Don is the larger of the two and is home to a significant tourist town. It’s certainly not for anyone looking for space as accommodation, bars, restaurants and shops all fight over the restricted landsize. It’s a more preferable Thailand resort than Patong Beach, but given the cost and isolation I’m not disappointed not to have stayed here, particularly given the rather dirty condition of the main beach.
Confucius says the easy way to Bangkok is to walk into table. We now know that the hard way is to sit with another in the back seat of a second class Thai bus.
I must admit to possibly making the final call to take the second class option as opposed to the VIP ‘luxury’ option. But given we had travelled second class since leaving Tallaroon St, and found it adequately comfortable, I think I had a sound basis for making the call. As per the fat little guide book, the back row of buses are often reserved for the revered Buddhist monks. Surely they would not be given the ‘privilege’ of sitting there! Thankfully, after a 7pm departure, at 2am someone disembarked and myself and Libe were able to separate our cramping bodies and tired minds into two different rows. Only then would we arrive in Bangkok in any decent state of mind.
Sat 14 Mar – Bangkok
Although tired from the overnight bus, we were still able to pound the pavement for our first day in Bangkok, a city which I still don’t know what to think of. It reminds me of some of the world’s biggest cities, such as Manhattan and London, in that it has no real city centre. Rather, Bangkok is a combination of districts, each with their own unique feel.
Bangkok shares something in common with two other famous cities, Venice and Amsterdam – a decent canal system, which proved today to be a handy transport method. We’re staying in Banglamphu, just off the famous tourist strip of Thanon Khao San. Despite that fact that I‘ve been highly critical of Patong Beach, I find Khao San Road enjoyable as it’s much less ‘in your face’ and the prices remain reasonable. The New Joe Guesthouse might be plain, but Banglamphu remains for me a recommended area of accommodation. The major negative of staying here is that there is not a lot of convenient public transport options available.
Another slight disappointment for us is that Thailand hasn’t lived up to its moniker as ‘The Land of Smiles’. We’ve found the Thais to be no more or less friendly than most other societies. While I can’t be really critical of them as they generally live quite stressful lives, with extremely long work hours, the commoners of India and Peru live in similar ways but seem to smile more.
Sun 15 Mar - Bangkok
Another day covering huge amounts of territory. Surely between the Wats (Buddhist Temples/Monasteries), the huge weekend Chatuchak Markets, Chinatown, Thanon Silom and finally Thanon Khao San we covered 15 kilometres.
Initially, Wat Phra Kew and the Grand Palace were to be included at the beginning of that list, but we were quoted a combined 350 Baht (AUD 15) by the locals and 200 Baht (AUD 9) by the fat little guide book. Although we have found Lonely Planet’s 2008 Southeast Asia On A Shoestring, published March 2008, to consistently understate prices considerably, we don’t have much confidence that the locals have been providing us “farang” (foreigners) with honest prices. Given another seemingly inflated price, we skipped these two locations, comfortable in our expectations that the temples of Angkor Wat, Cambodia were the religious monuments we preferred to see anyway.
The Chatuchak markets weren’t conducive to haggling, which was disappointing seeing that I’ve been flat-out practising my Monty Python’s Life Of Brian haggling technique. That still didn’t stop us (particularly myself) from walking out with a few novelties and additions to the wardrobe at good prices.
Thanon Silom is one of Bangkok’s famed ‘adult’ districts. It is eye-catching, almost shocking, to walk past any of the establishments and to look directly through the front door onto the podium, with the Thai girls catching your glance as they waltz around the poles in their skimpy outfits. It was almost as shocking to see two young children with their parents at one of the restaurants on the strip strip (no, that’s not a duplication). Being kids, there is every chance they might have asked some inquisitive questions to their oldies regarding the names lit up in bright neon, such as Thigh Bar (possible answer being KFC?), Pussy Collection (a Pet Store with nothing but kittens?), Super Pussy (The Geelong team of 2007?) and The Strip (an Aussie TV show?).
Just to prove anything goes in Thanon Silom, a baby elephant was seen being led around at around 9:30pm. The novelty of such a sight wore off once the elephant’s well being was contemplated. Just like the kids, they shouldn’t be seen in this area.
Mon 16 Mar – Bangkok to Chiang Mai
First Changover of the tour. Changover is one of the two major Thai beers, along with Singha. At 6.5% alcohol content and 80 Baht (AUD 3.50) for a 650ml bottle, they’re pretty potent. Also dangerous is that they can be found everywhere, including street vendors and the omnipresent 7 Elevens.
The day was whittled away drifting down the large Nam Mae Chao Phraya river and through Chinatown (again). After that it was back to Banglamphu, pack the bags and head for the northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai via another overnight train.
Tue 17 Mar – Chiang Mai
Woke up this morning to a different Thailand. Going past our second class carriage window was a comparatively temperate landscape, less tropical than what we’d surveyed while making our way north from Singapore to Bangkok.
Our first day in Chiang Mai really impressed us. This is essentially a big country town, large enough in size to have a reported population of 1.6 million people (accuracy doubted by me, particularly compared to KL’s reported 1.7m), but small enough to avoid the sometimes crushing traffic of the capital cities. Our $15 per night guesthouse accomodation, a short walk outside the main city area, is the best value place for the trip to date.
The city is home to over 300 temples (“Wats”), all devoted to the almighty Buddha. Just to clarify, all of them are dedicated to the Buddha of Buddhism and none to the Buddha of Geelong, who gets enough love from himself anyway.
After drifting around the city during the afternoon, we checked out the well-known Chiang Mai night bazaar after dark. These are the markets I like – cheap knock offs and haggling.
Although we are backpacking, we have well and truly eaten well on this trip. We have not eaten much off the street, apart from the KL rats episode, and preferred to patronise mid-priced eateries. Our usual bill for nightly meals tends be around 400 Baht (AUD 17) for a full meal and a couple of drinks each, leaving us as full as a fat lady’s sock. The scales may make interesting reading upon my return down south.
Wed 18 Mar – Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai has a large tourist class industry. Popular arts and crafts that can be learnt here include cooking, Thai language, Muay (Thai) Boxing and massage. Our lesson for today was in Thai cooking.
A 9am pickup saw us taken to a small country estate, around 15km out of the town. A brief stopover was made along the way there to pick up some fresh supplies at the local market. The full-day class was quite hectic but still included some great tips on authentic Thai meals. The highlights for us were largely among Libe’s dishes, particularly her chicken with basil, but my pad Thai noodles was handy as well. We look forward to impressing people back home with our new culinary skills.
Because they are so close I can’t help myself, and the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar had our attention again. I’d been eying off a Tim Cahill Everton shirt for under AUD 10 throughout our travels and finally my will to fight to urge gave way today, making my wallet 180 Baht (AUD 8) lighter.
Thu 19 Mar – Northern Thailand mountains
Something different again for today & tomorrow in Chiang Mai – a two-day, one-night jungle explore. Setting off in a sawngthaew packed to the rafters with fellow travellers at 10am, we were driven north into the countryside to an elephant park. After a quick feed it was up on top of the big boys, three to a back with some also carrying a driver sitting on their heads. Transporting up to four people like this continuously all day means that you can’t help but feel sorry for these so-gentle giants. Needless to say we enjoyed the experience, but I couldn’t do it again knowing what these poor things have to put up with.
Some of the photos we’ve got show how close we got to the placid-natured elephants. I’ve no doubt that we humans would not stand a chance if we came across one of these with a suitably bad attitude.
I also shared in some discomfort, riding bare back on top of our elephant’s neck. Although he was moving relatively very slowly, I developed an appreciation as to why jockeys look so awkward when their saddle slips. Three quarters of an hour and I was happy to jump off. Libe had a comparatively cushy ride on the seat that was strapped to the back of her elephant. Unfortunately, as the ratio employed was three people to one animal, she was on a different one to me.
A brief recovery had us “ready” for a challenging 2.5 hour uphill walk to a small hill tribe village, where our accommodation for the night was awaiting us. The terrain was tough yet provided nice views of the North Thailand mountain ranges, and a glimpse of a couple of wild elephants. The walk was made a little tougher by the quality of the air up here – it seems as though its burning-off season, and as a result there often was a carcinogenic smell to the atmosphere. Then again, it was like being at a Melville family get-together.
We arrived at the village, located at the peak of one of the mountains, shortly before the brief twilight that Thailand enjoys, and settled down to an electricity-free night on the balcony. The laid-back party clicked up a gear when one of the trek guides pulled out his guitar and strummed out a few Thai and Western songs, and then clicked up two more when Moore & Melville provided a rousing, albeit off-key, rendition of Hotel California.
(I’m happy to take responsibility for the bad vocals, but can’t be questioned for lack of enthusiasm).
Another highlight of the night was capturing Libe with a beer in hand. South-East Asia is not the place for wine connoisseurs like Libe at all, hence the reason for resorting to desperate measures. With the help of some added Sprite, Libe ‘technically’ knocked back a couple. I say ‘technically’ as the legitimacy of a shandy as a beer can be argued. Being generous, this puts her ahead in the Melville/Moore beer/wine scoreboard 2-1, a scoreline I’m keen to rectify in the near future.
Fri 20 Mar – Northern Thailand Mountains/Bus to Bangkok
Today was the start of 3 hectic days. Unfortunately it probably didn’t start off in the best fashion, as our basic Hill Tribe accommodation included a bed that was as hard as a rock and as uncomfortable as the US president speaking at a KKK conference.
A simple yet effective brekky (bread posing as toast, eggs, tomato and jam) gave us the fuel to head back down the other side of the mountain to that that we climbed yesterday. The first stage was a gruelling one hour walk down to a majestic waterfall at the bottom of the valley. A walk downhill doesn’t sound that tough, however the paths were unsettled, treacherous and hard on the knees. The fresh water of the falls was very welcome to all and sundry.
The next hour or so was a much easier walk alongside the river to an awaiting sawngthaew. This period of time certainly challenges for the best of our entire trip as the landscape was just amazing, so much so that it drew comparisons with some of the scenery from Lord Of The Rings. I know the pictures we’ve got won’t do this piece of the world suitable justice.
There was more to activity to come for our jungle explore, as at the end of our short sawngthaew ride (with myself resigned to the roof, given a group of 12 doesn’t fit into the space of 6) we were rewarded with white-water rafting and bamboo rafting rides. The white-water part wasn’t as rough as that that we rode in Austria nearly two years ago but was still enjoyable. The best part of this ride was floating in the river, off the raft, during the more calm yet very refreshing waters.
We managed to stay afloat on our bamboo raft for the ten minutes we were on it, had a quick feed and returned in another uncomfortably-crammed sawngthaew back to Chiang Mai. Our ever-accommodating guesthouse allowed us to use their showers before we threw our weighty backpacks on our back, walked a couple of kilometres to the bus station and boarded a 7pm VIP service to Bangkok.
At 9am we were walking through the jungle in Northern Thailand, by midnight we were halfway to Bangkok… certainly a huge day for us. Hence it was good decision to fork out extra cash for the VIP class bus, as opposed to the second-class option we took to Bangkok from Phuket.
I can probably speak for Libe as well by saying that we were disappointed to have left Chiang Mai today. Considering that we spent our last two days ‘in’ Chiang Mai on a jungle trek, we didn’t spend anywhere near enough in the city itself. It’s a great place to explore slowly while spending a relatively larger amount of travel time relaxing, and a highly recommended addition to any South-East Asia itinerary.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Tue 10 Mar – Krabi province
As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, a large reason for Krabi Town’s existence is that is serves as a centre to explore surrounding locales, which collectively are known as the Krabi Province. It would serve that purpose for us today as we checked out nearby Hat Rai Leh and Ao Nang.
A decent amount of time passed between leaving the K Guesthouse and setting foot on our transportation to Hat Rai Leh (in English – Rai Leh Beach), due to Lonely Planet providing us with public transport prices that appear well out of date. Longtail boats, so named due to the combined length of their hull and their crude extended propellers, are around 70 baht per person between Krabi Town and Hat Rai Leh according to the fat little guide book, however we eventually conceded to the local’s demands for 150 baht. Conversations with other travellers confirmed that 150 baht appears to be the current benchmark.
In a quote dated around two years ago, the longtail boats are as safe as the Bank of England. That might have been extremely comforting back then but in current circumstances it makes you really eye off those seats closest to the safety jackets.
Any negative thoughts were forgotten upon reaching magical Hat Rai Leh. The supposedly shoestring eastern part of this area was attractive enough for a couple of Brits with us in the boat to confuse it with the Western section, one of the world’s signature honeymoon destinations. A narrow path leads everyone across the thin Rai Leh peninsula to the Western beach. I’ll let the photos I’ve taken speak for this area.
I’ll just add that the two most amazing things for me about the limestone karsts that dominate the scenery is that many of them are taller than they are wider, and that vegetation occupies every available space of their surfaces, however precarious the location of the tree or shrub is.
Ao-Nang was a lovely spot in itself, but is quite reminiscent of beach towns found in Australia and elsewhere. Its fusion of East and West was far too slanted to the West for it to be considered a worth more than a feed and a beer or two (and Libe’s first wine since Singapore, a lazy 6 days!), so for a lazy 50 baht we hitched a songthaew back to Krabi.
Nighttime has been when these Asian areas really come alive, which is understandable given the intensity of the day’s sun and humidity. The day is full of sweat, the night beings comparatively comfortable conditions, and consistently separating the two is a shower to become fresh again. After dark tonight was no exception, with the town’s streets and bars enjoying healthy patronage. We passed the time tonight in two places, one a commonly-found restaurant/bar/internet café, the other a Rastafarian bar where the dreadlocked dude in charge shelled out cocktails, albeit rather small ones, at 80 baht a pop (less than 4 AUD). Three rounds rung up a bill of 480 baht, less than 23 AUD. That might seem small but when compared to our accommodation cost of 450 baht per night it’s a more expensive backpackers night out in Thailand.
Wed 11 Mar – Krabi Town to Phuket Town
Another day, more travelling, this time between Krabi and Phuket. A common aspect of these two places is that they are both a province and a town within that province. Phuket the province includes popular tourist destinations Patong, Karon and Kata.
The bus ride from Krabi to Phuket was as harrowing as the ride a couple of days ago between Hat Yai and Krabi. Although there was not as many nerve-inducing moments, there was an instance where the driver lost concentration, gradually veered over to the shoulder of the road and required quick evasive action to avoid an unsuspecting motor scooter rider talking on their mobile. There were a number of travellers on the starboard side of the bus concerned that we may have hit the rider but I can confirm from my view on the port that they remained amazingly unharmed.
Phuket Town is largely free from the influence of tourism, which for me makes it a great place to stay. The meals are more authentically Thai, as well as their prices. The architecture of the place is described as Sino-Portguese and gives an unpretentious feel to it. Staying here instead of at the Phuket Province beaches was a good idea (as recommended by the fat little guide book), particularly with what we would see tomorrow….
Thu 12 Mar – Phuket Province
Yes, staying in Phuket Town rather than the provincial beaches was certainly a good idea. Today we caught the bus down to Patong Beach, which is really where tourists to ‘Phuket’ tend to stay. I’m positive that throughout my travelling and blogging experiences I’ve not been too negative on many places. However, I think we have a new contender for my most low-rated place, alongside Hollywood.
So here it is. Patong Beach is a showy scum of a town that is not worth the low-cost airfare from Australia. It’s pushy, overpriced, far too touristy and not surprisingly corrupt. There seems to be few genuine locals – I can’t recall speaking to anyone who was not solely interested in parting you with your cash and as much of it as possible.
Here’s a meaningful idea of the prices at Patong:
- Ice cream from Haagen Daas: AUD 13
- Billabong Boardies: 100 Baht (under 5 AUD) in Rai Leh, Krabi; 400 Baht in Patong.
- Sawngthaew: 45 min trip – Ao Nang to Krabi – 50 Baht per person; 10 min trip – Patong Beach to Karon Beach – 70 Baht person.
Just go elsewhere.
We eventually did, on the aforementioned Sawngthaew to Karon Beach, another expensive place but also much nicer and much more relaxed. The quality of the surf beach here was fantastic, thus a lot of the second half of the afternoon was spent in the water.
Beer and a few of the most popular spirits can be bought everywhere here, including the ubiquitous 7-Elevens. Most retail for around AUD 2.5 to 3 for a normal sized bottle or can, and AUD 4 for a large 660ml bottle. Unfortunately for Libe wine can’t be found as easily, apart from restaurants and bars, and then when it can be located the only option is the house white or red.
Photos of Krabi
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Photos of Phuket Province
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Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Sun 8 March & Sun 9 March
Sun 8 March – Hat Yai
The 15-hour train trip from KL to Hat Yai, a city of an officially-estimated 200,000 people around 50 kilometres north of the Thailand/Malaysia border, passed relatively comfortably. Spending that amount of time stuck in the one confined place during daylight hours would probably be enough to drive anyone mad, but doing such a trip overnight and catching up on the z’s while doing so makes it a convenient method of transport.
There’s not much to Hat Yai apart from the usual western-ifluenced shopping malls. A large percentage of the afternoon was spent in our hotel room as a debilitating headache had Libe laying low. A good kip saw her back on her feet for an authentic Thai meal at Sizzlers, located in the shopping plaza next door to our hotel along with McDonalds and KFC.
A good feed then saw me off my feet for an hour-long foot massage, costing around AUD 12, while Libe had a hair cut and a wash for around 10% of the price that she would pay in Australia. The foot rub was an interesting experience, one that I’m glad to have had but wouldn’t go out of my way to have again.
In what I have assumed to be a common Thailand event, we were told/lectured by the concierge upon checking in this morning that “next time” we book a room in the Grand Plaza Hotel (and there is slight chance that we will be) we must not book via their website as payment go via Bangkok, who ‘take some cream off the top of the cake’. Needless to say I still remain puzzled why we earned a lecture about this.
FROF (For-ex Rate Ouch Factor) for Thailand:
AUD/Malaysian Ringgit:
o Present: 1 AUD = 21 MYR
o Lonely Planet March 08: 1 AUD = 27 MYR.
Ouch factor = 2/5 (This place still seems cheap).
Mon 9 March – Hat Yai to Krabi
Another day, another challenge. For the first time ever, now-seasoned travellers Ryan and Libe were heading to a town where their accommodation was yet to be settled. OK, technically we have done a similar thing when relocating to Brisbane and stopping overnight in Coonabarabran, but it’s like comparing chalk and cheese. We had tried to book something before leaving but the locals’ efficient use of technology hasn’t quite been established just yet and thus a booking for us not yet secured.
The bus between Hat Yai and Krabi was a generally comfortable 5-hour trip in an air-conditioned bus. Excluding those quite uncomfortable moments when the driver decided that the vehicles directly in front were travelling too slow, and those vehicles approaching from the opposite direction were irrelevant. In these moments, an imaginary third lane was created in the two-lane highway, with the outer two lanes going in either directions compelled to use all of the road’s shoulders. In Australia one such event would prompt passengers to disembark the bus at even the most remote of locations. However, we are in Thailand, and the large majority on the commuters continued to sleep with full faith in the driver’s abilities.
Otherwise the bus ride provided plenty of great viewing of a truly magnificent environment. The camera was never kept too far away.
We eventually arrived without battering and without bruise into Krabi Town, and caught a sawngthaew (in simple terms, an American pick-up truck with two sheltered bench seats either side of the tray) for the 4 km ride into the city centre for 20 Thai Baht (less than 1 AUD). Our first two preferences for accommodation, based on Lonely Planet’s Southeast Asia On A Shoestring, were full on inquiry, but a third random option was easily available. Challenge met!
Krabi town itself is a slow place with not a lot to see – I suppose it’s possibly like Lorne, in that people head there to relax, unwind, and to use it as a base for other nearby localities. So the afternoon and evening were about updating this blog, uploading some photos, battling the regular sewerage smell and having a couple of cocktails at the Old West bar while getting beat 2-0 by Libe at Up And Down The River.
P.S. I’ve no internet access at time of typing, can someone please check spelling of Coonabarabran?
The 15-hour train trip from KL to Hat Yai, a city of an officially-estimated 200,000 people around 50 kilometres north of the Thailand/Malaysia border, passed relatively comfortably. Spending that amount of time stuck in the one confined place during daylight hours would probably be enough to drive anyone mad, but doing such a trip overnight and catching up on the z’s while doing so makes it a convenient method of transport.
There’s not much to Hat Yai apart from the usual western-ifluenced shopping malls. A large percentage of the afternoon was spent in our hotel room as a debilitating headache had Libe laying low. A good kip saw her back on her feet for an authentic Thai meal at Sizzlers, located in the shopping plaza next door to our hotel along with McDonalds and KFC.
A good feed then saw me off my feet for an hour-long foot massage, costing around AUD 12, while Libe had a hair cut and a wash for around 10% of the price that she would pay in Australia. The foot rub was an interesting experience, one that I’m glad to have had but wouldn’t go out of my way to have again.
In what I have assumed to be a common Thailand event, we were told/lectured by the concierge upon checking in this morning that “next time” we book a room in the Grand Plaza Hotel (and there is slight chance that we will be) we must not book via their website as payment go via Bangkok, who ‘take some cream off the top of the cake’. Needless to say I still remain puzzled why we earned a lecture about this.
FROF (For-ex Rate Ouch Factor) for Thailand:
AUD/Malaysian Ringgit:
o Present: 1 AUD = 21 MYR
o Lonely Planet March 08: 1 AUD = 27 MYR.
Ouch factor = 2/5 (This place still seems cheap).
Mon 9 March – Hat Yai to Krabi
Another day, another challenge. For the first time ever, now-seasoned travellers Ryan and Libe were heading to a town where their accommodation was yet to be settled. OK, technically we have done a similar thing when relocating to Brisbane and stopping overnight in Coonabarabran, but it’s like comparing chalk and cheese. We had tried to book something before leaving but the locals’ efficient use of technology hasn’t quite been established just yet and thus a booking for us not yet secured.
The bus between Hat Yai and Krabi was a generally comfortable 5-hour trip in an air-conditioned bus. Excluding those quite uncomfortable moments when the driver decided that the vehicles directly in front were travelling too slow, and those vehicles approaching from the opposite direction were irrelevant. In these moments, an imaginary third lane was created in the two-lane highway, with the outer two lanes going in either directions compelled to use all of the road’s shoulders. In Australia one such event would prompt passengers to disembark the bus at even the most remote of locations. However, we are in Thailand, and the large majority on the commuters continued to sleep with full faith in the driver’s abilities.
Otherwise the bus ride provided plenty of great viewing of a truly magnificent environment. The camera was never kept too far away.
We eventually arrived without battering and without bruise into Krabi Town, and caught a sawngthaew (in simple terms, an American pick-up truck with two sheltered bench seats either side of the tray) for the 4 km ride into the city centre for 20 Thai Baht (less than 1 AUD). Our first two preferences for accommodation, based on Lonely Planet’s Southeast Asia On A Shoestring, were full on inquiry, but a third random option was easily available. Challenge met!
Krabi town itself is a slow place with not a lot to see – I suppose it’s possibly like Lorne, in that people head there to relax, unwind, and to use it as a base for other nearby localities. So the afternoon and evening were about updating this blog, uploading some photos, battling the regular sewerage smell and having a couple of cocktails at the Old West bar while getting beat 2-0 by Libe at Up And Down The River.
P.S. I’ve no internet access at time of typing, can someone please check spelling of Coonabarabran?
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
I’m glad to report to anyone who’s interested that, despite the trials and many tribulations of backpacking (or should that read flashpacking??) and generally doing things on the cheap that we’re safe and well, well fed and yet to show signs of “Delhi Belly”.
Tue 3 Mar – Brisbane to Singapore
Wed 4 Mar - Singapore
The Jetstar flights from Brisbane to Singapore via Darwin came and went with few troubles, although mechanical problems at Darwin meant that our flight was delayed by over hour. Pity, as we’ve flown Jetstar a heap over the last year or two and their performance, particularly in maintaining schedules, had been getting so good that it was hard to justify any reason for spending extra for a flight with one of the more expensive airlines. The somewhat negative outcome of this for us was that we had to take a taxi from Changi International Airport to The Hive Backpackers, parting us with SGD (Singapore Dollars) 20 instead of a maximum of SGD 4 that would be incurred on the subway. I say ‘somewhat’ as the hostel might not have been the easiest to get to at that stage of proceedings. Nevertheless, the additional outlay was an ominous start to our ‘budget’ holiday.
I may as well insert here what is likely to become a familiar topic in my Asia 09 blog as we move from country to country. It is fair to say that the recent movements in the Australian dollar’s value will curb our spending ventures. As a meaningful comparison, as we encounter a new currency, I’ll provide both the AUD/local currency conversion rate that applies at present and the same rate quoted in Lonely Planet’s ‘Southeast Asia on a shoestring’, published March 2008.
AUD/Singapore Dollar:
Present: 1 AUD = 0.99 SGD
Lonely Planet March 08: 1 AUD = 1.28 SGD.
Ouch factor = 4/5 (it does make this small country more expensive than an Australian city, and it dramatically increases the prices of suits that I’d otherwise buy when we return here on our way back to Oz).
Singapore’s Changi International Airport is a sight to behold – this place, with multiple terminals, can surely rival any major international airport for size. Although unlikely to match NY’s JFK or London’s Heathrow for sheer human traffic, in plain square metres of floor space it well and truly holds its own. And to provide a very apt first impression of Singapore, it is spotless – not a speck of rubbish on the ground, not a visible smudged handprint on the numerous glass panes. Not surprising, it did take quite awhile to find the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit, aka the subway) station, which was a pointless adventure as the last train had left anyway.
Our room at the Hive Backpackers, located at the north end of the Little India district, was basic if not interesting. Featuring sliding Japanese double doors, our room has no windows but a very solid air conditioner. The light filtering through the quite thin doors was the same no matter the hour, thus we slept in until 9:30am without having any concept of the actual time of day.
We spent our full first day away from home (Wednesday) drifting through a number of the Singapore areas, in particular Little India, Kampong Glam (the Muslim quarter) and those parts hugging the eastern end of the Singapore River.
Amazingly, to prove the old adage that it’s a small world, in the vast Suntec City Mall (one of the numerous vast malls in Singapore!) we ran into an old PP mate Clayton Swain, on his way back to London from Melbourne.
Our drifting through the streets of Singapore did nothing to doubt that our first impressions of cleanliness were ill-founded, with the descriptions ‘ordered’ and ‘efficient’ also proving relevant. Although one must be concerned when, in one of the major dining and entertainment areas, a restaurant displays an illuminated VB sign on its rooftop. Surely a better Aussie beer could be found?? Just to top things off, a second sign on the same establishment was promoting Pure Blonde, the other brew from down under that I struggle to throw back.
The end of the day saw an overnight train to Kuala Lumpur. I failed to take a picture of our sleeping quarters but, although cramped and without a great deal of privacy, it completed the dual tasks of providing us with accommodation and transport to a satisfactory level.
Thu 5 Mar – Kuala Lumpur
The delay of our train arriving into Lumpy Koala (aka KL) made it none out of two for our long-distance transport providers (our Jetstar flight on Tuesday was the first), although we weren’t too concerned about this failure as the scheduled arrival time was 6:23AM. After some fun trying to find the Equator Hostel (the instructions probably aren’t the clearest on Hostelworld.com – free plug), we dumped our bags for the day and went and pounded the pavement. And did we pound some concrete!
Kuala Lumpur is quite similar to Singapore in that it is a real fusion of East and West – you could argue that its characteristics are more Western, not that that is ideal, but it does mean that you’re in instant comfort in the city. It is not a city with a massive amount of famous landmarks and notables, but it is one with a culture and a vibe undeniably its own. The Petronas Towers would be the most famous of its attractions, particularly if you’ve seen the movie Entrapment starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sean Connery. They dead-heated as the tallest buildings in the world at some time, before being overtaken in the 2004. Incredibly, the under-construction Dubai tower whose name escapes me holds the current record at nearly twice the size, so it’s been overtaken at a pace akin to Michael Schumacher driving past a snail.
Fittingly for our trip to-date, at the base of the towers is... a huge shopping mall.
Our walking tour (interspersed as necessary with rides on the very convenient KL Monorail) led us to Chinatown. This place contains very similar markets to those which so excited me in Hong Kong – in short, they are based on fake merchandise and haggling. There is famous brand name rip-offs as far as the eye can see; cheap-rip offs as long as you’re prepared to bargain hard and employ my patented walk-away techniqueÔ. Although nothing was purchased on Thursday, apart from a ridiculously cheap roast duck on rice (AUD 1.50 per person, including a soup!), I would be back there on Friday.
By the way, here’s the FROF (For-ex Rate Ouch Factor) for KL/Malaysia:
AUD/Malaysian Ringgit:
Present: 1 AUD = 2.37 MYR
Lonely Planet March 08: 1 AUD = 2.90 MYR.
Ouch factor = 3/5 (This is still a relatively cheap place).
Fri 6 Mar – Kuala Lumpur
We have an genuine early contender the best day of the trip. What started as adventure for two people to some remarkable caves on the outskirts of the KL metropolis became a six man party that took in all of the major items to be seen in this city. The party was expanded to three and then four over breakfast when Ryan from Geelong and Libe from Shailer Park teamed up with Lyn from Seattle and Simone from Wisconsin to head to the Batu Caves. This became six when Katie and Neil from Oxford, previously known to Lyn, met us at the bus stop awaiting our return trip to the KL centre. All four people were awesome folk to spend some time with, hopefully not for the last time!
This nearly became seven, eight, nine (etc, etc) when we were joined at our sidestreet food ‘restaurant’, encompassed by three tin walls and a tin roof, by a number of rats of a decent size. Although I’m sure the government health gurus back home might be concerned, I’m happy to say that it’s around 24 hours since eating that I’m typing this and the stomach feels as solid as a Mitchell Johnson on drive.
Surprisingly I think we saw more rats at this bargain-priced eatery than I’ve seen insects since we landed in Asia on Tuesday night. Where are they all??? Either Marc Melville’s unconventional fly trap has caught all those between Tallaroon Street and Thailand, or this area of the world is remarkably bug free.
Spending time here, KL (Kuala Lumpur, not Kristian Lawson) really comes across as a true indication of how large Muslim populations can easily co-exist with large numbers of peoples of other faiths. I’ve arrived at the general conclusion that where Islamic people are financially sound (which could be read as where they are ensured the chance to prosper) there is likely to be lower conflict between them and the people of other religions with whom they associate with. I can only highly recommend to those who have a opinion of Islamic communities and peoples to visit moderate Muslim societies such as KL and to consider afterwards what their prevailing perception of Islam is. Remember, we only see what is newsworthy in Australia, but good news isn’t what sells papers and attracts eyes!
It’s hard to believe that the population of KL is only 1.7 million. Looking out from the 360-degreee observation deck of the Menara KL (KL Tower) on Friday night, I was thinking that this city would have a greater number of people than Melbourne, particularly given the density here. Although, as suggested to us by Aysha from the Malaysian Travel Board, whom we met on the following night’s train, it may have something to do with the transient nature of the populace, a relative large percentage of whom come here for business without ever really switching their underlying residence to this city.
Or maybe the figure is only 1.7, which could be justified on the basis that the alcohol prices are by and large astronomical– refer to a picture taken on Saturday for evidence!
One of the quirks of this city is that although most of the population live in crowded places, particularly high rise apartment blocks, there is just as likely to be an enormous vacant lot next door to them, often as big as a few footy grounds, covered with long grass and not being put to any particular meaningful use. Or the lot may not be vacant, but instead has a shell of a building that is either numerous years into its slow construction, or has been permanently half demolished. It would not surprise me if a quarter or so of the city’s acreage is taken up by these wasted lots.
The density of the population is further increased by the fact that every second available property seems to be a coffee store, particularly Starbucks. Maybe KL is the city that never sleeps – if the population is actually 1.7 million they must just plough through a huge amount of caffeine per individual!
After leaving the hostel early and returning after midnight, via 7 Eleven to buy a couple of very expensive beers and to interrupt the shooting of a movie there (but that’s a completely different story), we were well and truly exhausted. Unfortunately my legs lasted longer than my camera battery, meaning that the opportunity to photograph the Petronas Towers at night went untaken by me. Plenty of great snaps were taken by the others in our tour group though and hopefully via the magic of Facebook we can share each other’s good work.
Sat 7 March – Kuala Lumpur
Unsurprisingly there wasn’t a large amount of energy nor number of must-see KL attractions left after yesterday, so Saturday was more about shopping and ambling around the inner city than previous days. Without the support of Neil that I had yesterday, the female-to-male ratio was further increased from 2:1 to 3:1, so I really didn’t stand a chance to avoid major shopping time. We managed to spend a fair bit of time in a claustrophobic supermarket in Little India where Libe and Simone managed to find some local textiles, while I managed to find a way to pass the time waiting without getting booted out by the manager (not really, I just wanted to use the word manage there again).
Our daily visit to Times Square occurred twice today, if that makes sense, after we found a shortcut through the carpark between our Hostel and the Imbi Monorail station, which are located on either side of the huge mall. The photos I’ve taken do portray its size to some extent but fail to show that there is also room for an indoor theme park in this place, supposedly the largest in Asia. The theme park include a full size rollercoaster, complete with the upside down loop. For around 25 Malaysian Ringgit (approximately 10.50 AUD), adults can drop the kids at the theme park to enjoy an unlimited number of thrill rides while the grownups hit the shops.
We would be leaving the Equator Hostel tonight and enjoying another overnight train, this time to Hat Yai in Southern Thailand. After saying near-tear inducing goodbyes to people who we’d only first spoken to 36 hours ago but who already felt like lifelong friends, we left the Hostel around 60 minutes before our train was due to leave KL Sentral Station.
What happened from there over the course of the hour between 7pm and 8pm turned what normally would’ve been a comfortable and easy trip through KL into our very Amazing Race. Factors that hurt our progress included Saturday night peak hour human traffic and the usual application Murphy’s law. First of all Libe had left her handbag at the Hostel, meaning yours truly made a dash back to reclaim it. Meanwhile, a monorail car heading in our direction came and went. After waiting a long while for the next service to come – this would be our longest wait during our stay in KL – we made the quick decision to head downstairs for a cab, only to get to the cab line to take notice its length and to recall earlier advice that it’s near impossible to catch a taxi in the early evening here. In the meantime, the monorail car that we’d been waiting for had arrived, but due to the delay between the previous car and it, few people of those waiting were able to sneak on. A further decision was made to actually head in the ‘wrong’ direction for one station, thus ‘jumping’ the queue at Imbi station. Although the monorail we needed to head back a stop came quickly enough, taking the wrong staircase to change platforms at the next station cost us the handful of seconds that made the difference between getting on the monorail car heading in the right direction and having to wait for the next one.
By this time things were getting quite desperate as the scheduled departure of our train was less than 20 minutes away. Missing the train wasn’t a great option as the trip was scheduled to take nearly 15 hours and that is a long time to make up in anyone’s language. We arrived at the KL Sentral Monorail Station with less than 10 minutes remaining but with quite a run (no time for walking at this stage!) to the Intercity train station and with quite a task to find where our train was. With sweat pouring off us like the recent rains in FNQ (Far North Queensland), we stepped onto the train at around 7.57. We settled in to our mobile overnight lodgings with undeniable relief, some exhaustion, and finally mild humour as the train failed to depart until 8.12 anyway.
Tue 3 Mar – Brisbane to Singapore
Wed 4 Mar - Singapore
The Jetstar flights from Brisbane to Singapore via Darwin came and went with few troubles, although mechanical problems at Darwin meant that our flight was delayed by over hour. Pity, as we’ve flown Jetstar a heap over the last year or two and their performance, particularly in maintaining schedules, had been getting so good that it was hard to justify any reason for spending extra for a flight with one of the more expensive airlines. The somewhat negative outcome of this for us was that we had to take a taxi from Changi International Airport to The Hive Backpackers, parting us with SGD (Singapore Dollars) 20 instead of a maximum of SGD 4 that would be incurred on the subway. I say ‘somewhat’ as the hostel might not have been the easiest to get to at that stage of proceedings. Nevertheless, the additional outlay was an ominous start to our ‘budget’ holiday.
I may as well insert here what is likely to become a familiar topic in my Asia 09 blog as we move from country to country. It is fair to say that the recent movements in the Australian dollar’s value will curb our spending ventures. As a meaningful comparison, as we encounter a new currency, I’ll provide both the AUD/local currency conversion rate that applies at present and the same rate quoted in Lonely Planet’s ‘Southeast Asia on a shoestring’, published March 2008.
AUD/Singapore Dollar:
Present: 1 AUD = 0.99 SGD
Lonely Planet March 08: 1 AUD = 1.28 SGD.
Ouch factor = 4/5 (it does make this small country more expensive than an Australian city, and it dramatically increases the prices of suits that I’d otherwise buy when we return here on our way back to Oz).
Singapore’s Changi International Airport is a sight to behold – this place, with multiple terminals, can surely rival any major international airport for size. Although unlikely to match NY’s JFK or London’s Heathrow for sheer human traffic, in plain square metres of floor space it well and truly holds its own. And to provide a very apt first impression of Singapore, it is spotless – not a speck of rubbish on the ground, not a visible smudged handprint on the numerous glass panes. Not surprising, it did take quite awhile to find the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit, aka the subway) station, which was a pointless adventure as the last train had left anyway.
Our room at the Hive Backpackers, located at the north end of the Little India district, was basic if not interesting. Featuring sliding Japanese double doors, our room has no windows but a very solid air conditioner. The light filtering through the quite thin doors was the same no matter the hour, thus we slept in until 9:30am without having any concept of the actual time of day.
We spent our full first day away from home (Wednesday) drifting through a number of the Singapore areas, in particular Little India, Kampong Glam (the Muslim quarter) and those parts hugging the eastern end of the Singapore River.
Amazingly, to prove the old adage that it’s a small world, in the vast Suntec City Mall (one of the numerous vast malls in Singapore!) we ran into an old PP mate Clayton Swain, on his way back to London from Melbourne.
Our drifting through the streets of Singapore did nothing to doubt that our first impressions of cleanliness were ill-founded, with the descriptions ‘ordered’ and ‘efficient’ also proving relevant. Although one must be concerned when, in one of the major dining and entertainment areas, a restaurant displays an illuminated VB sign on its rooftop. Surely a better Aussie beer could be found?? Just to top things off, a second sign on the same establishment was promoting Pure Blonde, the other brew from down under that I struggle to throw back.
The end of the day saw an overnight train to Kuala Lumpur. I failed to take a picture of our sleeping quarters but, although cramped and without a great deal of privacy, it completed the dual tasks of providing us with accommodation and transport to a satisfactory level.
Thu 5 Mar – Kuala Lumpur
The delay of our train arriving into Lumpy Koala (aka KL) made it none out of two for our long-distance transport providers (our Jetstar flight on Tuesday was the first), although we weren’t too concerned about this failure as the scheduled arrival time was 6:23AM. After some fun trying to find the Equator Hostel (the instructions probably aren’t the clearest on Hostelworld.com – free plug), we dumped our bags for the day and went and pounded the pavement. And did we pound some concrete!
Kuala Lumpur is quite similar to Singapore in that it is a real fusion of East and West – you could argue that its characteristics are more Western, not that that is ideal, but it does mean that you’re in instant comfort in the city. It is not a city with a massive amount of famous landmarks and notables, but it is one with a culture and a vibe undeniably its own. The Petronas Towers would be the most famous of its attractions, particularly if you’ve seen the movie Entrapment starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sean Connery. They dead-heated as the tallest buildings in the world at some time, before being overtaken in the 2004. Incredibly, the under-construction Dubai tower whose name escapes me holds the current record at nearly twice the size, so it’s been overtaken at a pace akin to Michael Schumacher driving past a snail.
Fittingly for our trip to-date, at the base of the towers is... a huge shopping mall.
Our walking tour (interspersed as necessary with rides on the very convenient KL Monorail) led us to Chinatown. This place contains very similar markets to those which so excited me in Hong Kong – in short, they are based on fake merchandise and haggling. There is famous brand name rip-offs as far as the eye can see; cheap-rip offs as long as you’re prepared to bargain hard and employ my patented walk-away techniqueÔ. Although nothing was purchased on Thursday, apart from a ridiculously cheap roast duck on rice (AUD 1.50 per person, including a soup!), I would be back there on Friday.
By the way, here’s the FROF (For-ex Rate Ouch Factor) for KL/Malaysia:
AUD/Malaysian Ringgit:
Present: 1 AUD = 2.37 MYR
Lonely Planet March 08: 1 AUD = 2.90 MYR.
Ouch factor = 3/5 (This is still a relatively cheap place).
Fri 6 Mar – Kuala Lumpur
We have an genuine early contender the best day of the trip. What started as adventure for two people to some remarkable caves on the outskirts of the KL metropolis became a six man party that took in all of the major items to be seen in this city. The party was expanded to three and then four over breakfast when Ryan from Geelong and Libe from Shailer Park teamed up with Lyn from Seattle and Simone from Wisconsin to head to the Batu Caves. This became six when Katie and Neil from Oxford, previously known to Lyn, met us at the bus stop awaiting our return trip to the KL centre. All four people were awesome folk to spend some time with, hopefully not for the last time!
This nearly became seven, eight, nine (etc, etc) when we were joined at our sidestreet food ‘restaurant’, encompassed by three tin walls and a tin roof, by a number of rats of a decent size. Although I’m sure the government health gurus back home might be concerned, I’m happy to say that it’s around 24 hours since eating that I’m typing this and the stomach feels as solid as a Mitchell Johnson on drive.
Surprisingly I think we saw more rats at this bargain-priced eatery than I’ve seen insects since we landed in Asia on Tuesday night. Where are they all??? Either Marc Melville’s unconventional fly trap has caught all those between Tallaroon Street and Thailand, or this area of the world is remarkably bug free.
Spending time here, KL (Kuala Lumpur, not Kristian Lawson) really comes across as a true indication of how large Muslim populations can easily co-exist with large numbers of peoples of other faiths. I’ve arrived at the general conclusion that where Islamic people are financially sound (which could be read as where they are ensured the chance to prosper) there is likely to be lower conflict between them and the people of other religions with whom they associate with. I can only highly recommend to those who have a opinion of Islamic communities and peoples to visit moderate Muslim societies such as KL and to consider afterwards what their prevailing perception of Islam is. Remember, we only see what is newsworthy in Australia, but good news isn’t what sells papers and attracts eyes!
It’s hard to believe that the population of KL is only 1.7 million. Looking out from the 360-degreee observation deck of the Menara KL (KL Tower) on Friday night, I was thinking that this city would have a greater number of people than Melbourne, particularly given the density here. Although, as suggested to us by Aysha from the Malaysian Travel Board, whom we met on the following night’s train, it may have something to do with the transient nature of the populace, a relative large percentage of whom come here for business without ever really switching their underlying residence to this city.
Or maybe the figure is only 1.7, which could be justified on the basis that the alcohol prices are by and large astronomical– refer to a picture taken on Saturday for evidence!
One of the quirks of this city is that although most of the population live in crowded places, particularly high rise apartment blocks, there is just as likely to be an enormous vacant lot next door to them, often as big as a few footy grounds, covered with long grass and not being put to any particular meaningful use. Or the lot may not be vacant, but instead has a shell of a building that is either numerous years into its slow construction, or has been permanently half demolished. It would not surprise me if a quarter or so of the city’s acreage is taken up by these wasted lots.
The density of the population is further increased by the fact that every second available property seems to be a coffee store, particularly Starbucks. Maybe KL is the city that never sleeps – if the population is actually 1.7 million they must just plough through a huge amount of caffeine per individual!
After leaving the hostel early and returning after midnight, via 7 Eleven to buy a couple of very expensive beers and to interrupt the shooting of a movie there (but that’s a completely different story), we were well and truly exhausted. Unfortunately my legs lasted longer than my camera battery, meaning that the opportunity to photograph the Petronas Towers at night went untaken by me. Plenty of great snaps were taken by the others in our tour group though and hopefully via the magic of Facebook we can share each other’s good work.
Sat 7 March – Kuala Lumpur
Unsurprisingly there wasn’t a large amount of energy nor number of must-see KL attractions left after yesterday, so Saturday was more about shopping and ambling around the inner city than previous days. Without the support of Neil that I had yesterday, the female-to-male ratio was further increased from 2:1 to 3:1, so I really didn’t stand a chance to avoid major shopping time. We managed to spend a fair bit of time in a claustrophobic supermarket in Little India where Libe and Simone managed to find some local textiles, while I managed to find a way to pass the time waiting without getting booted out by the manager (not really, I just wanted to use the word manage there again).
Our daily visit to Times Square occurred twice today, if that makes sense, after we found a shortcut through the carpark between our Hostel and the Imbi Monorail station, which are located on either side of the huge mall. The photos I’ve taken do portray its size to some extent but fail to show that there is also room for an indoor theme park in this place, supposedly the largest in Asia. The theme park include a full size rollercoaster, complete with the upside down loop. For around 25 Malaysian Ringgit (approximately 10.50 AUD), adults can drop the kids at the theme park to enjoy an unlimited number of thrill rides while the grownups hit the shops.
We would be leaving the Equator Hostel tonight and enjoying another overnight train, this time to Hat Yai in Southern Thailand. After saying near-tear inducing goodbyes to people who we’d only first spoken to 36 hours ago but who already felt like lifelong friends, we left the Hostel around 60 minutes before our train was due to leave KL Sentral Station.
What happened from there over the course of the hour between 7pm and 8pm turned what normally would’ve been a comfortable and easy trip through KL into our very Amazing Race. Factors that hurt our progress included Saturday night peak hour human traffic and the usual application Murphy’s law. First of all Libe had left her handbag at the Hostel, meaning yours truly made a dash back to reclaim it. Meanwhile, a monorail car heading in our direction came and went. After waiting a long while for the next service to come – this would be our longest wait during our stay in KL – we made the quick decision to head downstairs for a cab, only to get to the cab line to take notice its length and to recall earlier advice that it’s near impossible to catch a taxi in the early evening here. In the meantime, the monorail car that we’d been waiting for had arrived, but due to the delay between the previous car and it, few people of those waiting were able to sneak on. A further decision was made to actually head in the ‘wrong’ direction for one station, thus ‘jumping’ the queue at Imbi station. Although the monorail we needed to head back a stop came quickly enough, taking the wrong staircase to change platforms at the next station cost us the handful of seconds that made the difference between getting on the monorail car heading in the right direction and having to wait for the next one.
By this time things were getting quite desperate as the scheduled departure of our train was less than 20 minutes away. Missing the train wasn’t a great option as the trip was scheduled to take nearly 15 hours and that is a long time to make up in anyone’s language. We arrived at the KL Sentral Monorail Station with less than 10 minutes remaining but with quite a run (no time for walking at this stage!) to the Intercity train station and with quite a task to find where our train was. With sweat pouring off us like the recent rains in FNQ (Far North Queensland), we stepped onto the train at around 7.57. We settled in to our mobile overnight lodgings with undeniable relief, some exhaustion, and finally mild humour as the train failed to depart until 8.12 anyway.
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