So its been quite a while since the last time I wrote anything on this blog. Part of that is due to laziness and part due to losing our camera over a waterfall. The good news is we have a new camera and I feel inspired to write again and upload some pics.Yeah!
So Malaysia! Hot hot hot was the news and very dry. We arrived at the end of February spent 3 nights in KL and were quite culture shocked after 5 months of India... capitalism in your face... giant shopping malls selling the latest everything... get me outa here now!!! The one redeeming feature of KL for me was the magnificent Petronas towers, I had always wanted to see them and was not disappointed, although maybe I thought they would be taller.. We also stayed with some nice people in their spare room, thanks!
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| The twins! |
Next stop was to Arafat's farm about 1 and half hours north of KL, kuala Selengar... Flat land situated next to an industrial unit cleaning metal pipes. Arafat's dream; to convert this land into a successful organic farm which can be used as an educational platform to residents of KL. Our mission was to build a farm, we stayed in a tent for the first week and then moved into a converted shipping container.
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| Raised beds I tilled. |
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| The water tank crew |
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| Arafat and Lili |
We learnt about the principles of organic farming and helped build banana circles, tree pits, raised beds, mulching, painting a water tank, making a dry compost toilet, cooking for a group, composting etc...
Arafat´s a great guy and the reason we stayed for a month. On one of our days off we went to a waterfall and suffered an accident.. the camera went over the waterfall plunging down never to be seen again... I felt lost.. so much of my time had been consumed using that camera,, what would I do.?
We decided to see a part of Malaysia to the north before going into Thailand. We stayed at a small village name Semelling on a yoga retreat run by a nun. The grounds were mixed with orchard, recreational grass areas and an organic farm. The farm had been leased to a farmer for many years and was now being taken back... much of the orchard was in bad condition and it was asked of me to research what was going on and to suggest remedies... I had much fun searching the internet for solutions to some of their problems, and I hope that I solved some of them. The place looked much nicer after we left and much greener as the rain arrived!!
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| Beach in Penang, most people were from Saudi Arabia! |
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| Pergola and vine support that I made |
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| Banana Pit, permiculture |
Thailand.
We crossed the border between Malaysia and Thailand via the train border and stopped at the border town of Hat Yai and went straight o the beach town of... about 1 hour bus ride away. When we arrived we had no idea where to sleep and wanted to avoid expensive hotels.. looking like lost tourists melting slowly under the hot afternoon sun, a car stopped and a young woman and her husband asked if they could assist us, we explained what we were looking for and they offered to take us to a few places to find somewhere to stay. After about half an hour of stopping and starting we found a great hotel for a great price, we said goodbye and thanks to our good Samaritans and went to the beach!
We spent a few days there then moved to Koh Lanta on the west coast. One of the best beaches I have seen on our trip and beautifully warm water. We were staying at a workaway location, staying in a bamboo hut and doing a couple of hours work a day to cover our rent... it was nice and relaxed except for the constant mosquitoes and threat of Dengue fever which most people had!! After 2 weeks it was time to go... our visa was only a 1 month one and so much to see!! We arrived on Koh Samui on the East coast, a place I had fond memories of from over a decade ago.. we stayed in the region of the big Buddha as my friend was living there whom i wanted to see. After the first day Sandrine got sick and Lili a little too... I thought cant be dengue if they both fever a same time.. but Sandrine thought it was so went and got her some Papaya leaves to make a drink which is supposed to help (tastes awful). Later that day I also started to feel feverish... so we had the dreaded Dengue fever...poor us... Lili was better after 2 days, me after three...Sandrine still felt bad... Our friends that we met in India were on the next island so we decided to meet them, meant moving all luggage catching a boat, taxi etc... it knocked the stuffing out of Sandrine, she spent the next two days in bed.. myself and Lili chilled in the pool and did some snorkelling... moved again and this time Sandrine says take me to hospital... shes admitted and they confirm she has Dengue.. 2 night later she is released and feels much better, a bit thin and weak but getting better..
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| Where we were volunteering |
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| Koh Lanta beach family |
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| The Big Budha |
Its time for a visa run!! Off the islands onto the mainland, down the coast to Hat Yai, find a room, sleep! wake up find a cheap shared taxi to take us to border.. get new vias... ok.. so I tried to get into Thailand witout first going to Malaysia, it was hot, we had to walk about 1 km in the sun carrying Lili.. but border guard who had stamped Sandrines passport for a 14 day visa, says to me, where's your Malaysian stamps? I said what you talking about fella? He sends us packing and cancels Sandrines visa... we walk across to Malaysia get stamped in, walk around the other side, get stamped out and walk back to Thailand.. this time the guy stamps all our passports for a 30 day stay!! Great news... ok.. now back to Hat Yai, only two hours before our train leaves, rush rush, I look at the time on somebodies watch, shit we re going to miss out train its already 4 oclock, shit times goes fast when you dont need it to... get back to the hotel after we could not find it ande nobody spoke good English... surprise its only 3 o´clock, guys watch was showing Malaysian time one hour aheasd of Thailand time.. great relief... get to train station... trains late delayed 2 hours!!!! Time for a beer!
Ariive Bangkok after a night on the train... where are we going to stay... I suggest Limpuni park area as its nice and quiet.. no says the internet cafe guy, its full of protesters, go to koh san road like all the other tourists!! So we do... Bangkok is not full of touristy things but it has some great markets, fun water ferries and great street food. And they sell cameras at good prices with good selection...
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| Water taxi |
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| Edge of street market |
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| Bangkok street food |
Sandrine was really feeling much better now so we wanted to get out of the city, where to go? I had wanted to go to Chiang Mai many years before but had not, so I looked into our options... couch surfing turned up one host that sounded great, a lady named Carol, we contacted her and she accepted us! Next day we are on the train to Chiang Mai, its the over night one with small beds, we chose fan class, which has a good price but was bloody hot, we kept popping into AC class which was like a fridge...you cant win!
Breakfast in the restaurant car was fun and soon enough we were arriving into Chiang Mai!
