Category — Ramblings

I am in Koh Lanta now. I took an overnight bus from Bangkok with only 10 other people. It was great to be able to spread out over the bus and able to recline your seat right back. I actually got some sleep.

Another mini-bus ride from Krabi and two ferry crossings and I arrived to Koh Lanta. It is low season here, so it’s very quiet. At least I have the pool to myself. Internet is pretty slow here and although I would like to stay longer I have quite a bit to get done. I think I might check out some of the beaches also around Krabi before heading further south to Malaysia.

There are more Muslims in southern Thailand and I couldn’t even buy a beer at the mini-mart near my hotel.

TravelMinx included my article on Bia Hoi in Vietnam in their first Carnival of travel.

If you have a travel blog you can submit articles here to be included in the next carnival.

I took a trip out to Kuangsi waterfall today. It was a beautiful way to cool off. It was about a 6 km trip out of town. I even got to see a tiger and some black Asiatic bears.

I am running on a competition to win $100 on my new Australia website.

I just came across some free downloadable language guides. I am downloading the Vietnamese one now, but I think I will download all of them.

One of my favourite games while watching the traffic go by, is seeing who can set the record for most number of passengers. For most people in Asia, the scooter is the family car. You could see dad driving, with mum holding a baby and another couple of kids sitting at the front and grandma carrying the shopping on the back.

For businesses it used for transporting just about anything. In Cambodia, I saw bikes carrying double mattresses, fully grown live pigs and people safely transporting huge plates of glass. Another time I saw a guy on the back of a bike carrying an IV drip, presumably with it still attached to his arm.

Fortunately, everyone drives very safely and obeys all of the traffic signals. So safe in fact, that no-one seems to feel the need to wear a crash helmet.

Mui Ne is famous for its production of lovely smelling fish sauce and the desert like sand dunes that are nearby.

I rode out to the sand dunes today. Just as I made it there, it started to pour, so I sat in one of the restaurants there and just watched the rain and the lightning over the sand dunes.

As soon as you get there, a bunch of kids almost attack you to get you to ride on one of their plastic sheets down the sand dunes. Most of them spoke excellent English, even if it was just the usual kind of where are you from type questions. Even though it was pouring with rain it didn’t stop them running around outside in bare feet, doing the occasional cart-wheel.

I am off to Dalat tomorrow morning.

Even though it is currently the ‘dry season’ in Thailand, there has been a bit of rain. One night there was even a spectacular electrical storm.

But today, the skies are blue…

I caught the bus and ferry from Bangkok to Koh Chang today. I was here last year and liked it so much that I decided to come back for a while. I got the same room as I stayed in last time. It is a little more expensive than last time, but they said they would give me two nights free if I stayed a week, which makes it nearly the same price.

It is amazing in just that short time, new developments have sprung up. Last time I was here it was rainy season, so there weren’t as many people around. But still it is a pretty laid back place. It is also so much greener down this way. Up north it was so hot and dry. Today it was so mild and even rained a bit.

I caught the train up to the difficult to pronounce, Phitsanulok today. It was a pleasant six hour train trip and got into town in the afternoon. Maybe it is a cliche but I think Thais are pretty friendly not just to foreigners but to each other.

When you are travelling most of the people you meet are the ones who deal with foreign travellers day in day out, so catching a train and meeting people who you would not ordinarily get a chance to talk to can be fun.

Many Thais speak English well enough to have a basic conversation. I lived in Japan for around 10 years and found so few people who could or were willing to speak English, so it makes a nice change.