I couldn't take much more time in a boring town so I went straight to the Perhentian Island for some r'n'r and more diving. I have my OW1 now don't you know?
As I arrived at the resort I was staying at a huge legavaan (the Malaysians use the same word for monitor lizard. I wonder, like boboutie, if it came to South Africa from Malaysia) appeared in a stream running through. It was the biggest legavaan I'd ever seen.
I stayed at the best (and cheapest) place on the Perhentian islands, D'Lagoon Bay.
I started the day ambling around town and found myself at the morning market. After exploring for a short time I found my way upstairs to the food court. As I ascended the stairs I was bombarded by the sweet smell of fresh curry being cooked. I inhaled the welcome scents deep into my nostrils and tried to find the source. I couldn't settle on one stall so I sat at a roti stand and ordered an egg roti with sweet black coffee.
After breakfast I did some more exploring through the market and further beyond. I landed up in an area with a few museums.
One museum I went to was the Sultan's old palace. It wasn't very posh for a Sultan's palace. Quite small actually. I saw two funny things in the palace. One, the a palace guard was sitting at the head of a 20 seated dinner table. He was a skinny guy reading a newspaper in his off white wife beater, uniformed shirt draped over the back of his chair. Chuckling to myself I wondered what the Sultan would say if he saw that.
Two, wondering into the Mrs Sultan's bedroom another guard had just turned on a kettle placed on the bedside table of the royal bed. What would she think?
The war museum was the most interesting for me. I learned a lot about Japan's involvement during WW II in SE Asia.
I made it an early start to the day because I was crossing over into Malaysia and I didn't want to get caught at the boarder and spend the night there. Two nights before there were three bomb explosions. The bus driver took us post one so we could see the devastation. Much of the area had been cordoned off. On the opposite side of the road we could see where the blast had shattered a large window of a hotel.
I got to Kota Bharu in mid-afternoon. It took me a while to find Zeck's Guesthouse. After checking in I explored the town a little. I soon discovered there was much to discover.
I did notice a lot more sealed building for the swallow nest. In a way I think its a good thing because its mostly the old building with character that are sealed. By doing this they are preserved for stupid tourists like me to admire. I'd rather that than have them demolished and replaced by garish new buildings.
I had planned on leaving Narathiwat today. But as it turns out it was the town parade this morning. And what a parade at that. It seemed to go on forever with legions of kiddy brass bands, people in costume, soldiers and fairly ok floats.
It was interesting to note the number of Muslim ladies taking part. They were by far the largest population group in the parade.
On the way back to the brothel, oops hotel, I bumped into Hans, a German who spent all of his adult years in America. Another retire, at 71, he has lived in Narathiwat for many years. He befriended a school teacher whom he convinced to retire early. She now looks after him as a live in nurse/girlfriend.
On the way to tea with Hans he pointed out a number of buildings that were sealed off. These are "factories" to produce swallow nests. The nests are processed for the Chinese medicinal properties they contain. When you look you'll notice a lot of the buildings are sealed for these factories. Where do the people live?
Hans explained to me a lot of the violence that was happening in the area. It's quite horrific and I can't say I could side with either side.
When I went to retire to bed upstairs I greeted the ladies. They were playing a game on the floor which I'd heard them playing for a few nights. I sat down to watch. It turns out it was Bingo they were playing. I was invited to play and then only realised it was for money. Damnation! I lost 3 games in a row and went to bed.
Rene offered to lend me his bicycle for the day. It was very kind of him. I wasn't surprised when he pointed out the mamachari in the foyer was his.
I cycled out to a temple in the countryside, which was huge. When I came back to town someone commented they were happy to see me alive.
I then cycled through town to another beach where I found a clothes market in full swing.
That evening I was planning my trip through Malaysia. I wasn't sure how far south I'd go. When I checked my email Kayo had left a message saying she is definitely going to be in Bangkok I decided not to go to far south.
I woke up latish and went on the hunt for breakfast in the nearby market. Chicken and rice isn't what I would class as breakfast but it what is usually eaten in Thailand. I assume any meal can be eaten at any time of day here.
I decide to first go looking for postcards. Two stationary shops and two fancy hotels later I couldn't find a single postcard. Not many tourist come to Narathiwat so there isn't much of a demand for postcards. The post office also yielded nothing. My next best option was the tourist information outside of town.
I walked all the way there so I could see some of the life in Narathiwat on my way. I soon discovered I was the only person walking any distance. The only Thais doing any walking were either going to or from their scooters.
The friendly ladies at the information center gave me more postcards than I have addresses to write to. Not a single postcard was themed around Narathiwat. From the info center I walked to a beach that Rene had recommended to me.
Being a Friday it was a Muslim holiday and all the kids were on their break. I had fun chatting to them while scouring the beach of crabs to take pictures of.
On my way back to the hotel I bumped into a really nice teacher from one of the local high schools. We chatted for a while before I ambled over to the river to watch the rowers preparing for an up coming regatta.
This is the last day James and I spent together! After a curt lunch in Hat-Yai we bade our fair wells where after James hastily jumped on a songthaew. He was in a rush to check into a hostel and then make his way to the boarder as his visa was running out. He was doing what is otherwise known as a "visa run".
I made my way further into the deep south to a city called Narathiwat. Besides the terrorist activity in the area it is also a quaint town. Not much to do in the city but it's filled with lovely and friendly people.
It was easy finding Narathiwat Hotel. I simply asked for the cheapest hotel in town and was instantly directed here. You can't go wrong at the price. It's clean, presentable, has a nice atmosphere and comes with 15 prostitutes. They mostly kept to themselves and hardly acknowledged my presence. I guess they knew I wouldn't be a customer. Although, when I smiled at them they did smile back.
Driving south earlier in the day I could feel the heavy military presence from the many road blocks we crossed and the ample military bases along the road. At the hotel the clerk made sure I understood that I had to be back in the hotel before 9 pm. The doors are locked and nobody is allowed in or out.
Rene is a retired ambulance driver. Born in Vietnam to French and Vietnamese parents he grew up in France from the age of 18. This means he saw the worst of the Vietnam War in his childhood years. Like retired expats in Thailand he lives off his pension from home. He usually lives in the north of Thailand but spends a few months of the year in Narathiwat. I have no idea why. He became one of my sources of information about the area as he could speak excellent English.
Quite a lazy day. We took in the museum and otherwise just mooched around town or in the internet cafe. The museum was ok. We learned a fair amount about the history of the area.
As James had yet more work to accomplish for his UCT application so I went on a walkabout through Songkhla city. As small as it is there were some wonderful place to discover... never mind the searing heat.
As the weather had set in and it seemed was going to stay for a while we left Ko Lipe for a city called Songkhla.
Songkhla is one of four provinces of Thailand known as the Deep South. It is an area with made up of mostly a Muslim community. Historically it was its own kingdom. When the English came along and colonised the area it somewhere along the line got lumped in with Thailand. The Deep South wants independence of Thailand and so the whole area is in a bit of upheaval with indiscriminate bombing, assassinations and ruthless killings going on.
I paint a bleak picture. Songkhla is in the very northern part of the upheaval and is so relatively calm. There is a large expat community that lives in the area.
Today's activities: Soaking up the beer Drinking sun Swimming and snorkeling Walk to the other end of the island
Because we had been lazy for so long we decided to walk to the other end of the island. We were shocked to see how much had been cleared for development. Only the very end of the island was still in pristine virgin forest condition.
Today's activities: Soaking up the sun Drinking beer Snorkeling and swimming
We went to a beach called Sunset Beach to watch the sunset from. A magic place where a bunch of hippies ran a bar. James got an excellent picture of the bookshelf behind the bar catching the late afternoon sun.
Today's activities: Soaking up the sun Drinking beer Swim and a snorkel
While out foraging for a bit of breakfast I met a Belgian guy, Domanic, who is opening a cafe with his girlfriend. He also wants to start a deep sea fishing operation for tourists. Unfortunately his boat is waiting for him to pick it up in Krabi. I'll have to come back some time to go fishing with him some time. Anyway, we enjoyed a coffee together and his girlfriend invited James and I to have dinner at his place that evening.
This morning we left for Ko Lipe. It was advised to us by one of the girls we made friends with while on the OW1 course. The best recommendation I'd gotten so far. We had to take a bus-speed boat combination from Krabi.
This is the island I was looking for... almost. It's the last of the rustic islands in Thailand. Already there were a few big resorts being built on the island, but we were there in the low season. Few people, well tourists.
We said our goodbyes to the hippies and made our way for Krabi, the capital of its own province. It's a quaint town with a lot of character.
James spent most of the day on the internet doing work on his UCT application form. I wondered around the town being offered ridiculous things I didn't want to buy.
That night we ate a delicious meal in the market. James introduced me to the wonderful world of the sweet banana pancake roti. Damn its good.
While climbing down into the lagoon yesterday we met a guy named Adrien. Turns out he is staying close to where we were so we went out for a few beers. We hatched the plan to rent a kayak and paddle out to the far distant island you could barely make out on the horizon due south of us.
James negotiated a good price for the 3 man kayak and off we went. We were warned that it's further than we think. They obviously didn't measure the metal of 3 young guys now did they... flip it was far. But we made good time anyway and explored the island a little.
On the way back we made a few detours. Adrian is an avid rock climber so we stopped next to a few cliff for him to have a go at.
I don't know why but the beer that evening just seemed to taste a little sweeter.
One of the big things to do in Railay is rock climbing. I'd been advised to come to Railay and climb into a deserted lagoon by a guy I stayed with in Bangkok (sounds like the start of a bad story). So James and I did.
Man, what an experience. Being alone at the bottom of this lagoon surrounded by sheer cliffs draped in flora was pure magic. There is no way to describe it except if you're there.
Tip: wear shoes and clothes you don't mind getting stained.
From Ko Tao James and I took a ferry-bus-ferry combination ticket to Railay. It's really a chilled out place. It feels like an island because you have to take a boat there. But in fact its part of the mainland just cut off by this mountain range.
There are two options of places to stay on the island: snobs beach or the hippie farm. We chose the hippie farm. (I'm way to critical saying snobs beach. We didn't meet any snobs while there. The accommodation is cheaper where we stayed.)
On the way we met the oddest group of German dudes. Two you guys who had just finished high school were on their way to Australia. Another German guy much older than them had picked them up and way playing the role of big brother. It was fun being with them.
After a few days of 'intensive diving' we took a day out at the end and just chillaxed on the beach. Everyone in our group got our OW1 certificated and are now legally allowed to swim with the fish.
