Islands

And then there were two. We parted ways in KL with our Danya as she ventured off to see family in Australia. Parks and I continued our trek north to the islands. We took an overnight train to Penang. Well actually it stopped in Butterworth and then we had to take a ferry to Georgetown, Penang. Arriving at 7:30 in the morning, nothing really was open. We picked a hostel, dropped our bags off and set out for breakfast. Found a place after walking around for a bit and saw some pretty interesting things along the way: a temple, a few food stalls, older English buildings, a ladyboy, prostitutes and men leaving them… Just to name a few things! I heard that Penang has prostitution but I didn't expect it to be so in the open. We eventually had our breakfast and then headed back to the hostel to check in and lay down for a bit. We took a short nap and then went out exploring some more. We saw all of the buildings and places of interests within walking distance of Georgetown, which turned out to be about 90 percent of the map. We also checked out a museum where we found out that Armenians had an influence over Penang! So of course we checked out Armenian Street and took our picture in front of it! It was pretty interesting, two brothers opened the Oriental Hotel that was quite famous for a while but eventually it went under. Georgetown was pretty good.

We went to a night food court area and of course had so many options and tried a bunch of things. We really did Penang correctly; we saw all of the sights and then tasted a lot of the local foods. We went back to the hostel, took another nap before heading out to dinner and to check out the night scene of Penang. The next morning we awoke to two Germans and a small Filipino barging into our room. Although later we found out ze Germans and the Filipino were not traveling together as originally thought. The two Germans turned out to be Martin and Joe and were heading in the same direction as we were. After being woken up, we dressed and took a bus to Batu Feringi and spent a day at the beach. We went to a night market there and ate more street/stall food. We got back later than expected to Georgetown and met up with ze Germans.

After that night, we solidified our new friendships with "pops" and began traveling together: the Germaricans. We headed to Langkawi, Malaysia for two nights. Our taxi driver from the ferry to the hostel was awesome and incredibly helpful about pricing, where to go and what to do, although we just ended being beach bums and not doing much of anything. Langkawi is a BEAUTIFUL place with gorgeous, fine, white sand. Some of the best sunsets and most relaxing days we have had. We wanted to go around the island on scooters but decided to just stay at the beach and enjoy the sun. We met some really cool people at the Bungalow Restaurant and Bar… great place to spend a night dancing, smoking sheesha, and having a fun night.

On a Saturday, we took a boat and crossed into Thailand. This is my life right now: taking boats and crossing borders. I feel guilty at the time we are having, everything is so laid back and fun. I know that I am completely fortunate to have this time to travel and explore. Thailand and Malaysia have been so easy to travel around and get to places. It is nothing like India where everything is about bargaining and fighting for a fair price. For the most part, things are listed as prices that everyone pays, although I know there is a tourist price and a local price. But I am okay for paying that difference because a lot of the places we are going, their economy is dependent on tourists and everything is still relatively inexpensive.
Ko Phi Phi is where we started our Thailand adventure and an adventure it was. Ko Phi Phi is not Thailand; it is a beautiful tourist inhabited island with nothing but foreigners. While it has beautiful beaches and even prettier islands surrounding it, it was good for only a few nights. We took a longboat and went to a few other islands; the main attraction was Maya Beach. It was where The Beach with Leonardo DiCrapio was filmed and based out of it. We just sopped there and stayed for an hour or so. We were supposed to go snorkeling but it was really overcast so it wasn't the best weather for it.

After Phi Phi for a few nights, we headed up to Phuket to decide where we would go next. We were still traveling with the crazy Germans at this point and I don't think we were ready to separate from our new best friends. So we spent two nights in Phuket before heading to Koh Samui on the other side of Thailand. Phi Phi and Phuket were on the west coast of southern Thailand and Koh Samui was on the east side. It did not have that pretty of beaches but it was a nice place to hang out. We met a few other travelers in our hostel that gave us all kinds of ideas and advice about where to go and what to do. Possible people to meet up with later… who knows.

That is the greatest thing about traveling and staying at hostels, you get to meet so many people traveling and sharing stories and everything. All of the places we have been recently have been mostly tourists that we are meeting. It is good because I like making connections and new friends. It isnt always the best because sometimes it means we aren't getting the culture of Thailand or its peoples. After island life, it will be better.

Right now I am in Koh Chang and loving it! After Samui, we took a train through Bangkok and then caught a bus to Trat and then a ferry to Koh Chang. It was a long day of traveling but it got us to where we want to be, which is close to Cambodia. We weren't completely done with Thailand and beaches so we are spending a few more days here. But it meant that we had to separate from our beloved Germans. It was a really sad farewell that kind of broke all of our hearts. Eh, such is life.