Friday 21 October 2011

Bali, a home from home

Flying to Bali I can barely hold my excitement. I feel like a kid on christmas eve who can't sleep as they don't want to miss a slight glimpse of Santa Clause.

When I arrive I get my visa, collect my rucksack from the belt and head to get a taxi to Kuta beach.

The taxi drops me in Kuta central and although its pretty late now I decide that I'm so pumped up with excitement I'll try find Merel's hostel. So with a little help from some locals who point me in the right direction I see if I can find it. Unfortunately I can't so succumb and get a scooter taxi driver to take me and I eventually get a room in the hostel next door around 1am.

I finally drift off about 2am when I am able to get over the excitement of being in Bali and seeing my friend soon and get some sleep.

Sunday morning and I change rooms from hostel number 1 to number 2 next door where Merel's staying and get the complimentary breakfast. As far as free breakfasts go, I think this is actually the best I've had. Pineapple pancake, fruit, juice and tea is always a nice way to start the day.

After running a few errands and chatting to my first Ketut of the island I head to the beach. (Ketut means first so every first child, boy or girl, is called Ketut. And the same with second, third etc.)

Kuta beach is blissfully heaven. The waves crash on the shore, surfers are entwined with the water balancing on the waves, and there's perfect sparkling sand. Sunbathers and surfers, chilling and chatting on the beach with the occasional vendor selling their wares- even if some are a little obscure to say the least.

Ok, so I've heard of vendors selling ice-cream and fruit, and perhaps even paintings- that kind of stuff even gets sold on Fistral beach in Newquay... But an archery set? Really?!... Do people actually think 'oh I was sunbathing, but you know come to think of it you read my mind! That's exactly what I need!' Hmmm maybe not. I sure hope selling bows and arrows on the beach isn't this guys day job, or I worry for his livelihood!

(Later I spoke to a girl- who had asked what exactly do I need that for, to what he replied, killing chickens?...and she was like I don't kill any chickens in Coventry!)

Kuta instantly feels like a home from home. Life is so easy here and before I even know it a week slips by without me even blinking an eyelid.

I spend my days between hanging out at the beach and riding my bike around Kuta and the local area.

Merel and Phillipp (who also came to Bali!) made friends with lots of locals so as soon as I arrive I have an instant group of friends. Rachman has a surf stall on the beach so everyday under the big tree all his friends come and go, so whenever you go down to the beach there will be at least five people there to sit with. Okky ( who no joke looks like the Indonesian answer to Jack Sparrow!) plays his guitar, quietly singing away to himself while others chilling out join in every now and again.

Every night me and Merel head to the night market on our bicycles and get dinner from a group of different stalls where whatever you want is available for around £1.

Everyday fruit shakes too- any fruit you want made fresh for around 40p...

The only bad thing about this place is what's happening to my English! Spending so much time with people who speak English as a foreign language is ruining my own pronunciation of English. Everyone has their own pronunciation and it sounds so broken and its rubbing off and I too sound like English is not my first language! Its like "You want?" "I make picture" "yes, it good!" Even when I meet and speak to another English girl we both find ourselves slipping into this mash of English. Its the worst travelling bug to catch!

Except catching Finglish (foreign english) life is good. If your not relaxed on Bali then there's something wrong with you- happiness here is infectious. With every ridiculous laugh you hear and the smiles you see, everyone greeting each other happily and enjoying life. I would challenge the most bitter cynical person to spend a while here to try and not walk away with a smile and a new positive outlook on life.

Thursday 20 October 2011

A taste of Malaysia

I arrive in KL around half five in the evening. The largest backpacker area is in China Town so I get the sky train to Pensar Seni (Central Market) and set out to look for a hostel that's recommended in the LP. I'm on the right street but end up heading the wrong direction but luckily I bump into an Aussie and Kiwi couple and they're staying at the place where I want to go.

They are flying out that evening to Paris and are using KL as a lay over also but are really unimpressed with the city calling it boring. As ever I hate to jump to conclusions about a place as soon as I hear someone else's opinion, but in this case I would have to agree.

I won't go as far as assuming anything about Malaysia as a whole as I'm in no position to comment but KL is really rather boring. There's no atmosphere and elegance about the place, it just feels like a bit of a hollow shell of a city. I completely believe that it can be the people you meet that make a place so perhaps I didn't meet the right people but that was my experience.

Everyone I did meet seemed tired of it, unimpressed or was waiting to move on.

The mosques were uninventive, the streets crowded, markets typical. I was really making an effort to find things I liked about this city but it wasn't being made easy.

With three days till I flew to Bali, I decided to take things easy. Start my days lazy reading for a few hours and then taking a wander till I was tired. Came back to rest then go out again for some dinner.

On the first day I wander around the market and find a small art gallery where I meet * (his name escapes me so I'll call him *). * is a young malaysian guy who wishes to be anywhere else than malaysia. Not shy, he soon tells me his life story, starting with the problems he's faced living in KL. Having studied in America and Europe his spoken English is unlike others Malayans. His grammar is correct and this has caused him segregation from the local people he knows. All his life he has been bullied for not being Malaysian and wishes to life abroad in Paris or London. A student of fashion, he yearns to work in photography but instead is stuck with his dreams unrealised in a country where he feels he does not fit. Wherever you go in the world there will always be prejudices about the most stupid things. Its such a shame however when its so bad that people no longer want to call their own country home.

On the second day I decided to try and find the national museum but in the maze that is it wasn't as easy as I anticipated. Hoping to find information on Malaysian culture I was greeted instead firstly by a frightening looking giant snake at the entrance then the history of how the world began and a really scary moving display of cavemen that just shouldn't be allowed.

On the third day I took decided to check out the Batu Caves just north of KL city. I finally got there by local bus after a 45 minute journey.

The caves themselves were impressive great big gloomy gothic looking structures with threatening dangling spikes hanging down above you.
Monkeys ran around squabbling among themselves sounding like abu from aladdin getting into a scrap with the carpet, taking no notice of the visitors wandering around them taking their pictures.

I stood observing them for a while realising just how intelligent these creatures were while I watched one pick up a bottle, unscrew the lid and drink the water inside.

Leaving KL that evening reflecting on my visit I was glad that I'd been but even more excited to be leaving for the Indonesian gem that is Bali.

I do have one regret though- I made friends with a middle-aged french man that I shared a dorm with and spoke to many times in passing, but I never knew his name, and I guess I never will.

Monday 10 October 2011

The end of beach life... for a few days at least!

As the part of my trip that I share with my friend is drawing to a close there is one place left to visit and that is Koh Phi Phi. Made famous by the film the beach, I wished in some way there was half a chance I'd bump into Leo, but unfortunately apart from the copies of The beach on sale he was nowhere to be seen.

The boat ride getting to Phi Phi was by the scariest of my life.

The weather was so rough that they were accelerating as fast as they could but then went they stopped the whole boat crashed down against the waves swinging the whole boat left to right. Every time the boat thudded down you could see by the look on peoples faces that everyone's stomachs did the same flip.

I don't think I've been so happy to get there in one piece!

Koh Phi Phi unfortunately didn't life up to the hype for me, and doesn't have a patch on Koh Tao.

Expensive and with nowhere just to hang out, unless it sunny to sunbathe and you want to drink copious amounts then the draw of Koh Phi Phi will be short lived by a tour taking you to where the beach was filmed at Long beach. (Which because of bad weather I didn't even get to see!)

Perhaps we were just unlucky with the weather so it pretty much sucked but even so I think I could only spend a few days there. The place is gorgeous of course with the signature white cliffs and the lovely beaches- packed with Korean tourists on there boat trips all taking the exactly the same photographs along with a few westerners who believe for 10 minutes they're in a photo shoot rolling around on the beach tossing their hair around and getting there boyfriends to take lots of pictures.

I wanted so much to like this place but after only a couple of days we left to go back to Krabi... Well that was the plan anyway!

The weather got increasingly worse on the sea and by the time we were wanting to leave every boat leaving Phi Phi had been cancelled, all bar one to Phuket, which is in the opposite direction to Krabi.

Faced with the decision to stay on Phi Phi or go to Phuket, we decided it was best to get off the island for fear of being stuck for who knows how long. With both of us with flights to catch we didn't fancy our chances, so thought it best to get the boat to anywhere on the mainland we could.

Its never a good sign when you get on a boat and they hand you a sick bag and an anti-nausea tablet, but we also got a doughnut and a cup of coke so it wasn't that bad! With the prospects of another awful boat journey I decided to sleep as much as I could and managed to be asleep throughout the whole journey and woke just as we were arriving into Phuket.

From the habour we went straight to the bus station and within minutes there was a bus leaving to Krabi so in no time at all we were heading to Krabi and although a lot later than planned finally arrived early evening.

We found a perfect place to stay near Krabi habour run by the loveliest women and stayed there the next two nights before it was time for us to part ways, my friend to Bangkok and me to Kuala Lumpur.

Travelling with my friend had been great but it was nice to be on the road again and on to the next country. So with the familiar feeling of not knowing what to expect we left each other at the airport and I continued by travels once more alone.

For the time being it was time to say goodbye to Thailand again, the land of yellow and green curries, Changovers and tuk tuks but there was much more to be seen and I would return at some point in the future.

Koh Lanta- The escape of the expats

We arrive at Koh Lanta and our bus driver lets us out at a place we found listed in the Lonely planet, although I fear immediately this is one of those occasions the LP is very very wrong, and I am right.

We wander through the cottages and no one is anywhere, not even a peep. Finally we find a man, but it is very obvious this is nowhere we want to stay.

Luckily there is a nice looking cafe not so far down the road so we decide to head there for some lunch and decide what to do, and this is where we meet Luke.

He is the funniest out-rightly gay young man with a hilarious infectious attitude that made you feel as though you wish you were this young vibrant gay guy or failing that, that he was your best friend.

Not one to be shy, he quickly became our hostess, our tourist information centre and our chauffeur.

Soon enough he had fed us and showed us a range of places we can stay and has got his father to give us a lift to the south of the island.

However his father drives us but because he's not too sure of the way and doesn't speak English, his mother comes because "she can speak a little English but doesn't know the way" and then Luke comes because he knows the way and obviously speaks English too. (Kind of makes the mums role redundant but I don't say anything!)
So me and my friend and the Thai family set off to this hotel Luke has recommended, all the while Luke's pointing out places he knows along the way and good places to eat.
We arrive at the hotel which is right on the beach and has a beautiful view. Luke and his family come with us to check out the place (even all coming to look at our room!) and leave when they know we're satisfied.

Unfortunately not so long after they leave we discover the rooms suddenly been invaded by ants and that there's no way which we can stay there! (Ants all over the bed and climbing up the walls!) So after some talking with the management they finally agree that we can move to a more expensive room although somehow we manage not to have to pay the extra.

Koh Lanta is a quite place not much going on daytime or evening. Just the locals going about their daily business and a group of expats that have made a home here, who we meet later on at the Drunken Sailor, a local cafe.

A perfect place to hang out- bean bags and hammocks, we'd already spotted it earlier on in the day and headed there after dinner.

Its a funny group of people, from an american couple who have just moved to live in Chiang Mai for the year to a couple who have lived in Koh Lanta for nine years!

We spend the rest of the evening between Drunken Sailor and What's up Bar at our guest house drinking Chang and Sam Song until the early morning with a band playing then later everyone joining singing popular pop songs from the book.

The next day we change hostel to one that one of the locals from Drunken Sailor recommended which is much better and cheaper than where we were staying, and spend the rest of the day chilling out reading on our huts balcony. For dinner that night we decide to check out the restaurant at the new hotel as it has a stunning view of the bay, and what a beautiful romantic view it was. A long curved bay with the sea lapping on the shore and lights twinkling along the beach.

The rest of our time on Koh Lanta continues in much the same way, quite and relaxed. Its definitely a place for not doing much as really there is nothing to do- a nice escape from the real world for a while but then to stay there for so long you really wonder what the group of people who live there are really escaping from.