A Year in Exile: Thailand

KT has offered to take us to the bus station and mentally we are already on the move. He has also suggested shipping a load of stuff back to Australia, an idea we are all in favour of if it can be done – I would say that almost 50% of our stuff has not been needed, but in our defence we’ve never travelled in this part of the world before and certainly not for the length of time we are planning.

We left Swiss Gardens with mixed feelings, a lovely apartment in beautiful surroundings but definitely time to move on. KT collected us and took us to the bus station in Lumut, treating us to breakfast before we left, a pancake with curry sauce, different but surprisingly good!

The bus to Butterworth took 3 hours and we had barely set foot off it before we were accosted by someone asking where we were going, I thought he was showing me where to get a ticket but it turned out he was selling me one – on a minibus. Brian was really cross – ‘we were warned not to buy tickets from touts, not to go in a minibus and you do both!’ - a nice little spat in a public place to the amusement of at least one couple who turned out to be going on the same bus, which, by the way, was comfortable, quick and cheap! The border crossing was easy, cost MR4, less than £1 for us both and 7 hours later we arrived in Hat Yai. A tuk-tuk took us to our hotel which turned out to be luxurious by our standards. Hat Yai was OK but couldn’t see why Malaysians and Singaporeans flock there for shopping trips. I did, however, manage a much-needed trip to the hairdressers and we ate well in the restaurant.

Back on the bus for the 7 hours to Phuket, relief that the bus was comfortable and air-conditioned. Then the bus curse struck again, we had to change buses at Trang after just 2 hours. It was pouring, a real tropical downpour, as our luggage was moved to the new bus, not so new, not so comfortable and with the air-con stuck on freezing. I was so cold I tried to use a shopping bag as a blanket and by the time we arrived neither Brian nor I could move, our fingers and toes were numb and we were shivering – oh and it was still pouring! It was also starting to get dark and we discovered that our hotel was 40 minutes away! The tuk-tuk is a converted minivan with bench seats and an open back and sides, not what we needed when cold, wet and having travelled for 7 hours already. Still, off we went up into the mountains, the driver had to keep stopping to ask where the hotel was and it was on one of these occasions that by luck, I spotted the hotel. Still raining we were shown into our room – which turned out to be a spacious apartment – with an amazing view over Pantong beach, despite the rain – and there was a swimming pool. All this for £5 a night thanks to booking.com flash deals.

The next day we waited for a gap in the rain to walk down the hill to see what was around. The hill is so steep you have to lean backwards to stop yourself tumbling down and we couldn’t face walking back up. We found a nice little café and the owner, who spoke some English, offered her son as a cut-price taxi service – bargain. It rained for the first 4 days but after that the sun shone. We went into Patong once during the day and walked along the beach, nice breeze but crowded by our standards – rows of sun loungers as far as the eye could see and people everywhere! We enjoyed watching the Para gliders taking off and soaring above the sea, almost had one land on us as we were engrossed in taking photos and we walked down the infamous Bangla Road but there was nothing to draw us back in daytime, we love the quiet of our hilltop and the walks up there. We also have an excellent restaurant opposite and have loved the Thai food, we have even been offered a cooking lesson in the kitchen there!

We had to go down to the notorious Bangla Road at least once at night – it was packed and this is the low season. Apparently in high season people are literally shoulder to shoulder and can barely move, something to be avoided I think.

There are loads of restaurants with live seafood to choose from and fresh fish sitting on ice and we chose one and had a delicious, but expensive by our standards, meal, of sea bass cooked in lime and chilli, prawns with asparagus and some veg. We also had a cocktail really pushing the boat out and we enjoyed it all. After we had a wander up and down the Bangla Road hassled at every step by pamphlet pushers and hawkers, some as young as 5 or 6, selling necklaces, food and other bits. We saw some of the lady-boys, known locally as kathode, Russian strippers and pole dancers, exciting but not enough to entice us down again.

Our last night we went back to our local restaurant and I was pinnied up and taken into the kitchen. Great fun, I made the green curry and the steamed fish with ginger under instruction, was given a packet of green curry mix and it was delicious.

We left at 7 in the morning to find a four inch bright green grasshopper on Brian’s shoe, something we would have freaked out about a few months ago, now we take some (not very good) photos and persuade it to go by shaking the shoe until it reluctantly, moves off. A taxi to the bus station where at 8am we are treated to the Thai national anthem to which everyone, without exception, stands to attention, before boarding our bus for the 8 hour journey to Satun. The bus is bright pink but looks modern and comfortable, it is to our relief but unfortunately the seat across the aisle is occupied by a single female who, to the discomfort of all around her, throws up into a carrier bag at regular intervals – great but at least the strong-smelling balm from Bali comes in useful as we smear it under our noses!

The ‘stewardess’ informs us that the last ferry to Langkawi is at 4 not five so we have to spend the night in Satun, I email Mali Perdana Resort, where we are staying on Langkawi to let them know and we book into a large but decidedly shabby hotel for the night, we have a cheap but tasty meal and an early night having decided to catch the 9.30 ferry in the morning and ordering a tuk-tuk for 8.30 – another early start for us!

The ferry took an hour but was interesting as we passed lots of uninhabited islands and had to weave between islands to get to Langkawi. The port at Langkawi was a pleasant surprise, more like an airport lounge so we made use of the Starbucks free Wifi before getting a taxi to our new hotel. Two very pleasant surprises when we arrived; they didn’t charge us for the previous night and our room is literally a meter from the beach which is quiet but not deserted and has some exciting looking waves. Hopefully not too exciting though as we discover that the digger outside our room is to repair the sea wall that was washed away by waves just last week! Taking an exploratory walk we found the duty free store about 2 minutes away – beer at less than £1 a can and whisky at £5 a litre – bonus! There is also a MacDonalds and numerous other restaurants all very close. We opted for one right on the beach, 20 yards away along the shore where we could watch the sun go down over the sea as we sipped our beer and ate our, very nice, Indian meal. Once again we have definitely landed on our feet – lucky us!