We arrived late from Laos to Kuala Lumpur, dragged ourselves and our increasingly heavy bags to the hotel at the end of airport parking lot and spent a decadent 6 hours sleeping in a room about 8'x10' before heading back to the airport bright and early for our flight to Khota Bharu. From there we took a taxi to Kuala Besut, where we boarded a boat to the island paradise of Perhentian Kecil. We quickly took stock of the limited options for accomodation on the island, settled for Matahari (also a dive shop) and waited for friends to arrive. Being a Muslim country, beers didn't come cheap but that didnt stop us from spending a long afternoon lying in the ocean with our friends Dan and Kristen enjoying a more than a few cold beers while waiting for our other friends to arrive.
The island was much less developed than we had expected. It was a nice relaxing place to kick back for a few days. We did some diving, snorkeling, exploring and a lot of lounging about during the day. By night we hit up one of the few restaurants along the beach before heading to the 'bars' (no more than shacks with a couple of coolers) to listen to the live band of the evening and drink monkey juice.
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| On our marathon train ride |
From there we took the least recommended way into Thailand (ie the 'do not go' route according to lonely planet) with our friends Sam and Chelsea. This took us right through the volatile southern provinces. However our nine hour (yes NINE hour) train journey passed without incident. The only exception was being woken from a cat-nap by the butt of the odd AK-47 or M-16 rifle clipping my elbow as the soldiers passed through the cabin. Before we knew it, we were in Surat Thani ready to head to Koh Samui.
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| Waiting for the ferry, still smiling |
Noah and I's enthusiasm for Thailand was catching thus we all woke up early the next morning and headed to the ferry with gusto. Unfortunately, our only really negative experience of the trip then occured. To make a long story short, we were sold tickets from one 'tour' company to get a bus and then a ferry to Koh Samui, that ferry in fact did not exist. After being bounced around from agency to agency for the better part of 3 hours with tuk-tuk drivers threatening to drive away with Chelsea and I in the back when we refused to get out, we finally made it to the port. Only our ferry didn't actually leave for another 3 hours, not exactly the news we were hoping for. Having wasted a full day on travel that should have been a mere 1.5 hours, we finally arrived at our hotel in Lamai, Koh Samui. Sam and Noah had booked the place, and if we ever needed a nice place to cheer us up, that was the time. We walked into our respective rooms and collapsed on the soft beds in sheer happiness. The hotel and rooms were beautiful, luxurious and right on the water. Exactly what we needed after our long day, well that and a few stiff Thai whiskeys of course. Happily, I can say that (at least so far) that has been the one and only unpleasant experience of our trip and the rest of our time in Thailand passed not only without incident, but with peals of laughter, raucous card games and great nights out.
Perhentian Islands Fast facts
Currency: Ringit 5 = £1
Local Beers: not really local but we drank Anchor
Average price of a vodka tonic: too expensive to consider, so we drank Monkey Juice - a local spirit
Average price for dinner for 2 incl. drinks (restaurant):£6
Average price for dinner for 2 incl. drinks (street food): no street food available Average price for a manicure: no manicures :(
Favourite national dish: probably Kuay Teow
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| Finally arrived in Koh Samui, just in time for dinner. |
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