Brief interlude

Here are a few lists:

Top 10 beers of SE Asia in order of my preference:

Singha (Thailand)
Beer Lao (Laos)
Tiger (Singapore)
San Miguel (Philipines)
Guinness Extra Stout (as brewed in Malaysia, popular in Chinese cafes in the region)
333 (Vietnam)
Chang (Thailand)
Angkor (Cambodia)
Anker/Anchor (Malaysia)
Bintang (Indonesia)


Some disease Jane and or me may have caught from swallowing Khao Sok river water:

Leptospirosis
Cholera
Typhoid fever
Amoebic dysentery
Schistosomiasis
The trots


Favourite Thai curry colours in order of preference:

Red
Yellow
Green
(they make a blue curry and I'm there)


Places I've acquired mosquito bites at time of writing this:

Right shin
Left knee
Right forearm
Arse (no idea how the fecker got up there. I've been DEETed to buggery every time I went out)

Siam, the one and only

7^th July

Baan Khao Sok Resort, Nr Surat Thani, Thailand

We arrived in Thailand to warm sun and lousy beaurocracy at immigration (as per). We were met by a man from our destination in the jungle and we set off once we'd got ourselves some baht from an ATM. The trip took about 90 mins and the weather worsened as we got closer. As we turned into the area the resort is, the heavens opened and we were subjected to a tropical downpour which lasted, well, actually it's still going on now some 9 hours later. I took a picture of the downpour but it's not too clear it's peeing down, but you can see how muddy and swollen the river is

Baan Khao Sok on arrival. 
Wet wet wet. I definitely was feeling it in my fingers and feeling it in my toes (Thank you sports sandals)

The lodge itself is enchanting, on the river, surrounded by jungle. It's called Baan Khao Sok and I'd highly recommend it. The family who run the place are friendly and very hospitable. They have two adorable kids and a range of pets. The cat is so friendly that as soon as I sat down it was on my lap. We waited for the rain to subside and had a drink before getting shown to our digs for the next three nights which was a proper tree house, by which I mean a hut built on a large tree. It has a mosquito net and a ceiling fan. This is real jungle accommodation: no air-con, no telly though we did get a warm shower. I can't remember the last time we stayed at a place like this and it's great!

 Our first taste of Khao Sok animal life

 The latest in arboreal living

We had planned to go out and do a little exploring, off up to the local village, but the rain has put the mockers on that. We had lunch in the restaurant at the resort which for me was a tom tum gai (chicken tom yam soup) and Jane had chicken and fried noodles. It was good, if (from my POV) a little mild in the spice department and lacking in exotic veggies. As it turns out, the guy who drove us from the airport is the owner and we chatted to him and his wife for a bit before heading back to our room through the pouring rain.


That evening, again, not wanting to get stupidly wet, we just stayed around the lodge where we ate again (gaeng phed moo or pork red curry. Yes, Thai for pork is pronounced "moo". I'm thinking of becoming an animal shrink to make a killing giving therapy to Thai pigs with their identity problems). Even though we weren't doing anything in particular we were still surrounded by jungle wildlife. There were bats swooping around the restaurant area (good to keep the mosquitoes at bay), insects flitting about including a large, what I assume was some sort of green leaf insect which had a vivid pink abdomen presumably as camouflage to look like a flower bud. It was striking but got away before I could take a snap. There was also a huge brown cricket which I take manage to take a picture of. The most exciting thing, though was the appearance of what I later found out to be a mangrove snake of perhaps 1.5m slithering down a tree branch to the river. Again, since it was outside and it was raining I didn't risk the camera, but this is what it was.

Less a katydid, more of a Jiminydidn't

This cricket was about 8-10cm long with antennae at least twice that

  The only other guest staying at the time arrived, a French girl on a long trip around the world arrived, having been to the lake trip we were planning to do so we chatted to her. What a trip she is on, having already come through Russia, Mongolia, China and heading on to Indochina. Jealous, much?

Generally there wasn't anything to do so we had a beer then went back to our room and played cards over a couple of whiskeys and Coke before bed.

Saturday 6^th July, Kuala Lumpur Airport, LCC terminal

On checking in we're told we can use the BMI Lounge which worked very well. It's comfortable and had free WiFi, free snacks and free booze so had what I assumed was to be the first of a few bloody marys on this trip which I mixed myself. It kind of made us wish we hadn't bothered with the Sainsbury's sandwiches we'd got the day before. The problem with this is we didn't want to have too much to drink before our flight.

The flight from Manchester was fairly uneventful. We hit a patch of turbulence which added a little fairground excitement to proceedings, but that was it. We had a long time to wait around so wandered around the terminal and had a couple of drinks. Disappointed at Garfunkels where we had a bit to eat. Very expensive for Wetherspoon's quality and I'd expect Paul Simon would be rolling in his grave if he was dead at what was being prepetrated in his former music partner's name

Our flight from Heathrow to KL, when we eventually boarded, seemed to really drag. This was probably a combination of the fact that by the time we were on the long haul part of the trip, we had already been on the road for 10 hours, the fact that it was a night flight, and the sheer length of a 12 hour flight (the most recent long trips we've done have involved going on one of the Arabian carriers like Qatar or Emirates, making for a convenient break mid trip). The plane was a rather tired looking 747, as opposed to the newer 777 we were expecting. Service wasn't especially great nor was the entertainment system on board. Still, it's got to be better than the old fashioned way of having the old drop down screens shared between everyone. Food wasn't especially good either, being Asian in style, but made in London so not quite having that authentic feel. Worst of all was the fact that I couldn't get another bloody mary for the whole flight and had to content myself with a couple of beers and (the horror!) soft drinks. It was also the most bumpy flight I've ever been on, with a few spells of quite feisty turbulence. Despite this it was comfortable enough.

We arrived and queued for about 45 mins to get through immigration. It was rather annoying that all of us foreigners were waiting at 5 or 6 foreign passport desks whilst locals could go through an express barrier system then, when there was a slight rush of locals, a man in a fancy uniform with all his epaulets and gold piping, opened the furthermost foreign desk for more locals saving them a good 10 minutes wait. Then after that small rush cleared he shut up shop again. At least we didn't need to wait for our luggage as it was already on the belt as we came out

Getting through we grabbed some ringgit and got a cab into town. KLIA is a good 60+ KM out of the city. It's like a Ryanair city destination in that way, taking a good hour and a half to get to the city, though it is actually called Kuala Lumpur Internationl Airport as opposed to being actually another town. The driver was mental, tailgating, speeding etc. Well, speeding until we hit the city traffic. He said there had been heavy rain a little earlier which had caused disruption. Not, of course, that there was any evidence of rain. The roads were bone dry, but that's one of many things I love about this climate, that there can be a complete deluge then 30 mins later no evidence it had occurred. The excitement of being in Asia built as we got closer to the city, really hitting when I got the thrill of seeing the Petronas Twin Towers as we approached. They looked magical, subtly lit up in the dark, twinkling in the distance

We arrived at our hotel off of Bukit Bintang in the heart of the city, an area we knew fairly well. The hotel, the Hotel Capitol, was just off Bukit Bintang, really handy for a few bars and restaurants. We checked in and had a shower before setting off into the city for some food and a couple of drinks. On getting our room, we discovered a fantastic view of the city, taking in the Petronas Towers. 

This gave us a second wind after feeling lousy on the inward flight as we approached KL, wondering why we had decided to do the short stop-over in the city instead of using the airport Tune hotel where we'd stayed on our last visit to the country. As soon as we got out onto the street your senses are given a hearty kicking by the damp heat, the flashing neon, the sound of traffic and most of all the smell of a big city in the tropics. There's always the underlying smell of drains (not especially unpleasant, but always there), exhaust fumes and most of all the smell of food. All these exotically flavoured dishes, spices and strange meats from all over Asia and beyond (Malaysia, and KL in particular, is such a melting pot of people thanks largely to British colonial rule) and then the weird and wonderful fruit. Especially now since it's durian season and nothing screams exotic fruit like the legendary durian, a phenomenon in its own right. They look evil, like something that comes of the end of some mediaeval weapon of close-quarter combat, about the size of rugby ball, covered in nasty looking spikes. But its their odour that really hits home, the (in)famous aroma described as “carrion and custard”, sweet and heady but with an undertone of something three days past the Asda “Oops!” fridge. The smell is so strong they are actually banned from many buildings and public transport. They are also highly regarded as a delicacy. The smell of these things is so heady and evocative, and anyone who has spent any real time in this part of the world (or perhaps it's just me) will catch a whiff of durian and feel like they're home.

We made our way to Chankat Bukit Bintang, a real expat ghetto but with some rather nice bars and restaurants and settled for dinner at a place called 21 where we had essentiailly western food plus a Tiger each. After this it was back towards our hotel where we eventially found our way to a small covered area which has some really good places to drink and again stuck to the Tiger, ordering a jug for MR50 (+++, so including service and local taxes came to MR56). We had just begun to watch Andy Murray playing his Wimbledon semi again Tsonga and by this time could have stayed out all night but had to curtail the evening as we needed to bu up very early next day for a 10:30 flight to Thailand. We made it to bed at some time after 11 and realised how noisy the room was despite the fantastic view. However, this didn't seem to bother me as I was straight off to sleep once the day's travel (which was about 30 hours to that point) took hold

And we're off!

Thurs 5th July
BMI Lounge, Manchester Airport

We've set off at last! Usual largely taciturn taxi driver (not unfriendly, just not very conversational), Dewsbury Station was wet due to them doing building work there. This was annoying because the tannoy is behind the screens so you can't actually hear the announcements. We could have been getting on a train that was being diverted to Ispwich via Douglas, IOM, for all we knew.

As it transpired, it was the correct train all the same and I ended up spending the trip chatting to an elderly lady from New Zealand who'd been touring the UK for the last couple of months. Surprisingly, she didn't look like a drowned rat, despite the pissy rain we've had of late.

At the airport we checked in and are informed that we are allowed in the BMI Lounge. This is where I'm typing this now since they have free Wifi as well as free snacks and (best of all) free booze. Obviously, we have a long time travelling ahead of us (including a good few hours layover in Heathrow) so I don't want to go too mad, but I do think a wee bloody mary might be in order. It's the drink of seasoned travellers like myself, I think you'll find. Or did I just make that up? Anyway, it's what I usually drink when I'm at 38,000ft

 It's the only way to fly. Cheers!