Marina Hotel Narathiwat

... way to get to Kuala Bersut was to cut across and not go to Kota Baru, but straight to the coast. Both books (LP and Rough Guide) stated that Kuala Bersut was 30kms south east of Kota Baru, so having knocked 12 kms off that distance by cutting across, we had only 18 left to do. WRONG. We ended up doing almost 100 kms yesterday, and the distance from Kota Baru is more like 65kms than 30. There's something psychologically very disconcerting about thinking you are only ...

... the most pedestrian unfriendly place I've ever been, many of the roads have no footpaths and there are almost no designated pedestrian crossings. the locals seemed happy to stroll out in front of the traffic with appraently no concerns. I tried to follow their example, but did break into a run on several occassions, which the locals never ever do. Kota Bharu is supposed to be a cradle of Malay Culture. They even have this ...

... claws. Geoff as i named him, couldnt of been more than 2 or 3 weeks old and was evidently a bit scared, and so in one of the most surreal nights of my journey i sat up and watched the sun rise with my new found friend, along with a few other determined sun seekers and people who enchanted by my great new friend. Akuna matada i am at one with the animal kingdom they just cant get enough of me!....or so i thought....

... it most his life and if he doe not work, he will feel so restless and bored staying at home. As he was chatting with us and answering my very many curious questions, I glanced at the inner cover of the roof of his trishaw and saw scribbles of his pathetic MONTHLY earnings - RM 15 for January, RM20 for February, RM 5 for March, RM 12 for April...I almost cried. He had asked for ...

Just stayed here the one night to change buses as we start to head down the length of the East coast of Malaysia. This part of Malaysia is much more strictly muslim than the other parts (the state government have been trying to bring in a law to make park benches and shop queues single sex!) but is actually a very friendly and interesting place to visit.

... about 4 1/2 hrs. Oliver stayed in our hell hole of a room and read. Didn't do much in the time we were in Kota Bahru due to the main fact that there isn't an awful lot, if anything, to do there. Found a nice Chinese joint for dinner which served beer so that was a bonus considering most of Malaysia is Muslim and therefore don't serve alcohol. The next day we were up at 4.30am to ...

... the country was. We hadnt really thought about our route much but Andy did a bit of reading up and we decided to go down the east coast. The border crossing was very easy and much more inviting than "The Kingdon of Cambodia"! Once through we caught a local bus to a little town called Kota Bharu and we found a great backpackers hostel right next door to the bus station. This was only a stop off town really as we were trying to head to ...

... first do this thing called Gasing Pangkah or striking top where they coil a rope around the top and tie one end of it to their arm, then they fling the top towards this small green, onto which it then lands and spins. Another guy then scoops it up, still spinning, with this little wooden mallet (cokok) before transferring it onto this large pin like object (lopak), held by a third man, on which it is left to spin. It was more impressive ...

... British Foreign Office are concerned due to the recent terrorist activity we were anxious to get straight on a train and away as soon as possible. We decided to forgo the 10 Ringits we had spent to book a bus as we thought the train would be quicker and safer. We got a taxi to the border with Livia and Reto and crossed the border relatively easly and quickly. At the Thai side (on Livia and Reto's advise) we dubiously got on ...

... ca on a pu continuer le tour a -24 m! et la suite.... C'etait malgre l'incident une bonne plongee. D'une certaine facon, j'etais fiere de moi aussi d'avoir su garder mon sang froid et d'attendre de comprendre ce qu'il fallait que je fasse. Une phrase dont je me rappelle : dans une situation potentiellement difficile ce qui tue ou blesse quasi a coup sur, c'est la peur. Bon ben je suis restee calme finalement... Du coup je retourne voir Killian qui s'etait bien occupe de Ayumni ...