Takbai Lagoon Resort Narathiwat

... in case of an emergency) but I do get down to a vest and sarong. There's something really grubby about sleeping in your clothes. When we woke the next morning we were in the deep south of Thailand and a noticeable difference was the razor wire around the railway stations and the armed guards on the platform. It's seemingly still a bit problematic in the south. The journey was supposed to take 20 hours, long enough, but ended up taking 23. By the time we arrived ...

... for a few days then cross the border to Thailand. I went for a walk around town this morning and found the local markets where they sell fruit and vege and fish - bit smelly but fun. I like Malaysia - very hot and muggy but nice. The people are friendly and everything is very cheap - always a bonus when travelling. I knew bugger all about the place before getting here, hence only planning a couple of nights, but I am glad I stayed a bit longer

... food - including giant squids and prawns/shrimps (don't know the difference, but they were definitely not lobsters). I also went to the cultural centre, to hear traditional coconut drums, see marshal arts, children's games and batik painting. It is organised by a special man, who also runs a tourist information centre, called Roselan. Every second day there are such activities in this centre, mainly for foreign tourists, but it seems that locals are enjoying themselves too.

Olivia and I arrived in Kota Bharu in the evening after waiting almost 3 hours at the ferry terminal bus station. Fun times. That evening we explored the night market. There wasn't much there for me other than the delicious banana murtabak. Murtabak is a thin, crepe-like pancake that's typically filled with beef, chicken, vegetables, or bananas. You can have dinner and dessert just eating murtabak. It's really just another ...

... Khadijah Market has 3 floors, each selling different kind of merchandise. On the ground floor is the wet market where vegetables, fruits, meat and turtle eggs (??!!) are sold openly. On the first floor, one can find dried food and all kinds of materials and clothing, including the very famous locally produced batik, on sale. On the very top floor, souvenirs of all kinds are sold - and ...

... to get off the train and accost the man with the whistle and red/green flags to keep the train in the station while Mark and Rachael rounded up their 27 bags of bits and pieces. We never did learn what was in most of them. Again Yat got off and went to see if he could find his wife...... Pawi from the KB Backpackers Hostel was nowhere to be seen until we got Yat to phone. Minibus arrived and we ended up in Kota Baru......and in a double room with a shared ...

... up taking them out to lunch at the Central Market, possibly a bit adventurous for them. But I always feel it is good for people to get forced out of their normal boundaries. I normally thank people who do it to me, in the end at least. That afternoon we headed to the cultural center for a look at traditional Malay culture, and were again greeted by a smiling man. I played an ancient form of hackey sack with the men, while ...

... shuts down from about 7:30 to 8:00 for evening prayers. There's also a lot of muslim architecture around, which I really like - all domes and spires, with lots of flowing lines instead of straight. It's very graceful. I'm going to head out tomorrow to the perhentian islands to spend a few more days in the sun before wandering into the jungle...

Aujourd'hui j'ai pris mon courage a deux mains et j'ai ete plonge. La gentille Miss Lee avec sa petite fille Ayumni a accepte de s'occuper de Killian pour ma premiere plongee de 11h30 a 13h30. Je me suis bookee au Seahorse Divers juste a cote du Tuna Bay resort, parce que Miss Lee les connait depuis longtemps. L'instructrice principale ou quelque chose du style est Birgit. Helas il n'ont pas retrouve mon ID PADI. Ni via Isabelle De Backer, ni via Isabelle Adamowicz. Sans doute me ...

... worse though is that it rained during the trip and I managed to get dripped on during my "awesome" sleep I was having. :P Anyway.. all in all i go to Ko Phangan and managed to find some accommodation or a bed by 9am in the morning which made for a long day considering I had left at 6am... 27hrs ago.... but I was there and that was the main part! The whole thing cost me under 1000 baht too (under NZ $40) so I didnt do too badly. :) Mission accomplished!