After a few day of acclimatizing in Kuala Lumpur I thought it was time to move on up north. I took a train to a town called Hat yai just over the border in Thailand. I did not see much of Malaysia, but I would come here again on my way back to Singapore.

Hat yai was a chaos town. The smell of food was over powered by the smell of the filth aside of the road, so after two days I went on to the capital of Thailand, Bangkok. (BKK) And where else would I end up than on Khoa san road, the backpackers meeting point. I found a nice hostel just two streets back and started to find the Asia I was expecting. Many tuktuks are available to bring you around. A tuktuk is a three wheeled scooter and used as a taxi. The name comes from the sounds that the engine makes. Just for 40 bath (+/-1 euro) they bring you wherever you want to go. But there is a but… You never go directly where you want to go. You have to go in several shops and information centres where the driver gets commission paid in fuel tickets. In the beginning I went along with it, but after a while its getting very annoying. I was not interested in jewels, silk or porcelain, but I saw a lot of temples and Buddha’s. In fact I don’t want to see any more Buddha’s for a while. Lying Buddhas, happy Buddhas, golden Buddhas, travelling Buddhas etct etc.

After a week of sightseeing, I made a deal with a tuktuk driver to bring me to several TAT’s. These are the travel organisations. I wanted to make a trip and by going to several offices I could bring down the price by half. I was happy, - tuktuk driver happy. Until he brought me to a TAT where I already had been and the driver did not get any commission, so he just left me there. I had not a clue where I was and no taxi in sight. (For the first time)  First I booked my trip and started to walk in the direction I thought I had to go. Along I saw how the “normal” Thai people lived.  Small houses with a tin roof. Few chickens in the front and a naked baby running around. They don’t have much, but I think they are happy with what they have. I ended up in a spooky suburb where a lot of prostitution was going on and I had to get out of their, so when I finally saw a normal taxi, I took it and the driver brought me back “home”. Of course he ripped me off, but I was happy to be back in my guest house.

The next morning a little bus supposed to pick me up around seven in the morning, but just after eight he was finally there to take me away for a three day trip. First we went to the war museum with the lookout over the bridge over the river Kwai. After an hour or so we went to the floating house where we were going to spend the night. First a terrific lunch with a lot of fresh fruit and for the afternoon we went to swim at a waterfall and to the tiger temple to pet real tigers. I liked it so much that I missed the train that was supposed to bring me back to the bus. I had to walk over the train track for over two km. I think I am going to miss the train more often from now because it was a beautiful walk with a view over the rainforest scattered around the river Kwai.  Almost at the end of the track was a little cave with a Buddha inside. A bit of a weird place, but it had something charming. After a few beers back on the houseboat I fell asleep like a baby. Even the matress was made of wood.

The next day the tour went along a nature park with seven waterfalls. The hike was steep, dangerous and hot so we appreciated the cool swim even more. On the other side of the hill a few elephants were waiting for us for a jungle trek and later with a bamboo raft back down stream to the boat house. The last day of the tour went again to a war museum (hellfire) and back to Bangkok where I already booked the hostel.

Two more days in BKK and I went to Phnom Penh in Cambodia to pick up my credit card from the post office.

This story continues in Cambodia >>

After quiet Laos I had to get used to the busy streets again, but Chang mai was a nice place. Most I liked a building where loads of artist were in drawing portraits. From here I made an other trip. This time through the jungle. A 3 day walking track where I slept on a plank in a bamboo hut and had a shower under a waterfall. It took a lot of energy from me, but the locals seem to have horse blood in their veins. Even the old timers walk faster than me up hill. Along the way I saw insects, I could not place and spiders as big as my hand. The trip finished on an elephant and rafting on a few bamboo sticks. I cant say it was a raft. Mine collided with an other raft and we flipped over both. It broke in hundred pieces. I am a good swimmer and was ok, but one of the guys from the other raft was not and I had to save him from drowning. He was fine at the end, just a few bruised ribs and a broken nose. We were a bit away from a doctor or a hospital so we eased the pain with a bottle of rum.

Finally back in Chang mai I did (as everyone else) a cooking course. First we went to a market to buy and compare the goods and later to an outdoor kitchen to do the cooking. First a soup, rice and some pad thai. The best of it all was at the end, - Thai curry. I can proudly say it was the best curry I ever had in my life. And a sweet mango rice thing as desert.

Next day I went back to Bangkok for a few days, to move on to the Island of Thailand. The first one was Koh tao. Every picture you make here you can use in a travel advertisement. White beaches, palm trees and wooden cabins. I came here for diving and there are more dive shops than people. My first dive was a night dive and I must admit it was a bit disappointing, but the next day took that feeling away. Paradise was here too under water. Big fishes, small but colourful fishes, hard and soft coral as far you can see. Early in the morning next day II went with my private guide to a special place to spot sharks, so special that he did not tell me the name. As being the only ones there we did see all kind of sharks end barracuda’s.

Next island I went to was Koh panghan. It was a rainy day so all I did was relax in a hammock in front of my cabin. I rented a little scooter to explore the rest of the place. Nice but because of the steep hills I was forced to turn back. And good it was because slowly my front wheel was leaking air and not far from where I rented the scooter it was a flat one. I found out that this was the Island where they filmed the movie “the beach”. Later on Phuket I stayed in the hostel where the hostel scene was filmed. Kind of cool. Maybe I slept in the bed of Leonardo di Caprio.

At arrival in town I noticed that a lot of people were wearing white and yellow clothes. I did not think much of it until I woke up in the morning with a lot of fireworks. It turned out to be a vegetarian festival. I went to take a look and I was stunned by what I saw. Hundreds of people hurting them self’s by sticking things like swords, knifes and pins throgh there cheeks, hitting there back with a machete or axe or burning there heads with fireworks. They make this Just to make sure they are sorry for all the meat they ate in that year. If they fasted for 10 day’s then no scars wouldl stay. I never saw something like it. Very weird.

The time in Thailand was over. I had to get down towards Singapore. But not before I dived in Malaysia.

This story continues in Malaysia >>