Big city life..

Penang:

Penang

We had to travel for a day to get from Thailand to Malaysia. On the border we were queuing for some hours, however we didn't have to bribe anyone. Astrid was really disappointed because she really wanted to get rid of her last baht (thai money) this way.

We arrived in Penang/Georgetown - an island connected to the mainland by bridge. We had a different opinion about this city. Randi felt it was cozy, yet disliked it. Astrid on the other hand could easily move there - because:

Bicycle-table at a cafe in Penang

- lots of historical buildings and sites (Penang is on UNESCO's world heritage list)
- a mixture of many different races in one place
- structured streets
- a free (and informative) museum and art galleries
- even if it's hot it is by the coast, so it's very windy
- tidy and clean everywhere
- they have a beach, a rainforest and a mountain
but most of all - everyone is smiling at you for no particular reason. They're helping you find the way or puts an umbrella over your head (if it's raining).

In Penang we visited a fort, 2 art galleries, a museum, Little India and we wandered the streets in our touristy ponchos (yes, it was actually raining). We also saw a cannon that is supposed to make infertile women fertile.
Tuesday morning we left our guesthouse with the coolest name: Banana Guesthouse, and set off to Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur:

National Park KL

Compared to Penang this city was noisy and chaotic. We stayed in Chinatown in a huge hostel and we slept in a small closet. Yet, it was a social place, hanging out on the rooftop in the the nighttime and we had our breakfast there as well in the morning.

Chinatown KL

At first we went to a market and it was a flashback from India. Everyone were trying to sell us stuff with phrases like "Hi Miss! Beautyful...Come Here! Special offer - very good price for you. Don't go! Hey miss!" Our best trick when bargaining is simply to say "I'm a backpacker - I don't have any money left".

We only had one day of sightseeing and we spent it on going to yet another museum, an orchid and hibiscus garden (national flower of Malaysia), and watched the bird & butterfly park from the outside (small-budget-backpacker-style).
We almost went up in the Kuala Lumpur Menara Tower which is one of the tallest towers in KL - also a little bit too expensive. And we did some dancing in a shopping mall. At this point we were fed up with fried rice, noodles and spring rolls.

Singpore:
Following day we jumped on a bus and headed for Singapore. Here we stayed for 4 days - the first 3 nights in "Footprints Hostel", -a luxurious hostel compared to our previous encounters. Great atmosphere and a lot of Asian teenagers We ran around in the city visiting a museum, an art gallery/labyrinth (we both managed to get lost), and a shopping center containing only electrical gadgets and stuff for 6 floors.

Singapore Flyer

It was amazing walking around in the city center in the evening..We were watching the skyline with all the lights and admiring the architecture of the city. We also went up 200 meters to watch the city and the sunset at Marina Sands Skypark.
Our conclusion is that Singapore is a beautiful city with a lot of cool and high tech buildings, modern design everywhere, fancy parks clean streets, an excellent metro system and helpful people. It seems to be a very developed country with impressive technology and everything works smoothly. However, it's also a strict society. You can get a fine for chewing gum, littering, eating food in the metro or jaywalking. You see no cats, dogs or street musicians - the streets are simply clean and organized.

On Saturday we found our way to the Norwegian Seaman's Church. We finally had traditional graut (porridge) and waffles again. Although there were no norwegians working at the moment, we met some nice swedish people. It was a delight not having asian food, but real norwegian food, and we got updated with some newspapers. A great feeling to hold it in your hands and not just read it online! 

Marina Sand to the left

The combinition of exhausting sightseeing, heat and air condition made us worn out Saturday night with a bad cold and fever (again), so we dragged ourselves to the airport and we're now in sunny Cairns, Australia!
We're staying in one of the best hostels in Australia (possibly the best) with a very friendly staff, clean rooms, a pool, free ride to the city center, and generally a great atmosphere. There's also free coffee and a free meal every night.

Our plan is to do a lot of relaxing and get back on our feet. Then we're gonna go snorkling at the great barrier reef, and probably visit the rainforest. We're also dying to find Summer Bay, and keeping our eyes open for Home and Away characters!

Wedding-couple at the Marina Sand Skypark

Marina Sand Skypark

Singapore at night

Little India in Singapore

Mail-box in Cairns

 

The city lagoon

Backpacker fun facts

• Randi means prostitute in hindi
• People in India choose their children's name by looking in the horoscope
• They play the national anthem in the skytrain in Bangkok 2 times a day. Everybody has to stand up for it.
• There are crocodiles in the Lumphini Park in Bangkok
• We have seen the indian version of Dwight Schrute from "The Office" - twice!
• People in India think you are extraordiniary smart if you have glasses
• A flying curtain in the middle of the night can make you turn the whole bungalow upside down in search of insects 
• You can get a sunburn even when you are using sunfactor 30
• Don't let strangers order food for you in a nightmarket
• Seasickness tablets can be a blessing, but be aware of the sideeffects
• Sweets, cookies and crisps can actually make you hungry for vegetables 
• As a backpacker you really appreciate toilet paper and soap when you find it in a restroom  

Banana Pancakes

(Pictures are added on our previous post "An Indian Summary")




Our bungalow at Kah Tao

 

We've now been on 3 islands! They were very comfortable and unique in their own way. We loved the nature of them - the steep mountains, cliffs, long beaches and deep forests.





Koh Tao: 

On the first island, Koh Tao, we finally decided to rent a scooter and we went all over the island to explore. It was just after a heavy rainfall so the roads were a bit washed away. Astrid has gained so much weight that she had to walk behind the scooter in the steepest hills. We found a remote beach - Tanote Bay, hidden in the southern part of the island and we also found our way to several viewpoints. 

For our own wellbeing we decided to take a real thai massage for 1 whole hour (the fastest hour we've experienced in a long time). They bended our body parts in all kinds of angles and in different directions. With their force we become more flexible than we ever could imagine ourselves. We also tried snorkling without much luck and we meet up with some people from our group in India. But most of all we spent our time relaxing on the beach, eating good food and recovering from sickness. 



Tanote bay





Krabi: 

It took us a day to move on to our next destination: Krabi. We only had one night here and we decided to go to the local night market to have some local food. We meet up with some americans, canadians and a russian who we spent hours talking to. The hightlight was when he bought us a chocolate & banana pancake! 

Koh Phi Phi: 

We spent an hour tracking down our hostel with our heavy backpacks. It was during the hottest part of the day and we eventually found it by the foot of the mountain. So for us Norwegians, what was more natural than climbing this mountain? On the top of the mountain we found a weird drug dealer. Anyway, it became a dreadful night in the dorm - a room used as a refuge for insects. Randi got attacked by bedbugs, ticks and some other exotic creatures. Next morning we said goodbye to this swarming insect hole and changed our room. All in all it was a very charming and social hostel with an old, hippie, Scottish couple running it. 






Kah Tao

 

Phi Phi











On our second day we decided to go on a arranged snorkeling trip with a group. We stopped at different locations where we meet monkeys and we did some swimming in crystal clear blue water. We also watched the sunset in Maya Bay which is a famous place used as a location for the movie "The Beach". It was a nice, yet overcrowded by tourists. Both PhiPhi and the surrounding islands are really breathtaking with their distinctive nature..







Later on we meet up with some people from the trip and we watched one of the fire shows on the beach. We learned: Do not sit at the front row during a fire show! Randi suddenly had a burning stick in her lap, yet managed to escape. They day after she found burnt parts on her head and arms. 



Maya Bay







Maya Bay

 

Our bungalow





Koh Lanta: 

We moved on to a third island and found ourselves on a resort in the middle of nowhere - well, most importantly, it was next to the beach. Compared to the other islands, this one was not overcrowded by tourists but we were staying at a long white beach with only a few tourists strolling by now and then. So it was an obvious choice to spend some days here. 



The first night we were to sleep in a simple bungalow, but this bungalow was so open and full of cracks that we might as well could have brought our sheets and slept outside. But we felt determined to sleep there, armed with our king size insect spray. Real backpackers share beds with insects right? But when 10 cockroaches closed in our bed we decided to drop the backpacker image and head for the reception to change our cabin. The local staff were giggling at us pale foreigners when taking us to a safer residence. It was seriously like entering heaven..Not an insect as far as the eye could see.. In the daytime we've been enjoying the sunny life on the beach and this has been followed by rain, thunder and lightning in the afternoon. Astrid has been strolling around in an over sized rain poncho looking stupid - but dry. We've had some decent swimming and we used once again a scooter to explore the island. We have also meet up with some Germans from the snorkeling trip on PhiPhi. So we've been practicing our german a lot in Thailand - of all places. 

The last evening we had sea food with a huge coconut - naturally with coconut milk. Healthy? yes! Good? No. It was almost like a real full moon party with the full moon and Germans. After several evenings of heavy rainclouds, we finally had our sunset. It was absolutely stunning. It was a mixture of different shapes of clouds and I counted 20 different shades of colors. All in one sunset. Everybody should travel half the world to see such a sunset.      .  





View point at Koh Lanta



Old Town in Koh Lanta






















 

A tourist and a german







It's getting hot in here

Despite of the earthquake and following tsunami in Japan, we are unaffected and still alive.

Bangkok

We left Goa friday the 4th of March and set off to Bangkok! It was a day of unfortunate events - Randi's luggage was soaked in antibac on arrival and (as mentioned earlier) the birds of Mumbai really has something against her. We had a transfer flight to Mumbai and when the birds didn't get a chance to poo on Randi there, the luggage arrived in Bangkok with poo on it..

Astrid's cellphone is still in Goa - somewhere. Probably on a beach. If anybody should find it - let me know! In the meantime, you can reach me by letters.

In Bangkok we stayed in a hostel with a lot of danish people. We had our first real night in dormitory with 10 people. We came across an interesting french guy who put up his stinky socks and underwear every night. So, we gladly paid more for a different room with air -con.

Bangkok was a very hot place and it was such a relief to visit shopping malls with air con. We also went to a freezing cinema and we all had to stand up for the national anthem while they showed pictures of the king. Thai people loves their king.

In India people tried to get our money by directe measures - simply begging for it. While in Thailand people will also scam you and get your money - yet, in a discrete manner. We were ripped of by both tuktuk and taxi drivers. We learned from our mistakes and took the skytrain instead.

After 3 weeks in India with no supermarkets, we ended up spending a lot of time at shopping centers. We both tried out thai food and traditional, western junkfood. Randi even found nowegian crisp bread!

As far as touristic events we visited a few temples, a closed museum, Jim Thompson's House as well as the famous backpacker place - Khao San Road. Since we both had caugt a really bad cold in India, it was delightful to sit in the Lumphini Park and simply read a book.

In India people were curious, more intense and constantly staring us. It was a shock coming to Bangkok - suddenly no one stared! We did find thai people very helpful and polite. Some would just start a conversation with us or automatically help us find the way. All in all, we felt more like tourists than backpackers when visiting all the tourist attractions. But our dirty feet, clothes and mosquito bites probably gave us away. Besides, sleeping in a dorm is real backpackerstyle right? It is also much more social like that, than having a double room for ourselves.

We also spent 1 day in a kindergarten in the middle of the slum. The slum was surprisingly close to the city centre, but probably not very known among tourists. It was very giving to experience another, hidden part of Bangkok and learning about conditions in this part of the city. We think the people we visited are doing a very important job! We were also allowed to be with the children and playing with them despite of language barriers. The children were so open and easy to play with.

Koh Tao

Wedensday night we left the big city and set off to a remote island, Koh Tao. It was about 5 hours in a bus followed by a boatride in a catamaran. Did we mention there was a storm? At first when we hit the big waves everybody was laughing cheerfully of excitement, but when the crew came around with puking-bags and tissues, we knew what was to come. We can only say -we've never been this seasick before.

The first day we were both catching up on lost sleep, and since Randi's cough was only worse with additional fever and chest-pains, she decided to get to know a real thai hospital. After a nice conversation with a very polite doctor, and a following x-ray it was confirmed that Randi suffers from bronchitis. She recieved four bags of various pills, an envelope with the x-ray and ordered not to swim for the next four days.

We hope to go snorkeling tomorrow as it probably will be our last day at the island.

Our meeting with the local doctor and police

We have now been in Goa for a week and it's a very relaxing place. We've been on the beach a lot and attended many farewell dinner parties for several group members. We hang out in the same restaurants and bars day after day and we've been dancing the night away. We're staying in a local guesthouse with 2 other people from our group and a crazy dog licking our feet everyday. It's more backpacker standard now, compared to the 2 weeks in various hotels. All in all, quiet beach life and a lot of sun/sweating.

However, a little bit of action as well, here comes: Indian hospital for dummies:

It all started with me (Astrid) feeling extraordinary sleepy and tired from sunday morning till tuesday. That's when we thought wisest thing to do, was to find a real indian hospital! Luckily, our canadian friend could take me on his motorbike so we could find a hospital with some decent standard. When asking for the way to the recommended hospital a taxi driver said "No, no, very dirty!" So we decided to go for another one. And it was nice and clean. After waiting a while I was sent to the doctor. I started to tell him about my sleepy condition and he just replied "lay down!". After putting his fist around my stomach for a few seconds his conclusion was "very bad..stomach infection miss".

I was actually relieved. No malaria, no kind of tropical disease - just a normal tourist thing. After several samples, including a blood sample I was sent back to the doctor who gave me a huge package of king size tablets. He told me I was going to be a part of a clinical trial and to take these every morning and every night.

I was a bit shocked by the huge size of the tablets and I asked him: "A trial - is it safe?"
"yes, yes, good riddance miss!"
"so, you've tested this on people before?"
"yes, yes 20 people!"
"ok. so you're sure it's safe?"
"good riddance!" and then he put the first pill in my mouth.

well, even if the doctor didn't calm me down, I am feeling much better now. As a part of a trial I have to keep in contact with the doctor for a month. And since it's a trial - it's free! Perfect for a backpacker on a small budget.

I'm gonna go back there tonight followed by our last farewell meal in India.

The other exciting thing this week was our big scooter trip. We decided to rent a scooter for 1 day, Randi as the driver and me as the passenger we've been driving across Goa. We had company by 2 others from our group and we all went to Colva - which is said to be one of the nicest beaches in Goa.

In the middle of the highway our friends were pulled over by the police, and we stopped as well. The police officer wanted to see both their drivers license. And after a quick check he decided that the license weren't international and not good enough for driving in India. He showed us his own indian licenese to show us that he couldn't use it in our countries. Randi replied "Of course not! You don't have any rules here!" Despite of furious protests he wouldn't change his mind. And our Canadian friend gave in and paid the fine. Randi was not at all willing to pay 900 rupees for not having a good enough license. The policeman looked hopelessly at our friend and asked what to do with Randi, and he replied "Do whatever you want! Put the young girl in jail!" Then the policeman decided to let us go. Quite an absurd meeting with Indian police ripping of innocent tourists.

When we stopped at a coffee bar further up the road, we showed the fine to the waiter and he laughed and said it was a fine for not wearing a helmet.. He even called his friends to tell them about the incident. Well, at least the police had a nice work day, earning 1000 rupees for nothing. 

Tomorrow morning we're off to Bangkok!