Bravery Personified

Richard writes:

I write this post from the dangerous environment of a poolside sun lounger within our resort hotel in Krabi. You will all be pleased to note that I am keeping a watchful eye on any menacing predators that might emerge from the pool or leap from the palm trees that surround us, and that Casey is completely safe with me looking after her. She is a lucky girl to have such a courageous boyfriend who keeps such a careful lookout.

Despite what people might think from Casey's last post, this is not the first time I have shown courage and an urge to protect her. Look at the picture below, noting which one of the two of us has Stacey's (a Burmese python) head within reach. Would someone who is scared of monkeys, small lizards and birds hold a snake like this? I think not.

I sadly was unable to protect Casey from the perils of the Kuala Lumpur to Butterworth overnight train. As eluded to in her last post, the conditions were not conducive to a good night's sleep. As she shuffled in an attempt to get comfortable and wrapped up in a throw to keep out the overbearingly cold airconditioning, I gently dozed.

After a short ferry from Butterworth to Georgetown (Penang's capital), we had a lovely morning ambling around its quiet laid back streets, sampling a peanut pancake for breakfast and enjoying its World Heritage listed colonial architecture. In the afternoon we visited the snake temple where the photo above was taken.

Georgetown

We awoke early the next morning, to catch the two and half hour ferry to Langkawi. Langkawi is a beautiful island in far northern Malaysia, just off the Thai coast. Casey hired a car and we spent the afternoon circumnavigating the small island. Assuming the role of chief navigator, I was presented with the challenge that my map was in English and all road signs were in Malay. As a result, each request from Casey regarding our whereabouts was met by mumbled vague responses. Despite this, we did pretty much see what we wanted to. This included, picture postcard beaches, the humorous looking leaf monkeys and many small villages with the locals going about their every day business.

A Langkawi beach

A Malaysian Leaf Monkey

Next stop was the Thai beach resort of Krabi. To get there we needed to catch a ferry to the mainland and then catch a bus from the port town of Satun to Krabi. We had booked the ferry in advance, so we were not too concerned about this leg, but catching the bus that we had read about on the internet, was a bit of an unknown. As it happened, both legs presented their challenges. Without fuss I collected our tickets and we sat down to consume our banana and chocolate pancakes we had procured the night before at the Langkawi night market (along with all sorts of ridiculously cheap other goodies that had made up our dinner). On attempting to board the 9am ferry we were told we had to pass through immigration and customs first, which unfortunately didn't open until 9am. The officials didn't seem to see what our concern was and without much option we got in line for the necessary checks. Gladly the office opened at 8:50, at which point we were given a lesson in Malaysian "queuing", where several vertically challenged elderly Malaysian women ducked under our armpits and rushed through. After a delayed ferry departure we arrived at the port of Satun, where we went through Thai border formalities and began working out how to get a bus to Krabi. At which point, a chirpy middle aged Thai man asked we where we going, and before we knew it, I was undertaking a rushed currency exchange transaction with him and purchasing two tickets for a bus to Krabi. He bundled us onto a glorified ute with a roof rack and we sat in the back careering to the local bus station. On arriving at the bus station we were met by a helpful Thai girl, who checked we were going to Krabi and pointed in the general direction of some buses. After attempting to check that we about to get on the correct bus without success we got on and hoped for the best! All ended well, as five hours later we arrived in Krabi at our hotel.

Our humble Krabi abode

 

In Krabi we have had a very relaxing time in a tourist mecca, with numerous eateries and massage parlours, which we have frequented. Yesterday we went elephant trekking, whilst today we are doing very little, just sitting by the pool, before our 12 hour bus ride to Bangkok tomorrow!

Elephant Trekking

Evening meal and drinks

We are having a truly wonderful time, and the challenges so far have not been too great, but we are aware that some of the countries ahead will present greater foreboding than South-East Asia has. I hope all who are visiting this blog are enjoying our updates and photos. Please feel free to leave comments, as we really enjoy reading them, and it reassures us we are not talking to ourselves!