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Janet's travel blog: (Part One)
Well I'm two weeks into my tour and I guess I should finally post something for people to read of my travels! So far we've been doing lots of travelling on trains and buses. I've mostly been sleeping on these trips or reading up on the next destination (on my south east Asia on a shoestring lonely planet guide which I downloaded onto my new smartphone! I love my phone!). But today I'm well rested, have read up on Bandung and decided, hey, I can use my phone to write about my travels!
So I've just finished the first section of my travels, from Bangkok to Singapore. We had an amazing tour group. 9 were English, 3 boys on their gap year (Tom, Bevan and Jack), a couple (Louise and Jon), 4 girls all around early to mid 20's (Lucy or Lou Lou, Nikki from Liverpool, Ceri and Ellen my roomie). There were a couple from Ireland, (Paula and Richard. Richard was from northern Ireland had a super strong accent, would say 'aye' for yes, and was really difficult to understand)! 2 Swedish girls (Sara and Cecilia) and Orasa from Scotland.
We started in Bangkok. In the morning on the first day, I met Ellen, my roomie. She had been in Bangkok a few days but was quite jet-lagged so hadn't explored much. We hadn't met anyone else so we armed ourselves with a map and went out to explore Bangkok together. It was so much fun! We wandered around for a while, lots of locals would ask us where you from, how long have you been here, where are you going, have you seen the big Buddha temple. It was quite entertaining the first few times but we got a bit sick of it after having the same conversation five or six times!
We got a tuk tuk to take us around the sights of Bangkok. We had a few forced stops at jewelers and tailors shops because the tuk tuk drivers apparently get petrol vouchers if they bring people there! After looking around and shopping a while, we were tired so went to a bar for a Chang beer, or 3! We were both quite chatty on the way back to the hotel!
After that we had a spare 15 mins so had another beer before our first group meeting. Our tour leader was Ma'am. She was Thai, was shorter than me, very easy to get on with and always up for a laugh. She would always laugh three time later and three times loud than everyone else! She had a few catch phrases she would throw around like, "its your holiday, have a great time!", "stop whinning!" (in a really whiney voice) and she would often say things twice like "looky, looky", "shoppy, shoppy", "kissy, kissy", and "boom, boom" (which was everyone's favorite).
The first night out was really fun. I shared in a few too many "buckets of joy" and as a result, you'd be better off asking other members of the group for any details of that night...
The next day amidst a cracking hangover I managed to explore the grand palace with Ellen, Richard and Paula. That night we went from Bangkok to Surat Thani on an overnight sleeper train. I played cards with Ellen, Orasa and Nikki (who will now be known for her famous saying of "is it my go?" in her lovely Liverpool accent), then I played spit with Orasa. She wasn't happy that I beat her but was very happy when Ceri beat me!
Ellen and I rocked off for the bottom bunk. I lost so I had the top bunk, right next to the freezing cold air conditioner (you can count that as a moan if you want Nikki!). Not the best night sleep, but ah well.
Short bus trip to Krabi where we stayed at J Mansion in Ao Nang for three nights. That afternoon I went kayaking with Ceri, Tom, Jack and Bevan. It was great. We paddled through mangroves, and then through big canyons. It was stunning. Even though it was pouring with rain I still loved it!
After dinner we went for a 'drinky drinky' where there was some live entertainment. Ellen, Lou and I enjoyed the entertainment and the pronunciation of particular song lyrics such as knocking on heathers door. Hours of fun. Had a dance and a few games of pool at Luna lounge later that night.
The next day we all went on a private boat to lots of islands around and including Phi Phi Island. It was overcast the whole day but still good. Highlights of the day were being at the front of the boat and having a sweet time going up and down on the waves. At the first island, I decided to walk around it. This was after the British got to the first set of rocks and decided, no, you can't get through there. I decided differently (i think this was the start of the bear grylls nickname!) Anyway, I had basically got back to where I started when I saw our boat pulling away. I knew they wouldn't go without me and they picked me up from the beach before we went to Phi Phi Island for lunch. We were going to go to the beach where they filmed the film the beach but unfortunately the water was too rough. Basically the day was filled with swimming, snorkelling and food. Not bad really! Also, as a joke I pretended to push Lou (who is petrified of the sea) into the water... it didn't go down so well... oops! Luckily, we are still friends.
Our last day in Ao Nang, most people went on an elephant ride. I decided to go rock climbing instead, but unfortunately it got cancelled. Instead, Tom, Jack and I hired a bus and went to the tiger temple. It has been one of the highlights of my trip so far. We climbed up 1237 steps to get to the top. I was knackered.when we got there! The view from the top and the quietness.when we got up there was awesome. Shortly after we got to the top there was a passing heavy shower followed by bright sunshine. As a result I saw the most amazing rainbow I've ever seen! Usually you only see a section of a rainbow, but because we were up so high we could see about 220 degrees of the rainbow. It was a really bright double rainbow and at one end it was positioned over a large golden temple. Just incredible!
Bus trip to Penang the next morning. (insert afternoon activity...)
In the evening we went to red garden. Lots of yummy cheap food there. Then we went for a drink. Five of us shared a beer tower! It was a fun novelty :) Nikki, Cecilia, Ma'am, Ben and I were all keen for kicking on after so we searched around for a place and ended up at the SoHo bar. It was a very entertaining night. We were next to a bunch of Indians on holiday and we all had fun trying to get pictures next to one of them who was 'sleeping' on his couch! We got some good snaps! Had a bit of a dance also before drunkenly stumbling home. This was the beginning of the hardcore group. Initial members: Janet, Nikki, Cecilia, Ma'am.
Day 2 at Penang started with a tour of the city by a local guide, Stevie T. He loved his Penang. We saw Fort Cornwallis, and some other sights of the city. At one stage, we were an attraction as 3 Muslim ladies were taking photos of us then asked all 15 of us be in their photo! Stevie T was also telling us all about how strict Malaysia is on drugs. Ceri's response was, "well if they found drugs on me, I'd just get tell them to call mum, she'd tell 'em!" That pretty much started one of the tour quotes, "just call my mum, she'll tell ya!"
I spent the arvo wandering around the streets and seeing things for myself. The footpaths are interesting here. It's actually much easier to walk on the road as the footpath is full of steps and obstacles such as motorbikes, that it takes much less effort to walk on the road!
We headed to SoHo bar again that night, this time with the whole group where we started the dance floor and in Lou's words (and actions) we stirred it up!
From Penang we went to the Cameron highlands. Much cooler in the Cameron highlands and a lot of the English felt they were at home. Dinner that evening was very entertaining. I haven't laughed that hard in ages! Firstly, I was trying to take off all the English people's accents (apparently I wasn't too bad at it!), although I had no hope of imitating Richard's northern Ireland accent! After that Ceri started telling us all Liz stories (Liz being her mum). Basically from what Ceri tells us of Liz, she is as competitive, if not more so than Ceri, becomes outraged at the price of sunflower seeds from Tesco, likes to dress up as an owl and enjoys studying ants. As Ellen put it, "she sounds like a hoot!". Lucy also talked about how her attitude was changing and was becoming a lot more positive. She put that down to being around me and my positive attitude. That and the fact I often pointed just how much she moaned! In any case it was a hilarious dinner conversation. Oh, also for dinner that night, I had a large tiger and a superior fried mee. :)
After dinner we went to the jungle bar. This was the first night I met the infamous Dan. He was traveling with Ben. I'd heard stories that he wasn't the most fun person to be around, it was was quite interesting when I did meet him. Firstly he seemed nice enough, then he started doing and saying things that were extremely arrogant and egotistical. Eg, at the end ot the night, Nikki and I were just finishing off our drinks before heading back to the hotel as everyone else had just left. So we were there with Ben, Ma'am and Dan. In Thailand it is very disrespectful to point the sole of your foot at someone. Dan had put his feet up on the table pointing at Ma'am, and she asked him to take his feet off the table. He replied by saying that he thinks when you are in a westernised place that rule doesn't apply (even though he was pointing his feet at Ma'am who is Thai). He then went on to say, "I'm not being an ignorant tourist, I just think its a load of b******s"... (umm, I think you are being an ignorant tourist, Dan...). After that he also had a go at the lonely planet guide booked, saying that they were a load of b******s too. Nikki, bless her, after we had spent the evening at dinner talking about turning everything info a positive, said to Dan "so what do you find positive about the lonely planet guide books?" I laughed so hard when she said that! No wonder Ben continued his travels with us instead of Dan!
A full day tour with Ceri, Lou, Ben and the boys was the next day. We had a blow dart demonstration and were able to have a go ourselves. I was surprised at how easy it was to make the dart fly through the air and at great speed. After that we went on a small jungle trek to see a Rufflesia, the largest flower in the world. Poor Ceri was particularly struggling to get up the hill and when we made it to the top, the Rufflesia we were going to see had withered and died in a large black mess. Ceri was so mad! But then we looked around a bit longer and saw one. It was rather large!
In the afternoon we went to the butterfly park. Saw lots of cool butterflies and other animals and insects including a leaf insect which was my favorite. It totally looked like a leaf, it was amazing! Later we went to Boh tea plantation. We had a look at how they pick and process the tea. After the tour there was a large group of Muslim girls who had just done their tour. I was wandering around looking at the history of the tea plantation when I heard some giggling. A bunch of them were laughing and pointing at me, then one plucked up enough courage to walk past me and mumble, "what's your name?". I replied "Janet, what's yours?" And she ran off giggling to her friends! Funny. I had a teh teric and a scone with everyone while we sat out on the balcony overlooking the stunning mountainous scenery of the tea plantations. Lovely. The strawberry plantation was next where we all had an amazing strawberry shake. Yum!
That evening when we went out for dinner all the girls seemed to sit at one table... the one Dan wasn't sitting at! Funny.
After dinner we all went back to the hotel. This was the first night of mafia! Mafia is a game played with a small group. The game controller chooses two people to be the mafia, one to be the doctor and one to be the night watchman while the rest are villagers. The townspeople have to decide who they think is the mafia and who they want to kill off. Then everyone bows their head, the mafia look up and decide to kill someone off, the doctor chooses to save someone and the night watchman can ask about someone. Then everyone looks up and the game continues, until either the townspeople have killed off the mafia or the mafia have killed all the townspeople! Very fun game. Poor Ceri, she was so excited about playing the game that everyone thought it would be funny to vote her off first round! This happened on a few occasions! I really enjoyed it when I got picked as the mafia! It's fun being deceptive.
Morning bus to KL. I had a look around the markets in Chinatown and bought two tops for about $10. I love bartering with the stallholders. It's just like a game! The evening was one of my best nights of the tour. We had dinner at the food court of the patronas towers, then we went and took lots of pictures of us in front of the towers. Then we headed out to the Reggae Bar (which is now one of my favorite places in KL)! Firstly, Richie and I dominated the pool table. We were there for about 4 hours. We must have played and beaten about 8 pairs. It was great! We were over it after that, so left the table undefeated! Then a few more drinks were had and also a dance. Again, it was the hardcore group (Nikki,Cecilia, Sara, Bevan and I) and also Paula and Richard. I got some pretty sweet videos of the hardcore group... which shall remain in my private collection only :)
Day 2 in KL was really cruisey. I had a sleep in for the first time in ages which was marvellous. In the arvo we went to see a traditional Malaysian dancing show. It was really colorful and really entertaining. I was so tired though that I may have had a small powernap during the show! We went up the KL tower in the afternoon. Saw some great views from the top, then got a taxi back to the hotel for a nap! Had a quiet dinner in the evening then headed out to the reggae bar again. When we got back to the hotel I showed the hardcore group the videos I had taken from the previous night... very entertaining! Oh, that night I managed to trip over Bevan's leg and landed right on my knee cap. It was rather painful and I ended up with a graze and a massive bruise on my knee! It looked quite impressive!
To Melaca the next day. In the afternoon we all did a boat trip along the river in Melaca. It was a really pretty town and seemed really chilled out. Nikki and I wandered around together for while and saw some of the sights. Had dinner at a flash place in the evening. Our waiter Simon was a very entertaining guy. He asked each of our names so he could do separate bills, then he would alter the name to someone famous, eg I was Janet Jackson, Jack was Jack and Jill, Tom was Tom Hanks etc and when he got to Ellen he pronounced it Alan, and an alter ego was born. At dinner, one end of the table decided to put the salt and pepper shakers in compromising positions... it was kind of entertaining :) We had a look at the night market after.
To Singapore the next day. We didn't have much time there as Ellen, Orasa and I had to leave for Jakarta the next day. That afternoon I had a walk around the marina area and saw the 'largest fountain in the world' (although it didn't have all its bells and whistles going when I was there), and then went up the Singapore Flyer. I had to wait around for about half an hour due to some stormy weather, but when that passed I ended up in a capsule with an Iranian tour group. A lot of them asked for a picture with me and then at the end they asked me to take a picture of their entire.group with about 7 of their cameras! It took ages but I got a round of applause at the end of it. I got some good snaps of the city and saw some impressive sights. Nice.
That evening was the last night of the Bangkok to Singapore tour. We had a lovely meal at a flash Italian Restaurant, and reminisced about all the wonderful times we'd had over the last two weeks. That evening we went out to Raffles for a Singapore Sling. It was bloody expensive (about $25 aus), but it was very nice and you know what they say, when in Rome! Had a few further drinks and a boogie down along the river at Clarke Quay, then back to the hotel at around 4am!
We had the best tour group. Everyone got on with each really well and everyone was really positive about everything by the end of the tour!
Throughout the tour I changed a few brits out of their whining ways. Especially Lucy. She would complain at everything at the start but by the end she was a changed woman and attributed it all to me! I was so proud. She told me that she was talking to her mum on the phone and after talking for a while her mum was like, "lucy, are you ok? You sound different...!"
I gained the nickname of bear grylls on this tour. For various reasons. Mostly because I'd give most things a go and wasn't scared of bugs! Also because I was so positive about everything Nikki nicknamed me Pollyanna Grylls. She tells me that Pollyanna was a story about a girl who was positive about everything, a bit like me in comparison to the brits! Lucy also nicknamed me bushtucker Janet.
Overall it was a tour I will never forget.
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