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After a week at Kenyir Lake we drove to Mareng, where we got a boat across to Gem Island. We had decided to treat ourselves to 2 days of island time in Malaysia. As monsoon season was upon them, we were the last 2 guests on the island for 2007....and we even attended the staff end of year dinner!! We were a bit disappointed though, as many of the facilities had already been shut down. Matt was able to do some fishing though! We spent our final night in Malaysia near the airport in Kuala Terrenganu and then took an early morning flight out to KL. After 5 hours in KL airport, we boarded our plane....Thailand here we come! One night in Bangkok....
After an early night at our lovely hotel, The Davis, we woke up very excited as we were about to start the Ticky Tour 2. Jono and Anel, who we had been to the Maldives with last year, were meeting us at breakfast time - they had arrived late the night before.
We spent most of the day talking and catching up (with a gym session thrown in!) and then treated ourselves to an authentic thai massage that evening. A real experience and there was much hilarity in the process!!
We joined an all day tour the following day to the famous floating markets and Rose Garden. The tour itself was a bit of a disappointment as it seemed like we spent an hour at each of these and then the rest of the time we were taken to other 'parks' where we had to pay each time...we think our guide, Tit Tit, may have been getting a few backhanders!!!
Having said that, the floating markets were lovely - loads of flowers, food and all sorts of goods on sale. The food looked amazing and cheap! (20 bhat for 4 spring rolls = 15p!).
We spent Saturday morning at the tailor getting measured for our tailor-made suits...it's amazing what they produce at half the cost of anything you could get in the UK. Anel and I got our hair cut in the afternoon (4 pounds!) and then we all got dressed up and went to the Oriental hotel for high tea...the original Bangkok hotel and real colonial style. It was great. Then a trip to the Bangkok night markets - the Thai handcrafts are so beautiful and we could have bought so much...but we are waiting till we get back to Bangkok to shop!!
We had decided to catch the train up to Chang Mai to experience a different mode of transport and it was a true experience! A once in a lifetime experience but one probably not to be repeated! It was a long, bumpy 12 hours! There was also a nervewracking moment when the train nearly left Johnny and Matt at the station - they had gone to buy beers - that'll teach them!
We arrived in Chang Mai grimy and tired but happy to be up North and far from the maddening crowd.
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