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We left KL on Wednesday 27th April to start our great island adventure! We started the day with what we thought was plenty of time to catch our flight to Langkawi, an island at the top of Malaysia, however after a stressful journey to the airport (that took a lot longer than anticipated) we arrived just five minutes before check in closed. Never again! The whole situation was made even more stressful by the rest of the airport's lack of queuing ability - a lot of convention tickets issued.
All was forgotten when we arrived on the amazing beach of Langkawi. The beach was beautiful and the water was the warmest we've ever felt - it was literally like being in a bath. Our guest house was pleasant aside from the family of cockroaches living inside our sink (eeeek!). Siobhan tried to capture one in our bin when it scuttled under the bed - needless to say we didn't sleep in peace for the whole 5 nights. Later in the week we found one dead in Siobhan's rucksack (apparently the female species lay their eggs when they die?!?!) Siobhan took the necessary precautions and baby wiped her rucksack out!
Langkawi was cute with night markets, good (spicy) food along with bars on the beach front. We even managed to convince one bar it was ladies night - free drinks all round! We (accidentally) participated in our first dine and dash - obviously not used to bar tabs but it wasn't a big deal as beer is only 80p anyway! We enjoyed the royal wedding (naaaat) from a small bar on the island - very strange being so far away knowing most people at home were doing the same thing - whether or not they were excited about it or not! Kate was also approached by a man asking if she was getting married - he was not joking and it appeared he had his wires crossed! One (non-hungover day) we spent touring the local spas for an authentic massage. We got stuck in a torrential downpour and have never been so soaked. (Unfortunately this was a sign of things to come). We also ventured out on an island hopping tour, visiting a few magnificent beaches and lakes. One of the islands was covered in monkeys, some with their babies clinging to them - very cute! On the tour we met a lovely family from Yemen (lol- hello Chandler Bing). At the end of the tour the company tried to sell us a plate with our picture copied onto it - of course we declined. Whilst waiting on the bus the small Yemen boy handed us our plate which his family had bought for us - so kind but also embarrassing that we couldn't spend 2 pounds on a plate. With a confused look on his face the small boy asked if we had forgotten it?!?
On the Monday 2nd we ventured to Koh Lipe, an Thai island we had heard a lot about on Langkawi and the closest to paradise we've ever seen. It is only a couple of kilometers long (not even on the map in our guide) and the water was crystal clear. When we arrived we were taken by long tail boat onto the beach and welcomed by immigration - in a hut! Unfortunately because we entered Thailand overland we were only granted a 15 day visa (more info on this to come). We walked to our hotel down the beach where we were greeted by the receptionist - a ladyboy - we had officially arrived! Koh Lipe consisted of more good food (including pad thai, fried rice and pancakes), an amazing beach and our cute little bungalow hut made solely out of bamboo - a little scared we would fall through! After a relaxing 4 nights we headed off to Koh Lanta...
What a journey this was...4 ferries and 3 minibuses, 11 hours in total! On one of the ferries we were packed in next to people throwing up and it decided to rain so we were absolutely soaked again. Then on one of the buses a whole family climbed in to fill 2 seats, Kate was handed the small Thai baby and we all squashed up. However, once again this was all forgotten when we arrived on the island - another paradise! Our chalet was luxurious and we spent most of our time sunning ourselves on the beach. One night whilst riding a Tuk Tuk to the night markets the bar on the ceiling which Siobhan was holding fell off in her hand. After far too many minutes laughing we attempted to reattach it with the massive screw that had falled out before the driver noticed...5 minutes later the same thing happened again! Our tirade continued the following day when we walked into what we thought was a restaurant on the beach. As we got closer it turned out to be a luxurious private villa with a man sunbathing by the pool. Needless to say we ran away very quickly - should have taken the big iron gates as a hint. Turns out it costs about $300US a night to stay there - oops!
On Monday we left Koh Lanta towards Phuket in order fly to Singapore - again! If you fly into Thailand they give you a 30 day visa so we decided this was the solution (no disorganised comments please - its a soft spot)! We arrived in Phuket to find the biiiiggest single beds ever and a bath which Siobhan thoroughly enjoyed despite the water being a suspicious yellow colour! We also found our local Tesco - Siobhan was so excited about going inside she forgot to take her debit card out of the cash machine. Thank goodness for friendly Thais.
We caught our flight to Singapore the next morning where we enjoyed the cheap public transport, nice shopping centers and Coldstone Creamery. Later that day we got to the Griggs household - it was so nice to be back and felt like we had never been away. Take this as a public thank you because without them and their amazing spag bol we would have spent the night on an airport floor! :) Less than 24 hours after leaving Phuket we were back with visa in hand....woooop! We're staying on Patong Beach, Phuket where there's more good food, markets, big beds and free internet! Now preparing ourselves for tomorrow's 12 hour journey to Koh Phangan for a week of Full Moon festivities.
Brown Rating: 25%
- comments
Andrea I love how cockroaches would survive a nuclear attack but in Siobhans 3 month old rucksack it's dies! Please please please be careful at full moon! Remember that programme I watched! No skipping with ropes on fire/dying etc. All sounds fab though, even if you did have a little mishap. Think you're at the bit I'm most jealous of now... :( Miss you. Lots of love xoxox
Marcolino Love the photos!! You both look happy/alive and thats what we like to see! Just one request, have fun for Me/Jec/Will..anyone else doing exams next week or studying! All my lovexxx
Mum/Ginny Your boogles are getting better and better!! I walked into our office hearing Dad chuckling lots as he was reading them (somehow he missed the last one). Lovely to hear some of the incidents along the way and to see some more photos. Ditto from me about full moon. Remember we need lots of alive tick happy tick messages for the next week. Have fun both of you. xxxxxxxxxx
Chris and Cath - aka Siobhan's mum and dad Sounds brill and all in Leyland are really jealous, mind you if you lived in Leyland............................. These islands sound really amazing. Little comment on beer type and quality? Keep safe. Missing you loads. Enjoy next leg of your travels.