Adventures in Asia

Steve Bradley Volunteer

With the emergence of cheap flights and numerous internet travel websites people are becoming even more adventurous and independent with their travel destinations.

It had been a while since I had got my backpack on but it was time to don my daft sun hat and grab my backpack again- Malaysia and Thailand here we go! My (sometime unfortunate) partner Rachel and I had just booked flights into Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and out of Bangkok in Thailand, which meant we had to get from one country to another in a few weeks, while seeing and doing as much as we could in both countries.

Before we went I had to sort out some travel insurance. This was a real hassle. I contacted a lot of companies trying to get the best deal I could. Eventually I found one that didn't want me to re-mortgage my house for the privilege. Other than the insurance there were the normal trips to the Doctors to sort out injections for all kinds of weird and wonderful tropical diseases!

Having only finished work on Friday and flying on Tuesday we really hadn't had much time to work out any itinerary for our trip! We knew we wanted beaches, sunshine and a relaxing time. We just didn't know where we could find it all!

After a long flight and the loss of several hours we felt well and truly tired and disorientated when we arrived at Kuala Lumpur! In the spirit of the trip and independent travel we decided to take local trains to our first hotel. The hard part was getting out of the airport and past the many hawkers, scam artists and dubious taxi drivers who were intent on putting us in an expensive taxi.

We spent 3 days in a very busy and extremely diverse Kuala Lumpur before deciding to head away up the coast and find some peace and quiet! During our time in Kuala Lumpur we had found China Town, Little India and safely negotiated the crazy roads, and cracked the local metro system. Little India and China Town were both really busy market areas with unbelievably tasty and cheap food on sale everywhere.

We moved up the coast to a place called Kuantan where we stayed for a few days and gradually got used to the peace and quiet after spending time in one of Asia's busiest cities. In the day we saw monkeys hanging around, and we still don't know what we heard at night scratching away near our little hut!

With the local wildlife getting closer each night it was time to move on again. We picked 'Puala Perhentian' or the Perhentian Islands (pronounced Perinthian) as our next stop. Getting here was a mini adventure in itself with a bus, taxi and then two boats taking us to our final destination. It was a hard day's travelling for us in very hot weather. We were also now a bit worried as we had heard that all the accommodation on the island was full, with people sleeping on the beach!

We waited at the jetty for our boat with some other travellers of various nationalities. Finally our rather old looking boat turned up and we were beckoned to 'step on board'! Throughout our trip I always had a worry about falling in or out of something while loaded down with my backpack! I managed this ok although I'm fairly sure it was not the most graceful movement that had ever been seen.

After about an hour on the boat the water suddenly turned clear blue, it was shimmering as the sun bounced of it and in the distance we could finally see the island! One final leap onto a smaller boat later and we were on shore. It was a stunning place. I raced on ahead to try and grab a room at one of the many beach side guest houses! My little burst of energy was repaid as I grabbed the last room at 'Aur Bay'. Rachel was feeling tired after watching me run and I found her in 'Mama's Cafe' enjoying a tropical fruit shake and a bite to eat! I sat down, looked around and smiled- first impressions were good! We had only booked one night to start with as we weren't sure what it would be like! We discovered the joys of banana pancakes and fresh juice in the morning, lazing on the beach in the afternoon, having a gentle swim in the pure clear water, plenty of reading and generally taking it easy! The island had almost been a detox camp for us, but with the best food and drink available. We stayed on the quiet side of the island which meant that in order to get to the other side you could hire a boat or walk through the jungle! During this often moonlit walk we regularly had to wait for enormous monitor lizards to pass. (I was glad this was not an everyday experience.) Our room had cost us about £5 a night. After five nights with time flying by we finally decided to move on.

Our next stop was Thailand, we crossed the border by foot and got the obligatory travellers stamp in our passports. It took a day to sort out onward travel to 'Rai-ley Bay' near Krabi. This was another long days travelling with a hazardous walk at the end thrown in for good measure. We had to hop off the boat and walk several hundred metres through the sea to reach the shore! It was low season so we managed to find a great apartment with a hot shower, fan and clean towels-luxury! More great food, sunshine, excellent beaches and loads to do during the day. We had a go at climbing some of Krabi's world famous cliff's, sea kayaked much to the locals amusement, discovered cocktails and the joys of Connect 4 at one of the beach side bars. We visited the James Bond Island, made famous in the film The Man with the Golden Gun' at 'Phang-Nga'. One night rapidly turned into seven as we relaxed into the Thai way of life and planned the last leg of our trip and prepared for the big city madness of Bangkok.

After a few stops on the way we finally arrived in Bangkok. Finding somewheret to stay was harder here than anywhere else we had visited. We spent the final three nights of our trip in Bangkok, visiting some of the world famous temples and the iconic statues of Buddha that were housed here. We took a trip to Kanchanaburi, the scene of 'The Death Railway' or 'Bridge OverThe River Kwai'. This was a very sombre experience. There were over seven thousand graves in the cemetery for soldiers and civilians who had fallen in such horrendous circumstances during the construction of the bridge for the Japanese Army.

During the next 2 days we also visited a Tiger Temple, haggled in the markets, ate more great food, took trips in Tuk

Tuks (the yellow 3 wheeled open top cars), and made it back in one piece!

Malaysia and Thailand were two great places to do a spot of backpacking. If I got tired we could stay on in a certain place a bit longer, the food was cheap and very healthy and it was up to us how much or how little we did each day. I kept an empty bottle and some bottled water with me so I could safely take my medication each day. The trip was a fantastic hassle free experience for both of us and one that I would love to continue in the not to distant future!