Day 88 15/12/2014

We had planned to go up Penang Hill today but the weather was grey and overcast and by the time we'd had breakfast it had started to drizzle. So instead we headed to Penang Museum.  It was a great little museum and at only 1 ringet (20p) really good value.  It includes a range of exhibits on the customs and traditions of Penang's diverse ethnic groups, of the 9 the Chinese, Malay and Indian make up over 90%.  From here we headed to the Heritage Trust (open on Mondays!) to get a copy of the self guided walking tour map.  The cooler weather and occasional drizzle made it much more pleasant for walking around.  Diane took the role of tour guide only to get put on a PDP after about 20 minutes for getting confused between the red and purple routes!  It was a great way to get to understand more about the history of Georgetown and see a number of the historic buildings from Chinese, Indian and Malay heritage.  We stopped off for lunch at a Chinese cafe before continuing on the route, visiting temples, mosques, churches, trading houses and clan houses.  A better appreciation of the history of the town has certainly made us feel a little bit more enamored by the place.  In the evening we went to another local Indian restaurant that specialises in biriyani.   This time Simon got what he had ordered from the menu and the food was tasty and not too spicy.   Diane's vegatable biriyani was OK although with the exception of the odd pea lacked in vegetables.  Still no beer though so we stopped off at a street bar for a Tiger beer, the nearest thing to local beer being brewed in Malaysia but actually originates from Singapore.  Fingers crossed for better weather tomorrow for heading up Penang Hill.

Georgetown street art

St George's Church

Local clan house

Seh Tek Tong Cheah Kongsi 

The Chinese revolution was conceived here apparently 

Enjoying a tiger beer  

Day 87 14/12/2104

After breakfast at our guest house we moved rooms to our luxury ensuite!  Despite being fairly basic the guest house is OK and probably a good thing that we opted for the cheaper option here to help fund our flight from yesterday.  We then headed to the bus station to organise our travel to Cameron Highlands, our next stop on route to Singapore, only to decide we'd pay the extra 6 ringitt (just over £1) and go by minivan from the guest house.  We thought we'd do the heritage walking tour to help familiarise ourselves with the town so set off to the Heritage Centre to get a map, only to find it closed on Sundays.  Hot and needing to replan we popped in a cafe for lunch of humus and vegetables, a very nice change from the toasted sandwiches we seem to have had of late.  We decided to get the local free bus around the town in order to see the sights and then head to the port area.  The old town is a real mix of cultures and architectures with Chinese shophouses, British colonial buildings, Indian restaurants and an array of pubs, boutiques, cafes and a mass of street food stalls.  It's a maze of chaotic streets and narrow lanes with no pavements which makes it an interesting challenge for pedestrians.  We got off the bus near the ferry terminal and walked around the headland to Fort Cornwallis, built on the cape and marking the landing of Captain Francis Light in 1786, claiming the island for The East India Company, which was effectively the mercantile arm of the British Empire!  From here we continued around the headland and popped into the Eastern & Oriental Hotel for a drink.  The hotel was built by the same brothers who built Raffles in Singapore and is definitely a throw back to colonial times.  From here we wandered back to the hotel to chill out before heading out to dinner at a local indian restaurant.  Simon has been dreaming about a good indian curry for weeks and was very excited to go to a highly recommended place near by.  Unfortunately it didn't quite live up to expectations in the main due to confusion over the menu and what food they did/didn't have available.  Being muslim it didn't serve alcohol so we stopped off at a bar on the way back hoping to try out a local Malay beer.  Ashai (Japanese) was the only non western beer available (although they served Skol, which Simon said he hadn't seen at home for over 20 yesrs and didn't think it was still in existence) so we went with that then headed back to the guest house.

Love Lane in Georgetown (our guest house is on the right behind the trees)

Clock tower in commemoration of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee 

Simon and Captain Francis Light 

Fort Cornwallis 

Reflections of Thailand

• Very picturesque country, especially in the north 
• Easy to get around by all modes of transport (but remember to book in advance for long trips and avoid international flights!)
• Wifi access has been poor in most places (certainly worse than most all countries we've been to so far on our travels)
• Driving on the left means less of a chance of being run over but they still drive like crazy and have a massive array of types of transportation
• English is readily understood and spoken which certainly helps
• Great cuisine - we already like Thai food and it was good to experience it in their own country. And the Chang beer is a treat!
• Apart from Bangkok prices were reasonable (although more expensive than Cambodia and Vietnam)
• It's the most western and multi cultural of the countries we've visited in south east asia, especially Bangkok, and very popular with Chinese tour groups!
• The people are very welcoming and laid back and we managed to avoid all of the well know scams in Bangkok
• It has a very interesting history and it's people are proud and immensely patriotic.  The King and Queen are revered because of all the good work they do to support the country and they remain completely distant from any political turmoil 

Georgetown Day 86 13/12/2014

After a leisurely start to the day we packed and checked out of the hotel.  It's been an OK place to stay, clean and functional and the pool has been a bonus but it's big and sterile.  We had breakfast in a small cafe just round the corner from the Skyline and then headed off to visit Jim Thompson's house near Siam Square.  The house is a well maintained example of traditional Thai architecture although adapted to suit Western needs.  Jim Thompson was an American entrepreneur who successfully promoted Thai silk to Western markets.  He disappeared on a visit to Cameron Highlands and the house has since been run by a private trust.  From here we went to Siam Square.  Diane was slightly concerned that despite adding cycling and beach holidays to his list of likes, adding shopping was a bit extreme.  Anyway we didn't last long before we headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags, stopping on route for a pizza, before going back to the Skyline to get the metro and train out to the main international airport.  We celebrated with our last Chang beer before boarding and taking off on time to head for Penang.   Despite the extortionate price of the tickets we didn't get a hot meal or any alcohol!  We landed just after 10.30pm Malaysian time (1 hour ahead of Thailand) and got a taxi to Georgetown.  We're staying at the Old Penang Guest House in the heart of the old town.  Luckily they were able to put us up for an extra night (we arrived one day early with travelling by plane and not the overnight train as originally planned) although we are in a room with shared bathroom that we'll be moving from tomorrow.

Day 85 12/12/14

Yes, Simon's curry did provide him with some nocturnal exercise but after a Starbucks coffee and pain au chocolat (I know your thinking "heathens") he was right as rain and ready to go exploring the Grand Palace.  We headed back down to the Central Quay and took a 15 minute boat ride and alighted at Quay no 9 which was then only a five minute walk to the Palace.  It was already very busy with a mix of Thai, Malaysian, Western and the inevitable Chinese tour groups waiting to go in.  We both had to put on our trouser legs due to the Palace's strict dress code and after paying an eye watering entrance fee of 500 baht each (£10), which made Simon look even whiter than the curry last night, we ventured into the Wat Phra Kaew temple area.  It was truly magnificent with many different temples, stupas, had a miniature version of Angkor Wat and the highlight was the Emerald Buddha (which is actually jade).  The Grand Palace and temples were built by the first modern king of Thailand (still Siam them) Rama I, when he relocated the capital from the west to the east of the Chaophoyra river in the mid 18th century.  The palace and temples now are a mix of visitor attractions and government buildings, and the present King Rama IX lives in a palace in the north of the city.  The day was very sunny and clear so made for some stunning photos with the golden, multi coloured temples contrasted beautifully with the blue sky.  However with temperatures at 35+ degrees C we soon tired and kept having many rest stops in the few shaded areas we found.  On leaving the temples we went into the Palace grounds where we saw the coronation room for the kings and also the king and queen's throne.  All these were banned from taking photos which was a shame noting how immaculate and ornate they were.  It was now past midday and the sun was really starting to become very debilertating so we headed into the cafe and had a much needed ice cream.  We then went into the air conditioned textile museum which we found to be very interesting.  It told of the fact that the Thai traditional costume had not been worn since 1941 when a government decree ordered everyone to wear western clothes.  In the 1960's the present queen helped restore the making of these type of clothes by local women throughout Thailand.  It was part of her and her husbands work to help Thais to become more self sufficient and also to be able to overcome the many natural disasters that befall their country which caused widespread famine in the rural areas.  The King concentrated on helping farmers to become more proficient farmers so they could survive a bad harvest every few years and the Queen helped the women to learn how to weave so they could provide a secondary source of income so realising the whole family from the vicious cycle of substance farming and its ensuing poverty.  The fashions and clothes the Queen helped to create she wore on her numerous state visits in the 1960's.  This created a fashion demand for Thai silk and thus helped massively to boost the Thai economy and enrich Thai people's lives.  This helped us understand why both the King and Queen are so revered in Thailand, as they are seen as working tirelessly for the people.  We are in Thailand for the month long celebrations of the King's birthday and everyone is wearing yellow and there are many celebrations occurring everywhere.  After nearly four hours of visiting the Grand Palace we were exhausted.  We started to walk back to our hotel with the intention of finding something to eat and then get a tuk tuk ride back.  As we didn't find anywhere we fancied we arrived back near our hotel 2 hours later.  We grabbed a quick sandwich and thoroughly exhausted, went to the hotel pool for a quick dip, then had a couple of hours chilling on the sun loungers.  All this sightseeing in high humidity heat is very tiring, honest!!.  That night we decided to treat ourselves on our final night in Thailand and we headed to a local establishment, The Mango Restaurant.  Diane had a peanut curry and Simon had  steamed fish in his favourite lemongrass and chilli sauce, all washed down with our favourite Chang (elephant in Thai) beer.

Inside the Grand Palace, amongst the stupas

Lots of Buddhas but not allowed to take a picture of the emerald one

Di amongst the demons

Palace guards in no 1 dress uniform

In front of the Grand Palace

Ceremonial horses (none called Mouse, Eve!!)

Hey, someone's taken our tuk tuk!

Bangkok Day 84 11/12/2014

We finally reached Bangkok just after 7am, consoled that we hopefully didn't look as rough as our Irish friend, and jumped into a taxi to head to our hotel, the Narai in the Silom district.  Despite their reputation the taxis were all well managed by the station police and so we werent overcharged. We checked in and were lucky in that our room was available (at no extra cost unlike the An An in HCMC).  After a quick shower we headed out for breakfast.  We didn't find anywhere near the hotel so jumped on the MTR (skyway) and headed towards the river and backpacking area.  After a healthy fry up we decided to get the river boat down the Chao Phraya River.  There are three classes of boat, express, local and tourist and we opted for tourist which gives the flexibility to hop on/hop off at the various piers.  The river is extremely busy primarily with tourist boats but also ferries and there is still some cargo shipped up and down.  We got off at Tha Tien Pier and crossed the river by ferry to visit Wat Arun, named after the Indian god of dawn.  It's a very imposing 82m high Khmer style stupa covered in a mosaic of tiles left behind by Chinese merchant ships.  The Emerald Buddha has previously been housed in the temple nearby before being moved across the river to Wat Phra Kaew.  After refreshments (the weather is extremely hot (35C+) and quite debilitating) we crossed back over the river to visit Wat Pho, the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok.  It houses the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand at 46m long and 15 m high, finished in gold leaf and depicting the passing of Buddha into final nirvana.  The surrounding temples are also very impressive and the complex houses the national headquarters for the teaching and preservation of traditional Thai medicine.  From here we got back on the boat and went to Phra Arthit Pier before returning to Central Pier where we had initially boarded.  We walked back in search of somewhere for late lunch and had nearly reached the hotel before we found a small cafe.  Simon was in his element with Earl Grey tea and Worcester sauce to add to his club sandwich!  We took advantage of the hotel pool and after a quick dip had an hour or so relaxing in the late afternoon sun.  In the evening we walked back towards the river and had dinner at a small restaurant run by a Londoner and his Thai family. It was very tasty but suspect Simon might be regretting the spicy red curry he had in the night!!

Wat Arun from the busy Chao Phraya River

Demons protecting the temple

Stupas and temples at Wat Pho 

The reclining buddha 

Bangkok skyline from our hotel window 

Day 83 10/12/2014

We had a leisurely start to the day enjoying breakfast at the hotel before packing up for our travels south to Bangkok.  Now that we had our plans sorted for the next few days we thought we'd go to the railway station on our way into Chiang Mai and see if we can buy our tickets for the Bangkok to Butterworth (the nearest railway station to Georgetown in Penang).  We had a slight hiccup in that the train on the day we wanted to travel and on earlier/later dates were all full.   Disappointed and wondering how we'd make our journey south we continued into town for lunch and then headed back to the hotel for a bit of replanning.  Options including changing our itinerary or finding another means of transport.  Neither of us were keen on the first option not least because we'd have to cancel and rebook accommodation plus we didn't really want to go anyway off the beaten track too much where we'd need contingency days for getting to Singapore.  We looked at the option of a bus which might have worked but didn't look straight forward and meant more time in the territory were there is still ongoing trouble between Thailand and Malaysia (the train clips this part for less than 50 miles).  In the end we opted to fly.  Neither of us are really thrilled, not least because of the extortionate cost, especially when compared to the train and we need to book another nights accommodation as the train was overnight, but mainly because we'd miss out on seeing the landscape through southern Thailand and into northern Malaysia.  On the plus side we get a bit more time in Bangkok and Georgetown.  By now it was time to head to the train station which is only c5 minutes drive from the hotel.  The train was already in so we boarded and found our seats.  The layout in the Thai trains is very different to the others we've travel on.  There are no separate compartments instead each carriage has extra large seats facing each other either side of the aisle.  In the evening the guard makes these up as one bed and releases a top bunk as a second bed.  Unfortunately we were next to the door as these were the only seats available when we booked (this should have been a clue for our onward journey!).  Our carriage steward very kindly gave us chilled orange squash which we later had to pay 120 baht (£2.30) for.  Must learn to ask if it's free first!  The carriage soon filled up and we set off just after the scheduled time of 5pm.  Despite being thousands of miles from home we were joined by a drunken Irishman, quite impressive given drinking is banned on Thai trains.  He only lasted for about 2 hours before passing out on his bed!  We settled down for the night around 9pm after finishing off our leftover pizza from lunch and crisps (healthy eating).  The beds were OK and you are given clean sheets and a blanket (the overall cleanliness of the train was much improved on anything we've been on so far) but it was noisy being near the door and we bumped and rattled through the night with disturbed sleep.

Our train to Bangkok

Enjoying the 'complementary' orange juice! 

The carriage made up ready for bed