Railay and Ko Phi Phi

Railay

Railay is a small peninsular, just west of Krabi. Although it is part of the mainland it is only accessible by sea.

As soon as we had booked the ferries and hotels for Railay and Phi Phi, the weather decided that it really was the monsoon season. Overnight it rained heavily and a strong north westerly wind buffeted the guest house. Steve's health also took a turn for the worst, developing a high temperature and a penchant for sitting on the toilet, so he was in no mood for a rough boat ride.

Our long tail boat crew hardly looked old enough to be out of school let alone take seven limeys across the rough sea to Railay Bay. These boats ride over the waves rather than cutting through them and crash down hard into the troughs. It was an exhilarating, saturating forty minute ride. Arriving at low tide, necessitated a long wade through the shallow water to the shore with our luggage. Our first impressions were of a beautiful sheltered bay protected by towering karst cliffs and jungle clad slopes.

After checking into our accommodation and washing off the salt, we went to find lunch. Thinking that food would help, Steve ordered fried rice, took one mouthful and could eat no more. When he got up to go back to the hotel, he became very faint and "the nurse" ordered him to sit down. Good job, otherwise he would have fallen down. He spent the rest of the day in bed watching films on satellite TV.

Next morning feeling much better he managed the full breakfast. The coffee was served with a novel milk jug.

We explored Railay and walked past the Rayavadee resort where rooms range from 600 to 1000 pounds per night and all access is protected by guards at the beach entrances and by monkeys along the perimeter fence.

With its huge karst cliffs Railay is a climbers paradise.  In the centre of the peninsular is the old camp site from the days when climbers would come and pitch their tents to go climbing.

Now the up-market resorts have almost taken over and the camp site is closed. We found a few toilets here, looking a bit forlorn and rejected.

 

Whilst sitting on the beach of Tham Phra Nang bay, another rain storm came in. Running for cover we sought shelter under the cliffs by the famous Princess Cave.

Local folklore believes that an Indian Princess was shipwrecked off the beach and her spirit lives in the cave. Local fishermen bring offerings of phallus' to get her blessing for a good catch.

At the same time a film crew were sheltering, but continued their shoot under cover of the cliffs. They were making a Singha beer advert, using some American students as models. The director wanted the perfect shot of a beautiful, young woman opening a can of Singha. This involved many takes, each one resulting in another opened, but full can. The spectators, us included, helped to finish them off. Steve managed to get a snap also.

That evening we chatted to an Australian and his Italian partner who lived and worked in Islamabad for the UN. As we finished our meal, who should walk in but Rob, Fiona and Simone that we had met on Ko Kradan.

Ko Phi Phi Don

Next morning there were a lot of people to catch the boat to Ko Phi Phi. We all loaded onto long tails to connect with the high speed ferry in deeper water. The boat was late and we bobbed around for about 15 minutes before it arrived. It was then a bit of a scramble with everyone's luggage being thrown hand to hand onto the deck. One bag (not ours) made a leap for freedom and got a drenching in the sea.

It was a windy crossing, but better than on a long tail. As we rounded the headland, coming into Ton Sai Bay we were struck by the enormous number of long tail and large speed boats. It was like arriving at a busy airport. Porters held hotel signs, meeting passengers. Touts sold accommodation, tours and water taxi rides. Gift shops selling all the essentials of “the beach holiday” lined the narrow, badly kept streets.

Ko Phi Phi Lay as seen in "The Beach" film.

Our porter loaded the bags onto his trolley and we followed him through the maze of manic streets to find the Tropical Garden Bungalows. The place was a ramshackle affair of multi tiered rooms and log cabins spreading up the hillside, culminating in a murky and uninviting swimming pool at the top. The walls of the apartments were so thin that we could hear every word spoken in the next door room.

We had taken an early dislike to the town. The block paved pedestrian streets had recently been dug up to replace services. The trenches had been refilled with sand but the loose paving blocks were piled at the sides together with rubbish and building materials. Dirty water flowed over in some parts and the frequent heavy rain turned the whole thing into a quagmire with huge puddles. As the only route through the town it was heaving with tourists, locals, bicycles and porters with trolleys. freely in some places. It felt like a medieval back street.

Phi Phi was full of young backpackers drinking out of plastic toy buckets with straws. These “buckets” (usually a can of coke and bottle of local rum)  were sold along the streets for just 100 baht. Beach parties were in full swing into the earlier hours and everywhere there was the sound of loud music and drunken people. Just like the worst of Ibiza. Horrible. Despite the music booming from the bar nearby, we did mange to sleep reasonably well. Though tempted to jump on the first boat out in the morning, we resolved to stay and give it a chance.

 The following day the town seemed much quieter as though most of the party set had moved on. We got up early and climbed the hill to the viewpoint overlooking the two bays. It looked beautiful in the early morning sunshine. A picture of the same view, showing the devastation just after the 2004 Tsunami, was quite sobering.



Over the hill the path continued down a steep, slippery and muddy path to reach Rantee bay. It was difficult to decide which was the greater hazard, tripping over the tree roots and rocks, slipping on the wet clay slope, being savaged by the innocent looking but thorny foliage or bitten to death by the clouds of mosquitoes.

The assault course was worth it. At the bottom there was a beach of lovely white sand with a small bar, where we rented snorkelling gear. Swimming was almost as dangerous as the walk to get there. Speed boats and long tails all carrying crowds of tourists zoomed in and out of the bay. While there was some reef just offshore, there was no attempt to protect it or the safety of swimmers and snorkellers in the area.

Rather than climb back up the steep hill we got a water taxi back. There were four people on the beach who had booked a taxi for 2pm and agreed a charge of 600baht. By the time it came there were nine passengers, The ticket lady was adamant that everyone must pay 150 baht each, making the total cost of the boat 1,350 baht. After a lot of haggling she reluctantly dropped to 100 baht each.

The second night we went out on the town, eating, drinking and trying to emulate the youngsters. Despite trying really hard and watching the Tour de France on the TV we were still ready for bed by 11pm. Unfortunately  the music volume was worse. Steve wore his super ear-plugs and slept. Karen did a lot of sudoku. The music may have been 'trance' but it didn't have this effect on her.

Heavy rain was falling at dawn and continued for most of the day. The ferry back to Krabi was delayed by 30 mins and the passengers were expected to wait in the rain on the jetty.

The ferry terminal on the mainland is about 5km away from Krabi town and we had got a 'joint' ticket, meaning that it should include transport back to town. But there was no bus and everyone we asked just tried to sell us a taxi ride at 150 baht. Eventually we found a van at only 50 baht but the locals only paid 30.

Thailand - Satun to Krabi

Satun to Pak Bara – 61km

As the time in Thailand is one hour ahead of Malaysia it was light by 6am and we should have been up and away in the cool of the morning. But we couldn't be a***d to get up that early and then by the time we'd had breakfast, searched for the post office and cash machine and topped-up the phone it was gone 9am. Just to prove the BBC weather forecast wrong, the sky was blue and the sun hot.

The road was flat, passing through palm oil, banana and rubber plantations interspersed with a few paddy fields. Initially it was a wide dual carriageway with a hard shoulder. Once we turned off towards Trang it was more variable, with some sections widened and re-surfaced and others still narrow and rough. But, the overwhelming impression during this our first full day in Thailand was one of greater prosperity in the local population than we had experienced in Malaysia's countryside.

The roads seemed to be in better condition. The houses seemed to be that bit better kept and people seemed more intent in their daily business. Of course such things are all relevant and by no means could this level of prosperity be compared to Europe or the USA. There are still lots of road side vendors.  This one for example selling petrol in plastic bottles!

As we rode into La Ngu and stopped for Chinese noodle lunch, we were very aware that most of the signs were totally indecipherable. Usually we have managed to find one person that can speak some level of English. We asked ourselves how difficult will it be in rural China where the signs are un-intelligible and nobody speaks even one word of English – We shall see!

It was only 10km or so to Pak Bara, our destination for that day. It is a small fishing village and staging post for access to the Mu Ko Tarutao National Park comprising the Islands of Ko Taruato, Ko Adang, and the more famous Ko Lipe. Much as we were tempted by Ko Lipe, this was not in our sights. We planned to go to the Island of Ko Kradan further up the coast and possibly a couple of others.  This was our first sighting of  the so called  "longtail" boats.

It is currently the off season so Pak Bara is very quiet. In fact I think we are the only travellers here today. We walked around the sleepy place trying to find improved sun hats for the bikes and looking at the boats on the river.

We stayed at the Best House Resort, comprising a few small chalets around a fish pond, complete with resident lizard, for 45 baht (about GBP10) per night. According to Travelfish and Lonely Planet this seemed to be the best of the bunch in the village.

As the sun was setting we sat at one of the only open bars opposite the jetty. The local children were out enjoying playing football and cycling round the car park. Instead of the old jalopy type bikes common in Malaysia, these children had sparkling new mountain bikes.

It was a struggle to find anywhere open to eat but a walk up the road took us to a local eatery and a bit of basic Thai and sign language got us a dish of fried rice and chicken followed by roti bread with condensed milk and sugar for the princely sum of two pounds.

Pak Bara to Trang – 111km

We both slept badly and were glad to get up at 6am. After a quick fruit and water breakfast we set off at 7am. It was cool and pleasant and the traffic was light. We headed north through flat rubber and palm plantations. At Thung Wa we had a meal at a stall in the market. The ladies went all silly and giggly when faced with us non-Thai speakers. 

As the road continued north it started to climb into an area of karst hills and rain forest. There were more tall trees at the roadside providing shelter from the sun. There were several small roadside Buddhist shrines with novel decoration. 

After climbing over a low col we rode along a river valley with towering limestone cliffs.

Closer to Trang the terrain was flat and the road became a dual carriageway with heavier traffic. Just 11km from the town Karen rode over a shard of glass from a road accident which went through her back tyre and inner tube. The tyre split so we had to replace both when we arrived.

Trang to Ko Kradan – 49km

Today we decided to visit one of the 'mythical Trang islands'. Lonely Planet describes the island of Ko Kradan as a beauty queen, part of the Hat Chao Mai National Park. Because it has no permanent population and it is low season there are no regular boat services. We called Wally, the American owner of one of the resorts. He advised us we could get a boat from Kuantunguhu Pier.

We set off with a vague idea of where we were going. The problem is the maps and the roadside signs do not always agree and sometimes the signs are in Thai. After an hour we stopped at a small roadside stall for a drink and do-nuts. The man who served us was busy mending his motorbike, which was in pieces in the middle of the floor. Several of his friends were sat around smoking and giving advice. As we left he was just touching up the paintwork with an aerosol spray. We could only imagine what effect the scene would have on a western 'Health and Safety' official.

We continued following the signs to Pak Meng beach. There was a small turning signed 'Hat Koh Muk' and at the end of this road was a small harbour with a very small sign saying Kuantunghu Pier. On the way down we passed the local primary school. It was break time and they were all out in the playground. One of the groups of boys had a small bonfire and were poking it with sticks – can't imagine that in a British playground.

At the harbour was a booking office but it was closed. Several locals were hanging around and Steve, in his best Thai, asked if there was a boat going to Koh Kradan. Luckily the man who he had picked out to ask spoke some English. He was just about to go over to the island in a small Longtail but warned us he had a lot of gear to load in the boat first. If we shared the boat with him it would cost 600 baht, to hire a boat just for us was 1200 baht. 

There was no choice, we crammed ourselves into the boat together with a large (new) septic tank, a huge tree in a pot, several other shrubs, various boxes and bags and two other passengers. As the boat drifted away from the pier, it tilted alarmingly and Karen was convinced that it was about to turn turtle and tip us all into the water.

Once the engine was running it seemed much more stable and the sea was very calm so the one hour journey to the island was uneventful. The boat ran onto the smooth pale coral sand and the water was beautifully clear. There were no other tourists around, the other few resorts on the island shut down in the rainy season. Plastic rubbish - bottles bags and polystyrene as well as a few more lethal things like light bulbs and fluorescent light tubes were spread all along the high tide mark.

Wally, the owner of the 'Paradise Lost' resort had said he would meet us with his tractor but he was not there. Following the directions of the boatman we rode up a dirt track from the beach to the cluster of stilt bungalows set around a lawn and surrounded by the tall jungle trees. Another family had just arrived also. Rob, Fiona and their young daughter, Simone, from Perth were backpacking around Thailand for two weeks. 

After lunch we walked along the beach to the next bay to snorkel on the reef. It had been described as 'the best in Thailand'. There were plenty of fish around but the variety sunset was limited and the corals were pale and didn't appear to be growing. 

At dusk we all walked over to Sunset Beach to see the sun go down. 

Impressive though the sunset was, again there was an appalling amount of debris and rubbish strewn around the rocks. Paradise Lost certainly seemed to be an appropriate name. The food at the resort was very good, a mix of traditional Thai and western dishes, all cooked by Wally's partner Nuk.

Ko Kradan to Hat Pak Meng – 25km

In the morning we had to leave, the accommodation cost more than expected, the boat fares were costly and Steve had not really taken enough money with us. Rob and Fiona were also going back to the mainland so we were able to share the cost of the boat. This one was larger and faster than yesterdays and also cheaper.

From the jetty we headed north to the nearest ATM as our cash was practically zero. The cash machine was just outside a very upmarket resort with two security guards and a high watchtower. Some very important people must holiday here.

Our loose plan was to head to Hat Pak Meng jetty where we could get a boat to Ko Lantra and from there to Ko Phi Phi. This would save a 100km ride by road. The Langkawi and Kradan experiences had somewhat put us off going to the islands. Everything (quite rightly) costs a t least 30% more and the impact of tourism changes the nature of the island and the reason that people went there in the first place.

There was hardly any traffic on the road and it followed the coast north through the Hat Chao Mai National Park. The long beaches here are shaded by tall casuarina trees and were totally deserted. As we came round the curve of the bay we could see the huge karst rocky outcrops to the north of Pak Meng. This area of the coast was affected by the 2004 tsunami and a few derelict houses and uprooted trees still remain.

Hat Pak Meng is very much a Thai tourist area with a lot of bungalow type resorts hidden in the trees and a strip of very good restaurants. There are tables with comfy cushions and umbrellas on the grass beside the beach and we enjoyed a great lunch and a beer. It was so nice here that it seemed pointless going further today. 

Luxury

We booked into the 'Fisherman's Hut' resort which has about seven traditional style huts, all fitted out very luxuriously with huge comfy beds, crisp white sheets and lovely bathrooms. Outside was a small, shady deck with a comfy chair, a hammock and a fan – bliss. One night was never going to be long enough to appreciate this place so we booked in for two.

Traditional Fisherman's hut

To make Steve feel better about the shortage of ready cash on Ko Kradan, Karen had to own up to having left the passports at Paradise Lost. We both seem to be suffering from getting too laid back here in Thailand. A quick phone call by the bi-lingual, friendly receptionist and the lost passports were located and arrangements made to bring them over to the mainland the following morning. Joy even took Steve down to the jetty on her motorbike to collect them in the morning.

The cost of a boat to Ko Lantra was 2,000 baht so we decided to give it a miss and cycle to Krabi and get a boat from there to Ko Phi Phi.

In the evening we dined at a local seafood restaurant. The waitress spoke good English. On the next table was a group of four male, Thai teachers who were in the area on some sort of conference. As they spoke only a little English and we spoke zero Thai, the waitress acted as our interpreter. They were drinking local whisky and water and so were already very talkative. We had a good laugh with them and they bought us a beer before we left.

Hat Pak Meng to Krabi – 107km (total 16,457km)

With another long day ahead a 7am start was needed. For breakfast, we only had coconut biscuits and some sort of dried, semi crystallised vegetable. Outside the door of our cabin was this tree frog.

The route was flat but not particularly scenic once the road left the coast. It was one of the hottest days so far and we had to stop frequently for food and drink breaks. There are not so many good roadside cafes in Thailand and tea and coffee are not so commonly available. We stopped at this place by the side of the busy road which seemed to have about 30 years of road grime over everything, but the food was tasty and the smiles were warm.

The road was busy with shiny SUV's, all loaded to capacity and beyond. Their contents were varied – mattresses, leather, furniture, cans of oil, groups of people, young families, even a water buffalo with a terrified look on its face. We were also passed by two separate groups of motorcyclists, one with a completely ineffective, but noisy police escort waving their arms a lot, but the traffic seemed to pay no attention.

After a gruelling six hours we rolled into Krabi, hot, sweaty and road worn, stopping in the first bar that we found that sold beer. Good old LP came up trumps again and we checked into the Chan Cha Lay Guesthouse. The room was tastefully decorated in a blue and white maritime theme, with an external shower open to the stars.

Making Sweet Pancakes

For dinner we walked to the night market by the river and had a lovely Thai feast. 

Later we walked up the hill to another night market with fair rides, side stalls, food stalls and other stalls selling the most fantastic locally made furniture.

 One group of young lads were doing break dancing for a few baht.

Stalls offered all sorts of skewered food. Another stall sold all manner of cooked grubs and insects by the bag load. We didn't partake.

The next day we spent our time trying to decide whether to visit Railay and the island of Ko Phi Phi (pronounced Pee Pee). In the end we talked ourselves into forking out for a trip to both, leaving the bikes at the Guesthouse while we were away.

Penang and Langkawi

Pulau Penang

Day 1

Known as “the Pearl of the Orient”, Penang is the only Malaysian state with an ethnic Chinese majority. Yet, it doesn't feel that way. The island brings together a broad mix of cultures, but mainly those of the Indian sub continent, China and Malaysia, living in harmony, against a backdrop of colonial architecture and with a highly entrepreneurial spirit.

Victoria Clock Tower

In 1771 the British East India Company signed the first agreement with the Sultan of Kedah giving it the trading rights on the island in exchange for providing military assistance against Siam. Captain Francis Light took possession of the island on behalf of the East India Company in 1786 and the island was formally signed over to him in 1791. He established the island's capital, naming it Georgetown after the Prince of Wales.

 By the 1800s the Island was home to over 10,000 people. It thrived thanks to its liberal economy and tax free status, but was supplanted by Singapore, which became the hub of the far east sea trade routes.

It suffered badly through the war years and many of its old buildings were destroyed or damaged. After Malaysia's independence in the 1960s, Penang prospered as a free port, but lost its duty free status to Langkawi in the mid eighties. Despite this there are many high technology businesses based there and some call it the “Silicon Valley of the East”.

In 2008 the harbour and old town parts of Penang were awarded World Heritage Status so the old buildings are being restored and new development more restricted.

Our first day found us sightseeing and following some of the Georgetown Walking Tour outlined in Lonely Planet. After a breakfast of roti canai and sweet tea, we walked to the Han Jiang Ancestral Temple.

We had to experience a ride in one of the many trishaws and we agreed a price of RM10 for the ½ kilometre ride to the Penang Museum. When we arrived the “driver” announced that that was the price each. So we coughed up double and felt as though we had been conned, but at only 4 GBP we didn't grouse too much. The Penang museum is a great place to start as it gives a good background (in English) of the history of the island and Georgetown, and at just 2RM entry fee is good value. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take photographs.

From here it was a 15 minute walk to Fort Cornwallis, passing by the the grand architecture of St. Georges Church, the City Hall and Town Hall which, built in 1800, is one of the oldest buildings in Georgetown. We walked along the sea front and through the Pedang park to the Fort.

This is the site of the first stockade built by Captain Light when he started to establish the British presence on Pulau Penang. It was later replaced by a brick built fortification in the shape of a four pointed star with large cannon pointing out to sea. Much conservation work has been undertaken to restore the fort walls, but other than this there is really little left of the original.

 Our walk took us through the banking area of the city to the Penang Peranakan Mansion. Just as we were crossing the road to the Mansion, Karen found a wallet on the road. We did the right thing and walked back to the nearest police station to hand it in.

The Peranakan Mansion has been lovingly preserved as a private museum depicting the life of a rich Chinese merchant living in Penang at that time. From the outside the building is in the Colonial style, whilst internally the rooms are sumptuously decorated in the oriental style, with dark wood floors and columns, gilded fret work and carvings. Next door is the old, private Buddhist shrine still largely in its original state.

As we exited the Mansion, some locals were chopping up Durian fruit. We had been daring ourselves to try this olfactorially offensive fruit since we had been in Malaysia. Steve took the initiative and tried 'un petit morceau'. Once past the pungent aroma, it was sweet and strongly tasting. Karen declined. Probably a wise decision as Steve said it kept repeating on him all afternoon.

We wound our way through Little India with its incense, colour and noise passing by one of simplest and oldest Mosques to reach Khoo Kongsi. This is the old Chinese Assembly Hall for the Chinese community in the city.

As well as being a benevolent organisation for the members of the Khoo clan it symbolises the strong links between the generations of the clan and the reverence given to their ancestors. This particular kongsi (clan-house) can trace its linage back through 45 generations to the original founder of the dynasty. Again, oriental architecture and Buddhist symbology abound, and there is a serenity about the place providing an oasis in the middle of the turmoil of the city.

Just along the street we came to the Acheen Street Mosque. In its plainness, a complete contrast to the Kongsi that we had just left. This particular mosque is unusual for its Egyptian style minaret.

By now we were just about dead on our feet, so we retired to the sanctuary of our hotel for a couple of hours before venturing out once more for our evening repast.

Day 2

Cannonball Tree

Having “done” the City, we decided today to visit some more of the island and rented a scooter. Having fuelled up the scooter on petrol and us on roti canai, we headed off to the Botanical Gardens, some 6 or 7 kilometres to the north west of the city. We went with great expectation. Most of the botanical gardens that we have visited in the past had been worth the time and effort. As we parked up, the gardens held great promise. There was no entry fee and we planned a route through the paths up to the “waterfall”, (the gardens are also known as The Waterfall Gardens).

There were lots of monkeys on route, many with babies, but we kept our distance.

 The peace of the gardens was shattered by the repeated sounds of automatic gunfire coming from, we assumed, a military firing range nearby.

Reaching the path to the waterfall we were told it was closed and in fact was only open for one day each year! This seemed to set the theme. The cactus house was closed. The fern house was closed for maintenance and the formal gardens? You guessed it, they were closed too.




So after an hour traipsing around what was in fact no more than a peaceful park (apart from the gunfire) we hopped back on our trusty Honda and sped off towards the Kek Lok Si Temple. This was easy to find as it was so prominent even from a long way off.

Translated as the “Temple of Supreme Bliss” it is quite startling, if not in scale of ornamentation then in its commercialisation. We were reminded of the excessive commercialisation that we observed at Lourdes.

Throughout our tour there were opportunities to buy souvenirs. Statues of the smiling Buddha, wishing ribbons, joss sticks, and other memorabilia. However architecture of the temples and statues is impressive.

Overlooking the whole site is the massive 36.5meter bronze statue of Kuan Yin, Goddess of Mercy. At the moment a new temple dome is being built over the statue and is near to completion. Unfortunately the scaffolding and building works spoiled the view of the statue and it is impossible to appreciate the scale of this statue in a mere photograph.

Our next port of call was the Snake Temple at Beyan Lepas. We followed our sat nav and found ourselves in the midst of an enormous industrial complex, mostly occupied by the huge Braun factory, but also housing other western names like Fairchild Semiconductor. This was the Silicon Valley of the East that we had read about. After chasing our tails for thirty minutes we did find the temple. Negotiating the usual souvenir shops we entered the temple and were underwhelmed by the Wagler's pit vipers lazing, dormant on various tree branches around the alter. These venomous snakes are nocturnal and thus sleep during the day.

Our furthest visit out of the town was to the Penang War Museum. The museum is housed in an old fort on the top of the steep Bukit Batu Maung (hill). Built by the British in the 1930's, it was used as an internment camp by the Japanese during the Second World War. Again this is a private museum and the most expensive we had visited at 35RM each. Was it worth the money? Probably not, but it was interesting nonetheless. There were the remains of the 6” and 15” naval gun emplacements, barracks, stores, etc as well as reconstructions of the gallows used to hang General Yoshimita of the Japanese Imperial Army. The photographs and narratives (in English) told us a lot about a history that we knew nothing of previously.

However, driving around on a scooter in the busy city is exhausting and we now headed back to comfort. That night we ate like kings at the Chinese food stalls down the road from our hotel.

This was our last day in Penang and we had to be up early to catch the ferry to Langkawi, our last destination in Malaysia.

Georgetown to Pantai Cenang, Langkawi - 26km

Tickets for passengers for the Langkawi ferry are sold at various agencies around Georgetown. The tickets for freight (ie bicycles) are sold at a different office. Luckily we chose an agent close to the freight office and managed to arrange both tickets at the same time.

We arrived at the terminal in good time for our 8.15 departure. It began to fill with passengers for the two ferries. A very officious lady was in charge of directing the customers. She treated everyone like naughty, stupid schoolchildren but in fact that's how they all behaved. Her attempts to separated the passengers for the two ferries, one departing at 8.15, the other at 8.30, were thwarted by impatient travellers who kept trying to get in the wrong queue. We were told that although we had 8.15 ferry tickets we must travel on the 8.30 ferry because of our bikes. This involved a quick run back to the agent to get them to put an official rubber stamp on the ticket which magically allowed us to use it on the other one.

The ferry was full to capacity with a diverse group of passengers. A lot of Malay families, a large group of middle eastern Muslims and a few Europeans.

From the ferry port at Kuah we had a 20km ride to the main beach on the island, Pantai Cenang. This is the busiest resort on the island, popular with backpackers but at least it has 'budget' accommodation even though this is 30% more expensive than on the mainland. As it is officially the rainy season there was plenty of availability but it took a long search on Trip Advisor and Agoda to find anywhere with reasonable customer reviews.

The 'White Lodge' lived up to its good reviews. Set back from the main road it was peaceful and the chalets were well equipped with a fridge, TV and kettle. That evening as we lay on the bed watching TV we discovered an unadvertised amenity, toads under the bed. Over a period of about an hour four of them appeared, hopping for the door which had a large gap under it.

On Saturday we had a day off and sat on the beach, swam and rested. We found the resort was too commercialised for our tastes. The beach was noisy with speed boats, jet skis, banana boat rides and parascending. The resort had a lot of unfinished buildings and lots of rubbish lying around. The only thing that was cheap was alcohol, because there is no tax, but food was much more expensive. It was nice to be able to go into a proper restaurant with a menu and to have food served at the table.

Pantai Cenang to Satun (Thailand) - 30km

Sunday morning we were woken by torrential rain at 7am. By the time the bags were packed it wasn't quite as heavy. Steve tried to put his bike shoes on and found there was no room for his foot. He shook it and out popped another toad. After cycling the 20km to the jetty in the heavy rain we were soaked and had to change into dry things. We brought the tickets, changed some money into Baht then pigged out on cakes and latte coffee at Starbucks.

The border formalities seemed very low key and relaxed. A couple of porters hauled the bikes onto the front of the boat and lashed them on with rope. It was a sixty minute ride to Tammalang Pier then a quick 10km ride into Satun still with some drizzle and cloudy skies.

We had been advised to head straight to On's Bar, with English speaking staff and good local knowledge. The Sinkiat Thani Hotel next door is reputably the best in town and our top floor room was pretty basic but had good views over the town to the forested hills beyond. For our evening meal we went next door-but-one to On's restaurant and tried a traditional Thai curry. As it was election day the sale of alcohol had been prohibited but we were allowed to have some amber brew as long as it was disguised in a mug.