Sunday 22nd April 2012 - leaving Tonsai - Krabi, to go to Bangkok. Heading towards Sri Lanka

So as mentioned in my previous posts, I have been feeling that the backpacking thing is not really what I am looking for right now. It has been great but when I keep getting a heavy heart and feeling down I know that seeing the rest of beautiful Asia will have to be put on hold until I have done my Buddhist meditation retreat. So today I made the decision that I would leave Tonsai and head to Sri Lanka.  I got up, started packing my stuff but realised that i needed to pick up the waterproof jacket that Maria borrowed me the day before from Bamboos. I walked there and he was sitting miserably on the sofa with "his last cigarette" in his hand. I sensed immediately he wasn't happy to see me given that I had walked out the night before while he was out searching for his weed. He asked me where I went and I said I was bored of waiting so left. I reached for Maria's jacket and he asked me where I was going. I said I was leaving Tonsai. He asked if I was going to Ao Nang. I said yes. He asked if he could come with me. I said no, I'm leaving Thailand so heading to the bus station. His whole head just dropped and he went silent. He then just said without looking at me "you take care of yourself". I said thanks and walked out. I didnt understand why it needed to be like this given that we had spent some really nice times together but I think he was hoping that I was some get-out-of-jail-free card and was possibly disappointed at the realisation that I wasn't. As much as I would loved to have helped him and given him cash to get his life together, the fact of the matter is that he will probably waste half of whatever I give him on weed! Also, despite him being the sweetest guy, what guarantee did I have that he would sort himself out. And also, what am I?! A millionaire?! I'm living on a bank loan!!! I toyed with all these different thoughts about why I should and why I shouldn't give him money - and even had to keep reminding myself of what my dad and Ang had said during our skype call the day before when i told them i wanted to help him.  After jumping from one thought to another and despite his cold exit interview with me, i decided I would leave him some cash. I walked back to his place but he wasn't there so I went to the shop and bought a postcard, wrote him a note and left 500baht inside his laptop. 500baht could buy him a decent amount of food for him and the dogs (if he spent it wisely) for the next week or it could stupidily buy him weed for the next 3days. Deep down I know what the money would be spent on but at the end of the day it's only £10 to me and is no major loss.  I had to wait for the boat back to Ao Nang for maybe 2hours until there were 8people to lessen the cost. At the boat shelter i got speaking to these two girls who were travelling together for a year from Seattle. They were really cool and we all just talked about our trips so far - they were headed to do their visa run so they could extend their stay in Thailand. Once we finally got enough people we headed to Ao Nang. Once there the girls and I travelled together to Krabi bus station where they were heading to Satun to catch the boat to Langkawi, and I was heading to Bangkok hoping to get a flight to Sri Lanka.  Once we got to the bus terminal, backpack in tow, I bent down to pick something up and the girls and I were cracking up when my backpack toppled me over onto my backside. Thinking about it now I spent like 4hours with them and didn't even get their names. Anyway, one of them helped me up and we said goodbye as they were shooed onto "the last bus". Despite arriving at the bus station at 14.30 I had to wait until 19:00 for my bus as all the other 6 buses in between were full. There had been this ridiculously rude women at the bus terminal while I was trying to buy my bus ticket. She opened her glass window and looked right passed me and over to the left of where I was standing and asked where are you going - I looked around confused behind me to see if she was talking to someone else because this lady wasnt looking anywhere near me. I stood silently then she cut her eye and then pointed them in my direction briefly, started repeating the question and looked back to the same direction she had been looking before. I said Bangkok - she looked at me with such an evil and disgusted look, said "all full" while holding up a sign saying "all full", looked away while i burned my eyes into her hopin she would look at me again so i could give her a dirty look, and the turned her back on me while sliding the glass window shut. Wow! Older Thai women really don't like me. The second place I went to buy my ticket weren't much better. I walked up to the counter and stood there not saying anything as the lady was busy doing something. I figured she would serve me once she was finished doing what she was doing. Then another women came along, a Thai woman, and the lady at the counter looked straight passed me and started serving the other lady. At this moment I was quite happy to be leaving thailand!  About half an hour before the bus was due to come I got speaking to a lady - again didnt ask her name. She was about 45, from Berkshire and had been travelling for a year after losing her job. She had been everywhere including New Zealand and Australia. Everyone had allocated seats on the bus but she wanted for us to sit together so, as she put it, she didn't have to sit next to some foreigner. We sat together but we moved like naughty little school girls and held up the bus leaving. Oops! The bus journey was 10hours but was surprisingly comfortable so it was ok. We arrived into Bangkok bus terminal at 5.45am.

Saturday 21st April 2012 - Krabi, Tonsai Beach

Today was a late one. I went to pick up my laundry before going to see Bamboo. When I went to see him he expressed mixed emotions saying that he thought I had left without saying goodbye because i was upset about him trying to kiss me. I said I wasn't upset but that we are friends and friends don't kiss.  Bamboo asked for me to stay with him so I said I was going to read. It was really sweet as he started clearing everything up to make space for me to sit. He laid down his expensive animal furs and put a cushion for me on his sofa. He sat down with me but was going through all the motions - he had smoked his last weed last night and was clucking. He had no money to buy any and none of his friends that usually share his had any.  He saw the bruise on my leg from when I was trying to climb the rocks and thought it looked like a footprint. Out came his pens!! He started drawing a footprint over my bruise. And then he put a fake stick on tattoo of a butterfly above. Then out came the henna!!! He went over these rubbish looking things with henna and then started free-styling random dots on my left foot! At this moment, having seen his free-style skills, I was so thankful that I didn't let him tattoo me!!! I couldnt help but laugh at the random things on my body though. We tried to watch a movie (hangover) but it was in Thai so I tried to read my book but he was upset that I couldn't share the jokes of the movie with him so he turned it off. He had gone and come back maybe five times to try and find weed and then asked if i would give him money for it. He knew how I felt about weed so tried to laugh it off. He went out again to try and find his friend and I decided to leave. I just went back to my room. 

Friday 20th April 2012 - Krabi, Tonsai

I had woken up pretty early today and was just intending to head to the beach to read. On my walk down the path towards the beach I pass Bamboo's place. I usually just say hello and continue walking but today I ended up going in and sat talking with him the whole day. He explained that he had once had his own tattoo business in Koh Phangan but that he one day decided to leave it all behind and come to Tonsai and start all over again. He had built the place he lived in and had all these amazing ideas for what he was going to do it, including tattoos, a coffee shop and bar, he was going to make rooms and cook food. The place was big enough but was not finished and it seems his money flow had dried up. Anyway he wanted to do a tattoo for me so he could make some money as he had no money for food for his dogs or himself. I didn't really want a tattoo but I wasn't against it so I asked him to design something to make the one on my back better. He got out his pens and started drawing on my back. I didn't like the first design he came up with so he showed me some tattoo books to get an idea of what I like. The second idea had potential but he couldn't complete the drawing as he said it was easier to do straight on me but he kept explaining that there would be this shading and windows but I had no idea what he was talking about and I certainly wasnt going to let him tattoo straight onto me without a full design showing how my tattoo would fit into his ideas. Also I wanted it to be traced onto my back so he would have an outline to work to, but no he insisted that he worked better straight onto the body, freehand!!! Ahhh hell no!!! As much as this guy was lovely and as much as I would love for him to give me a tattoo, I wasnt taking a massive chance like that with something that would be with me for life - just for a nice guy!! Instead I offered to take him and the dogs for food. We climbed through the rocks, dogs as well (they are surprisingly amazing climbers!), and headed to The Last Bar. Bamboo was so light on his feet and played around on the rocks like captain jack sparrow joking around and pretending to fall. He was really sweet and excited by the idea that I was taking him to eat and asked that if I see my friends could I please not forget about him - he's a really shy guy. I had seen Maria in the morning and she had told me she was going to go there for food tonight as well but I had no idea what time or anything but  decided it was cool, I would just eat with Bamboo. When we got there though we saw Mihai. He was looking for Maria also and so we just asked him to join us. Our food came and then so did Maria so we moved our table around for her and her friends to join. She had been climbing with a spanish girl and Austrian guy.  We ate the food, watched Mr gorgeous Ting do his thing and Bamboo and I walked back to Tonsai. When we got to where I go towards my accommodation and he goes towards his, we hugged and then he tried to kiss me. I said no and said we were just friends. He was very persistent and despite being absolutely beautiful, I didn't feel him like that.  Eventually he got the message and we went out separate ways.

Thursday 19th April 2012 - Krabi, Tonsai beach

I had intended to leave today but woke up really late as my headache was still awful. I was slowly packing when Maria came over to see me. She asked about my headache and offered to try and soothe the pain with some kind of rocks. She is a spiritual girl so although to me it just felt like she was standing behind me holding a rock at either side of my head she said that she was working with my energies. My head was pounding more on the right side so you can imagine my shock when she said that the energy coming from the right side was a lot stronger and more imbalanced. She felt my shoulders and said that my headache might be because of tension and that I should get a massage.  After the rocks I explained to Maria that i hadn't been feeling very happy and that I no longer felt motivated. She said to me that my body was probably tired of moving from place to place and that I should just try sticking in one place for longer. It made sense as I had literally spent no longer that five days in each place and I am not exactly the most physically fit person. Even if this theory wasn't correct it was probably best for me to stick at Tonsai for a bit longer anyway or until I had finished the book I had bought. Tonsai really is the place to chill out and just become one with nature - especially the place I am staying. It is a little hut hidden away in the trees surrounded by beautiful cliffs. I often just walk around the area and see monkeys (the black ones with the white faces), squirrels, geckos, butterflies and crazy looking insects. Even just sitting outside my hut i am surrounded by nothing but beautiful nature.  Knowing that I would stay for a few days longer I headed over to put some clothes in to get washed and then proceeded towards the beach to get food. I saw a massage place on the beach and decided that I should try it out. Maria had told me the thai massages are amazing so if it didn't get rid of my headache then I wouldn't have really lost anything as I would have experienced a Thai massage.  The Thai massage was the best massage I have ever had! This little beautiful Thai woman put me in positions that I didn't even know I could do. She climbed on my back, she clicked my spine backwards, and at one point she was underneath me on her back with me laying on her legs facing upwards. It was the most bizarre thing I have ever experienced but she probably stretched every single muscle in my body and more! It was an hour long and cost me the equivalent of just over £5. The best £5 I have ever spent, and guess what, my headache went! After the massage I walked next door and ate in a restaurant - beef noodle soup and prawn toast. The food wasn't that great but the people seemed lovely, especially my waiter - the wind was really strong and was blowing my hair in my face constantly while I was trying to eat so he gave me his new era hat to wear while I ate!! After I had eaten I pulled out my phone and was writing my blog when these two little cute Thai girls and a little boy stood over my shoulder checking out what I was doing. They giggled when I looked around smiling at them. They lived behind the restaurant and their family worked there and were sitting on the table opposite. I ended up letting them play angry birds and bejewelled which seemed to make them happy for a while but then they wanted more games - I didn't have anymore. Then they discovered instagram. It was adorable! They ran around excitedly taking photos of everyone and everything, including photos of them pulling faces. The sun was starting to go down and the mosquitos had bitten me four times in the space of 10minutes so I decided that I should go and get my repellent. When I tried to explain to the oldest girl that I was going to go and come back but she could look after my phone, she asked two different people what I had said to make sure that she understood me correctly and that it was ok for her to hold onto it - she was the cutest thing.  When I came back I had at least 30beautiful new photos of them, the cliffs, their pet squirrel, the cute baby of the owners of the restaurant, my waiter, the chef and loads more!!  They sang Thai songs to me, tried to teach my Thai games, and at one point had a book out with pictures of different animals and were telling me what they meant in Thai. They didn't speak much English at all but you could just tell what beautiful children they were. I ended up buying them banana fritters and honey which lit their little faces up and had their family thanking me. It was really nice.  After leaving I went and bought some snacks and headed to my room for a reading session. 

Wednesday 18th April 2012 - Krabi, Tonsai Beach

Today I realised how unfulfilled I am. I feel like somewhere along the line I have lost my way and lost sight of my purpose for this trip. I have been trying new things and have been eating great food, meeting amazing people and visiting the most beautiful places but yet I feel unexcited.  At the start of my trip I used to wake up early filled with a hunger for the day ahead, excited for all the new possibilities. Now, one month down the line I sleep a lot and am not excited by anything. Meeting new people seems like an effort that I can not be bothered with, trying new things seems like effort and trying to plan anything can wait for tomorrow.  Sitting in bars drinking is not why I took this trip. Don't misunderstand me for a second, I have loved the trip so far but now I am back to my thinking before the start of my journey - I need inner enlightenment as I feel that I am and have been missing something in my life for a long time. I hid away from my lack of fulfilment in life in my relationship and tried to hide my head in the sand. The breakup of my relationship meant that I didn't have that shield anymore and despite probably being able to hide in other aspects of my life like my job, my friendships or my family, i just realised that doing that will always lead to me being unhappy. I will always seek my happiness in other people or things as I can't find it in myself. I have been trying to do that on my trip so far also - filling my time with everything else but me. It's like a serial cheater - in my opinion they only cheat and sleep with loads of different people because they are lacking something in their life, but no matter how many different people they sleep with they will never be happy because there is something bigger that needs to be addressed. I am glad that something has clicked today as I can now change the path that I am on and make the most of my last two months. I think the only way I can do that is by seeking a higher meaning and appreciation for the smaller things - I have moments where I appreciate the small things but I often let my emotions control everything. My thoughts to curbing this was a Buddhist Meditation Centre as decided before my trip, but I had delayed my journey to go there up until now and felt that now was the right time for me to head there. Maybe after my journey for self acceptance and inner happiness (hopefully achieved by taming my emotions and thoughts and learning more) I can continue my travels with a different take on things.  I decided that I would head over to The Last Bar to use the internet to research flights to Sri Lanka as my intention was to head there in the next couple of days to start my Buddhist meditation retreat. There are three ways to Railay: the walk through the jungle that I had done with Maria during the day yesterday, over the rocks like last night, or by boat. After being quoted 400baht for the boat I decided on the rocks. I was wearing flip flops but knew from previous experience that when they get wet they are slippery so I opted to do the climb bare footed. The rocks were really slippery and sharp - I came out with two injuries; a cut thumb from holding onto a needle sharp rock and a bruised grazed leg. I felt lucky because one guy I saw on the journey going in the opposite direction had opted to leave his sandals on and had slipped and bust open his big toe. After sitting in "the last bar" for maybe four hours researching flights to Sri Lanka and looking for websites on buddhism and meditation I decided that I needed to head to a book shop. I started to feel that just turning up to the buddhist meditation centre and hoping for a miracle was naive. I have no prior knowledge of meditation or Buddhism and feel like I should probably start doing some reading. The dj from last night was in the bar so i asked him where to go for a bookshop. I am on a small island so the only bookshop was one where tourists hand in their used ones so the price was like 100baht (just over £2 for a book. The only one that really stood out to me or was even vaguely along the lines of what i was looking for was a book called "The art to real happiness". It seemed appropriate so I bought it and went back to "the last bar" to try and read it. However, the worst headache started and made it impossible for me to focus for long. What I did read was that the book was about finding happiness through the mind and religion. This is a path I was willing to try given that I was looking to go to a Buddhist meditation centre so I figured this would be my bible for the next couple of days.  Today had been Mihai's birthday so Maria and Mihai had spent the day together but joined me at the last bar in the evening for dinner. My headache was still really bad by the time they came so we ate, watched the same show as yesterday and I decided that I was going to leave. Maria and Mihai had an argument during dinner and there was tension in the air so they decided to leave with me. My headache meant that I was so bloody willing to pay to stay in Railay for the night instead of doing that horrible walk over the rocks but knowing that Maria and Mihai were going to do the walk with me motivated me. The tide was pretty high so we had to go a different route to the night before. It was pretty steep and I had sweat dripping everywhere but we made it eventually.  I took two migraleve and went to bed.

Tuesday 17th April 2012 - Krabi, Tonsai beach

I got up this morning determined to pack up and head to Tonsai to see Maria and this beautiful place she kept telling me about. I started walking towards Wang Sei restaurant to buy my boat ticket desperately hoping that a tuk tuk or taxi/bus would come passed. I had made it like three-quarters of the way when a tuk tuk came up and tried to charge me 40baht to go like 2minutes - despite being exhausted I opted to walk the rest of the way.  The boat from Ao Nang to Tonsai took maybe 20minutes. The tide was really far out so the boat had some difficulties getting me there so I had to walk quite a distance to get to the beach. I was walking up the path leading away from the beach when this little cute dog came running towards me playfully. A handsome Thai man named Bamboo with dreadlocks, laughingly called the dog, whose name was Lucky and then asked me where I was going. He tried offering me a room at his hotel but I explained I was trying to find my friend. When I described Maria his eyes lit up as he had obviously noticed her and had a slight crush on her. He offered to take me to her - he even knew which room was hers!! Maria's eyes lit up when she saw me (Bamboo left). I told Maria that he liked her and that he had noticed her - she was intrigued. Maria spent the day showing me around - I felt like such a novice and like a proper baby because I was scared of everything.  Maria is so secure in herself and knows what she likes and dislikes and she seemed to be a bit shocked, if not slightly disgusted that I was scared of insects.  Our first trip of the day was a walk on the jungle trek to get to Phranang beach. It was testing as their were Mosquitos everywhere and it was quite a steep walk but I see that my body is starting to get used to these activities that I haven't done since I was maybe 10. Phranang beach was stunning, probably the most picturesque beach I have seen on my journey so far. The sand may not have been as fine or white as other beaches nor the water the clearest, but the scenery around was spectacular. Railay and Tonsai and all surrounding areas are known as a climbers paradise because the whole area is made up of massive beautiful rocks that attract climbers from across the whole globe. These cliffs and randomly placed rocks were what made Phranang so beautiful.  Maria and I swam at phranang and then headed towards the end of the beach where we found a swing set on a rock overhanging the sea. The sun was setting in the background and cast a magical picturesque glow behind the swing. Maria and I took some nice photos and then watched the sunset. The sunset was really nice and enhanced massively by the colours cast onto the puffy clouds.  After sunset we headed to get food. Maria had recommended "the last bar" so we went there. The food was frikin amazing and then after food there was a guy called Mr Ting doing a live music performance. I actually fell in love with this guy's voice!! He was amazing and had such a control over the ladies with his super sweet voice and beautiful song choices - that was until the song choices started reminding me of Hugh and I got upset!!  After Mr gorgeous Ting performed he then took his top off, to reveal a beautiful body, and then headed outside the bar where him and a group of guys did a crazy fire show. It was nuts and all of them were amazing but my eyes were locked on the DJ - at one point he had the handles to his fire poi in his mouth and shook them around by bouncing his head.  The last bar is on Railay Beach so getting back to Tonsai meant that we would either have to go back through the jungle (it was like 2am by this point), climb over rocks, or swim. Maria said that because the tide was out were would be able to climb over the rocks - not before walking through a small jungle route first. We got back to Tonsai and I was just relieved to have survived the walk - albeit sweaty and sandy! 

Monday 16th April 2012 - Krabi

I haven't been eating very much recently and have been feeling ridiculously tired and always seem to have a headache lurking in the darkness. Therefore today I made a conscious effort to try and eat some fatty foods to try and replenish some of what I have lost - McDonalds! I ordered so much (6 chicken nuggets and a big mac meal) but was full after two nuggets - I refused to leave until I have finished at least the nuggets and burger. There was a group of American guys and girls sitting on the table opposite me - the girls were really beautiful but  we're disgustingly plucking each other's chin hairs over the table!!! Yuk!! I was planning to head to Tonsai beach today to meet Maria but because my camera broke I really wanted to try and get my camera fixed or buy a new one until I get home. I went to the tourist office that I had booked my trip to Hong Island with to ask where I could get a camera from and they directed me to Krabi Town which was a 40minute ride away. I got on my scooter and started driving. Up ahead I could see a storm and was driving straight into it - rain hitting you whilst on a scooter with bare skin is so painful so after trying to soldier it for ten minutes and realising I was no closer to getting out of the dark clouds I did a u-turn and headed back to Ao Nang beach where it wasn't raining. I was there for maybe 20minutes when I looked up and saw a bus that would take me to the town and the Big C - a big shopping centre. I jumped on the bus as I figured that was the best way to get to where I wanted without getting wet. The only camera shop in the mall didn't do repairs so I bought a new basic one and figured I would try and get mine sorted when I get home.  I jumped on a tuk tuk home and fell in love with this little Thai kid - he was so embarrassed when I told him in Thai that he was very handsome! His dad laughed and teased him. Then out of nowhere this random Thai guy in the tuk tuk asked me for my number!!! I was so surprised and said no then he jumped out seemingly embarrassed.  Once back at my room I got showered and then went back out to eat at a restaurant called Wang Sai. I ordered a seafood red curry. It was so good but my lips were burning - I luckily had a banana milkshake to cool my burning lips down!!  After the food I headed back to my usual spot where I met the guys the other night, they weren't there but the girl Sam was there. The local guys were being sleazy so I stuck with her as she was only 15 and her parents had left her. I dropped her home and then went home. 

Sunday 15th April 2012 - Krabi

I never want to drink again!!!! Despite setting my alarm to wake me up with enough time to get ready for my pickup for Hong Island, my alarm did not go off!! All I know is that I was woken up by a knock on my door. I was so confused I shouted hello?! The man replied "you go to Hong Island". I jumped up so fast like "shit!!!" I looked at my phone like you stupid thing but it had evidently died during the night so all I could do was run around like a headless chicken without washing my face or brushing my teeth and jump into the back of the truck where there were maybe five other people waiting. I apologised to everyone and then realised, damn I feel drunk still". I put my sunglasses on trying to hide lastnight's mascara- I was going snorkelling so this was going to get messy. We arrived at the harbour where we were directed onto our boat and offered water - I took a bottle and drank it hoping for a miracle. The tour guide must have noticed from my whole demeanour that I was dying and cracked a joke asking if I had a good night!!  The first stop was snorkelling - I was absolutely pissed when I got into the water with my camera as usual (it is waterproof) and my camera wouldn't turn on. Instead it made crazy noises and the lense steamed up. That was it - the end of my camera that I had bought especially for this trip. Everytime I tried to turn it on it made a churning noise and that was it. I couldnt get any photos of the beautiful islands that I stopped at and now had no camera for the rest of my trip. The next stop was a little beach that was lined with boats. I can imagine that without the boats it would have been a lot better. As soon as we arrived I cared not for the beauty but for where the nearest toilet was - what happened next wasnt a pretty sight. Afterwards I sat in the shade on a table with my head in my hands. I couldn't believe I had paid for this trip and couldn't enjoy it. It was a great night though but I didn't come here for that - I can go out at home, but what I can't do at home is see beautiful islands with clear water and amazing weather.  Back on the boat we headed to the next island for lunch - hong island. It really was stunning. Since the movie the beach everyone talks about Maya Bay and it's beauty but this island absolutely kicks Maya Bay out of the water. The water was crystal clear and just like Maya Bay there were rocks surrounding the outside - they were in a circular shape so it felt like a big lagoon.  For lunch, which I made sure I ate, we had plain rice, chicken in a spicy onion gravy and mixed vegetables. There were chicken wings as well but they were so bland I took one bite and left it. On the 26th December 2004 Hong Island was hit by the tsunami that swept across Asia. I visited the memorial that commemorated all the people that either lost their lives or were brave enough to strive to save people. It was really quite sad. After the memorial I walked along a nature trail that had been set up through the jungle. Through the nature trail there were smashed up boats that hadn't been moved from the tsunami with a plaque saying something along the lines that they were there as a reminder of the power of nature. It's actually really crazy just how powerful mother nature is.  After Hong Island we stopped at one more place, which was called the Lagoon (I think the name better suited hong island). The lagoon was really nice. To get to it you had to manoeuvre the boat through a small opening. The small opening meant that the tide also couldn't get to the lagoon making the water really shallow. We only stopped here for 15minutes but I got to hold some starfish that our guide had found in the water. I got to see them up close and could see all their little tentacles that they used to walk along the surface of the seabed and their one eye which is located on their topside in the centre. Apparently sometimes the tide goes right out leaving the lagoon with little to no water - the starfish can survive for three-hours outside of the water.  After the lagoon we got back in the boat and headed back to the harbour for the end of the trip. Everyone piled into a bus that would take us back to our individual accommodation but they pulled me out and said I would get different transport (I think it was because mine was quite local). The tour guide waited with me - his name was Ek. As he put me into the transport he shook my hand and said I was very beautiful :-)  Once back at my accommodation I jumped on my bike to buy some water, coca cola (my favourite hangover cure), and crisps. I got back to my room at maybe 6pm and stayed there until the next morning.

Saturday 14th April 2012 - Krabi

Today I wanted to go to Railay beach so i got dressed, jumped on a scooter and headed to the nearest tourist office. They said that if I wanted to go I just needed to go to the longboat office and book myself. Whilst I was in the tourist office I booked a trip for tomorrow - visiting Hong islands for site-seeing, snorkelling and swimming. I had breakfast Asian style (chicken fried rice, fruit juice and fresh fruit and then jumped on my scooter ready to go in the direction of the long boat office. As soon as I sat on my scooter I was drenched with water by a passing truck. Although the Water Festival (Songkran festival) can last up to two weeks I hadnt heard the same noise in the morning while getting ready as I had heard yesterday so i figured that they wouldn't be throwing water today. How wrong was I. There wasn't as many vans or people lining the streets but those that were in the few vans weren't having mercy on people. Riding my bike just led me straight into the craziness so I decided to give up on the idea of going anywhere and just headed to the beach to sunbathe. After sunbathing for maybe half an hour I got up to go and try go buy water. Out of nowhere I heard "Natalie!!" I looked over the road and I saw Maria, the spirtual goddess from Perhentian!! The most random thing ever!! She was with her boyfriend Mihai, she had told me so much about him when we were in perhentian. He was Romanian and she had met him in Thailand. I was sad to hear that she wasn't happy with him and felt that he trapped/suppressed her spirit and that she wanted to leave him. I ended up staying with them both for the whole day hitch-hiking around on all the vans filled with the people taking part in the water fight. It was a crazy experience and so unexpected!!!  At around maybe 5 Maria and Mihai caught their boat to where they were staying (tonsai beach) and we arranged to meet there in two days time. I went to eat in the evening at a place called Chuan Chim and have never felt more humiliated in all my life. Apparently my white skin and being a single person makes me invisible and means that I can be treated less than dirt. I came across the place after jumping on my scooter and trying to find somewhere to have some authentic food. The place was packed with Thai people so I parked up my bike and walked in. There were no seats that I could see so I walked to a table near the back where a lady was working out people's bills. She didn't acknowledge me so I interrupted her and asked for a table for one, she said something in Thai and walked off so I had no idea whether she was helping me or not. I stood there feeling like a moron and felt that everyone was looking at me. There was a table for 4 that was empty but it had no chairs - I figured they could have just grabbed a chair and put me there but no...I waited and waited and nothing. While I was standing there I picked up a menu so that I didnt have to look around at everyone staring at me. I had second thoughts about eating there when I noticed they had two menus - one in Thai and one in English. The prices of the english menu were more than doubled. Eventually I got my phone out and looked up how to ask "how long?" in Thai and coyly asked one of the waiters. He replied in Thai but of course I had no idea what he said so I said a table for one in english. He pointed at the empty table and I said yeh enthusiastically. He brought a chair over and I sat down feeling like a massive outcast. I ordered my food and a Chang beer - he brought the drink over straight away. Whilst sitting at the table i thought I would check if the place had wifi. They did. I walked over to the another lady and asked her for the password but was dismissed and told they didn't have wifi even though they did. I then asked another guy who was walking passed me. He said something in Thai and then walked off never to return. The final straw was when a large group of people came in the restaurant and needed an extra table. The horrible lady from the start walked over to me and said "we move you, we need table". Guess where I was moved to. The table where she does the bills. I had all the menus sitting in front of me and had her walking back and forth to my table. That was it for me. I might as well have been put in the back of the Kitchen and given the scraps to eat. I tried to get her attention in Thai  - "kor toht tee" (excuse me please). She wafted me away like a fly and said "one minute" without even looking at me. My heart was racing and my body was shaking - i felt absolutely humiliated and like a piece of doo-doo!  I stood up, walked over to her and said that I no longer wanted to eat there. I handed her 100baht for my drink, which I regret doing because I hadn't even bloody drank half, and walked out. Since I have been travelling I have never been treated so badly. In Malaysia I went to eat at a really busy place that was filled with loads of locals but they didn't just dismiss me because I was only one. Athough I can imagine they probably would have loved to give my two person table to two people, they were really warm and friendly to me too. I got on my scooter and took my frustration out on the acceleration of my bike. I drove in the direction of where I was staying as I had eaten around there for the past two days with no problems. In fact, the waiter at the hippie place I had eaten at the night before had ever complimented my hair. I decided I would eat there. I walked in and sat at the table I had sat at the night before and felt a lot happier when the waiter acknowledged me like he recognised me from last night. The food was amazing. I ordered prawn with cashew nuts in an oyster sauce, mixed vegetables and plain rice, to drink I had a Mai Tai. I had a Skype call with Angie (my dad's girlfriend), which cheered me up, and then was delighted when the people sitting at the table next to me invited me to join them. There were three guys, one older guy, two boys of about my age, and a young girl of about maybe 15 whose parents were sitting over at a different table watching her as she spoke to these guys. I noticed the guys of my age from yesterday's waterfight as they had bravely walked up to my station and i had gone head to head with one of them - he looked like an Essex boy. As soon as I joined the table me and the Essex boy started bantering with me teasing him saying he looked like Joey Essex. They were great fun. My night went from miserable to amazing within seconds. We all drank and caught so many jokes. The older guy had left as he was flying home tomorrow and the younger girl had been summoned by her parents. The guys were called Jordan (from Canada) and Jamie (from Surrey). They had met whilst travelling and decided to travel together - they were really close and we joked that they were like a married couple. Jordan was only travelling for three weeks as he was on annual leave from his post as a fire-fighter. Jamie was 22-years old and was a farmer. He was travelling for a couple of weeks before heading to New Zealand to work for a year and then go traveling again. We stayed drinking at the restaurant for a couple of hours and then the boys suggested going to a club. I hadn't been out since I was here and so we did it. Somehow it ended up with all three of us bundled onto my scooter laughing our heads off until we reached an area where there were loads of bars and clubs. A man walked over to us and handed us a flyer offering buy one get one free on drinks so we stopped at his place. The bar man was amazing and pulled out jenga for all four of us to play. This was like no jenga you have ever seen before - it consisted of four different boxes piled up in a different kind of way that gets absolutely massive as you play. The tension whilst we were playing was immense - we all focused so hard and couldn't touch the table because any movement could make this bad boy fall. Eventually Joey Essex made the tower collapse - so glad it wasn't me!! After Jenga we played connect four - I learnt from Thailand last year that the bar staff are hustlers when it comes to connect four we only made a small bet. The bet was each of us (Nat, J, and J) would play against the bar man and it was the best of three - if we won we get a round of drinks. If we lose we buy the bar man a tequila which was only 100baht. We lost surprise surprise but it was great fun. At one we ended up in the tattoo shop behind the bar with Joey Essex contemplating inking himself!! I convinced him otherwise and then we headed to all the clubs in the area dancing and going crazy in each. Somehow during the night both boys declared their love for me but were super cool and still lovely when I told them I wasn't interested. We ended up sloppily munching on burger king at the end of the night and I rolled home at 5 in the morning slightly drunk!! (a lot) and somehow ended up sitting with my hotel owner and his friends for a bit before setting my alarm for 3hours time and crawling into bed. 

Friday 13th April 2012 - Krabi

I can't believe my headache has lasted this long!! I woke up and still had it so rather than getting up and joining in with the festivities I took tablets and slept until about 1pm.  Once I finally got up my first stop was to hire a scooter. Whilst filling up the tank I got my first taste of the festival - there were trucks of people driving passed throwing water on the passers-by. They didn't try and get me while I was filling up the scooter but the moment the lid was down that was it, I was drenched within seconds!! All I could do was laugh defencelessly. I was going to bring out my gun but when I filled it up the water just leaked everywhere so I decided against it. I got told that I couldn't head towards the beach as the road was one way only today so I had no choice but to join all these vans and scooters filled with people shooting and throwing water. It was frikin amazing!! There were people of all ages packed onto the back of these vans with big tanks of water, water guns and buckets. Some blasted music and were having a little rave as well.  There were points where groups of people stopped you and slathered you with talcum powder. Others threw coloured water or rubbed dye on you. I have never seen anything like it - It was truly wonderful to see everyone getting involved and laughing. You are even allowed to get the police! After riding around for a couple of hours and getting covered with all kinds of things I decided to go to the place I had been for shisha the night before. As soon as I pulled up next to the restaurant I was greeted with buckets and buckets of water, talcum powder and hoses. I parked my scooter and stayed with these guys for another couple of hours attacking all the passerbys like a true local. I had such a wonderful day and laughed and screamed so much. Everyone let go of all their inhibitions and just acted like children.  I decided to look up the water festival afterwards because I had no idea what it was for. It turns out that it is a part of the Thai new solar year celebrations which last for three days. The water festival is the start of the celebrations and marks the end of the year. The water is supposed to be to wash away all the bad luck so if you get soaked it is supposed to be good luck. After today I think I should have plenty of good luck!! 

Thursday 12th April 2012 - leaving Langkawi to go to Krabi

In order to get the boat to Satun I had to leave Rainbow Lodge at 8am. Dany was also leaving to go to Kuala lumpur so we shared a cab to Kuah to the jetty point. We were both sad to be going separate ways but because we are both on a journey to find something, sticking together might hinder that. We had swapped email and facebook details already and agreed to stay in contact. When going through the immigration at Kuah i thought i wasn't going to get through. The lady looked at my passport for a good couple of minutes before handing it to the man at the next counter whilst saying something in malay. He then handed it back to her, she walked out of her counter and asked me about where I had been and how I had travelled and then walked into what looked like the main office. She came back after maybe 3minutes and told me that basically someone had stamped my passport to say I had left malaysia. There is a purple stamp which is the visa and then when you leave they put a red stamp. She crossed out the red stamp, put a new one with today's date and sent me on my way. My mind was going crazy though! I was thinking what if I get sent home! She told me that when I come back to Malaysia from Thailand I need to get another purple stamp that will be valid for another 90days - I remember I had met someone in perhentian who told me that they had been here for over a year and that when her visa was due to expire she would go to Thailand for a day and then come back in order to get the new visa!! Great idea! The boat journey to Satun took maybe an hour. I had no idea what I was supposed to do when I got there so had to ask someone how to get to Krabi. She told me I needed to go to the bus terminal to get a coach. As soon as i got through Thai customs I was approached by a lady asking me where I was going - she hurriedly said "follow me, follow me quick. You only have a few minutes". I had no idea what was going on but she took me to her office and quickly started writing out a receipt while a man kept urging her to hurry up. They asked me for 600baht but I hadn't even changed my money yet so had to pay in Malaysian ringgits (rm60).  I was then pointed in a direction and told to run. I was then bundled into the back of van with loads of other people (like squashed cattle) and taken to another place to get a bright pink coach. I honestly didn't know how long it was going to take, where I was going in Krabi or what I was going to do when I got there. I arrived at Krabi bus terminal at 5pm and was approached by someone else asking where I was going. The answer "I don't know" is apparently normal here as the non-phased man directed me to another man at a counter and told him to help me. He showed me a map and pointed out the best place to go for backpackers and showed me somewhere to stay (he owned it). They sorted out a bus for me and I was on my way. It's amazing how helpful and friendly the Thai people were to me.  I arrived at the accommodation near Ao Nang beach and headed to their bar over the road - lazy bar. It was really nice and relaxed with hammocks and cushions all over the place. I took refuge on the hammock for an hour or so with a piña colada (don't drink them here -they never seem to taste right). There was a crazy Thai dreadlock guy there and a russian girl. The Russian girl wasn't particularly friendly but I tried to make a bit of conversation with her. The dreadlock guy owned the place and had a nuts laugh. The Russian girl was living over here until the winter passed back home. She was 35 and owned three properties in Russia - I wasn't sure but it looked like she had a thing going on with the crazy Thai guy. I got a bit bored so decided to take a walk around the local area and ended up at a lovely little place and had shisha, pad Thai, spring rolls and a mango cocktail. Everything I ordered was really disappointing but the ambiance in the place was beautiful and was enhanced massively when some live music started - some Thai songs and then Eric Clapton's wonderful tonight. I couldnt help but smile.  That was until this sleezy drunk italian guy came over and started annoying me. I had seen this guy earlier when walking around - he was riding passed me on his scooter and shouted "beautiful" at me. At the bar I didn't entertain him so he eventually left me alone but then went up and started singing!! It was kind of funny because he was singing to a Thai song and because he didn't know the words he was making them up. Everyone in the place was laughing at him but then he was calling out to me to come and sing - embarrassing. I was just about to leave and the owner of the place asked if I knew about the water festival that was happening the next day. I had heard about it but didn't really know much about it - i just knew that it was like a giant water fight. I told him that I still needed to buy a water gun but he said he was selling guns. I bought a cute little pink one - I would have liked a big one but he didn't have any and they would apparently cost me 500thb.  Whilst walking back to my room along the dark road the guy that manages the place I am staying pulled up behind me and told me to jump on. Instead of dropping me at the accommodation he drove two seconds further to the lazy bar. I didn't particularly want to go in but felt rude if I didn't. The russian girl and crazy Thai guy were still there as well as another guy. They were all smoking weed. The other guy looked like freddie mercury because of his hair and moustache! Very odd. He was from Greece and was 22years old. He worked in a bar in Greece during the high season and saved enough money to live abroad in the low season. He was very closed minded and said he didn't like Malaysia (after only visiting kuala lumpur) because he didn't like Muslims. Idiot. My headache was still there so I left after a while and went to bed. 

Wednesday 11th April 2012 - Langkawi

Dany and I met in the morning and headed to the beach at 9am for a swim and for breakfast. Breakfast consisted of peanut butter crackers and lychee juice bought from the shop.  After the beach we walked around aimlessly until we reached "underwater world" - an aquarium. We had nothing better to do so we decided to go in. It was the biggest waste of money known to man - Dany paid though so he must have been pissed!! It was rm38 per person and was just really small. There were some pretty crazy fish in there and I even saw fishes that I had seen myself whilst snorkelling which was kinda cool. The most amazing fish was probably the lion fish - it has so many different nuts and crannies that it didn't look real.  After the underwater world we stopped to have food but I had a really bad headache, I had it for 2 days already, so i wanted to head back to rainbow lodge to sleep to try and budge it. Whilst walking back to the lodge two girls that Dany had met at the lodge came and started speaking to him in french. Dany explained that the girls had been on the beach but had been told to leave because there had been an earthquake in indonesia which could cause a tsunami here. We arrived at the lodge where the news was on - a red alert had been issued and everyone had been advised to go to higher ground until they knew what the situation was. All boats had stopped running also which meant that we might not be able to leave Langkawi the next day as planned. Luckily the red alert was lifted and despite the earthquake being a pretty big one that some of the locals had felt, we were safe. My headache was so bad that I ended up sleeping for the rest of the day. 

Tuesday 10th April 2012 - Langkawi

Tuesday 10th April 2012 - Langkawi I  woke up in the morning and rode my scooter over to rainbow lodge to see if they had rooms. Maria, the spiritual goddess that I met in perhentian, had recommended the rainbow lodge to me previously but I went with Anaz's recommendation instead. When I arrived at rainbow lodge and saw the rooms and the prices I instantly wished I had come here first. In the gecko guesthouse I was paying rm35 per night and was sharing a bathroom with all the other guests but rainbow lodge charged rm35 for a room with your own bathroom. They also had another room for rm60 which was a deluxe room. It came with hot water, air conditioning and a tv - luxuries that I had not had since being away. I figured I was only planning on staying in Langkawi for one more day and would really love a hot shower so I went with the deluxe room. Once I had transported all my stuff from gecko to rainbow I sat in the restaurant and ordered a banana pancake with a side of chocolate and honey sauce. I was about to take a bite when this tall guy appeared and said "Enjoy". He was very good looking and I felt a bit shy so coyly said thanks. He sat down and joined me. His name was Dany. He was from France, 30 years old, a project manager in IT and was on a three week journey to try and change his way of living after a pretty bad breakup. As he put it, it was like we shared the same story. As we spoke I felt like a little girl, my words wouldn't come out properly. He asked me if I was planning on staying in the restaurant or if I wanted to go somewhere else - I said I was probably going to go somewhere else. We began walking and he asked me where was good to go - having just arrived yesterday he hadn't seen much. I suggested the cable car but he had already been so i asked if he had been to the waterfall which was right next to the cable car. He hadn't and said he would like to go there. He didn't have any form of transport and wanted to take a taxi but instead I suggested that he take out a scooter for the day - I didn't feel comfortable having people on the back of my scooter. He told me he didn't have his driving licence with him as he literally came to Malaysia with bare minimum. I told him that I would take a scooter out for him with my licence at a different shop to where I got my bike from. He had never rode a scooter before so I had to teach him how before we took off. My nickname became "Coach". He looked really uncomfortable at first but eventually got used to it despite riding at less than 40km/h the whole journey!  Dany was adamant that he wanted to climb to the top of seven wells and where I had previously thought it was only half an hour to the top, it was actually supposed to be at least an hour and a half.  We climbed the steep hill to get to the first of the seven waterfalls (where I went before). It wasn't so much of a hot day today so the water felt colder than before but we stayed there for maybe two hours. We spoke, we swam, we played. It was really nice. Better than the first time.  We then climbed to the 2nd of the 7 waterfalls - the climb was ridiculously tiring and it was getting late so we quit at level 2!  We walked down and then headed back to Cenang because my bike had to be back today after 4days. We stopped and ate at the restaurant next to the bike shop. The food was so good. I had an Indian pancake with mutton inside. I also ordered a fresh lychee juice which seemed to shock Dany as he had been advised by his doctor not to drink the juice in Malaysia. I had been told the same thing but it was too good to resist - my lack of care for avoiding such things seemed to inspire Dany because he then went and ordered the same thing.  After food we headed back to the rainbow lodge and arranged to meet again in half an hour. We then walked to the beach where the sun was going down (we missed the sunset). It was the most beautiful view - a pink sky that cast a warm and calming glow over the sea and beach. We laid on the beach and spoke for hours until it was dark and the sky was filled with more stars that you can ever imagine.  It was a perfect day.  I was supposed to be leaving Langkawi the next morning to head to Krabi in Thailand and he was supposed to be leaving to head to Kuala Lumpur but we both decided to stay one more day. 

Monday 9th April 2012 - Langkawi

Today my plan was to try and do my own thing. Jay had said we should do something together but I woke up kind of late in the morning and was happy to do not very much today. But then Jay sent me texts and tried calling me a couple of times saying to meet him at his restaurant and then we can drive around the island. I texted him back that I was going to have a chilled one and go to the beach so maybe I would maybe catch him later. He then replied that we should go together. I walked to the restaurant where he was waiting - I was ready to walk because the beach was only over the road but he said he had a spot that we should go to and we would need to drive. To be honest I was a bit pissed because I just wanted to chill on cenang beach - although it is not the nicest beach it is lively which is what I was feeling for. I was really disappointed in the beach he took me to - instead of fine white sand it was more coarse and the beach was just quiet. I think I made it pretty obvious that I wasn't happy but soon got over it. It was actually quite nice spending time with him talking about random things. He told me that the restaurant was his and his uncle's and that he was originally from kuala lumpur. He had lived in Langkawi for 10years and had 3 brothers and 1 sister - one of his brothers was a engineer and had won a scholarship to study engineering at one of the car manufacturers in Germany. He said he wasn't married and had no children but that he had been hurt. It was a nice afternoon. After the beach we got back in the car and headed back to the restaurant. Jay didn't have a Facebook account and wanted me to help him set one up. We sat at a table in the restaurant - which was closed, smoked shisha and I set up his account.  After I had set up his account he felt the need to show me photos of all the hot asian women on google and a video on youtube entitled "Malaysia's most beautiful women". He then logged into a photo bucket account and showed me a photo of him in traditional wedding attire with a lady - the photo looked like it had been photoshopped. It didn't look real so I thought he just liked one of the hot asian women so much that he created a photo of them together. He then logged into another account and said let me show you my son and started showing me photos of a baby and then lots more photos of him and the lady from the last photo - these ones looked more real. I was really confused and then the penny dropped that he was married and had a child. He had previously told me he was going to Japan in two weeks time because he loved to travel and also to buy a boat, however today he told me differently -  he also has a wife in Japan that his first wife didnt know about and was going to see her. It was all too much for me to comprehend and I felt a bit stupid, not because I liked him (because I didnt) but because of the lying. I dont understand why he felt the need to lie in the first place. He had wanted to take me to the cinema in the evening but these new revelations bothered me - not just because he lied to me but because he was being dishonest to his wife. It is probably none of my business especially because he and i were just friends, but I wasn't trying to be pulled into a web of deceit and wouldn't want to cause any uncomfortability to his wife/wives so I got up and said I was leaving. I wasn't angry I just seem to have little patience on this trip for games - I am not looking for a relationship, I am not looking for a fling, I am just looking to just meet nice people and experience new things and this new friendship just got a bit too complicated for my liking. I went back to my accommodation to get ready and go and get some food - I had showered and was just in my room listening to music and getting ready when there was a knock at my door?! I wasn't expecting anyone and no one knows which room I am in. It was Jay. He had tried calling and texting me a number of times but I couldn't be bothered to answer so he turned up at my room. He knew I was staying in gecko guesthouse but not which room - my scooter was parked directly outside my room so I assume that he had seen it and guessed that it must be my room. He apologised and asked if he could explain himself so I agreed to meet him later in the evening. I made a skype call to my mummy munchkin to see if she was ok and was mortified when a cockroach climbed under my door and started flying around my room. I made a decision there and then that it would be my last night at this place. I had cockroaches before in other places but in this place I had woken up near enough everyday with 5new bites- I don't know whether they were mosquito bites or bed bugs but the cockroach landing on the blanket I had brought with me was the last straw! I spent the whole of the call with my mum eyeing the cockroach and then there was another knock at my door - Jay was back. I asked him to get rid of the cockroach - he stamped on it and pushed it outside.  We got in the car and he immediately started apologising. I told him "look I have no issues with you being married or having a kid, we are friends, the issue is the lying." He tried to defend his omissions by saying that it was because he didn't know me. It was true that we had only known eachother a short time but he agreed that rather than outrightly saying no to having a wife and children he could have said it was a long story that he didn't feel like sharing. I would have accepted that. As it turns out, he married this lady two years ago but she wasnt very loyal - she was getting missed calls from private numbers,  being secretive and put a lock on her phone. He then gave her an ultimatum - me or your phone and she chose the phone. He then started divorce proceedings and left to come to Langkawi to start again. I did not need to know all this. But anyway, we went for dinner in a small quiet restaurant in Kuah Town (a chicken dish, mixed vegetables, plain rice and squid salad - very nice!) and then he tried to show me the eagle in the jetty point as it was a significant statue in Langkawi. As it turns out it was too dark to see anything so we headed back towards Cenang. In the journey back I was really disappointed when he tried to hold my hand and told me he liked me - I told him that we are friends and that it was not what friends do. He tried to tell me that friends in Malaysia hold hand but I wasn't having any of it. He then crossed the line. He had previously told me he watched a lot of porn which shocked me but did not bother me as it was really none of my business but then he started asking me about my sexual preferences and saying things that I did not need or want to hear. We were in the car and I had nowhere to run and was mortified that he was asking me such inappropriate questions. I told him that i was very private about those things and wouldnt share anything so he should shut up. He wouldnt stop. He was laughing and thinking it was hilarious but for me it was not cool. Eventually he shut up and asked me where we were going next - I told him I was going home! As i was getting out of the car he said we will do something tomorrow and that I should meet him at the restaurant - I said nothing and shut the door.  I got into my room feeling really annoyed that my  nights always seem to be ending early because of these idiot guys so I walked into the guesthouse bar and sat right at the back of the bar trying not to be noticed chatting to my beautiful Lahari on wats app and we arranged to Skype in 10minutes. But then the bar man who had spoke to me a couple of nights before spotted me and pulled me loudly into the main bar. He was talking to me and asked me if he could take me out after he finished work - he was a funny guy so I started laughing saying very funny. But damn it, he was being serious!!! I avoided the question and then went back to sitting at the back of the bar to have my Skype call with Lahari. He kept coming over and being annoying - I hadn't seen lahari's face in almost a month so didn't appreciate it. I got off the call and avoided the guy like the plague and went to my room. Once in my room I packed up all my things ready to leave gecko guesthouse in the morning. 

Sunday 8th April 2012 - Langkawi

I met Jay at the restaurant at 8am , had breakfast (scrambled eggs, some nasty frankfurter type chicken sausages, and beans) and then we got in his car and drove to the boat port.  There were so many people waiting for their boats to go and do this tour. Jay told me to go ahead and he disappeared into the ticket office. He then came back out with stickers for us both.  The boat that we joined had a group of Chinese Malay people that were very friendly and smiley. The boat driver was amazing and kept playing around to get us all wet. The first stop was the pregnant maiden lake. The reason it is called this is because when you look at the island it is on from the side, the mountains are formed to look a silhouette of a pregnant lady laying down. Once of the jetty and walked towards to lake, the first thing you are met by are long tail monkeys. Until today I thought they were cute! However these brave little effers were lining the pier and snatching whatever they thought looked interested from the tourists!!! They seem to like carriers bags and shiny things. I was quite shocked to see that the local stalls were selling catapults to shoot the monkeys with though - not cool! After climbing some stairs we reached this beautiful massive lake. They had cordoned off an area for people to swim in and then the rest of the lake had people riding around in solar panelled pedalo boats. Jay asked if I wanted to go on one, I excitedly said yes but was shocked when he just went up to the counter and paid for the whole thing (rm30) and wouldn't let me pay half.  The boat trip was nice - I wanted to see more monkeys so we heading towards the outside of the lake where it was lined with trees. We didn't see monkeys but we saw a chameleon and a little lizard type thing. The lake was over one hundred years old and was said to increase fertility for ladies (another reason for the name) if they bathed in the lake. Back on the boat we headed towards to Eagle point. Jay had led me to believe we would actually get out of the boat and feed them but actually all we did was sit in the boat while hundreds of eagles circled the boats up above. The boat driver then threw a tub of chicken skin into the sea and we watched as one by one the eagles swooped down and clasped the skin out of the sea and flew away. The eagles were really beautiful though and they had the most magnificent wings - so big and elegant.  The final stop was the beach for snorkelling.  So far I hadn't really been impressed by the beaches on Langkawi - they had nothing on those of Perhentian Islands. So although this beach looked stunning as we pulled up to it, snorkelling was impossible as the water was not clear.  Whilst talking along the beach there were long tail monkeys again lining up behind where all the tourists had laid their belongings. We laid out a mat that Jay had brought along and one of the little effers came running towards us. Jay picked up a stick to try and scare it away but I was so shocked to see the monkey bear his teeth and run towards Jay like it was going to attack him. I then picked up a shoe and ran towards it - it then ran away! I now know what no-one else is excited when they see this particular breed of monkey! Whilst chilling on the mat, Jay pulled out some polystyrene boxes from his bag - how sweet he had made tuna sandwiches for us! We ate them, went swimming for a bit and then had to get the boat back to the mainland. The trip was nice but very quick. Once back at the mainland and in the car Jay asked me where I wanted to go next. The shrug of my shoulders led to him suggesting the Complex Crafts museum. There were areas where you could buy all the locally made crafts like paintings, jewellery, traditional clothing and other bits and pieces. There was also an exhibition of all the different Malay culture's wedding ceremonies and attire - the tree common cultures of Malay are Indian, Chinese and Malay. We stayed at the museum for maybe an hour and then he took me to the hot saltwater jacuzzis and hot spring. Unfortunately the jacuzzis were closed for maintenance but the hot spring was open. The hot spring had one central source that looked like a well which then trickled down into what looked like a crop circle. The water was so warm and nice, and is said to help with muscle pains and arthritis. What an amazing world we live in with all these natural wonders.  After the hot spring Jay took me to a mountaintop cafe to watch the sunset. It was still pretty early so we had time to kill. We perched ourselves into a groove at the top of the mountain and looked out onto views of the west side of Langkawi. The sun was shining so brightly where we were sitting but the rest of the land that we were looking onto had clouds scattered above, so certain areas were dark whilst others had a beautiful bright light cast over them - the contrast was nuts. It was just breathtaking and so tranquil.  The dark clouds eventually started hovering above us so we moved up into the cafe to avoid the rain. It was windy up there as the sun went down but the view was nice. Unfortunately though, the clouds were too much and meant that the sunset wasn't great although the orange colour between the mountains and the clouds was beautiful.  Whilst waiting for the sunset Jay and I somehow got onto the topic of previous randoms jobs. It was hilarious to hear that when Jay was younger he somehow ended up working in the porn industry holding the microphone! This apparently opened up the gateway for him to tell me all about his love for porn and all the different things he watches like everyday! It wasn't what I wanted to be listening to to be honest but I kept laughing hysterically at the fact of the situations I get myself into, I mean how much more bloody random could my day get! This guy was a nice respectable guy with geeky tendencies that had a absolute love for porn and watched it pretty much everyday.  Another of our conversations was his Princess Diana, 9/11 and Iraq, and the three masons' conspiracy theories. I had heard similar 9/11 and Iraq theories recently from my friend Haribo and honestly, they all make a lot of sense. It is quite scary to think about the power of the government - especially the USA, but what can you do?! It was a pretty random afternoon but I liked it.  The next stop was Kuah town to buy more suncream and some liquor. Langkawi is a tax free island so we managed to buy some any brand mango vodka for rm23 (less than £5). We had planned to go and have shisha and a few drinks but because I hadn't drank very much water or eaten since the Tuna sandwich, I felt really tired. We went and ate at a local restaurant (ginger chicken, chinese vegetables, calamari and rice - really good food) and then I just went home to sleep. 

Saturday 7th March 2012 - Langkawi

Today has been a great day :-) I decided not to set my alarm and just wake up naturally - there is no such thing in malaysia!!! Everywhere you go there are cockerels and they make the wakey wakey noise at stupid times! The worse thing is, the one that wakes me up here sounds like an old dog that is trying to bark! Haha! Anyway, I jumped straight on my scooter and headed towards to Oriental Village where they have the cable cars and skywalk.  The oriental village was really nice - there were little shops and food places around and also beautiful ponies that were giving people rides around the village. After breakfast - roti canai and chicken satay skewers with pear, pineapple and lime juice I went to the cable car.  The cable car takes you to the top of the mountains and allows you to see all around langkawi from various different viewing platforms. Then once at the very top platform you can walk across the skywalk which is basically a hanging bridge linking two mountains together. It was definitely worth the rm30.  After I got back down to solid ground I jumped back onto my scooter and followed a sign towards a waterfall. There is seven wells which is a half an hour walk up a massive hill - my flip flops weren't suitable for the walk so I only made it to the waterfall. The waterfall was beautiful and really refreshing to swim in. There were locals having picnics around the waterfall and some swimming with their children. It's crazy the different types of activities parents do with their children here compared to England. The kids were sliding down from the rocks and into the water and making their own fun from very little - it was so sweet to watch.  Walking back down from the waterfall towards my bike I saw and heard rustling in the trees. I stopped walking and watched for about 30minutes. There were loads of monkeys in the bushes, I am not sure of the breed but they were black with white faces - really cute but very timid.  After the waterfall I decided to head back to my room to get showered nice and early and head out a little more determined to speak to people.  My first stop once I was ready was the bar at gecko guesthouse. It is quite intimidating to go to the bar as although most people at the hotel are backpackers too, they are usually grouped in the bar together and it is that awkward turning around and watching you thing that happens when someone walks in.  I went straight to the bar and ordered a bacardi and pineapple juice. The bar man started talking to me which was nice. He was a local boy and a proper joker. When I told him I knew Anaz from Monkey Bar he was very quick to point out that it was his friend and that Anaz used to work there. He showed me an old photo of Anaz that was still pinned up behind the bar - of course I uploaded it straight to Facebook and tagged Anaz!!  After Gecko, I saw that the first restaurant on the main road sold shisha. I walked passed this place the night before and because there were not very many people there I headed to the restaurant over the road which was much more vibrant. Today I decided I would smoke shisha and eat there. The stash of all the different flavours of Al Fahker was very impressive and led me to respectfully acknowledging the guy that dealt with the shisha. I knew he knew what he was doing when he recommended guava, grape and mint to me - this is a flavour I have a lot at home. The guy seemed friendly and seemed happy when he realised I was from England. Whilst eating my food (snapper, rice and chinese vegetables) which was amazing by the way, Jay came and sat with me and opened up a blank page in a note book and picked up a pen seemingly ready to write. He said right, tell me about England. I support Liverpool and want to go see the stadium. I sat there reeling off directions to him, places to go in London and which trains to get etc whilst he took notes.  Then out of nowhere he offered me another shisha because of the information I had given him - and also didn't charge me for the first one.  We were also talking about what I had been doing while I was here and what I wanted to do - i told him I wasn't sure but that i was happy just going around the Island with my scooter. He asked if I wanted to do some island hopping and told me that there was a really nice tour that takes you to swim in a fresh water lake, then to feed eagles, and then to a nice island to snorkel. He then pulled out a map from his office and showed me where it would take me and explained that he also works as a tour guide. I asked how much it would cost me and he said normally rm25 (someone was quoting me rm40 for the same tour yesterday) but that because he already had a group of 10 going tomorrow I could go for free as there was extra space. Of course I said yes!!! I would need to meet him back at the restaurant at 8am and then we would drive to the boat port. Jay seemed like a nice guy. He was 32 and loved travelling around the different countries. In two weeks time he is going to Japan and Korea  and then in the summer he wants to come to England to visit all the different football stadiums. He was very in touch with the English and American music and television shows which was really surprising - apparently he has sky tv and the internet and spends a lot of time on YouTube searching for new things.  While we were talking I kept feeling bugs on me and showed him all the bites I had got since being in Langkawi so he kindly went into his back area and bought out some mosquito spray for me. I didn't expect him to do that so it was very sweet. I was happy that I had finally found a friend in Langkawi! :-)

Friday 6th April 2012 - leaving Penang to go to Langkawi

I woke up at 7am today to get the local bus to the airport. Joe said he would charge me rm50 but I was adamant to try and save some money. The local bus only cost rm4 and despite waiting for an hour for it and it taking 2 hours to get to the airport, I saved cash.  Whilst waiting for the bus it was so endearing to see the mums taking their children to school on their scooters with their little cartoon bags on their backs. It was completely normal in Asia to have kids on scooters, either on the back holding onto their parent, in front of their parent, and sometimes you saw whole families (kid, adult, kid, adult). There were women carrying new born babies, men carrying televisions, people looking like they are moving homes with big platforms either side of them filled with things. It was crazy to watch! Seeing all the kids going to school got me thinking about a conversation I had with Burung on the day I was leaving perhentian islands, when he was taking me back to the islands until the last boat. It was a Thursday and his boat was filled with school kids that had been at school all week and were now returning home to the islands to their parents. The school week in Malaysia (I dont know if it is just in Kuala Besut) is Sunday to Thursday. There were no schools on the islands and education is not compulsory so if a parent wants to send their child to school, not only do they need to pay for their education, they have to send them to the mainland. Also, because it is a far distance to travel everyday, the kids stay in a hostel in dorms - girls separate from boys. The boats taking the children back to the islands were also like that - the girls were on one boat and the boys on another. Also another interesting fact is that children are not put into classes based on their age, instead they have to take tests and are put into classes based on their IQ.  Anyway, the flight to Langkawi was super quick, only 45minutes. Anaz from Monkey Bar had recommend that I stay at Gecko guesthouse on Cenang Beach. I got a cab from the airport and was pleasantly surprised that it only cost me rm18. On the way from the airport I saw loads of tourists on scooters so decided there and then that I was hiring a scooter - none of this getting conned and paying ridiculous amounts for trips. I would find my own way around like I did in Thailand last year. I loved the freedom I had in thailand and loved that the scooter allowed me to explore at my own pace and stop in the most random of places if I saw something of interest. I got to Gecko Guesthouse, checked in and then walked the local area for a bit until i found somewhere to hire a scooter. I got my scooter and jumped on it and just drove. I had been told by many different people that I must do the skywalk once I got to Langkawi so was happy when I drove past where it was - atleast I knew where to go when I wanted to go. Also along my ride I saw some people that had stopped on the side of the road and could see that there were monkeys everywhere. I did a u-turn so fast and walked as quietly as possible to the couple and the monkeys. They were common long tailed monkeys and had come to the side of the road to eat mangoes that were growing on the trees there. The male monkeys are so aggressive and fight with the females and babies so they are too scared to come to get food. One of the males even just casually moved the tail of one of the other monkeys and started humping it!!!  I eventually came up to the cable cars and skywalk - many people I have met along my journey so far have recommended this place . I wasn't going to go on it now but having seen where it was I planned to come back tomorrow. Eventually I drove back to my guesthouse just as the tropical rain started. Apparently in Langkawi it is the wet season now - although it seems to only rain for a short while at night. I waited for the rain to pass and then walked out onto the main road to find somewhere to eat.  The place I found looked super busy, which usually signifies good food - or stupid people in this case!! I ordered a Tiger Prawn curry, prawns that i picked from their fresh fish display. I waited about an hour for a curry that was watery and tasted like flowers. I love prawns and these prawns were huge but i left them - it was vile.  I walked around a bit, bought a local phone and called my mumma munchkin after finding out that her mum had passed away :-(  My first impressions of Langkawi were good. It seemed to have a lot to offer but it seemed a lot more difficult to integrate into as I has done in perhentian islands. Day time was fine as I can just jump on my scooter but night times seem like they might be a bit more difficult. 

Thursday 5th April 2012 - Penang

So today I learnt that I really need to stop going with things and stop and think first!!!! Lastnight when I was walking around the night market I was also stopping at tour companies to get prices for things to do today. I saw one tour that stuck out to me - orang utan island, an Eco park and a waterpark. It was advertised for rm80 but required a minimum of 3 people - the company only had me so me on my own would have to pay rm250. I was firm despite wanted to do the tour and said that rm250 was too much. So this morning I left my room early adamant to find my own way around Penang. I stopped at a tour company and asked for a map which laid out all the other places of interest. I started walking in the direction of the butterfly farm and was then harassed by a group of can drivers. I asked them how far the butterfly farm was (I had previously asked others and was told the same figure) - it was 8km away and the local bus would still require me to walk 2km. I asked the cab drivers how much they would charge me. They said rm20. I walked away saying no it was too expensive but then one of them walked with me and said he would give it to me for rm15. I said ok and got in the car. We were driving towards the butterfly gardens and I thought I would just ask this guy how much it was to go to orang utan island. He told me rm250 and pulled out photos he had taken from going there previously - it looked amazing! I immediately said "let's go there instead!" That's actually a crazy amount of money - it didn't include entrance fee either. Also it was only for an hour and a half drive and it wasn't until after I agreed that I thought, hmmm that's ridiculous. I had paid only rm110 to go 10hours from penang and was now paying more than double for a lot less time!!! He did say he would show me around though and drive me back but it just was not needed. The place does not require a guide as it is guided by loads of people there and everything was in one place because it was a big complex. Also in the car coming back i found out i could have hired his car for the whole day for rm120 or better still a scooter for a hell of a lot less. Ah well.  The first stop was the orang utan island. Orang utan island is a research, rehabilitation and conservation area for Orang utans - although it upset me to hear that they were not originally found on this island, instead they were brought over from Borneo.  First we went into a cage type thing which allowed us to look out onto the large open space where the adult orang utans were, and a mum with her baby. They were such characters - they came up towards where everyone was standing one by one, posed for some pictures, and then walked away. It really was beautiful but what upset me was that although they seemed happy, there was an electric fence around their enclosure. I do not agree with that at all. Although none of them were silly enough to touch it, they obviously have at one point to know not to touch it. The park wardens said it was for their safety so that they didnt go where they are not supposed to go but I'm sure there are more humane techniques.  Next we walked over the the nursery where they kept the babies until they were able to be released to the large enclosure. The first base in the nursery was a glass room where there were two babies with nappies on. They were so adorable! I watched them for ages. One of them seemed like it was having a temper tantrum; throwing itself on the floor and then dragging itself along the floor on its stomach. To be honest, they seemed fed up in this glass room and as lovely as it was for me to watch, I couldn't help but feel like they shouldn't be in there. One of them was an orphan as it's mum died while giving birth and the other was rejected by its mother. I guess this was to ensure they survived.  The next stop in the nursery was the different stages that each baby orang utan has to go through before deemed ready for the big pen. The first was the climbing area. It was an area with different things for the babies to climb to get them used to it.  There were no orang utans in there. There were two orang utans in the next section - I am not entirely sure what this section was for! The pens had glass windows so gave you the opportunity to see the monkeys up close and personal. One of them was even pulling faces on the glass - it squashed it's lips onto the window and was blowing - I couldn't stop laughing. Again, I did feel that perhaps it wasn't the greatest place for them to be stuck. Did you know that as a survival technique, because there are no water sources high in the trees, the orang utans drink their own pee - wasn't exactly one to the highlights seeing them doing this!!! Lol!! After the orang utan island we went to the eco park. It was pretty much just a small zoo. I got to see and feed beautiful deers which was cool. One of the things that made me want to cry was in the reptile centre it was feeding time. The guy was feeding the snakes little chicks that were crying so loud. This mortified me! I don't like snakes even more now.  The highlight of the Eco park and of the whole day, was going into the enclosure where the squirrel monkeys are kept. Joe, my ridiculously expensive guide, advised me to buy sunflower seeds to feed them - I bought two packets which were in a blue carrier bag with my bag of chilli crisps and a bottle of water. As soon as you walk into the enclosure the monkeys are all over you. They jumped on me from all directions onto my shoulders, up my legs onto my bags - it was absolutely nuts!!! Then the funny things ripped into my bag and tried stealing everything - the sunflower seeds packet dropped onto the floor (I covered it with my food and had them desperately yanking at my foot to try and get them). But whilst I was protecting the seeds one of them stole my chilli crisps, ran into the corner squealing like crazy whilst all the other monkeys chased him. He bit open the packet and was dishing the crisps out! It was hilarious!  Eventually I got a bit brave and was no longer taking their crap! There was one dominant male perched on my shoulder howling and going to attack any of the other monkeys that came to me for nuts until eventually they werent coming near me. So I walked around with the big man on my shoulder giving out the nuts one by one- there were even little babies that were just so adorable. They werent as confident as the adults so wouldn't come to me so I walked up to them and gave them a seed. They would then look around anxiously to see if any of the adults were going to attack them and would then scurry onto a high branch as they struggled to open the shell. It was just the most incredible experience.  The next stop was the water park - don't ever go there!!! You have to pay like rm30 to get in there and unless you pay an extra rm20 when you get inside to hire a tube (dingy) you only have the option of 2 slides. The place is so run down that the paint on the inside of the slides if even coming off so you are lucky not to get cut going down them.  Overall it was a nice day but the money I paid was way too much. If I hired a scooter and went by myself and then only paid the rm39 entrance fee to see the orang utans and the Eco park (rm68 with the waterpark) then it would have been money well spent.  Joe drove me back to my guesthouse, I went straight back out and got convinced to have a full body scrub and a massage and then found somewhere to have shisha.. 

Wednesday 4th April 2012 - leaving Taman Negara to go to Penang

The drive out of Taman Negara at 8.30 in the morning was just beautiful. It was a bumpy mini bus ride and I was being flung everywhere but the sights made it ok.  I got to see men and women fruit picking in their brightly coloured pointed circular hats. There were water buffaloes strolling along the road, we drove past them so closely and I got to see their beautiful faces up close. There were herds of cows and their babies eating the grass - one of them didn't seem to mind that there was a bird just sitting on his back while he munched away. We went through fields of thousands of palm oil trees. I saw families building structures together, those that weren't helping with the building were congregated in beautiful brightly coloured head scarfs pottering around in the background. The togetherness of the Malaysian people was something I absolutely adored about their culture - from seeing the people building the house together, to remembering back to perhentian islands - The tide was getting really high one night and a group of the locals boys took it upon themselves to get together to pull each of the boats higher onto the beach. It was like it didn't matter who it belonged to, they just heaved at them one by one laughing and joking as they went along. It was such a beautiful thing to watch and I just felt such a sense of community that I have never experienced before. There was no long discussion beforehand or one person trying to round people up - it just happened!! They didn't want anything for it or look around for acknowledgment. They just all went back about their business.  During the long 10hour drive i got thinking about the jungle. Max had told me that all the different tribes of Malaysia usually live off different parts of the earth. So his tribe, the Bujun tribe, lived off and worked off of the water. There were others that lived off the jungle. It was in their blood. If I was ever to be apart of a tribe it would be the Bujun tribe as I loved the water. Although I am still scared of the unknown sea creatures I felt happy by the sea - I was at my peak. I was able to meet great people and able to shine. Whereas at the jungle, I felt way out of my comfort zone and went into myself. I didn't feel much like talking, I wanted to sleep a lot and I found it difficult to appreciate the people around me and the experience. It was only on the minibus out that I actually started believing what I had been trying to tell myself while I was in the jungle - it really was an amazing opportunity to explore the thousands of creatures of the jungle but all I focused on while I was there, was getting out.  In the jungle laughing at myself was even that bit more difficult because I was angry that I couldn't master the task at hand. I wasn't agile, I didn't have the coordination or balance to stay upright and my body was exhausted all the time. I think that was my biggest issue - not shining. No one else seemed to have these problems and I felt that everyone else must have thought I was a big baby and moaned all the time - which upset me more. This is and always has been one of my weaknesses - caring what people think all the time but instead of pushing through the cloud of doubt, I go inward.  Whilst in the jungle I had also started reflecting on inhibitions and fears. I thought back to when I was maybe 9 or 10 and used to go camping with my dad. Back then I had no care and made no acknowledgement for danger or death and would jump in lakes with no care for what lived in the lake. Now as an adult I am all too aware of things that might live in lakes and put up so many barriers because of these awareness or fears of the unknown. It is something that happens to all of us. When i was little again, whilst at a swimming pool with my parents, I couldn't swim yet and was still wearing armbands but I bravely took my armbands off and jumped straight into the deep end. Of course I had to be saved but it was just the braveness of being a child that I miss. The child I mentioned yesterday that wanted to take on the big yellow and black bee. Although I understand and accept that this adult awareness and acknowledgement for potential dangers can sometimes stop us from getting killed, some of the things that we stop ourselves from doing have such little risk involved but we turn the fear into a barrier. I am glad I eventually got into the river yesterday despite being extremely apprehensive. I am glad I did the jungle trek and stayed in huts and caves and got bitten by leeches. Where is the fun in sticking to the norms and where is the growth and challenge in doing the things you are comfortable with. My journey has always said to be one for growth and although I would say I have been pretty open so far, I am going to be consciously aware from now on that I need to let go of the inhibitions and just enjoy the ride. The jungle would have been more fun for me if I did this. It's a hard thing to do, I know, and it really does require a lot of focused thinking, but I think it is something that holds a lot of us back. Live for the moment and try to find the enjoyment in things rather than taking life and yourself so seriously all the time. And although many of you will want to put my head on a stick for saying this, I am not afraid of death from doing something crazy! Of course there are risk assessments needed for certain things and certain things you just don't do - like jumping from a plane without a parachute, but if fear of losing my life means living a quiet and risk free life, I'm not down!  Upon arrival at Penang I had to try and find a way to get to Ferrenghi Beach. On the bus journey Anaz, the main singer in the band from The monkey bar in Perhentian, had texted me advising me to stay at Lazy boy Guesthouse in Ferrenghi. I didn't know any better so was going with the advise. A taxi was going to cost me rm35 which was too much so I asked the people at the taxi stand which bus I should get. I walked to the bus stop armed with my heavy backpack and got speaking to a couple from England whilst waiting for the bus. There were in maybe their 50s or 60s and had come to Penang for a holiday. They had only met 7years ago but I loved that they were older and were brave enough to venture away from Europe. The lady was from Birmingham and the man from from Banbury - the lady had moved to Banbury to be with him. They said they made it a point to try new food everyday - lastnight was frogs legs and tonight they were going to the night market in Ferrenghi to get some nice food. The bus journey took maybe 30minutes. I got to Lazy Boy but an English guy that was staying there explained that despite them having rooms, the boss was angry and didn't want anyone staying there right now. He pointed me in the direction of a place literally one minute away, so I checked in there. I dropped my things down and proceeded to the night market to try and get some food. I walked around a bit as my stomach was still feeling really dodgy and then got some noodles with pork, chicken and prawns in gravy. Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country but Penang has a lot of chinese and Indian people so this was the first time i had seen pork since the start of my trip.  Apparently the large amount of Chinese and Indian people in Penang is because the British brought them over here in the 17th Century and they have stayed in Penang since.  After food my stomach was hurting so I just went to my room and slept.

Tuesday 3rd April 2012 - Taman Negara

Today my heart aches. I was packing up all my things with the intention of leaving Taman Negara and then started thinking and the realisation that I hadn't thought of Hugh hardly at all for the past couple of days got me upset.

I should be happy but instead the realisation hurts me so deeply. This person has been such a massive part of my life for the last five years but he has made it so easy for me to just let him go and has seemingly let me go so easy. I haven't heard a word from him since I left and he showed no interest in making amends before I left - not to leave on good terms.

The worse thing I could probably have done was what I did - started looking through photos on facebook. I loved what we were and I loved him but then I think about the lows and the things I needed and didn't get and I know in my heart it was the right thing but it kills me to know that this person, who I still love so much, no longer wants to be in my life.

I needed a hug and wanted my family and friends so bad :-(

To make matters worse I found out that the bus out of this place left daily at 8.30am - it was now 12.30 so I would have to check back into Agoh Chalets and spend one more night before catching a bus for 10hours to Penang.

After checking back in I headed to Mama Chop to have some food. My stomach still felt a bit dodgy so I ordered chicken noodle soup - although it didn't stop me from also ordering a banana lassi (like a banana milkshake but made with yoghurt) and a plate of watermelon and pineapple. I spent the whole day sitting there on the river updating my blog. I caught a lot of amusement from the guys that worked in the restaurant. There was a massive black and yellow bug flying around and I anxiously asked what it was. One of the guys told me it was a bee. I asked if it stung humans. He said yes. I said does it only sting when it is angry. He said yes and so I relaxed a bit - i wasnt planning on going anywhere near it! The revelation that this big thing stung humans seemed to come as a surprise to one of the other guys that worked there, he kept his eye on it constantly - which then caught the attention of the 3year old boy whose parents worked in the restaurant. He looked up to see what the guy was looking at and grabbed an empty plastic bottle and stood on a chair ready to take on the bee! All the men at the table told him no in Malay but he kept standing there swinging the bottle in the direction of the bee - this kid had no fear! Then the bee flew down and came about an inch from this kids face hovering towards him. He froze with a shocked look on his face - he stopped swinging that bottle so fast!!! The bee finally started flying away, at which point he unstuck from his frozen position and started swinging the bottle towards the bee that was already gone! I laughed hysterically with tears rolling down my face.

Whilst sitting at the table the guy I had booked the jungle tour with came over and sat with me. I didnt know his name until now - it was Ami. We spoke for a while and he played on my phone for a while. He then told me to walk with him - he was going to meet a friend near where I was staying. He bought curry puffs and fried pumpkin and drinks for us and we just chilled on a table and chairs until him and his friend went off on a scooter and I went to my room.