Great hiking in the Highlands......and some golf!!

Had two real nice days here - met some awesome people who've been all over the world and we had a great time - yeah right! - making our way up the tallest peak in the area - Berinchaing summit. Very muddy and quite steep but a great challenge - the only bummer was that the peak was very cloudy and so not much in terms of photo ops. However on the 10 km trek down we passed many beautiful tea planations - looked like miles and miles of textured green carpet. Today I needed a bit of a break from the hiking and decide to take in a game of golf...........interesting decision - course looked pretty nice from the road but was it ever in rough shape..........fairways and greens were in bad shape - very thin grass and dirt lies most of the time - my game is in tough enough shape without having to endure those kinds of course conditions - but what the hey - I was still golfing in SE Asia!! Off to KL tomorrow - a little behind schedule - should be in the Krabbi or Phucket area either Sunday or Monday.

Cameron Highlands: cooler and cloudy

Niamh, Taj and Ilse

I'll start with some pics that I didn't get a chance to download yesterday - a shot of the funicular or tram, then during the hike down 4 kms we ran into lots of thick jungle , some monkeys and a snake! Got in about 10:30 today and inspite of the lack of sleep and fatigue I went on a short little hike to a nearby waterfall with some people I met (a fella from Montreal - Taj, a young lady from Ireland - Niamh, and another young lady from the Netherlands - Ilsa) - however that hike ended up being a 4 hour endurance test through very dense jungle - I felt for the ladies who were only wearing sandals - I had trouble with my hikers on!

Panang/Georgetown Malaysia

Arrived yesterday about noon after a 12 hour train ride. Interesting cultural differences - Malaysia is a Muslim country - but a pleasant surprise is that people here are much more comfortable with English - so it was easy finding out where the bathroom was after all - the condition of it though, was another matter entirely!!

Spent our second day at one of the local areas of interest - Penang Hill - needed to take a funicular rail car about 700 meters to a very nice view point overlooking the city - also checked out some buildings and a bird sanctuary - money better spent than on that butterfly farm on Samui!! Then hiked down through a fairly dense jungle (monkeys and snakes and many interesting sounds) about 7 kms to the bottom. I am off early in the morning - by myself - to the Camerson Highlands. My travel buddy is opting for the beaches of Langowie and we will probably hook up again in a couple of days in Phuket of Krabbi.

Thats all for now - I'll be back in a couple of days!

One more day on Samui........

........then pretty much a full day of travel......bus, ferry, bus and then a 12 hour sleeper train to Butterworth, Malaysia. Looking forward to some new cultural experiences - Kuala Lumpur, the mosques, the food, the people, hopefully the Cameron Highlands and of course the enjoyment of trying to ask - "where's the bathroom?" in another language!

The plan right now is to spend maybe 5 to 7 days in Malaysia before heading back along the west coast of Thailand - to take in the Phuket and Krabbi areas - the places that were most devastated by the tsunami 3 years ago. Then if there is time permitting Siem Rieb in Cambodia for a couple of days before returning to Bangkok.

By the way I forgot to mention the last nights meal was for two people - not bad eh?

Today was a bit cooler and windy on the beach but oh well!!! I got a real nice deep red look going on here - not really burnt and not really tanned. Hope all is well in Cowtown!

Ah Beautiful Thailand

Had a real nice day in northern Samui today. Saw some temples, some nice beaches, the town of Bohput and had a amazingly wonderful and affordable dinner:

Onion Bhaji
Chicken tikka masala
vegetable korma
garlic naan
onion naan
pulao rice
thai beer

all for the extremely reasonable price of $450 baht or approx $14 Can!!! Still adjusting to cold showers, traffic, various city fragrances, small rooms, 30 degree temps and no snow but am quite enjoying my time here on Samui. Could be another beach day tomorrow if the weather cooperates! Hopefully some more pics soon!

Bye

Well it's day 8 and things have settled in a bit.......Koh Samui is very nice and the weather has been very cooperative so far - nothing too extreme. Finally got in some beach time and yesterday rented a scooter and toured the southwest part of the island and coast. A bit touristy here but it's actually been a nice thing after the sensory bombardment in Hua Hin. Some rather depressing aspects about life here I find, but trying to accept and enjoy!

Finally figured out how to get some pics on here so won't be able to say much more - running out of time. Hopeflly much more in a few days. Another day or two here then off to Malaysia!

Bye and hope you are all well!

Brian

Interesting times in Thailand

The "interesting" really started the morning I left. Snowfall caused a 2 hour delay with my flight out of Calgary and of course I only had about an hour window in Minneapolis. Next I'm off to LA for a night, then finally a day late to my Bangkok destination. Only one small issue - my backpack is still in Minni!!! Finally got that the next day and we actually made it for New Years in Hua Hin! Amazing!

Then I get what I believe is food poisoning for a day - woke up at 4:14 in the morning and I knew it wasn't good (you gotta know my travel buddy is ready to dump me) I was in bed for the entire next day - great way to deal with jet lag eh?

Had a decent day today in and around Hua Hin and we are off on an express sleeper train in about and hour to the southern islands of Ko Panghang and Ko Samui - looking forward to relaxing and enjoying the beaches, some snorkeling and possibly kayaking.

Sorry there's no pics this time - I'm in a bit of a hurry and can't locate the usb cable for my camera - really not much anyway unless you wanted to see pics of the LA or Tokyo terminals ha ha!

Chat soon - hope everyone is well!

Brian