Malaysia And Thailand, October 2009

23-29th October - Kuala Lumpur, Railay And Khao Lak

Apart from the wedding, which in true Hindu style was spread over two days, we had quite a bit of free time, so we did the usual tourist things. This involved looking at the Petronas twin towers and thinking they didn't really look that big, marvelling at people base jumping off the KL Tower, being horrified at gargantuan shopping complexes, and being attacked by monkeys at the Batu Caves. Well, watching other people being attacked by monkeys, anyway.

After four days, a one hour flight with Air Asia, "The World's Best Low Cost Carrier", took us to the tiny Krabi airport, probably the only flight of the day. We then took a boat to Railay - the only way to get there - and found ourselves somewhere to stay. Our little bungalow with bathroom cost us about £6 a night. Relaxing in an open sided bar with several beers that night, listening to reggae and being served by a rasta barman, we wondered whether we had accidentally flown to Jamaica. The next morning it became obvious we hadn't, as I got served a traditional Thai breakfast - rice porridge with shrimps, and lots of chilli. I was hooked, and had it every morning - what with lunch and dinner, I had three spicy meals a day for two weeks! After a few days exploring Railay, we took the boat back to the 'mainland' and moved on to Khao Lak.