George Town is the capital of the state of Penang in Malaysia. We are ironically staying in Little India, which is full of curry houses, street vendors and Indian music pumping out in the background. Little India is like India’s touristy cuter younger brother – unlike its older brother, it is less hectic and the streets are much cleaner.
Boom, landed in Penang, Malaysia. Staying in George Town, full of street art, street food and even a vintage camera museum … Looking good people.
After nearly a month in Thailand, we wanted to share some tips we’ve learnt along the way. This is a list compiled on our experiences and is by no means exhaustive, so you can take em or leave em.
After the relaxing island, Thai beach experience, Team MussMart headed overland to Krabi. Krabi is a town situated on the West Coast of Southern Thailand, so from Koh Samui we had a few miles to cover. For £10 per person, we were able to get from the East Coast to the West Coast. The tour operator told us it would take 3-4hrs…
It can be hard choosing which island in Thailand to spend a few days relaxing on. I know, you’re feeling really bad for Team MussMart right now…we hear ya.
After Koh Tao we decided to venture to Koh Samui. It’s wasn’t too far away and the weather was looking better here than the islands of the Andaman Coast (the west side of Thailand). We took the cheapest, longest way to travel between the islands, which still only took about 4 hours. You always have to add on extra travel time in Thailand because no public transportation sticks to their posted times of departure. Ever!
After a very long and uncomfortable train journey from Hua Hin, we stayed one night in Chumphon before catching a ferry at 6am to the small island of Koh Tao. Trains are a great, cheap way of travelling in Thailand (we paid £1 each for a 4 hour journey) but they are notoriously late, so be careful if you have a tight transfer. Trains also but are a great way to see some of the countryside.
We stayed at Farang’s Bar in Chumphon. The rooms there are really basic with shared bathrooms…but they are cheap. The owner is an English expat named Ivor, who you will more than likely see sat at the bar. He’s lived in Thailand for sometime and was good to chat to for recommendation’s. He lived in Koh Tao for a few years so it was a lucky find.
We arrived to Hua Hin travelling by bus from Bangkok to Ban Pong, then we took the train from there to Hua Hin. All together this took a few hours and only cost us £5.50 total!!!! Not a chance you could dream of getting two people to or from London with that price. And the journey was comfortable to boot!
From Bangkok, only a couple of hours bus journey to the east is Kanchanaburi, a small town rich in WWII history. We reached our river raft guest house, which bobbled about in the river (not so cool after a few beers) and then hit the town to see what Kanchanaburi is all about. The main strip was full of expats, restaurants and bars. In these bars were always 2-4 Thai girls enticing the Western lads, mainly older gentlemen to come in. Its a bit bewildering and abhorrent.
Bangkok, a big, yet almost westernised city with Thai seasoning (street food, street vendors, ladyboys and temples) … We only spent 4 full days in Bangkok, with the aim to spend a bit more time at the end of our trip in Dec/Jan.
I don’t think we scratched the surface of the bizarre things to do, we heard stories about, chickens being shot across a restaurant, with a guy trying to catch them with a spike on his head, the ping pong shows, to the extent that they can suck up a bottle of coke and dispense it it a glass (sounds refreshing). Also the Thai girls themselves seem like an attraction for many western men. But so far what we did see was pretty cool.
the mussmarter 