As most of you know, we arrived back to Australia early Thursday morning, so I’m writing this blog extra-retrospectively!

Thursday January 16 – Krabi to KL

Our flight with AirAsia was a relatively quick and bumpy hour. The highlight of this flight (other than landing) was Rod purchasing a litre of Absolut Vodka from the onboard duty free. From our one other visit to Malaysia, we remembered alcohol was quite expensive, so this litre bottle for $34 was too good to pass.

It had taken us forever to book accommodation in KL. There were so many good 2 bedroom apartments with pools, I could hardly make my mind up! We eventually settled for one in the area of Bukit Bintang, which is right next to the other popular suburb of KLCC (KL City Centre). Our plan for the week was to find some fun things to do and I think we did a pretty good job.

Uncle Roger Fuiyoh! Social media star and comedian, Nigel Ng (whose alter ego is Uncle Roger) has a restaurant in KL and it just happened to be in the Pavillion Shopping Centre which is precisely where we were heading for the purpose of dinner and groceries. Hamish was very excited to be eating here and we have some drink bottle souvenirs. I am fairly certain Uncle Roger isn’t short of a dollar. Whilst our meals weren’t expensive, the menu is pretty basic. We ordered Y So weak popcorn chicken to share as a starter, which was mostly dried chillies. Hamish pranked us by saying he’d eaten the chilli’s and they were fine. Well, we fell for that and spent the next five minutes letting ice melt on our tongues! Uncle Roger roasting Jamie Oliver is well worth the view – search it up!

We followed our dinner up with a night time swim in our pool on the 32nd floor of our apartment building – what a novelty!

Friday January 17 – Self Care Day

Hamish and I had set aside Friday for a day of personal care. Hamish got a haircut. I got my nails cut and shellac removed, and my eyebrows threaded. We had a delicious Korean lunch (back at the Pavillion) and walked around the shopping centre.

Later that afternoon, the three of us walked into KLCC to check out the Petronas Towers (Patronas Charm anyone?) and KLCC park, which also had a light show on the little man made lake. The Petronas Towers are really very spectacular. Unfortunately all tickets were sold out to visit this iconic building and walk across the Skybridge. After raving about our lunch at the Pavillion, we took Rod into the food hall for dinner, but sadly, our meals didn’t meet expectation.

Saturday January 18

Today we planned to go to an indoor theme park at Melawati Mall. We caught a Grab for a measly $10 to go across town. Had a cheap lunch then went indoor Go Karting which was heaps of fun! We then headed to Level 6 of the mall to the indoor park. Unfortunately, there were loads of other people with the same idea but most of the families had quite young children, so it didn’t look like it would suit us. Instead, we played some arcade games (basketball hoop throwing, air hockey and a drumming game) which was great.

Our next stop for the day was Titiwangsa Lake, where we aimed to do some paddle boating. The path around the lake was bustling with people on hire bikes, many of them tandems, as well as people out for a walk or a picnic. In the near distance, the Petronas towers were visible, so this is a lake right in the middle of the city. We walked to the water’s edge where we saw something that looked like a small crocodile cruising along the shoreline. I questioned Rod using my favourite swear word – “What the _ is that?” It was some sort of huge lizard/monitor/perentie – suddenly paddle boating didn’t seem like such a good idea.

I jest. We lined up for ages with our life jackets and got into our swan themed paddle boat. Rod and I were keen to spin the legs, but after a while, I swapped with Hamish and let the boys do all the work. At this point, I was getting a sore throat, so felt like a rest was in order. Rod cooked us a delicious spaghetti bolognaise for dinner and I crashed into bed.

Sunday January 19 (by Rod)

Belinda is feeling unwell so Hamish and I decide to head to the Bird Park, which apparently contains the largest walk-through free-flight aviary in the world. Our first challenge is getting there. After months of doing our homework to figure out each local transport system, we have gotten lazy in our last location, getting Grabs whenever a walk was too far. This time, though, a train looks the way to go.

We head to the Bukit Bintang MTR station. We follow promising signs and try to buy two tickets from the ticket machine. These cost a total of 4.30 Ringgit. The machine only wants 1 or 5 Ringgit notes and the smallest I have is a 10. It does not accept a credit/debit card. I head to the information booth, only to be loudly told they only deal with KL Sentra line! I ask where I should go: “Down escalator then left.” I get the strong impression that is all the information/assistance coming my way.

We duly head down and then left. Thinking we need smaller notes to buy our tickets I look for a way to get some change. A “fast food” street stall is selling Churros for 4 Ringgit, so that should do the trick. Nothing is easy, though, and we wait 10 minutes for our single Churro! In the meantime, since the vendor has good English, I ask him about the whereabouts of the station/platform we require. He suggests we head back up the escalator. We do and still feel lost before asking a local, who directs us down and to the right (where there is nothing but a busy street)! We explore around the corner to the left and discover the loud, seemingly unhelpful lady was right all along. The station we require is tucked away around the corner.

The train is prompt and we duly travel our 3 stations. Upon alighting, we aim to walk the last 800 m to the Bird Park but Google maps sends us into a cul de sac. With little idea which way to go we get a taxi. This short taxi trip costs more than the 3 Grabs we caught yesterday combined!

It’s time to again truncate what is becoming a very long story. Hamish and I enjoy the bird park. It features several lovely walks, ponds, aviaries and a very cute photography booth. The birds in the booth are just perching; not tethered. They call out to be included in the photos and happily sit on your shoulder/arm/leg for the photos. We have a nice lunch and love the owl roosting station. (Again they are not tethered and could be anywhere in the netted area.)

We aim to get a taxi back to the station, but there are none around. So we actually manage to find our way on foot! The trip back is uneventful and we arrive back at the apartment after a most enjoyable afternoon.

Monday January 20

The only real activity we did today was the Skyline Luge. It’s based on the original one at Queenstown. I have a feeling many of the bigger theme parks in KL are quite new; they’re a long way out of town and aren’t exactly on a public transport route. This was heaps of fun although there was quite a bit of stress when my e-SIM stopped working and Telstra would only give me 3G. Not helpful. We had dinner in a fast food cafe (ordering Root Beer thinking it was cola – Hamish said it tastes like minty cough medicine) and used their wifi to order our Grab back home. Crisis averted.

Tuesday January 21

Our last full day in KL! We’d booked a tour to take us to Batu Caves and to visit a traditional Batik manufacturer. At $22 each, this was great value with our friendly Sikh guide, giving us an overview of the different religious groups in Malaysia as well as some local history. The Batik shop was first and there was a section where you could paint on some silk fabric. I loved this and was first to pick up a brush. Rod purchased himself a batik tie.

We were then transported to Batu Caves which is a series of limestone caves discovered by some Englishman back in the day. It’s quite a holy site and now home to some Hindu temples (and many many monkeys) who were referred to as “The Brown Mafia” We kept our distance, but many tourists provoked them or posed for photos with their faces right next to the monkeys! Idiots are everywhere. Despite this, we all agreed it was a great way to spend our last day of the trip.

Dinner saw us head back to the Pavillion for some incredible tepanyaki. I had fish, Rod had steak and Hamish had lamb kimchi. Each was served with a generous serving of stir fry, rice, miso soup and sides. With soft drinks, our meals cost $10 each and whilst we have consumed some amazing meals over the past 4 months, we think this may have just been the best.

Hello from Malaysia! We are currently in KL – we arrived Thursday late afternoon. Sadly, we fly home Wednesday, arriving into Tulla about 0630. Read on for our adventures in Krabi.

Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th (by Rod)

It’s a very relaxing Saturday morning, so I decide the time is right to jog down the road, in the opposite direction from the village, to both exercise and see what I can see. There’s not a lot to see, but it all looks green and interesting. No possible restaurants or activities. But it is a pleasant jog and the heat does not bother me too much, when I know a quick dip in the pool awaits on my return.

We then continue the process of trying to hire a car. We have made enquires via our host/local entrepreneur/finger in every pie man Mr. Keng. He said he will ask, but has not gotten back to us. Another online enquiry leads nowhere, so Belinda and I book a Grab and head to a local agent, or so we thought. The agency looks more like a hotel reception, with nobody at the desk. There is an office off to the side where a lady at a desk calls us in. We explain our needs and she makes a call. We are not sure if it is Mr. Keng we are talking to, but he seems to think he has already explained the lie of the land. To cut a long story relatively short, we cannot get a car.

We find an Irish pub and enjoy a couple of beers and some snacks whilst watching some sport on TV. Then we head out to get a ride back to our villa. Immediately, a local operator asks if we want a taxi. For once, we say yes and proceed to haggle:

Destination: Green Hill Villas. 300 baht. No way, it only cost 110 to get here! Okay, 200. Alright.

It turns out to be a tuk tuk – our first for the trip. We hop in the back and wander along the esplanade into Ao Nang. We had no idea this was so developed and busy! Shop after restaurant after weed outlet after shop; it goes on and on across the road from the lovely and fairly quiet beach. It feels a bit like Phuket again, but much more modern and orderly in appearance. Still, we are keen to return later to look more thoroughly. It feels like we are heading in the wrong direction and getting nowhere slowly. This feeling turns out to be validated when the tuk tuk comes to a halt at Green View, nowhere near our destination (Green Hill) and in the middle of mostly stationary traffic. We now have one angry driver and two angry passengers. We want to just get out and walk/find alternative transport, but the driver insists on retracing part of the journey, to be sure he drops us off in the busiest, most inconvenient position in Ao Nang. Job done, we pay him 200 baht and weigh up our options.

We start walking back in the direction of the pub (which is now about 2 km away), largely to try and get out of this traffic snarl. We stop about half way and try calling a Grab. Eventually we secure a driver who messages us about waiting at the 7-11, due to the traffic, of course. We keep walking, only to realise we have walked past the vehicle. By now my bladder is asking me some serious questions. Finally we hop in the vehicle, and roll our eyes as he heads straight back the way we have been walking, again through all the traffic. My bladder can’t look.

Another very long story truncated; we arrive back at the villa more than two hours after getting in the tuk tuk, paying 500 baht for a journey that cost 110 and took 12 minutes on the way in!

Monday 13th

Thai Cooking School (by Belinda)

Over the weekend we planned and booked some activities, with the aim of a good balance of relaxation and sightseeing. Monday saw us split with the boys going to the Elephant Sanctuary and me going to a Thai Cooking School.

I’d kind of been looking at a few cooking classes during the course of our trip, but they can be very expensive. The class I found in Krabi (Thai Charm Cooking School) was very reasonably priced, 1300 baht (that’s about $60 for the 3-4 hour class). I paid an additional 700 baht for transport, as I was out of the free shuttle area. The class was made up of an Australian family of 4, a Swiss couple and a German and Belgian who were friends from a previous trip. Our teacher Penny was great – fun and funny!

We were able to choose a curry paste to make from scratch, then a curry to make with that paste, a soup, a salad and a stir fry. We also had a master class in rice cooking, as well as helping to prepare 2 x desserts: banana in coconut milk and mango sticky rice.

I chose: Tom Kha Gai (which is a coconut based soup) – Pad Thai – Cucumber Salad – Penang Curry Paste – Penang Curry with Chicken. It was fast paced and lots of fun. I was cooking next to the young man from Belgium who was easily distracted, so often we were like: “What did she say to do next?” We used mortar and pestle to make our curry paste and the best knife (it’s actually a cleaver) I have ever used! As we made each dish, we put them on our table and covered them up. We sat down in a group to eat our meal and they were incredible! I couldn’t believe I had made those dishes – they tasted so authentic (in my opinion of course…). We were able to pack up what was leftover to take home, which Rod and Hamish were very excited about.

During the lunch, we had time to talk to each other about travels and Thailand and life and I really enjoyed this aspect of the day, as well as the cooking. Each of us were given a recipe book and I can’t wait to try and recreated these meals when we get home.

Elephant Sanctuary (by Rod)

The transport arrives on time to collect Hamish and I for our elephant experience. We have chosen this place because it features “rescue” elephants, who now carry no passengers and do no chores. The tour’s motto is “love elephants.” And it does not disappoint. It’s also about 500 metres from our accommodation, but the route is circuitous.

After an informal briefing/chat about elephants in the common area (with heaps of snacks and water laid on) we are loaded into a kind of troopie, where we all stand in the open back and hang on. It’s only a short, slow drive to our meeting point in the rainforest. Our guides actually call the elephants by their names (Boo-boo and Mama) and they duly appear, casually tramping their way through the undergrowth. They certainly look relaxed and happy as we take turns feeding them bananas.

A slow walk back to the common area ensues, as we keep feeding our big new friends. They wade through a narrow, shallow creek, then give themselves a dust bath before we get back. They are then stationed (no tether; just happy to wait in the shade and hope for some more food) whilst we prepare some treats: a mixture of squished bananas, bran and vitamin powder. They are called over and we give them their latest food (they eat about 300 kg a day).

After this they take a shower, followed by a mud bath (because why not) with a cleansing shower again. Then it’s off to the “pool” for a swim and a scrub. They are clearly enjoying this, as are we!

When it’s all done, they calmly head back to the shelter, where they keep getting tidbits, including any leftovers from our next snack of fruits.

We are so glad we chose this tour. The elephants are clearly well treated and the whole program appears to be designed for them to have fun and eat continuously. A quick shower and change of clothes for us and we are returned to our villa.

Tuesday 13th – Nong Thale Kayaking

In our area of Krabi, there are a couple of freshwater lakes where you can pay to go kayaking. Without a car, we were at the mercy of tour operators. Sounds easy enough to book a kayaking trip, but there are so many tour providers, all offering basically the same thing, it took us way too long to decide on ‘the one’. Once we had decided, the booking wouldn’t go through and after 3 attempts I cracked the shits and shut my iPad.

The next morning we revisited the kayaking tour, chose a different operator and the booking went through. We were picked up at 1pm in a fairly typical transportation vehicle: ute with canopy, bench seats and grab rails. Two kiwis were already in the ute. It was a quickish drive through rubber and pineapple plantations to the Nong Thale Lake. We were given waterproof tie down sacks for anything we wanted to take with us on the kayak and the briefest briefing: “You go that way, 30 minutes, then swim. Then you go this way, then you come back and finish.” I mean, I guess there wasn’t much else to tell!

Hamish and I went in a 2 person kayak and Rod was the solo occupant of a 2 person kayak. We had a 13 year old ‘guide’ – the Kiwi couple had their own guide. The lake had many submerged fossilised tree trunks, that Hamish and I manage to hit. We also found ourselves stuck on these rocky obstacles a few times, where try as I may to reverse paddle and push off with the paddle, the child guide had to come and help. The swimming spot was beautiful, but freezing. We stayed there for some time, then headed back downstream where Hamish and the Kiwi couple swam, whilst the child guide had a relaxing ciggie, whilst Rod and I chatted.

After getting Hamish back on board, we paddled back to the base, inelegantly extracted ourselves from the kayak and were given fresh pineapple and bottled water in a treehouse viewing platform. What a lovely way to spend a few hours! We were transported back to our accommodation where we had a swim and play in the pool, before retiring to our villa for a bit of downtime.

That afternoon we ventured into the busy Aonang to get dinner and do a bit of last minute gift buying.

Our driver on the way home, as it turns out, is a local man from Nong Thale – he even pointed out his house on the trip home. He said he knew Pat and Pat’s mother was his teacher! (Pat is the on site host at the villas).

The following day, we walked into the village to purchase a Thai lounge as a thank you to Pat, who has been the kindest host. The ‘lobby’ at the villas is an open air hut, where Pat has a store of moto helmets and other bits and bobs. He often has a nap there in the afternoon, just on the bare bamboo floor, so we thought a floor lounge might be appreciated. He shyly took our gift, without saying much and we weren’t sure if he liked it or not. But later that afternoon, we saw him sitting on it, so we think it was a good gift after all.

The rest of the day was spent packing and preparing for our flight to KL. We ate meals from the 7-11 (they have a great range of ready to heat and eat meals for $2.50!) and just generally relaxing. It rained a bit, so that was nice in the evening sitting on our little deck listening to this and having a Changs (although this Chang was enjoyed from the shower).

Our final few days in Kata Beach were spent in similar fashion to the last update: swimming, reading, eating tropical fruit and delicious Thai food. Rod and Hamish had a bit of a break from Thai food. Rod hasn’t been so lucky in his pursuit of western foods: he ordered steak which was both tough and tiny; he ordered a chicken fajita which was a chicken breast stuffed with mushroom and cheese, with some corn and peas and other random things on the side. Hamish’s pizza on the other hand looked incredible. I have only ordered Thai food because in a blink of an eye, we will be back in Wangaratta wishing we were not.

Cat Cafe – by Rod

Eighteen months ago we all visited the Neko Cat Cafe in Phuket. Hamish and I were hungry to get reacquainted and jumped in a cab. It’s a short trip, full of anticipation. We are not disappointed when we arrive, as there are only two other families present and we are shown straight in. There appears to have been some turnover in staff, so we don’t recognise many of the cats. Hamish thinks a couple look familiar, though. We order some smoothies and purchase some cat treats, too. The cats must get lots of this stuff, you’d think, but they seem ravenous for more. We have several instant friends, ostensibly due to the food we provide, but we are sure they would prefer our company in any case. We are clearly more “cat people” than the other clients. This is confirmed when one family leaves and stands (for some time) with the door open whilst they are putting on their shoes! The owner almost has a conniption as she calls out something in Thai and rushes over to close the door before any recalcitrant staff member contemplates an adventure on the street. Then the other family wander from their table, leaving a half-eaten chocolate-based dessert within easy reach. More hysteria from the owner as she removes the plate from the opportunistic employees. Hamish and I exchange eye rolls as we keep other cats comforted and entertained.

After an hour we meet our cabbie and head back to the apartment; tummies replete with smoothies and our fix of cats sorted.

Ferry Transfer

The day after we arrived at Kata Beach, we booked our transfer from Phuket to Krabi with a young travel agent we’d met on our last trip. No longer on her L plates, she was a picture of confidence when we asked about our options for getting to Krabi. To clarify, Krabi is a province – part of the province is a beach town called Aonang and Krabi town (a bit further away). I digress… We chose the ferry transfer – 2 hours, $45 each and accommodation pick up/drop off. I watched a few reels about horror crossings with huge waves, tourists being sea sick and luggage rolling around! In light of this (and my need to be organised for any possibility) we prepared a little pack of emergency items: spew bags we’d collected from flights along the way, travel sickness tablets, wipes and anti emetics – we spoke to Hamish about what to do if we find ourselves in the water. Yes, I am that parent.

If Phuket was Little Russia, the ferry terminal was Little Australia: lots of young Australians sporting their tattoos, mullets and tans. After having a few snacks and washing our travel calms down with some coke, it was time for us to board. The Thai deckies helped many people heft their luggage up the steep stairs – then they just take your bag, stow it and you hope it’s going to be there at the end of the trip.

Question: what do you do with airline seats from planes that are no longer in service? You put them in a ferry of course! The cabin was very well air conditioned – in fact, it was colder than my Mum’s air conditioned lounge room! (If you know, you know). Other than that, being a bit cold, nothing eventful happened. I had a nap, Rod and Hamish listened to music, our bags made it to the other end and we arrived at our beautiful oasis with little stress.

A note on aging: I pride myself on being able to carry my suitcase and backpack without assistance. That’s kind of the rule of travelling isn’t it? If you can’t carry it, you’ve overpacked. At times, I ask for help or Rod just kindly assists me without being asked. At the Krabi terminal, I was skilfully carrying my bags, walking down stairs and the gangway, when a deckie just took my suitcase out of my hands, hoisted it onto his shoulder and delivered it to the dock. Grateful, but perhaps I am starting to look old in a sea of young tourists! Hamish said he’d wished someone had carried his bag!

Krabi Green Hill Villas

I can’t remember how I found this accommodation, but it is heaven. We are in a very modest 2 bedroom ‘villa’ (stand alone, self contained apartment) and it’s perfect. Mr Pat is the onsite Mr. Manager – he is softly spoken (even by Thai standards). On our first morning, Rod and I were sitting on our veranda having coffee and Mr Pat tells me he’ll bring me a watermelon. Five minutes later he returns on his scooter with a shy smile and a little round watermelon. We have prepared two curries in the tiny kitchen (one hot plate, one rice cooker) with local ingredients and spice mixes from the small supermarket.

It’s about 1km to the small shopping strip of the semi rural village of Ban Nong Thale. We walk along the busy two lane road – there’s a hairdresser on one side, a fruit market on the other and a couple of dead snakes thrown in for good measure. In town, there’s a couple of tiny little restaurants, a 7-11, a variety store and a mini supermarket. Last night we had dinner in one of the restaurants and the total (3 x mains and 2 x 600ml cokes) was $10. The dishes came out one at a time (because there’s only one wok) but they were delicious and very filling. Ten dollars – I still can’t believe it. There are not many white tourists in this part of town – little kids hold their hands out for high fives, last night a kid just poked Rod in the back.

Four Islands Day Trip

Through our host, we booked a day trip on a speedboat, the “Four Islands” trip (book through the host, pay in cash to Mr Pat). Mr Pat practically helped us into the mini van – he is like an overprotective Uncle, making sure we are OK and that everything is OK! We were transferred to the beach where our names were taken in a very orderly and organised fashion. It felt like every tourist in Aonang was on the beach yesterday morning waiting to be whisked away to islands by speedboats!

Whilst we waited, I bought a little pack of fresh mango for a dollar (everything is packed into plastic bags) which I ate whilst Rod walked along the beach taking photos. Just after 9, our group of about 20 were given a short briefing by our guide, whom I’m going to call Will (because he reminds us of a Will we know!) and also I didn’t understand most of what he said that day (including his name) except for key phrases like: now we go, islands, low tide, be back 1 hour 15 (50?) minutes, snorkel next island, there are no sharks here and so forth. We followed Will and another crew member and boarded our speedboat and took off at pace with no mention of life jackets.

During the day we visited:

Railay Beach – famous for rock caves and beaches you can only reach by boat

Chicken Island – yes, a rock which kind of looks like a chicken.
We snorkelled in a quiet spot near Chicken Island

Tup Island – which is connected to another island via an isthmus at low tide

Poda Island – quite large, we had lunch here (rice, chicken, chicken stir fry – none of it refrigerated and/or heated up!) and a swim

It was a perfect day. We had plenty of, “I can’t believe we’re here” and “we are so lucky” moments. We have four more days in Thailand before we fly to KL for the last week of our trip before we come home.