We left the boat out of the water at Rebak marina and became land travellers for 2 months. Packing our rucksacks, we became backpackers or budget travellers! We started in Bangkok, Thailand, worked our way north to Chang Rai before crossing the border into Laos where we headed south down the Mekong for 2 days. We continued south to 4000 islands before crossing to Cambodia and Angkor Wat. Our stay in Cambodia was cut short by the Khmer New year celebrations which meant everything was either closed or very expensive. Our last country was Vietnam and we worked our way north from Saigon to Hanoi and then flew back to Malaysia.
The highlights were Kanchanaburi in Thailand. Visiting the museums and walking Hellfire pass was very moving. A 4km walk exhausted us in the heat, it is hard to imagine having to do hard labour for 18 hour a day with minimal water and meagre rations. Ayuthaya, the old capital of Thailand was very interesting. It has lots of ancient Stupa which we enjoyed cycling around.
A big highlight was the Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia. There are millions of tourists there and it was incredibly hot but still amazing to see. We had no idea that there was so many Wats or that they covered such a huge area. Angkor Wat itself and Angkor Thom are probably the best preserved but they all have something slightly different to see. We spent 3 days wandering around them.
In Laos our favourite place was Champasak and the 4000 Island group. The latter are down in the south of the country and are islands on the Mekong. We firstly stayed at Champasak so that we could visit the Khmer ruins of Wat Phu, not as big as Angkor but lovely and quiet but still impressive. Then we stayed on an Island called Don Khon. There is very little on the island other than a few waterfalls but we had a lovely bungalow with a balcony overlooking the Mekong. Very relaxing!!!
Vietnam was probably our favourite country and its difficult to think of highlights as there were so many. We enjoyed Saigon even though you did take your life in your hands just walking around. The traffic is manic with thousands of motorcycles. No one pays any attention to traffic lights or one way streets and if the road is too crowded the bikes just drive on the path. Motorbikes are used in SE Asia to transport anything and everything and can sometimes turn into wide loads. It is not unusual to see a family of 4 or 5 on one bike, women sitting side saddle. We even saw a woman feeding a baby as they were driving along and another putting on her make-up!
Hoi An was a lovely old town, interesting to walk around the shops and the local market. We had clothes made to order here at a very cheap price. Sapa is close to the Chinese border and is known for its hiking and Hill tribes. We weren't originally going to visit Sapa but are very glad we did. The hill sides are all terraced and covered with rice paddies and it is very pretty. The hill tribe women are friendly and some speak very good English. They are constantly trying to sell you things which can be a little tiresome but they are very nice about it. Even when we went walking they would follow us. We used to walk around saying 'not shopping' to get rid of them.
We planned our itinerary in advance and as much as possible we did everything independently. We did do 3 organised tours. The first was in Thailand at Khao Yai NP which was good, we had a very enthusiastic guide. The first evening we visited Bat caves and watched millions of bats leave the cave for their nightly hunting. We all stood spaced out in a field and the bats passed us so close and so quickly. Lots of fun. The second day was a walk through the forest where we saw Greater Hornbills and a sleeping Crocodile. Our second trip was to see the My Son ruins in Hoi An, Vietnam, a big disappointment after Angkor Wat and we had the most annoying guide. Last but not least but definitely the worst was our tour of Halong Bay in Vietnam. Not only did we have a very annoying guide again but the whole trip is such a big rip off. The boat goes about 3 miles into the bay and then anchors with about 60 other boats all doing the same thing. The food was mediocre and our guide wanted us to go to the beach at 6am as we hadn't had time to do it the first day- no chance! The next day you motor the 3 miles back and other than a visit to a cave that is it. We decided we preferred Phang Nga Bay in Thailand.
One of the things we realised as we travelled was just how affected all the countries had been by war. As I mentioned above Kanchanaburi was very moving and the Japanese were very brutal to the soldiers but one thing we never hear about at home is just how many Asians also died building the railway. Around 100,000,although no one is sure of numbers.
In Laos we visited the COPE museum which makes prosthetic limbs for people injured by unexploded bombs. Laos is still covered with millions of unexploded bombs and cluster bombs dropped by the US. Unfortunately the metal is precious to the villages so they dig them up. There are still lots of places you cannot visit because of the danger of the bombs and you have to ensure you stay on the paths. Almost half the country is off limits!
The two most depressing and moving places we visited were the S21 prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and the War remnants museum in Saigon. The S21 prison is an old school that was used by the Khmer Rouge to hold and torture prisoners. It is exactly as it was during the war but with lots of photos. The Khmer Rouge documented everything so the photos are horrific. Prisoners were taken from here to the killing fields to be killed except babies which were thrown against a tree. It was horrific to see just how cruel people can be to fellow human beings because they are told to. None of the Khmer leaders have been tried yet and you have to wonder why?
The Museum in Vietnam was a Vietnamese view of the war with the US. Mostly it was pictures taken by US and Japanese journalists in the field. The worst part was the pictures of the effects of Agent Orange which showed lots of severely deformed children. It is horrible to think that babies are still being born with defects due to the poison. There are probably no rights or wrongs of the war but using agent orange can only be wrong.
We really enjoyed our trip but we both realised that we are not good at being tourists. We hated being in crowds and we hated the fact that every time you go and see something it entails a buying opportunity. Asia is cheap to travel in but you have to be constantly on your guard against being ripped off. Being a tourist means they (usually the taxi drivers) can charge a ridiculous amount of money. In Laos any type of transport would drop you at the most inconvenient stop just so that you had to spend more money getting to where you wanted to go. In Vietnam agents would almost double the cost of train tickets so we learned to use the Vietnamese web site to book and saved a fortune. One of our funniest incidents was on the train in Thailand, as soon as we were seated we were given a cup of fresh orange juice. The guy who served it walked away so we thought it was complimentary. After we had drank half he came back and asked us for a ridiculous amount of money, we refused to pay and gave him the drinks back! He wasn't happy but serves him right!
Epilogue
We have been back in Langkawi for 2 weeks. We are staying in a B&B as we could not face staying on the boat without a fridge and air conditioning in these temperatures. We have hired a moped to get to the ferry across to Rebak Island each day. We have been repairing the keel and doing other jobs we can only do while the boat is out of the water. We are finding the heat too much, Mike emerges from being down a hole on the boat looking as if he has just come out of the shower and both of us are struggling to drink enough to make up for the fluids we are losing. Still, we are both loosing some of the weight we put on while away!
In a few days time we fly to Japan for 2 weeks and then on to Java to see Borobudur. Watch this Space!!!
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Thailand From Memory!
It is such a long time since we were in Thailand on the boat that in hindsight it would have been better if we had written this blog before we went travelling. So here is what we remember!
Once our parts arrived from the US and the AIS was installed we left for Thailand. We did an overnight sail from Telaga to Ko Racha Yai and arrived in a lovely bay at around 10am. The water was so blue and clear. It was the first time we had been able to see the bottom in months. Our joy was spoilt after about half an hour when about 50 day tripper boats arrived. Suddenly we were surrounded by boats with constant wash. It was scary to watch as while people were in the water swimming, snorkelling and diving other boats would drive through the bay at about 30 knots. Our peace was restored again at about 4pm when all the boats left and we then had a swim.
We stayed a day to clean the bottom of the boat and recover before sailing a short distance to the southern end of Phuket to clear in. The bay where customs etc are located is also extremely busy which made the sea very rough. Getting the dinghy into the water and the engine on was a major achievement and involved Mike getting very wet! After clearing in and shopping we headed around the west side of Phulet island. We found a nice quiet bay with a small yacht club, probably one of the nicest bays we went to because it was quiet.
We hopped up the west coats to a number of different bays but none of them were very nice. There were wall to wall hotels and we became an obstacle for the jet skiers to drive around! The sea was not clear and the one time we went snorkelling a jet skier thought it was really good fun to spray water all over us and the dinghy. We visited Ao Patong beach and met up with friends Lindsay and Sharon on 'Songlines 3' and Pauline and John On 'Our Odyssey'. They are Australian so we went to an Aussie bar to celebrate Australia day with them
Next we headed to the Similan Islands which are about 50 miles offshore and are supposed to be good for diving. Our first stop was on one of the middle islands, it was very pretty with lovely clear water. Once we had moored we had a big shoal of fish around the boat eating the algae off the bottom which was good of them! We met a Canadian couple on another boat and agreed to go diving together. The dive was fairly mediocre but what was scary is that there are so many dive boats. We were towing our dinghy so were very visible from the surface but this did not stop a dive boat going straight over the top of us. It was horrible having huge propellors above our head when we were only 30ft down. If we had panicked and gone up at all we would have been sucked into the blades.
We did a couple of other dives but they were not very spectacular. We then visited the northern anchorage where you are allowed to walk ashore. Again it was nice in the morning but at about 10am the day tripper boats arrived. They all have at least 750HP motors and insist on doing about 30 knots to the beach! We estimated at least 50 arrive at the same time. They stay for the morning then move to our first anchorage while the ones from that anchorage move north. It makes sitting in the bays very uncomfortable with the constant wash.
We moved back south ready to head back to Phuket. We though we had picked a quiet mooring but in the night the wind turned more northerly and it became very bouncy. Deciding we could not sleep we left at 1am into a fairly rough sea. We then spent 18 hours bashing to windward to get back to Phuket. It was very exhausting and for us the visit was not worth the sail.
Having given up on the west coast we headed into Phang Nga Bay on the east side of Phuket. The bay has some very pretty scenery with lots of limestone pinnacles (we think it is better than Halong Bay in Vietnam). There are Hongs which are collapsed caves which you get to through tunnels. One of the tunnels was quite long so that you cannot see the other end as you go into it. Inside the hongs there are trees and a few monkeys. It was a relaxing few days in the bay. It is not a place to swim as the water is very shallow and muddy but it was lovely. We also brought some fresh prawns from the fishermen, our first fresh fish in months.
It was then time to clear out and head back to Malaysia. Having learnt from our earlier experience we stopped at a quiet bay and dropped the dinghy before moving to clear out. On our way south we stopped at a few bays breaking the journey into day hops. One of our stops was at Rok Nok, a nice bay except that we managed to run the boat into the reef and are currently having to repair the keel!
We spent 4 weeks sailing in Thailand, neither of us particularly enjoyed it and we have no desire to go back.
We had a visit from friends Kevin and Jill when we got back to Malaysia. They stayed at Rebak resort and we took them out for a few day sails around Langkawi. Once they left we had the boat lifted out of the water and prepared for our land travel.
Once our parts arrived from the US and the AIS was installed we left for Thailand. We did an overnight sail from Telaga to Ko Racha Yai and arrived in a lovely bay at around 10am. The water was so blue and clear. It was the first time we had been able to see the bottom in months. Our joy was spoilt after about half an hour when about 50 day tripper boats arrived. Suddenly we were surrounded by boats with constant wash. It was scary to watch as while people were in the water swimming, snorkelling and diving other boats would drive through the bay at about 30 knots. Our peace was restored again at about 4pm when all the boats left and we then had a swim.
We stayed a day to clean the bottom of the boat and recover before sailing a short distance to the southern end of Phuket to clear in. The bay where customs etc are located is also extremely busy which made the sea very rough. Getting the dinghy into the water and the engine on was a major achievement and involved Mike getting very wet! After clearing in and shopping we headed around the west side of Phulet island. We found a nice quiet bay with a small yacht club, probably one of the nicest bays we went to because it was quiet.
We hopped up the west coats to a number of different bays but none of them were very nice. There were wall to wall hotels and we became an obstacle for the jet skiers to drive around! The sea was not clear and the one time we went snorkelling a jet skier thought it was really good fun to spray water all over us and the dinghy. We visited Ao Patong beach and met up with friends Lindsay and Sharon on 'Songlines 3' and Pauline and John On 'Our Odyssey'. They are Australian so we went to an Aussie bar to celebrate Australia day with them
Next we headed to the Similan Islands which are about 50 miles offshore and are supposed to be good for diving. Our first stop was on one of the middle islands, it was very pretty with lovely clear water. Once we had moored we had a big shoal of fish around the boat eating the algae off the bottom which was good of them! We met a Canadian couple on another boat and agreed to go diving together. The dive was fairly mediocre but what was scary is that there are so many dive boats. We were towing our dinghy so were very visible from the surface but this did not stop a dive boat going straight over the top of us. It was horrible having huge propellors above our head when we were only 30ft down. If we had panicked and gone up at all we would have been sucked into the blades.
We did a couple of other dives but they were not very spectacular. We then visited the northern anchorage where you are allowed to walk ashore. Again it was nice in the morning but at about 10am the day tripper boats arrived. They all have at least 750HP motors and insist on doing about 30 knots to the beach! We estimated at least 50 arrive at the same time. They stay for the morning then move to our first anchorage while the ones from that anchorage move north. It makes sitting in the bays very uncomfortable with the constant wash.
We moved back south ready to head back to Phuket. We though we had picked a quiet mooring but in the night the wind turned more northerly and it became very bouncy. Deciding we could not sleep we left at 1am into a fairly rough sea. We then spent 18 hours bashing to windward to get back to Phuket. It was very exhausting and for us the visit was not worth the sail.
Having given up on the west coast we headed into Phang Nga Bay on the east side of Phuket. The bay has some very pretty scenery with lots of limestone pinnacles (we think it is better than Halong Bay in Vietnam). There are Hongs which are collapsed caves which you get to through tunnels. One of the tunnels was quite long so that you cannot see the other end as you go into it. Inside the hongs there are trees and a few monkeys. It was a relaxing few days in the bay. It is not a place to swim as the water is very shallow and muddy but it was lovely. We also brought some fresh prawns from the fishermen, our first fresh fish in months.
It was then time to clear out and head back to Malaysia. Having learnt from our earlier experience we stopped at a quiet bay and dropped the dinghy before moving to clear out. On our way south we stopped at a few bays breaking the journey into day hops. One of our stops was at Rok Nok, a nice bay except that we managed to run the boat into the reef and are currently having to repair the keel!
We spent 4 weeks sailing in Thailand, neither of us particularly enjoyed it and we have no desire to go back.
We had a visit from friends Kevin and Jill when we got back to Malaysia. They stayed at Rebak resort and we took them out for a few day sails around Langkawi. Once they left we had the boat lifted out of the water and prepared for our land travel.
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