At sharkpoint (used to be lots of shark there before they were killed off), I chased this turtle for a minute. It's wierd to be using all the scuba gear to be chasing an animal that is holding its breath effortlessly.

A lobster (clawless, as they usually are found outside of the northeastern United States). Or a langostine...I'm not sure what the difference is.

There are lots of lionfish along with sea urchin.

At anenome reef, there were loads of anenome. This is the clownfish made famous by "Finding Nemo". There were hordes of these critters everywhere ducking in and out of the anenome.

I did a dive at the king cruiser wreck. This was a ferry boat that sank when it struck Anenome Reef. No one died, but the wreck makes for great diving. I went down to 26 meters on this dive. Visibility wasn't great, but there were loads of fish. Here are some fish streaming over a barnacle-encrusted railing on the ship.

A flounder camouflaged in the sandy floor.

I thought these things were dead (or plastic toys), but I was told they sleep like they're dead.

We did a sand dive at Mosquito Island to find some small nearly invisible shrimp and seahorses. This one is pregnant.

A giant moray eel poking its head out.

I went diving a couple times this past week. I got to visit a couple sites around Ko Phi Phi on the first day. It was fantastic diving. I was surrounded by fish. This is a six-foot leopard shark I saw sleeping in the sand at Ko Bida Nai. Eventually, it woke up and swam away.

Viewpoint over west and east Rai Lay. East Rai Lay is on the right side, and west rai lay is on the left. The grove of palm trees on the left bottom corner is a five-star resort. The cheapest accommodations are actually at Tonsai Beach which is on the west side, but on the right side past some cliffs. The climbing community there is pretty tight. Everyone helps everyone else getting stronger and stronger as the weeks go by.

The only evidence of the tsunami.

Esplanade at Ao Nang beach. These guys are waiting for tourists going to Rai Lay. They're the longtail boat touts that yell, "RAILAYRAILAYRAILAY!!!"

Pad Thai, or fried glass noodles I made.

Lots of curry dishes and soups.

Some of the food we made at the Thai Cookery School.

Less steep, but thinner walls over here.

A steep roof at Tonsai beach, the climber's ghetto at Rai Lay.

Hans, a Swiss climber, clipping in on a 7c testpiece at Tonsai beach.

This one of the sections of rock that you have to climb to get to and from the lagoon. There are about five of these four-meter sections levels going into the lagoon from the top.

This is a crappy photo of the lagoon. It's actually quite large, surrounded by sheer cliffs. To get there, you have to scramble over slippery rocks. Fortunately they have ratty ropes that you can use (if you dare) to help yourself along.

West Rai Lay beach. The only way to get to Rai Lay is by longtail boat (or by bushwhacking for an hour through the jungle).

Thaiwand wall at west Rai Lay beach.

A longtail boat...the common transportation getting to and from Krabi to Rai Lay beach. They use a four-cylinder car engine on the back connected by a driveshaft to a two-blade propeller.

Beautiful Pra Ngan beach at Rai Lay

This is splendid. A beautiful beach surrounded by turquoise water and great sand. You have to take a longtail boat to get here as there are no roads. There's great climbing too! Limestone cliffs are everywhere.

Awesome limestone cliffs all over the west coast of Thailand.

Lazy days in Krabi

I've spent over a week in Ao Nang beach, paying 300 BHT ($7.50) for a room with cable tv, a fridge, and fan. The tv is sucking my life away. It's so easy to lie in front of it and watch the world spin 'round and 'round. I keep tempting myself by going over to Rai Lay and Tonsai to see the climbers there, but the tv keeps drawing me back home. It's pretty sad. But hey, besides boozing and eating, swimming and running, I also took a cooking class. It was pretty good, and I can now make three types of curry and soups and stir fried rice and pad thai. Even more importantly, I got a copy of the recipes so I can remember what I learned. I've also gone hiking at Rai Lay to explore the view point and the lagoon. To get to the lagoon, you have to scramble up a nearly vertical trail (aided by big hand and footholds and ratty ropes), then descend down nearly the same distance. It gets slippery with the clay everywhere, and it's quite easy to fall, but I've been extra careful; I've been wearing fisherman pants and Tevas. Ah, how to describe Rai Lay? A peninsula with limestone cliffs jutting out of the ground everywhere...soaring a few hundred feet high. Dripping limestone crags that appear to be melting. Jungle life clinging to the steep cliffs. No roads in or out. Bungalows next to a five-star resort. It's a paradise with an awesome beach at Phrang-Nga bay. Lots of climbers and tourists find their way there for a few days, and the climbers tend to stay all season. It's an interesting mix of people.
Yesterday I went climbing a little bit (it's all I could handle) on a 6b climb at Tonsai. I top-roped it with little difficulty, but quickly peeled off of a 6c climb further down the beach on a pretty big flake. What can I say? I suck. Today my arms are a little sore, which is good. Pain is weakness leaving the body.
I think tomorrow I will go diving at Ko Phi Phi. That's where they filmed the Beach. It was also pretty devastated by the tsunami, and there are a lot of tourist-volunteers rebuilding the expensive tourist resort there. I think it's kind of silly, but hey, a thousand points of lights. Stay the course. It's sort of like people going to Las Vegas to volunteer rebuilding the casinos after a fire. I've seen some backpackers wearing t-shirts that say "www.kophiphi-org -- rising above the wave". Um...LAME. But it's supposed to be pretty good diving there.
I visited a Thai Emergency Room last week, which was kind of interesting. A dude had slipped while hiking to the lagoon at Rai Lay and split his scalp and broke a rib. I escorted him to the hospital and spent the afternoon presiding over things. The Thai medical system is pretty efficient. There was no waiting, and the nurses, as usual, did most of the examination and stitching. The doc wanted to admit David, the injured Swiss, to monitor for a pneumothorax, but from the look of the facilities, I suggested checking into a hotel. There were ants crawling over the food trays. Yum. But I can definitely say the actual medical care they practice seems to be spot on. They had a little girl (about 9 years old) intubated AND awake, being bagged by the nurse in the ER. That sure takes care of the need for any expensive monitoring. I'm not sure how she could tolerate the tube, but hey, I think the Thais are on to something. They brought people in quickly, treated, then streeted them. No silly colds or sore throats in their ER. After the xrays and stitches and medicines, the total bill for the visit was 1100 BHT, about $27. So what if there are ants on the food trays?!

waterfight!

During Songkran, loads of people ride around in trucks and scooters to take part in the nationwide waterfight. I don't know what they do in times of drought.

The streets were full of revellers during Songkran.

Washing away bad luck during Songkran.

Happy Songkran, the water festival!

Today is the water festival Songkran, marking the end of the year. If you've seen the DVD of "the Beach" I think they show scenes of Songkran in the deleted scenes. Okay, that may be a little obscure. Basically, it's a giant waterfight to wash away your sins or all the bad luck of the past year. People have garden hoses, buckets, water guns, bottles, basically anything that will carry water, and shower pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cars. They also put scented, mentholated baby powder on everyone. It's glorious fun! I was out there for six hours getting soaked.
An awesome time!

Thai army checkpoint in southern Thailand.

...entering Thailand.

Leaving Malaysia...

The river dividing Thailand from Malaysia on the east coast.

Passport control -- leaving Malaysia for Thailand. Surprising there was no line, no armed guards, no barbed wire, no security guards. I guess Thailand isn't afraid of an influx of immigrants from Malaysia. This was only where passports were stamped for departing Malaysia.

Volleyball at Coral Bay.

Coral Bay at the Perhentians. It faces west, so it has no waves and the beach is thin, but it has nice sunsets.

This was the view from my bungalow.

I think this is a bird of prey. It was hanging around on the beach for a couple days.

Pretty spartan digs, but the mosquito net was vital to my sanity. There was a little fan to keep cool. It was cheap, but expensive in comparison to my other places in Malaysia at 35 Ringiits, which is about $8 a night.

This was my bungalow.

Matahari Chalet, where I spent a few nights.

Long Beach at Pulau Perhentian Kecil. It is pretty deserted.

Back in Paradise!

After many hours on the road, I made the trek from the northeast corner of Malaysia to the west coast of Thailand. I am now in Krabi. I was here back in 2001. It's good to be back.
From the Cameron Highlands, I took an overnight bus to Kota Bharu. A taxi ride and fast boat later, I arrived at Pulau Perhentian Kecil, or small Perhentian Island. There was not much at that place. It was covered with a jungle, a couple steep mountains, and some beautiful beaches. The sky was partly overcast for the three days I was there, and the surf was pretty big, so I didn't do any dives. I did watch the "lifeguards" rescue two girls (separate incidences) from the strong rip currents during my time there. It was fun bodysurfing in the waves, fighting the rips. It was definitely a pretty place to be.
It took me about 12 hours to get to Krabi from the Perhentians. Travelling is definitely easier now that I am out of Indonesia. I just tune out with my headphones and earplugs (earplugs to shut out the high pitched drone of the motor and the Thai/Malay music). Thailand is a lot more developed than I remembered four years ago. The roads and cars are new. In fact, I would guess that Toyota has built a new plant here recently as most of the cars are one or two year old Toyota pickup trucks and SUVs. In the south, where the Thai army continues its battle with Muslim rebels, we had to cross several checkpoints. An army dude just wanted to checkout the male occupants of the vehicle. That included me, but they quickly lost interest when I could speak English.
I think the second largest minority group in Thailand are the Swedish tourists. Holy cow, there are loads of young Swedes here. I think the most casualties of tourists in the tsunami were Swedes. It's baffling how the Swedes more than any other nationality come to Thailand.
Anyways, I am beat, so it's time for bed now.

This is how they bake naan bread. They plaster the dough in a brick pot which serves as an oven. The consistency is of thick, chewy pizza dough.

An Indian restaurant I went to everyday in Tanah Rata. This dude is making roti and naan bread.

View from Father's Guesthouse at Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands. The temperature was nice and cool up here. Father's Guesthouse is actually at the grounds of an old seminary. I was up here when the Pope died, which was kind of wierd.

Cool in the Cameron Highlands

I have been in the Cameron Highlands at a small town called Tanah Rata. It's in the middle of peninsular Malaysia, around 5000 ft in elevation, so I've been sleeping under a warm blanket and enjoyed a hot shower this morning. It's about 70 degrees F up here. This town is quite touristy, in that Asian sort of way. I'm surrounded by jungle-covered hills and tea and fruit plantations, but there are multi-storied apartment buildings or hotels in various states of construction...some look like they're on permanent standby. I'm not sure what makes this place one of the most touristed sights in Malaysia. I'm surprised at why I am even here, except that it is nice not sweating, and in a pretty quiet setting. I took a five-hour bus ride up here from KL. That was a big difference from travelling in Indonesia. The bus was air-conditioned and big. The roads were paved. We still passed reed and thatched huts on the way up here, I didn't get nauseated on the windy road either. That was a nice improvement.
I went on a hike through the jungle yesterday. It was hot, wet, and muddy. Good stuff. The jungle is pretty thick and wet from the morning and evening mists. It also rains a little everyday here. I had to hop over a lot of fallen tree trunks, but I didn't get any leeches on me. The floor of the jungle is springy from decomposing organic material. Wierd.
I've still been eating Indian food. It's fantastic, but strange to be eating lots of Indian food in Malaysia. Aside from a steaming bowl of laksa soup at a bus stop, I've only eaten Indian food since entering the country. I've found a place that I've been going to everyday while in Tanah Rata. Malaysia is a surprising mix of cultures much like Singapore was. The food and accommodations have been cheap and good. I've been spending about $10 a day here in all. The people are friendly, and I haven't been harassed. The few touts are quite polite and don't mob you when you get off a bus. How totally unexpected and pleasant after Indonesia. Also, most people speak English, as they did in Singapore, for the same reasons, but as it turns out, Malay is actually quite similar to Indonesian. Most backpacker travellers fly through Malaysia, which is a shame because it is easy to travel through, cheap, and safe. Tonight I'm taking an overnight bus to Kota Bharu, on the north part of the east coast, so I can catch a ferry to the Perhentian Islands. They're supposed to be some white-sanded, turquoise-colored water island paradise with some good diving. I'm hoping this overnight bus trip is not too bad. I've been forewarned to dress warmly as the bus drivers tend to keep the interiors frosty. I don't expect to have internet access there, and I'm not sure how long I will be there. If conditions are good, I will try to get my advanced open water diving certification.

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur

These are the twin 88-floor towers built by Japanese and Korean companies. They were formerly the tallest in the world. Inside is a huge multistory expensive mall with loads of pretty people and unaffordable goods.

Banana leaf vegetarian set meals in an Indian restaurant. The food just keeps coming and coming until you scream, "UNCLE!" When you're done, you fold the banana leaf to show you are stuffed. It costs about 80 cents.

Sun setting over a minaret in Melaka. The muezzin starts the call to prayer which is heard throughout the city -- a magical sound.

A another wierd sight in Melaka. What country am I in?

Christ Church near the town center in Melaka. Very wierd to see this type of stuff in Malaysia.