So our first trip out of the land of smiles was to Malaysia. We needed to flee the country, as Shannon's tourist visa was expiring. We actually could not even find flights until one day after her visa was up. We had heard that the process for overstay was to pay a fine. An intimidating Thai officer would pull you aside after examining documents during the customs process. Next you would be taken to a small room with dim lighting and padded walls (ok, probably an exaggeration, but it's what I imagine it would be like). A disgruntled underpaid slob of a customs official would then try to snatch as much money a farang (slang for westerner) could dish out. The real fine is only 500B, but they would obviously raise their price, and usually there is nothing you can do. Paying off is becoming a way of life here, especially in these times of political unrest. There is so much more to that as well. I wish I could say more, but censorship is an issue here, so I must be careful of what I write. Anyways, the customs officer must have been in a great mood, and the benefits of a lax and corrupt system paid off. He shrugged aside the fact that her visa was overdue and just stamped her through. Gotta love Thailand.
With absolutely no money (as I did not have my loans yet), we did just about everything on a budget in Malaysia. The ringgit is a lot stronger than the baht, so things were already a bit expensive. The cab ride would have been around 20 bucks, had we taken one. We did some research, and we took the local Rapid Penang 102 from the airport to Batu Ferringhi. Even though there is much to do on this small island, we basically never left our little beach area. Batu Ferringhi is a small beach resort town. We stayed at a guesthouse on a dirt road across from the beach. Now given that it was rainy season and Ramadan, there was no one there. And I mean no one. We had the beaches to ourselves, restaurants were usually empty (although we ate street food), and pretty much had the guesthouse to ourselves. Baba Guesthouse was an interesting place. Chinese family owned, this place was basically their house with the second floor consisting of one hallway with rooms and a communal bathroom. No air-con, no hot water...just a room with a bed and a fan. It was amazing. It was nice to escape the modernity of Bangkok, and experience simplicity. We even were cold at night. We would wake up to the chanting from the Mosque directly behind the house, followed by the sunrise and crashing waves. There is not a ton to do in Batu Ferringhi, especially when no one is there. Despite Ramadan, liquor was available, but pricey. Even though we had no money, we thought it would be nice to do something a little touristy, so we ate at the new Hard Rock Cafe at the Hard Rock Hotel. And it was worth it, although beef was different in Malaysia. My favorite spot for food was this middle eastern vendor who sold burgers and hot dogs. Not only were they aroi mak mak (delicious), they was super cheap. The other place we ate was an Indian restaurant that had decent meat and played awesome 80s music. At night, live music came from the empty beach bars. One night, a two americans, that stayed down the hall, were playing live music with a bunch of locals. Also, when we first checked in, we signed our names and where we were from...and ironically enough, there was a girl from Missouri staying there, but we never saw her. Weird, right.
The beach itself was very nice, although the water was murky. The brown coloration came from the mud and clay on the seabed. As with any beach, vendors and guys on horses were trying to justify ripping you off by claiming that you are their friend. I have a lot a friends in Penang apparently. But for the most part, it was very relaxing. Most days, we would come back to the guesthouse and sit on the porch at the end of our hall and just sit. It was soooo relaxing...hearing the waves and listening to birds whistle and monkeys howl. Yes, that's right...monkeys, the squirrels of Malaysia. With no money, we wanted to come back to BKK with some sort of meaningful souvenir. I really wanted a Penang flag. On our last day Shannon went down to ask the owner if he knew where to buy flags, as we had no luck previously. He smiled and pulled out a Malay flag and gave it to her, and would not accept any money for it. The owners were the ones who made the guesthouse and the place a memorable experience. However, this was only a Malay flag, I needed a Penang one. So we looked everywhere as we left for the airport on the way to the bus stop. As we were awaiting the 102 bus, I saw a small convenient store across the way. We decided to check one last time, not getting our hopes up. But wouldn't you know it...they had the infamous blue, white, and yellow palm tree flag I had dreamed about. The trip was a success. I paraded around the market like an olympic athlete coming into the stadium during an opening ceremony (not really, but I was happy). I'm sure your feeling...it's just a damn flag, who cares. We'll I care, and it was the fact we looked everywhere for one. I almost resulted in asking an Indian street vendor to climb light posts and snatch one down while no one was looking. I figured that would be illegal, and they take things very seriously in Malaysia. On your arrival card into the country, it states that if you bring drugs into the country, you will be killed immediately. Nice welcome. So after catching the bus back to the airport we waited for our afternoon flight back to Bangkok.
On arrival, we took the newly opened airport city link, which is great, since getting a cab to and from Suvarnabumi is ridiculously expensive (Thai standards of course). Its also a lot safer, as cabbies tend to fly when on the highways. With only seatbelts and no seat buckles, you just grab on to the person next to you and hold on to something. You can say slow down to the driver, but he'll usually laugh and speed up. The best thing is to just close your eyes. I can't believe these cars can even go that fast, as they are all used corollas or camrys that sound like they have jet engines and are preparing for take off. Sometimes I already feel that I'm at the airport and the car should just take off and head to my destination. So basically, what I'm saying is -- take the new link to the city if you can, only 15B.
Lessons learned: Malaysia
- I have a ton a friends in Penang
- flags rule
- Hard Rock Cafes rock everywhere
- The Andaman Sea/Indian Ocean feels like pee water
- 5am Quran reading wake up calls are relaxing
- 80s music is still popular
- public transportation is CHEAP -- use it!
- clever monkeys
-
No comments:
Post a Comment