TravelBio

  After only a two night stay in Phuket with Bobby and Chaz, it was time to get to a quieter local.  They wanted to see a few busy places, but also wanted to have time to relax and wind down.  Teaching can wear you out, especially when you only have a few weeks vacation during the course of the year.  As it stood they were glad with even two weeks away from the winter in Seoul! From Phuket we took a ferry to Koh Yao Yai, a smaller island due east of Phuket (see map).  While waiting at the pier to catch the ferry - which fit no more than 25 pasengers - we met Joanna.  Joanna is from Switzerland and had been traveling on her own in Thailand for over 4 months!  She was quite friendly and chatted with us during the boat ride.  We were also drawn together considering the four of us were the only foreigners on board. We took a ferry from Jianwanich Pier on Phuket to Koh Yao Yai Upon arrival at the pier on Koh Yao Yai we met a Czech couple who run a dive center on the islan

My first night in Phuket, or more precisely Patong Beach, I missed out on much of the debauchery.   But you can get an idea of the kind of place it is from only a short walk down the main drag.  Even during the day many bars along Bangla Road are open for business.  Foreigners, more often than not middle aged or older, drink beers while being served by young Thai women.  Many places have poles on the bar for dance shows.  Prostitution is rife.  Bangla Road, in short, is not a place where you want to take your kids. Phuket, bottom left typical bar along Bangla Road along Bangla at night Can you tell the two on each end are ladyboys? And yet despite that I actually saw a number of families mingling in the chaos.  In addition to a hotspot for old European men looking for young women, Phuket also attracts families and genuine travelers.  To start, the island is big, so one can mostly get away from the Bangla Road type scene.  There are many full scale resorts and

Despite traveling in Southeast Asia for over a month I had yet to spend much time on a beach.  I went to the beach on the island of Siquijor in the Philippines, but didn't even make it into the water!  Needless to say a trip to SE Asia is not complete without a trip to the beach! From Georgetown I took a ferry to the island of Langkawi, near the Thai border.  Although Thailand gets most of the press for nice beaches, Langkawi is worthy competition.  The island has over 60,000 permanent residents and many more tourists during the high season.  One of the big advantages is that it is a duty free island - so cheap beer!  Owing to its majority Muslim population, alcohol is taxed heavily in the rest of Malaysia.  In KL, for example, it is hard to find a bar downtown that serves beer for less than 4 or 5 dollars a bottle.  Prices are higher in KL in general but alcohol is especially pricey. You can see the ferry route from Georgetown to Langkawi in the upper left corner

  One of the reasons why I stayed for over a week in KL was because Mel invited me to go with her to Ipoh the following weekend.  Her parents live in Ipoh, a small city 2 hours north of KL.  I got to meet her parents and stayed at their house for two nights.  Several of Mel's friends came along for the trip, but they could only stay one night - oh how nice it is not to have to be back to work on Mondays! Ipoh is well known for its food, but not much else.  As with many cities in Malaysia, there is a large ethnic Chinese population in Ipoh.  I was lucky to have Mel and her friends introduce me to a few local dishes.  Once they left for KL I had little reason to stay though.  So the following morning I took a bus to Cameron Highlands.  The Cameron Highlands is frequented by Malay and foreign tourists alike for its (relatively) cool weather, strawberry farms, tea plantations, and hiking trails. After having stayed in 30+ degree KL and Ipoh it was nice to have a break fr

Kuala Lumpur, aka KL, was my next stop on my trip.  I know I'm writing this a bit behind schedule, but I'll try and get up to date here over the next week or so! My coworker from Korea, Matt, had couch surfed with a local from KL (Mel) during his trip to SE Asia a few years back.  While he was in Asia Mel visited and I got a chance to meet her in Seoul.  I mentioned my trip plans and she said if I was heading to KL to let her know.  When I arrived in the city she picked me up and drove me to her place.  When Matt visited Mel lived further outside the city, but she had recently changed apartments.  She was living with her brother Jason on the 27th floor with an amazing view of downtown KL.  I could see the Petronas Towers, the tallest twin towers in the world, from their living room! Downtown KL, highlighted by the Petronas Towers I hadn't planned to but ended up staying in KL for over a week.  KL, and more generally Malaysia, often get overlooked by backpackers