Filed under: Culture, media, Outside Thailand, Travel, work | Tags: atolls, Beer, beer tasting, boxing, Butaritari, Central Pacific, China, Hong Kong, islands, Kiribati, newspaper, paradise, porn, porn star, Republic of Kiribati, SCMP, South China Morning Post, South Pacific, South Pacific islands, sports, sports reporting, Travel, travel writing
Butaritari, Kiribati
As far as desirable jobs go, travel writer must be up there with sports reporter, beer taster or porn star – in other words, what could be better than to be paid for doing something you love?
So you can imagine how pleased I am to finally get published as a travel writer, in yesterday’s South China Morning Post. The piece covers a wonderful adventure I had on the remote island of Butaritari in the Republic of Kiribati.
It was a real buzz when I got the message that they had bought my article, and even more so when it was printed yesterday. While I have never (not yet?) been a porn star, and while my beer-tasting experience is extensive but never recompensed, I have done my fair share of sports reporting, namely in boxing, which is a sport I love. There was a big buzz when I made my paid-for boxing writing debut, too, but travel writing is an even bigger deal.
There are several reasons for this. First of all, obviously, I love to travel, and especially to more unusual destinations. Kiribati was the most fascinating and rewarding trip I have ever taken, and so I am very pleased to be able to share my experiences there.
Secondly, travel writing is exceedingly competitive, even for a trained and experienced writer such as myself. Hopefully now I have been published in the genre, it will be easier to sell further articles. I certainly have some interesting tales to tell.
Finally, the most exciting part is the possibilities. I won’t be getting carried away at merely selling one article , but it’s a start, and not to mention that the Hong Kong-based SCMP is a very prestigious newspaper. If I can start building a travel writing portfolio, and with it a reputation, then some very good times could lay ahead.
For now, here is my debut: ATOLL STORY – The Pacific island nation of Kiribati is a fragile paradise with acquired tastes.
Unfortunately access to the article requires registration with the site, but you can get a free 14-day trial without credit card details, so for the sake of one article you may as well do that.
Filed under: Culture, Outside Thailand, Travel | Tags: AB Motel, Asian travel, Bangkok, Batu Ferringhi, beach bar, beaches, Beer, British, Broadway Budget Hotel, Brunei, cable car, car hire, Cenang, Cenang nightlife, Chinese, Chinese food, colonial Malaysia, coral, coral reefs, ferry, fish, fish feeding, fort, Fort Cornwallis, Georgetown, grouper, guesthouses, hiking, Indians, Jalan Penang, Kuah, Langkawi, Langkawi nightlife, live band, live music, luxury resorts, luxury tourism, Malays, Malaysia, Malaysian people, mangroves, marine park, military, Miri, monkeys, mountain, Muslims, Nightlife, octopus, Pantai Kok, Penang, Penang nightlife, Pulau Payar, Pulau Payar marine park, reggae, reggae band, reggae music, resorts, river, Rough Guide, scuba diving, seabass, seafood, seaport, Seven Wells, sharks, snorkelling, South East Asia, South East Asian travel, stingray, swimming, taxis, Thailand, Thais, tourism, tourist attractions, tourists, tropical islands, waterfall
We flew in and out of Penang, where we spent half of the week. The other half we spent in Langkawi. It proved a decent mix of city and countryside, culture and relaxation, with stays in three locations.
Thrills and refreshment at Langkawi's Seven Wells
CENANG
The morning ferry from Penang to Langkawi necessitated a pre-dawn wakening in order to drive from Batu Ferringhi to Georgetown, drop off the hire car and walk to the port (no taxis being available at that time) in time for check-in 45 minutes before departure. Consequently we got to drive through a pretty sunrise and negotiate a sleepy Georgetown before the city and its inhabitants fully woke.
The boat ride was smooth and I soon fell asleep and caught up a little on the hours missed with the early start. Sleeping a portion of the 2.5-hour journey meant it passed very quickly.
We got a taxi from the Langkawi port in Kuah to Pantai Kok, reportedly the best beach on the island, but on arrival found that the guesthouse we were looking for had closed in the couple of years or so since the Rough Guide I was consulting was published. Since Pantai Kok is otherwise populated by high-end resorts (above our budget), the driver recommended we go to Cenang instead. Fair enough – it was said to be the second-best beach on the island, and not as developed as Kuah, the island capital.
We checked in to the AB Motel, which at RM100 (20 pounds) per night was an absolute steal – just 20 metres from the white-sand beach, boasting a large en-suite room, two double beds, air con, fridge, TV and verandah, and in walking distance of anything of significance in Cenang. We couldn’t have asked for more.
As we had already seen a decent stretch of the coast and countryside thanks to the aborted attempt to stay in Pantai Kok – further from Kuah than Cenang, at the western end of the island – we decided to simply spend our first day hanging around Cenang and relaxing. An excellent Chinese lunch was followed by a stroll along the beach and a swim.
As is my habit, when I saw a broken beer bottle on the sea floor, I picked it up and intended to return it to shore. It was only when a white tentacle started to wriggle out of it that I realised an octopus had made its home inside the green glass! Ingenious, I thought, as the sides of the glass offered both armour and a smooth, firm anchoring point for its suckers. Not knowing – or wishing to find out – what would happen if one of the tentacles was to attach to my skin, I dropped the bottle back where I’d found it.
Cenang was light on nightlife options, although there was a decent beach bar with a live reggae band which looked the part but vocally would never be confused with the icons they covered. Still, I find reggae music of any kind always suits an evening on a tropical island beach.
We returned to Pantai Kok the next day – not in search of luxury resorts or defunct guesthouses, but to visit the Seven Wells – a river leading to a dramatic waterfall and featuring seven pools connected by slippery rocks which are safe and fun to slide down.
It’s a hot and humid hike up the mountain – and any rustling of bags will attract the attentions of naughty, snack-hunting monkeys – but that just makes the eventual dip in the river all the more welcome.
The Seven Wells lead to what would literally be a deadly drop off the waterfall, so thankfully a couple of flimsy wires stretch across the penultimate pool. It’s a half-hearted effort as far as death-prevention goes, but really, no harm will come to anyone who displays a bit of common sense and doesn’t go too near the edge.
A walk back down to the base of the waterfall provides further swimming opportunities and the scene for some dramatic photos. After that, we considered a ride on the Langkawi cable car to the summit of the mountain, but rain was threatening so we retreated to the hotel.
The rain did indeed descend with some force that evening, ruling out a return to the beach bar, but an excellent dinner of grilled cockles and stingray sufficed.
Lunch is served at Pulau Payar
Our final full day in Langkawi saw us take a tour to Pulau Payar Marine Park. It is one of the most heavily-advertised tourist attractions in the region, with videos and documentation showing delightful images of snorkelling and diving amid coral and hand-feeding colourful fish and even sharks. It looked irresistible, so we plumped for that over other excursions, including a three-island boat trip or a mangrove tour.
The island was indeed delightful – pristine sea water brimming with fish, uninhabited land and stunning views from the hilltop – but in hindsight, there was no reason to take an organised tour there rather than the normal, scheduled ferry service.
The tour staff were, of course, friendly and knowledgeable, but aside from that the only things they provided besides the transport was a snorkel set and a packed lunch – both of which you could buy in Cenang anyway.
So the “tour” amounted to a bus and boat ride to a single desination, a talk, a basic lunch and the provision of equipment. Besides that, we were left to our own devices for a half-day. Don’t get me wrong, Pulau Payar itself is well worth visiting, and it is quite charming to be surrounded by schools of fish – tiny, bright ones up to seabass, non-aggressive sharks and even one enormous grouper – attracted by scraps of bread. It’s just that the organised tour to the island did not offer value for money at RM100 per person.
Rain curtailed another trip to the beach bar, so we spent our final night out in Langkawi at the only other watering hole we could find in Cenang, which I can’t remember the name of but was run by a British guy who was celebrating his birthday that night, so the place was busy and boasting a party atmosphere. We stayed until 3am, and with beers starting at just RM3 (60p), and our return ferry to Penang not until 2.30pm, there was no reason not to!
The return to Penang was simply for convenience, as we would fly back to Bangkok one day later. We stayed again at the Broadway Budget Hotel, had a low-key Friday night out on Jalan Penang (the hangover from the previous night in Langkawi was still in the memory) and then killed a few hours before the afternoon flight on Saturday by visiting Fort Cornwallis, a British colonial military defence fort which was never actually used in battle.
In all, the holiday offered a good mix of culture, fun and relaxation, which is just right for a one-week vacation. I found Malaysian people – whether indigenous, Chinese or Indian – to be very friendly and for the most part fair and honest – something that is unfortunately sometimes missing from the tourist’s experience in other parts of South East Asia. The food was good and costs were comparable with Thailand, and in some cases certain things were even cheaper. It is officially a Muslim country but there no restrictions on dress, drink or other standard pursuits of a Western or Thai tourist. Waew proclaimed it the “best trip ever”, and while she is far from as well-travelled as me, it was certainly among my more enjoyable holidays, too.
Filed under: Culture, Outside Thailand, Travel | Tags: Asia, Asian travel, backpackers, Bangkok, Batu Ferringhi, beach, bhangra, Blue Diamond Hotel, Broadway Budget Hotel, Brunei, Buddhism, Buddhist temples, Burmese architecture, Butterworth, car hire, carpetbag steak, China, Chinese, Chinese architecture, Chinese food, chocolate, coffee, colonial architecture, crabs, European food, expats, fabrics, Georgetown, Georgetown bars, Hindu temples, Hinduism, holidays, Indian, Indian food, Indian music, Islam, Jalan Chulia, Jalan Penang, Kek Lok Si, Langkawi, lizards, Malay, Malay food, Malaysia, Miri, monitor lizards, mosques, multiculturalism, Muslims, nightclubs, Nightlife, Penang, Penang Bridge, Penang Butterfly Farm, Penang Hill, Penang Snake Temple, Penang Tropical Fruits Farm, prayers, restaurants, Rough Guide, sari shops, Shalini's Guesthouse, South East Asia, South East Asian travel, steak, stray dogs, temples, Thai architecture, Thai food, Thailand, tourism, Travel, tuk-tuk
Batu Ferringhi
I spent last week in Malaysia with my girlfriend, Waew. It was our first proper holiday together and my first proper trip to Malaysia (I did a brief border hop from Brunei in 2005 but that was essentially just to tick another country off the list). It was also my first proper holiday in South East Asia since moving to Thailand last year, having so far failed to live up to my promise to myself to see as much of the region as possible while living here.
We flew in and out of Penang, where we spent half of the week. The other half we spent in Langkawi. It proved a decent mix of city and countryside, culture and relaxation, with stays in three locations.
GEORGETOWN
Approaching from the air, the provincial capital looked to have been spoiled by an overabundance of ageing high-rise condos, which scarred an otherwise lush, green island. However at ground level I found Georgetown to be charming. True, a lot of the buildings are greying and flaking, but then it is a very old city, and you can’t have history without a bit of wear.
Thankfully the ugly high-rises are more of a feature of the outskirts than the downtown region, which is full of character. Malaysia is known – and celebrated – for its multiculturalism and tolerance, and this is certainly evident in Georgetown. Ancient Chinese shophouses mingle with mosques, Buddhist and Hindu temples, and old colonial architecture. Dining options offer Chinese, Indian, Malay, Thai and European, while browsing the myriad ethnic stores is a delight. Aural atmosphere is to be found on every street, too, whether the five-daily Islamic prayer sessions, the joyous songs emanating from the Hindu temples, or bhangra pop music blasting from sari shops and Indian CD stores.
A short walk from anywhere in the city centre can take you to most of the downtown attractions and to the seaside, although typically of an urban coast, the sea is murky and unremarkable. However the beach legs of our trip were ahead of us; Georgetown was the cultural side.
A bus or a cheap taxi ride into the centre of the island takes you to the island’s showpiece tourist attraction, Kek Lok Si Temple. The sprawling Buddhist place of worship straddles one side of Penang Hill and dazzles in its colour and design. Chinese, Burmese and Thai influences come together in one site and make for one of the most impressive religious sites I have seen, and certainly among the very best Asian temples.
It’s then a short hop – 5 minutes by taxi or a 25-minute walk – to the Penang Hill funicular station. The train will take you on a steep ascent to the 830-metre-high summit, from where you can take in the inevitably sweeping views, although again the rash of condos do blight the landscape in places. It probably looks better at night, when the city lights switch on, but still the view is far-encompassing enough to offer plenty of interest, whether the cityscape or the jungle or out to sea.
In terms of nightlife, Georgetown offers some smaller, more characterful bars along Jalan Chulia which attract backpackers and expats, or the more upmarket Jalan Penang, boasting smarter bars, a throbbing high-end nightclub and the city’s beautiful people.
We stayed at the Broadway Budget Hotel, which was basic but centrally located, clean and staffed by very friendly and helpful employees. We couldn’t fault it for RM50 (£10) per night. We found it by simply walking around after finding one of the Rough Guide‘s recommendations, the Blue Diamond Hotel, to be unacceptable (ancient, musty, threadbare rooms) at the same price.
BATU FERRINGHI
With Penang island being circumnavigable in a day, we decided to hire a car and do exactly that. The car hire company we called was booked in Batu Ferringhi, the nearest significant beach spot to Georgetown, on the north of the island, where we intended to stay one night. The price of the rental was reasonable, but the hire rep had to come from BF to Georgetown, and then drive us back to BF, where his office was based and from where the rental would officially begin. Fine, we thought – it’s a free ride. Unfortunately the rep had seemingly been trained in the Bangkok tuk-tuk school of transporting tourists and rather than simply drive from our hotel to his office, he took us via a luxury chocolate store, a fabrics mill and a coffee outlet – all overpriced and all of which presumably paid him commission.
After checking in to a seaside guesthouse – Shalini’s, which was in a great location, just on the opposite side of the beach road, but otherwise not worth the RM75 they charged, if you compare with Broadway in Georgetown – we set off on our driving tour of the island, working our way clockwise.
The emphasis was simply on looping the island and seeing the countryside, and as it was already 1pm by the time we set off (thanks to our commission-seeking car hire rep), we didn’t have time for the major tourist attractions such as the Butterfly Farm, Tropical Fruits Farm and Snake Temple. Still, away from the city, the island proved beautiful, with lots of photo opportunities along the winding roads of the coast or of the jungle interior – just be careful when driving of monitor lizards crossing the road as if they have all the time in the world!
Almost back in Georgetown, we swung on to the bridge that links the island with the mainland portion of Penang province. At 13km long, it’s an impressive piece of architecture. The mainland seemed fairly featureless and access to Butterworth, the nearest city of note, incurred a toll, so, bearing in mind we were also pressed for time, we simply returned to the island via the bridge, which does offer a scenic run.
Finally, a quick run through Georgetown and then back up to BF and we had completed the loop while it was still daylight, giving us time for a stroll on the beach, which did not boast clear water but was scenic enough, with large boulders framing the western end and playful stray dogs chasing crabs . Dinner of carpetbag steak (beef stuffed with smoked oysters) inside a restaurant fashioned as a life-size ship, followed by a stroll around a night marker, completed a very pleasant day.
Filed under: Expat life, Outside Thailand, Travel | Tags: airport, airport closure, Amphawa, anti-government protests, Asia, Ayutthaya, Bang Saen, Bangkok, Chachoengsao, Expat life, Hua Hin, Ko Chang, Ko Si Chang, Krabi, Pattaya, political unrest, politics, Samut Prakan, Samut Songkhram, Singapore, Sri Racha, Suphan Buri, Suvarnabhumi airport, Thailand, Travel, UK, United Kingdom, working overseas
Ko Chang
The first item on the agenda is to fill in the gaps between September 2008 and September 2009, before I will start writing about more timely stuff, as and when it happens. I will be concise, because 12 months is a long time to chronicle, and will perhaps return to certain points in more detail at a later date.
TRAVEL
Everyone who knows me will know how much I love to travel. The prospect of living and working abroad always excited me, and now I am doing it. I expected that living in Thailand would enable me to jet off to nearby Asian countries frequently, not to mention that Thailand itself is chock-full of attractive destinations.
Alas it has not been so. One side-effect of Maki’s sudden departure was that I was left paying her share of the rent for nine months of the 12-month contract she agreed to. Never mind. My finances are in better shape now. In my first year here, I only managed a couple of days in Singapore for visa purposes and one trip home to the UK. I hope to see a lot more from now on.
I have, however, taken a few domestic trips, although all within convenient reach of Bangkok – Pattaya, Hua Hin, Sri Racha, Ko Si Chang, Ayutthaya, Amphawa, Bang Saen, Ko Chang, Chachoengsao, Samut Prakan and Suphan Buri. My one attempt at a long-distance domestic trip – Krabi – since starting work was thwarted by last year’s occupation of Suvarnabhumi airport by anti-government protesters. Again, I also hope to see more of Thailand this year.
Filed under: International news, Outside Thailand, Travel | Tags: 2004 tsunami, America, American Samoa, Apia, Australasia, Australia, BBC, beaches, bottled water, Boxing Day, Boxing Day tsunami, CNN, coral, coral reefs, countryside, disaster, earthquake, expats, flying foxes, food, holiday, independent Samoa, India, Indian Ocean, Indian Ocean tsunami, Indonesia, international aid, International news, jungle, Krabi, Maldives, native cultures, natural disaster, News, Oceania, Ofu, Phuket, rainforests, resorts, Samoa, Samoan islands, South Pacific, South Pacific tsunami, Sri Lanka, subsistence, Thailand, Tonga, tourism, Travel, trekking, tropical beaches, tsunami, US Samoa, US territories, USA, Western Samoa
Ofu, American Samoa
Again, a part of the world that is dear to me has been devastated by a tsunami.
Last time was the 2004 Boxing Day disaster which wreaked havoc on several Indian Ocean countries, most famously Thailand. This time the Samoan islands have borne the brunt of killer waves resonating from a huge earthquake in Indonesia – also the epicentre of the 2004 catastrophe.Phuket was worst-hit in 2004, while Krabi also suffered extensive damage, and scenes of the damage there were poignant for me at the time, as I had only two months earlier enjoyed my first trip to Thailand, spending half of it in Krabi, a dramatically beautiful province which remains my favourite place in the kingdom.
Last week the Samoan islands – both independent Samoa and the US territory of American Samoa - have been hit by a tsunami of a similar ferocity, with reports of waves of anything between three and seven metres high washing up to a mile inland, devastating the southern coastlines and in some cases destroying entire villages. Tonga, too, was hit.
The South Pacific tsunami death toll – nearly 200 as of today, but continuing to rise – pales in comparison the 150,000 who perished in 2004, but the damage to the countries and communities could be just as pronounced. Consider that these are nations with populations in their thousands, not millions, and with land areas that would constitute mere provinces in the bigger countries that were hit in 2004. Further, the majority of the inhabited areas are on the coast. The impact of this disaster in national terms cannot be overstated.
Furthermore, in economic terms, the Samoas will almost certainly face a longer and more difficult road to recovery than the 2004 victims. Thailand is one of the world’s foremost holiday destinations, while the likes of Indonesia, the Maldives, India and Sri Lanka, also affected, likewise enjoy a healthy tourism industry. And, with the exception of the Maldives, these are much bigger, vastly more populous nations with a myriad different industries from which their people can make a living.
Not so the Samoas. Offering the South Pacific ideal of pristine tropical beaches and rainforests, a relatively unspoilt native culture, and a largely subsistence-level lifestyle of which generosity and hospitality are the backbone, they do draw tourists, whether in search of a world class beach break or an authentic adventure. But the numbers are small. 125,000 holidaymakers arrived in independent Samoa in 2008. Compare that to Thailand’s 17 million last year, even during a time of recession and political instability.
Of course the Samoas are much smaller so would not be able to cope with tourist arrivals in their millions. But the point is, for small countries that do nevertheless rely on the tourist dollar, the loss of visitors in their thousands will be felt that much more keenly.
Which is a terrible shame. I visited all three nations – independent and US Samoa, and Tonga - in 2006 and was charmed. Over the course of nearly six weeks, I enjoyed jungle treks, coral reefs, delicious food, the vibrancy of the capital and the tranquility of the countryside in independent Samoa, and then ventured to American Samoa, with its towering, dark green peaks and the best beach I have ever seen, Ofu, where powder-white sand met sea with the clarity of bottled water, inhabited by marine life coloured like cartoons, while enormous flying foxes took the skies above me in the early evening. On top of this, the Samoan people were among the most charming I had met anywhere in the world. I also spent a week in Tonga, and while a much shorter experience, similar impressions were gained there.
I have talked glowingly about these experiences ever since, and recommended them to all as travel destinations. In fact, before I moved to Thailand last year, I had identified both Thailand and Samoa as the two places I’d visited where I’d most like to live and work. Ironic, then, that both have now become tsunami victims.
Presumably most people who have upcoming holidays in the Samoas and Tonga booked will cancel, and those who were thinking of visiting will now look elsewhere. With the infrastructure badly weakened and several resorts badly damaged or even destroyed, this is understandable. But recovery will take years, and a dip in tourism will compound this. Tourists will stay away because of the damage, but the damage cannot be quickly fixed without the tourist dollar. A vicious cycle.
Furthermore, while global news outlets have covered the story in the past week, inevitably it will fade from international consciousness sooner rather than later. That’s the way it is with natural disasters, especially when the countries affected are so far away, both in terms of geography and personal relevance, to the average First World citizen. The Indian Ocean tsunami was different, partly because of its unprecendented scale, and partly because Thailand, in particular, is so firmly on the tourist map and has such a large expat community.
But Samoa? Relatively speaking, very few people outside Oceania will have any connection these islands, let alone will have visited them. So they will look at the images on the BBC or CNN and spare a thought for the dead and the stricken, and then forget about it. I’m not criticising these people; it is natural and I have been guilty of the same when watching footage of crises in places which have no relevance to me. But it does mean that outside of those who do have an existing stake in the Samoas, there will be two kinds of people:
1) Those who have considered a holiday there, who will now choose to go elsewhere, thus depriving the islands of much-needed income; and
2) Those who had never previously thought about Samoa, and likely never will again.
The latter will, unfortunately, make up the majority of the international community, and this means donations and aid will be in short supply. The Indian Ocean tsunami generated an enormous global response, but again this due to the countries involved meaning something to so many people. Thailand as one of the most-visited holiday destinations, India and Indonesia as among the world’s most populous nations, and so on.
So, the effect on tourism, coupled with lesser international aid, looks to be economically devastating, beyond the physical chaos which has already been wreaked.
But what can you do? As for me, I just hope that this article raises awareness of a very special part of the world, and that in turn that might encourage some people to visit. Because that is the best thing you can do – visit the Samoas. Your money will make a difference. By all means wait a while until the worst of this disaster has passed, but please do go in future. Spend your money in independent hotels and restaurants – the American and Australian chains will be fine without you, but to the smaller businesses you can make a very real and immediate difference. And beyond that, Samoa will have a very real and immediate effect on you. The rewards to both sides are obvious – I say that as someone who has been to the islands and continues to cherish my memories of them.
My thoughts and prayers go to the islands and their people .
