It’s been six years since I’d visited Thailand and I was really shocked by the amount of rubbish everywhere. In Bangkok I didn’t see many bins. At a street market with food, there are no places for you to dispose of your packaging after you have finished your food. I’m just not used to the amount of plastic being used once and then discarded. Every so often there will be mounds of rubbish either left at the kerbside or on the pavement somewhere and all you can really do is add to it.
If you buy a few kebabs, then you might get one or two bags and then if you buy a drink it’s put into a plastic contraption to make it easier to carry and they give you a plastic straw. The only place that made an effort was a drinks stall in Surat Thani that used a bamboo holder, which I returned after I finished my drink, but the straw provided was plastic. I don’t use straws, it’s just thrown in for good measure.
Fly tipping is rife. The day I hired the moped and I was able to venture further afield I came across many places where truck loads of plastics in all forms was mixed with nature.
I often refused the packaging if I could.
Almost nothing is recyclable, it’s very sad. Mind you the hotel in Bangkok that I stayed at used glass bottles for drinking water and I remember that being more common years ago. Now everything is plastic. Convenience is killing our world.
Four days is enough time I feel to enjoy Penang, but it is not enough time to savour the abundance of food that is on offer. I have never been to a place where there are just about every type of food you can think of. I’ve never been to a place where I see queues of people stretching sometimes 100 m down the pavement waiting for their turn to stuff themselves full.
I have had Chinese from Shanxi, Indian food twice and Korean food, which I may add is the cleanest and healthiest on the menu. Everything is fresh and raw, well apart from the meat and the fried egg, but it isn’t saturated in some kind of oil or Ghee or sauce, it’s presented to you with all the ingredients on show.
Last night I had Beef Masala, Garlic Naan, Mango Lassie and Pakora; absolutely delicious but my stomach felt as if it was going to explode as the food and stomach gases began to immediately prepare it for an exit. The Korean food allows you to enjoy, get up from the table and it takes its time to navigate your intestinal track before emerging the next morning without the slightest hint of urgency.
Come here thin , and you’ll go home fat if you do not have discipline, it is as simple as that. And there are a lot of fat people here. My hotel that I am staying at is very posh, one of the more sought after places to stay at. I was lucky enough to find a Junior Suite for about $100 AUD a night, which is well cheap. I am of course talking about the Royale Chulan Penang.
The breakfast is of course a buffet and the selections are too many to name. Again, I think that everything and anything is possible here. But then again you get those individuals that just have to go back again and again, plates piled to the rafters, and we have high ceilings mind.
Last night I went to Batu Ferringhi. I jumped on the bus and it took almost an hour to get there. The bus was hoachin’ and a bit sweaty. Oh yes be prepared to sweat when you come here., that’s Penang I mean, I came here for two reasons, one to see if the old resort that my cousin Ann went to is still here, and it was , and also to see the night market. Don’t come here for the night market, it is shit! And I think most of the tat on sale originally comes from China, so it is a bit ironic trying to sell it back to the Chinese that make up the abundance here.
This what the majority of young Chinese girls do when they travel, getting the perfect picture, the perfect angle and as I have mentioned before that this seems to be more important to them than the reality of the situation. It’s only to show off when they return home, to show that they have the perfect life and that they are not the complete and utter narcissist’ that they are š Oh that might upset a few readers….
The hotel is vast, it is actually a resort and not the kind of place that I would not stay at and especially due to the many Chinese tourists that were here. In fact this whole area seems to be very popular with them. Mind you they might not all be tourists because there are a lot of Chinese here in Penang. The problem comes when rich tourist meets civilised world and brings their PRC ideas of how to treat people and navigate in a world where there is courtesy and queues. Two things they excel at not doing well. I was thinking of going to China for a few weeks at the end of the year, mainly to go to a few places I haven’t been to and to see a few friends and I might still go, however I will not go for as long as I was thinking because having this short interaction with Chinese tourists brings back a lot of things that I detest about them.
But don’t let that put you off coming here. It’s great place to come to. The history, the cultural diversity, the food of course. It’s cheap to get around, either by Grab Taxi or bus. In fact the Grab I got last night was only about 22 MYR for about a 40 min ride. It’s hot here and I would bring the appropriate clothing, one of those things needs to be a hat. So many westerners that obviously don’t see the sun at home are basking in the midday sun, UV+++++ So many looking nicely cooked. Some don’t even where sunglasses, which is madness. The sun is strong here and I’m used to this kind of weather, the past summer in Australia was really hot.
In Georgetown the buildings and architecture is very colonial of course, because the British were here along with many others. However the good old British plug still is in use which is nice to see. A legacy which says, ” We wus here!”
This was today’s lunch. Beef Rendang, possibly the best meal of my trip. Absolutely sublime šš
Up at the crack of dawn, headed down for breakfast and was the first one in. I toasted for bits of bread and a dollop of jam followed by two fried eggs, black coffee and fruit and I was set.
Packed me bags and a ordered A Grab to the border crossing, no way was I taking the cheaper option of bus or tuk tuk. It cost about 800 bhat and it was well worth it. My taxi was an EV, so plenty of leg room in the rear and I felt quite the highflyer.
An hour to get to the Pedang Besar train station and this is where I was lucky because I didn’t realise I had to get to the Malaysian side using the train at this crossing. There is another crossing that foot traffic and cars use but I was told to come here. A train came after only 30 minutes.
On for one stop and turn through immigration to leave Thailand and then immediately onto Malaysian immigration. A 90 minute wait for the train to Butterworth.
The train was busy but I had a seat and it was air-conditioned, which you can’t say about the Thai train. There is an immediate noticeable difference between the two countries. Malaysia is a very wealthy country by comparison.
At Butterworth I decide to get a taxi. I have no money only a credit card. The ferry on the other side is a short walk to my hotel, but I don’t fancy carrying my cases, and so I just grab it Grab.
It’s an old driver in an old car and he is scaring the hell out of me at times. Just staying in his own lane would be a start. It’s a relief to reach the hotel.
Not sure what to do here in Hat Yai, it seems that this is a place where many people come to buy. There are many Malaysians here, I can tell because of all the cars with Malaysian plates and of course they are just slightly different to the locals.
In the part of town I’m in, it is very straight. No bars, no massage parlours, however there are a few hair dressers and they sometimes have reputations of being a bit dodgy. Mind you there are a lot of businesses closed because of the flooding that took place here last month.
The telltale signs are all over the place. You can see the remains of debris caught in fences and trees. Still flood damaged items on the kerb. Many cars with tide marks on the doors and roof. A few cars had obviously been completely submerged.
As the wee taxi driver said, her car was flooded and I saw a few others that had the remnants inside on the seats and steering wheels. Having been through a flood myself I can understand just how traumatic it is. And the water marks are still visible on many places and they were well above my head in places.
I went to the street market today and then up to the main shopping mall, mainly to escape the heat and find food but I ended up just having coffee and a muffin. Got a taxi back to the hotel and that was it for a while. After a siesta and a bit of YouTube I had my 200 bhat buffet in the hotel.
Mind you, on a different note… the people seem a little bit chubby down here. The food has way more calories and I can even feel it and I’ve only been here a few days.
Well I feel like I was. When I arrived the other day into Surat Thani I went in search of a bus to Hat Yai. I first of all went to Phantip Travel, however they said that they could not help and they pointed to a street opposite and ushered me to go there. Due to the lack of communication skills on both sides and my misunderstanding, I thought they meant the small place on the corner and not the bus station at the top of the road. If I had walked another 5 mins then I would have got what I thought I was paying for.
Instead, what I got two days later was a small mini van crammed to capacity and I was at the back on the drivers side which was and is the worst place to sit. I was expecting a big luxurious coach, not some old fuckin thing.
5 hours stuck in this god forsaken hell hole unable to move my arse, not even one iota. Cramped because the seat in front was reclined slightly and unable to move. Unable to see out the window because the seat at the rear is higher. Sitting with the sun blazing in the window, I mean, what the fuck did I do to deserve this?
When we finally arrived I ordered a Grab. I couldn’t find it and the driver was calling me and I can’t pick up the call because my Esim is not set up for calls. Next thing I know, this young women is asking me if I was looking for 8182, the car registration, I said “Yes”
She points to her phone and sure enough it’s the correct driver but a different car. Apparently she lost her car during the recent floods here in Hat Yai. She was such a nervous wee character. She said that she needed petrol, was it OK to stop… Sure.
She only put in 300 bhat because that was all she had and I kind of believed her because her car was very old and needed a bit of work. The fare was 80 bhat. She was apologising because of the traffic and so when we got to the hotel I gave her 100 bhat tip. She was very grateful and I have hopefully bolstered my Karma.
My second choice of hotel when I was looking for a place to stay for a few days and I’m so glad that I came here.
The room is large, although a bit dated, and the best part of this place is the view from the large windows facing the river. Sitting here having breakfast you can watch the aerial dance of the swallow feeding and the back drop, the fisherman throwing their nets chasing the elusive river fish.
There are rafts of water hyacinth meandering slowly towards the sea and at times they just sit, large islands where I’ve seen birds and Asian Water Monitors perusing looking for snacks.
Mind you no matter what time of the day the river seems to be a hive of activity and it’s better then watching TV, ’cause it’s in 3D.
I hired a moped last night so that I could get up early this morning and head off. I had read that the small town called Chaiya was very old and had an interesting museum and it was also near to the beach.
At the back of eight this morning I headed north, found the quietest path to the beach. Only problem doing this was that the village roads were as rough as a badgers arse. It’s not only the UK that has big holes to traverse. I was doing a steady 30 kph and every man and their dogs were passing me and so it took a wee while to reach my beach destination for coffee. Leam Pho beach is small but pretty and before I came here I looked at Google Maps and thought that it would be a lot bigger. However after I left this beautiful oasis there was not much left to see apart from farm land and coconut palm groves.
But the coffee was good and the view did not disappoint.
When I finally reached Chaiya the oven I was in was on high so I instead of the museum I hit the shopping centre for air conditioning and food.
On the way back I cranked it up to 50 kph and was back in no time. 70 bhat to fill the tank and back to the hotel for a nap.
When I dropped the bike off they were trying to blame me for a few scratches on the fairing, and you know I can’t believe I never checked it thoroughly last night or that I didn’t take a few snaps. But after a few words we were good to go.
Tomorrow I’m on the bus to Hat Yai. I’ve really enjoyed my stay here. It’s been very different not having all these loud foreigners drinking, chasing bar girls. I wouldn’t know where you can find that scene here and I’m not interested. It’s definitely more of a local feel to the place which is refreshing.
PS, I thought it a bit strange to be on a bike and not be peddling š²š¤
Well I’m glad I’ve stopped here. It’s way less commercialised, the food is more authentic it seems and it is a very different style. I had red pork soup with wantons coupled with pork dumplings. Bloody delicious. You don’t have to walk too far to find small local restaurants that cater more for the locals, although there are pictures and translations sometimes.
The night market by the river has every kind of food you can imagine and many other things. I got a few rice paper rolls filled with pork and vegetables and the green spicy sauce was magic. A big bit of chicken on a stick and a bag of mandarins to close the deal. I’ll be heading there tonight if its on.
Getting from the airport was easy. There is a bus that will drop you in town and it costs 100bhat and takes about 40 mins. I had a short walk to my hotel which sits on the opposite bank of the river to the main centre, but well worth the slight inconvenience of a 15 min walk to get into town.
Not sure how long this place will stay like this, as most places try to cash in. Surat Thani is usually a transit town where people head to either Koh Samui or Phuket and Krabi, however I would recommend that you stay for a couple of days and experience a different side to Thailand.
