High Point – Swimming in the beautiful Malaysian Sea
Low Point – Missing John Barnes who was just yards away from our hotel
No Point – The Malaysian ‘Pirate’ who robbed us in broad daylight
Over reaction of the day – Seve v the Monkey
So today was our first day off since the tubing in Laos and we were all very excited about the prospect of finally dipping our toes into the sea after being so cruelly teased in Thailand by Krabi, Phuket and Phi Phi. So after saying goodbye to the wonderful team at APP ( who were driving back to KL) we headed out of Georgetown to experience some of what the rest of Penang had to offer. Seve was the navigator for the day and while the rest of us were sleeping earlier in the morning he was busy sorting out our agenda for the day ahead – a prime example of navigation at it’s finest!
Game of the day: over complicated game of paper, scissors, stone
Up early for our 2nd and Steve’s 20th border crossing day. What was due to be a quick drive to the border, about 1hr, turned into a 3hr dash to get to the Malaysian border as we had missed a turning on our route which looked more like someone’s driveway rather than a road that Martha would be happy with.
Low Point : Every second before arriving arriving in Satun
Dish of the day : Chicken Pad Thai in the bathroom room sink
Chat of the day : Pathetic little noises
Number of different attempted seating positions : 42
We have a rota for everything on this trip. The ability to think is chipped away to an such extent where one must rely on checklists, rotas and schedules to function on complete exhaustion. My turn to write the blog is bordering on pointless as I spent the entire day in a puke fuelled mess.
We left Panang Beach on Phuket island in heavy rain that did nothing to wash away our disbelief at what we had seen the night before…I didn’t know places like that existed. It was a relatively short drive but the tricky conditions meant we didn’t roll into Krabi until mid afternoon but it wasn’t long before we had checked into our accommodation and were ready to explore. The ladies hit the markets, but not before they were asked if Martha had a toilet (a luxury camper van she is not!) and came away with some rather fetching t-shirts but Michelle’s magnificent fluoro pink watch stole the show – check the photos.
High point: Being welcomed into Phuket by the local media just in time before the monsoon rains hit hard! And being invited to the comedy night featuring Milo!
Low point: Monsoon rain stopping us from visiting the beach on our only planned day off in Thailand.
No point: Bangla road
As we approached Phuket, the local press were waiting for us to arrive and followed us into town. We had been delayed by the start of the daily Monsoon rain and made it just in time before the peak of the tropical storm. By amazing coincidence, the day we were due to arrive in the area was the exact same night that a Comedian friend of FTFE, Milo, was due to perform. Pete who runs the comedy night heard about FTFE through Milo and very kindly spread the word in Phuket, contacting the local press who eagerly awaited our arrival for an interview.
High Point – Stumbling across the beach bungalow that was to become our home for the night
Low Point – Sore bottoms from sitting in the back of the cab for hours at a time. Thanks to http://www.motorcyclegelseatpads.co.uk/ for donating gel seat pads to help save our bums. Much appreciated!
Today started on a high with a visit to the ‘Swedish Bakery’ opposite our accommodation in Hua Hin for a quick bit of breakfast. Paul had already had a few sneaky croissants while the rest of us were asleep and so they came highly recommended! To give you some context to our obsession with food in our blogs, Steve has quite rightly imposed a limit on the amount of western dishes we can eat in a week so that we can really experience the local cuisine. So, to get a breakfast of cinnamon rolls and croissants was sheer heaven. Once breakfast was consumed we hit the road.
The day started early at 6am with our first view of the river Kwai from our Hotel. The late night karaoke boats (incl. squealing Thai’s onboard) gave us an idea of the size of the river however not it’s beauty.
Pointless seating arrangement of the day : Michelle sat behind the driver even though her legs are too short to fully appreciate the only seat with extra leg room
No Point : Lyndsey/Michelle owning bags too big for them to carry
Big Tune of the Day : Heavy Weight Champion of the World : Reverend and The Makers Read more →
Low Point – Construction of camp beds! I am officially the weediest member of the stage 4 crew after coming last in the race to construct our beds for the evening.
No point – The boys generally 😉
Today saw the first full day in Thailand and the long drive from Khon Kaen to the national park in Khoa Yai. The drive flew by with the usual chat and rather wonderful mega mix of pumping tunes blasting on the radio ( yep, I was the DJ for today’s drive) :-). Soon the long motorway disappeared and we entered the beautiful Khoa Yai national park which is Thailand’s most popular national park. As we followed the windy road through the park we were all on high- alert searching for the first ‘jungle animal’ sighting. We were rewarded 15mins into our drive through the park when the road opened up and we were suddenly at a viewpoint overlooking the park that stretched out below. Everywhere we looked there were gibbons jumping on cars and the most beautiful butterflies flying around us.
“Without Globalink’s support and expertise the expedition would have been impossible” Steve Moore, Expedition Leader.
On Day 1 of the expedition, when Martha left the UK for France, crossing the English Channel was simple. Pre-book tickets, turn up, roll on and roll off!
If only the other sea crossings could be that easy. There are four, to be precise, that need to be in place to successfully circumnavigate the globe; namely Singapore to Perth, Brisbane to Auckland and the two monsters that are the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans… anything but roll on, roll off!
