Thursday, February 28, 2013
Chiang mai
The first 24 hours.
The photos are (hopefully) in the following order...
- My Nok (bird) Air plane.
- 2 and 3, dinner in the Jungle cafe.
- The waterfall we visited today. I enjoyed a swim in the 36c heat!
The photos are (hopefully) in the following order...
- My Nok (bird) Air plane.
- 2 and 3, dinner in the Jungle cafe.
- The waterfall we visited today. I enjoyed a swim in the 36c heat!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Georgetown
On the morning of day six I had two hours to experience Georgetown, Penang before ferrying back across to Butterworth to get the Thai train.
What an awesome city. It reminds me a bit of Asuncion, Paraguay. Some very old, worn out buildings, lots of scooters and traffic randomness, friendly people, good food and hot weather.
I went for a wander, got lost, got found, ate a breakfast of chicken noodle soup and three layer tea, got some Malaysian ringgit and Thai baht (Man I love $1000 notes!! Ha. In singas NZ 100 got sgp 100, here it gets lottts more).
I managed to see a whole bunch of sights thanks to an old Chinese man who rode me around on a tricycle. Very cool.
What an awesome city. It reminds me a bit of Asuncion, Paraguay. Some very old, worn out buildings, lots of scooters and traffic randomness, friendly people, good food and hot weather.
I went for a wander, got lost, got found, ate a breakfast of chicken noodle soup and three layer tea, got some Malaysian ringgit and Thai baht (Man I love $1000 notes!! Ha. In singas NZ 100 got sgp 100, here it gets lottts more).
I managed to see a whole bunch of sights thanks to an old Chinese man who rode me around on a tricycle. Very cool.
Rail goes big time
The glory days of rail are back! Malaysia is currently undergoing a ridiculously massive upgrade of its rail system. No doubt the biggest change since the Brits originally built it.
Every line is getting replaced, double or quadruple tracked and electrified. Every path or road across the track is new. New fences, flood control, shunting yards, warehouses. New stations in every city. Everything. Everything at once. Hundreds of miles.
Imagine the NZ govt replacing every single track in the whole country...? Yeah right. My kiwi brain can't quite comprehend it but that's what I've seen through the whole of Malaysia.
I've seen 15 new or partially completed stations. More than fifty new bridges, hundreds of miles of new rail and thousands of new concrete sleepers every where. These people don't do things by halves! When it's finished in a few years (and a few billion dollars later) it's going to be very slick. Even on this trip, when we're on the sections it is waaay smoother than the old parts.
Im assuming that, at some stage, they'll upgrade all their rolling stock, then this trip will be even more awesome!
Every line is getting replaced, double or quadruple tracked and electrified. Every path or road across the track is new. New fences, flood control, shunting yards, warehouses. New stations in every city. Everything. Everything at once. Hundreds of miles.
Imagine the NZ govt replacing every single track in the whole country...? Yeah right. My kiwi brain can't quite comprehend it but that's what I've seen through the whole of Malaysia.
I've seen 15 new or partially completed stations. More than fifty new bridges, hundreds of miles of new rail and thousands of new concrete sleepers every where. These people don't do things by halves! When it's finished in a few years (and a few billion dollars later) it's going to be very slick. Even on this trip, when we're on the sections it is waaay smoother than the old parts.
Im assuming that, at some stage, they'll upgrade all their rolling stock, then this trip will be even more awesome!
Bangkok
Made it! 21 hours after we started in Butterworth, Malaysia, I've now arrived in Bangkok.
The time went by as quick as I thought it might. I didn't end up reading or doing as much blog writing as I thought. There was plenty to look at (see my post on rail). And there were plenty of interesting people.
In my section was a British-French couple retired to Thailand, next to us was a British mother visiting her son in Malaysia, a young Canadian on her O.E and a pair of women touring from the Ukraine.
After the long border crossing stop, we were given menus and dinner was delivered to our seats, once they attached the restaurant carriage and a whole lot more sleeper cars (up till then we were a two car train). After dinner I headed to the restaurant/bar carriage for a drink. The British guy was there and waved me over, so we sat there for an hour or so drinking the local Singha and having a yarn. After he left for bed a Japanese guy said hi and we chatted for a bit. There's definitely a touch of novelty in all this - meeting new people, seeing new sites, waving the bar man over with a pretend writing action like in the movies, then paying the bill with cash that has large numbers. What fun!
Back to my seat and the service guy had converted the seats in to beds. I was on a top berth. Every bed had a curtain, so the little bit of privacy was nice. I managed to sleep well, although I had to cheat again...
I woke up to a choice of breakfast options which were underwhelming but did the trick. Four hours later we arrived 1.5 hours late. Not bad, considering Thai railways need a lot of work (I could have run next to the train through much of the Bangkok section!)
Now I'm eating some good Thai next to the railway station with the Canadian and the Brit.
The time went by as quick as I thought it might. I didn't end up reading or doing as much blog writing as I thought. There was plenty to look at (see my post on rail). And there were plenty of interesting people.
In my section was a British-French couple retired to Thailand, next to us was a British mother visiting her son in Malaysia, a young Canadian on her O.E and a pair of women touring from the Ukraine.
After the long border crossing stop, we were given menus and dinner was delivered to our seats, once they attached the restaurant carriage and a whole lot more sleeper cars (up till then we were a two car train). After dinner I headed to the restaurant/bar carriage for a drink. The British guy was there and waved me over, so we sat there for an hour or so drinking the local Singha and having a yarn. After he left for bed a Japanese guy said hi and we chatted for a bit. There's definitely a touch of novelty in all this - meeting new people, seeing new sites, waving the bar man over with a pretend writing action like in the movies, then paying the bill with cash that has large numbers. What fun!
Back to my seat and the service guy had converted the seats in to beds. I was on a top berth. Every bed had a curtain, so the little bit of privacy was nice. I managed to sleep well, although I had to cheat again...
I woke up to a choice of breakfast options which were underwhelming but did the trick. Four hours later we arrived 1.5 hours late. Not bad, considering Thai railways need a lot of work (I could have run next to the train through much of the Bangkok section!)
Now I'm eating some good Thai next to the railway station with the Canadian and the Brit.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Penang
The train was late but I made it in the end. Got picked up by David Elliot and hung out for a bit at the hostel. Great train trip! Would've posted more but for a phone blooper...
Sunday, February 24, 2013
I'm off
It's 6.35 and I've got to beat a trail to the train station. These days it's at the north east side so I've got just over an hours journey to meet a 8.45 train plus customs before hand.
Managed a miserable chemically induced 4 hrs sleep. Problem with my brain is it doesn't want to over sleep so I'd still be awake if not for the pill.
Uh oh it's spitting, I'd rather not have it monsoon on me...
Well, I'm off. It's train time!
Managed a miserable chemically induced 4 hrs sleep. Problem with my brain is it doesn't want to over sleep so I'd still be awake if not for the pill.
Uh oh it's spitting, I'd rather not have it monsoon on me...
Well, I'm off. It's train time!
Singapore is done
Singapore you were ridiculously epic!
Checklist:
Changi airport.
Public transit.
Lots of great food.
Sentosa island and the aquarium.
Orchard road and some rather large malls - get all NZs malls, put them on one street and it'd probably less than Orchard rd.
The night safari.
The gardens at the bay - fully air conned massive bio domes, man made super trees, lakes and city of the future sustainability stuff. All built on reclaimed land, winning architecture awards and using it all to teach sustainability. You could easily spend a day there.
Bus tour around the city.
River tour.
River walk.
Chinatown.
Little India.
The marina gallery.
And next, sleep for my very sore legs! then tomorrow, train station and a 12 hour bus ride...
Checklist:
Changi airport.
Public transit.
Lots of great food.
Sentosa island and the aquarium.
Orchard road and some rather large malls - get all NZs malls, put them on one street and it'd probably less than Orchard rd.
The night safari.
The gardens at the bay - fully air conned massive bio domes, man made super trees, lakes and city of the future sustainability stuff. All built on reclaimed land, winning architecture awards and using it all to teach sustainability. You could easily spend a day there.
Bus tour around the city.
River tour.
River walk.
Chinatown.
Little India.
The marina gallery.
And next, sleep for my very sore legs! then tomorrow, train station and a 12 hour bus ride...
Friday, February 22, 2013
The roof
It's 7.45am (12.45pm NZT) I'm sitting on the roof of the hostel with a guy from Taiwan. I just explained my cunning train plan. "Ah, ah, you are so smart!! Thank you thank you."
Well, actually seat61.com is smart, but ill take credit for following what seems rather counter intuitive advice...
The Malaysian train leaves from the northern border of Sgp. If you buy a ticket for a train leaving sgp the face value is changed from say 30 Malaysian ringgit to 30 singa. Which means its about 2.5 times more expensive!! But if you buy a trip from KL to Sgp and back, the currency stays ringgit. The first trip is a ghost trip ill never use. Curious huh?
Now he's trying to understand how I can afford 3.5 weeks travel when I only work 3 days a week...
He works at Foxconn as a manager. 7 days a week, 6am to 10pm. 7 days off every 3 months. And he's on call at night... No wonder they make the news for the wrong reasons!!!
Well, actually seat61.com is smart, but ill take credit for following what seems rather counter intuitive advice...
The Malaysian train leaves from the northern border of Sgp. If you buy a ticket for a train leaving sgp the face value is changed from say 30 Malaysian ringgit to 30 singa. Which means its about 2.5 times more expensive!! But if you buy a trip from KL to Sgp and back, the currency stays ringgit. The first trip is a ghost trip ill never use. Curious huh?
Now he's trying to understand how I can afford 3.5 weeks travel when I only work 3 days a week...
He works at Foxconn as a manager. 7 days a week, 6am to 10pm. 7 days off every 3 months. And he's on call at night... No wonder they make the news for the wrong reasons!!!
Links
Here's my...
photos: https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A75oqs3qNjCrR
Map of the trip: http://trackmytour.com/H2jCq
Calendar: the link's too big but I can share it with you if you want.
Btw. From NZ you can text me for free anytime. I get interwebs stuff when I'm on wifi at the hostel so less often.
photos: https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A75oqs3qNjCrR
Map of the trip: http://trackmytour.com/H2jCq
Calendar: the link's too big but I can share it with you if you want.
Btw. From NZ you can text me for free anytime. I get interwebs stuff when I'm on wifi at the hostel so less often.
Day 2
- met an American at our hostel and went for a wander with him around nearby Little India. It was fairly quiet during the day but had a surprising amount of locals just hanging around... Plenty of good food there and a few bargains to be had.
- crossed town to have lunch with Donna and a few of the world outreach team. Was a bit late as its taking a while to comprehend how long it takes to get places... This is a big city!
- back to HQ for rest n planning.
- then off to marina bay to look around at an absolutely massive district reclaimed from the sea. Took a boat ride up the "river" which had plenty of awesome views of the somewhat incongruous blend of colonial architecture and super flash Asia. I think the metaphorical centre of the world is moving...
- then I managed to meet up with the American again. That was a feat in itself, we could only communicate via wifi and wifi isn't easy to find. We visited Chinatown and wandered around the river at night.
- crossed town to have lunch with Donna and a few of the world outreach team. Was a bit late as its taking a while to comprehend how long it takes to get places... This is a big city!
- back to HQ for rest n planning.
- then off to marina bay to look around at an absolutely massive district reclaimed from the sea. Took a boat ride up the "river" which had plenty of awesome views of the somewhat incongruous blend of colonial architecture and super flash Asia. I think the metaphorical centre of the world is moving...
- then I managed to meet up with the American again. That was a feat in itself, we could only communicate via wifi and wifi isn't easy to find. We visited Chinatown and wandered around the river at night.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Bed
I've made it to 10pm Singapore time. That's about 3am NZT. Oh boy. I hope I sleep well tonight!!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Day 1
Ups
> Karen's hand knitted socks - a homely comfort for a long flight.
> Etihad - what a great airline! And even better... Brisbane to singas is the first leg of the journey to Abu Dhabi so the plane was only half full...
> No one in the seat behind, beside or in front - you buueaty!!
> Narrow legs that fit between the seats in front so I can stretch out.
> Heated napkins - doesn't get any better than that!
> Gf meals on the plane - yuss!
> it was almost a down but became an up... I was looking all around brissy airport for a PowerPoint to charge my device. Couldn't find one anywhere...!! FWP. Then walked down the pier to my gate and found these brilliant tables with 12 power points in each one of them and free wifi. Hot diggity dog!
Downs
> Screeching child on plane. Poor neighbours, poor parents!!
> lack of sleep
> Gf meal = meat and three veg not targine ravioli or Moroccan chicken... FWP.
> Karen's hand knitted socks - a homely comfort for a long flight.
> Etihad - what a great airline! And even better... Brisbane to singas is the first leg of the journey to Abu Dhabi so the plane was only half full...
> No one in the seat behind, beside or in front - you buueaty!!
> Narrow legs that fit between the seats in front so I can stretch out.
> Heated napkins - doesn't get any better than that!
> Gf meals on the plane - yuss!
> it was almost a down but became an up... I was looking all around brissy airport for a PowerPoint to charge my device. Couldn't find one anywhere...!! FWP. Then walked down the pier to my gate and found these brilliant tables with 12 power points in each one of them and free wifi. Hot diggity dog!
Downs
> Screeching child on plane. Poor neighbours, poor parents!!
> lack of sleep
> Gf meal = meat and three veg not targine ravioli or Moroccan chicken... FWP.
Made it
To the airport... Fortunately the checkin lady let my bag in for free despite my ticket not mentioning baggage. Either I bought wrong or the system stuffed up!
Who travels to Singapore without check in luggage‽
M
Who travels to Singapore without check in luggage‽
M
Saturday, February 16, 2013
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