Slept in late the next day and in no real hurry so more time on the net and sorting out bits and bobs,
leaving in the late afternoon towards a small inland road marked with several waterfalls. Made it to the
entrance of the last one as it was getting dark but never made it as stumbbled across a funny fishing 'resort'
and decided to see if we could camp there instead. Taken on a dinky ferry boat across to the man made island
to meet 'The Boss' and his mates. All Thai's and they had already been drinking for a while so were in good
spirits - at first very confused by our presence and request they warmly invited us to camp by their fishing
lake and then join them for food and drink.
Up early the next day and said our thanks and goodbyes then checked out the waterfall before getting back on
the road. Nice riding past small villages and stopped for market snacks. Eating them at a bus stop when 2
other tourers pulled up to say hello. A nice Swiss couple doing a similar S.E Asian trip to us so good to
swap tales etc. Continued on and ended up cycling 60km before lunch, which we had at a market before going
to find another national park for camping.
Ko Phetra National Park
was a relaxed spot, with a small working
harbour and a grass area right on the beach to camp. Hung out with local picnickers eating green papaya salad
and scrumptious coconut ice-cream served with corn and sticky rice.Southern Thailand is a strong Muslim area and there are many Mosques and Arabic writing can often be seem too. The next day we cycled to Satun, in the far south, and stopped at a busy Sunday market with an almost fully Muslim community. It was packed with great snack food and friendly folks. Once in Satun we visited the National Museum; small but some good information on the history of the region and the Islamic faith. Checked into a budget hotel and then out to the night market for dinner. Enjoyed my last 'Pad Thai' and chatted to the 'other white person' a nice Aussie guy with some great travel tales to share.
Had a nice easy ride along a quiet road the next day that lead to a national park right on the Thai-Malay border. Stopped off for a look at a waterfall on the way and then to the park around midday. No one else was there apart from the many staff members, nice spot to camp by the lake and chilled out till evening when we lit a fire and cooked up some food. Nice quiet final night in Thailand.
We had arranged to stay with a 'Warm Showers' host just over the border
so were in no rush to leave in the morning.
Wrote diaries, did some bike maintenance and went on a small forest walk. In the afternoon we packed up and went
the 2km to the border crossing. Funny place with a dead market on either side that only comes alive on Sundays,
and a new mall like duty free shop in the middle of the forest. Nice riding on the Malaysian side although we
weren't prepared for the steep sharp hill that took us over into the plains. 20km further on and we reached
Padang Besar and email check revealed that the friends of the contact we could stay with actually lived
40km away! There were no hotels, only a vague description of a 'chalet' somewhere and it was getting dark but
our love of novel camping spots saw us inquiring at a Chinese temple where a kind old gentleman welcomed us in
and even took us to dinner! So all worked out well in the end and a lovely first night in Malaysia.
We left at first light the following day and got on a new road that went past fields and not much else, very
quiet and random round-abouts everywhere and so with no map we had to occasionally ask if we were going the
right way. It was 40km before we reached a town and could stop for food - this time Indian. That's the great
thing about Malaysia - Chinese and Indian mix with Malay to create rich diversity in culture and food!From there we were on the national highway which needless to say was very dull and unexciting but still no map and at least it got us quickly to Alor Star, the provincial capital. We went past some impressive Mosques on the way into town. Shopped around for accommodation but what you get for your budget dollar is way less than in Thailand, what would have been average price there got us a basic room with 3/4 walls above a Chinese coffee shop. Actually it had quite a lot of character and the owners and other guests were friendly.
After buying a map in Alor Star we were able to get off the main roads and took a road that followed the coast
south. Stopped for 'roti canai' (fluffy Indian bread and selection of curry sauces) for breakfast and good
Chinese coffee. Compared to all other countries so far the standard of English in Malaysia is excellent. Many
people speak almost fluently which is great for us as we can communicate what we what and generally have chats
to people along the road. Often we hear 'WELCOME TO MALAYSIA!' as we pass by. We randomly found ourselves on
really small one lane roads not on the map that connect houses and have so little traffic they almost serve as
bike lanes! Perfect for cycling and enjoying the country atmosphere. We stopped at the sea side town of Yan for
lunch and then decided to look out for a waterfall on the map as a potential camping spot. However asked some
locals only to hear we had missed it, and the best bet was to continue on to SG Petani, simply called SP.Cycled round till we found the Chinese coffee shops - the best bet for cheap rooms and again found a nice family run place called 'Lucky Hotel' (oh the irony)... Freshened up and walked to the night market for dinner. Tried the Malaysian specialty 'ABC' for dessert - jelly, beans and corn covered in shaved ice, syrup and condensed milk. May sound odd but it works. We were nearly back to the hotel when tragedy struck. A guy on a motorbike came along beside me, gave me a shove and grabbed my bag I (stupidly) had over my shoulder. Shock and adrenalin set it and I ran in fruitless pursuit shouting my head off but he was gone. Couldn't believe it - my passport, camera, bank cards and wallet, ipod etc all gone. The owner of the hotel was very helpful and organised a taxi to take us to the police station where we filled out a police report. We couldn't give a description or license plate so the likelihood of recovery was zilch. Next a mission getting phone credit and trying to call England to cancel cards - it was after 12 before we finally crashed - as Chinese New Year fire works went off over the town.
Next day we were still running around finding phones that worked, calling embassies and banks, on the net and thinking up a new plan. Decided to keep going to Penang where we already had a 'Couch Surfing' host and then continue to the NZ Embassy in Kuala Lumpur - it was Friday so couldn't do anything till after the weekend. Left SP feeling very sad and cheated - subsequently learnt that its a common crime in Malaysia and you need to be very careful, but people were still surprised it happened in a small place with few tourists. Ah well. Lesson learnt (again?!)... and since then we have had so many amazing experiences in Malaysia they have totally overshadowed this one bad one.