March 23, 2006
Not much to say but caught a 12 hour bus from Phuket to Georgetown and got here at 8 pm. You can always tell when you are in an Islamic country because the prayer sirens go off 5 times a day. I got a 3:45am wakeup call this morning. When I first arrived I lugged my backpacker down a dark alley because there was a recommended hotel there and as I walked down this alley I saw the shadow of an old man standing still in the middle of the street until I passed him and that was when he started to walk right into me. He was apologizing over and over for running into me and I thought he was trying to pickpocket me and I did a quick check and then as my eyes adjusted in the dark I realized the guy was wearing coke bottles for glasses and was cross-eyed! I smiled and said No Problem and continued on.
I check my backpack into the hotel room and wander over to 7/11 for a milk and when I step outside some guy passes me and out of nowhere stops in his tracks and looks at me and grits his teeth and says GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! At first I thought I had some wacked-out drug addict trying to start something as he was staring at me uncomfortably for another 5 seconds and then he casually walks over and apologizes many times and says he thought I was his German friend that he has been traveling with (It was very dark after all) and we have a chat about our travels and he tells me he is just here for a Thailand Visa to get back into the country and I tell him I am off to Indonesia in the next few days and he says "Watch out!!". I say "Watch out about Indonesia?" and he say "No, Watch out on this street! There are lady boys everywhere!!". Anyways I take about 10 steps onto the street and some lady boy walks by me staring and it is completely obvious that it is a guy. The German fellow was right, they were everywhere on this street calling out to tourists and whistling (scary stuff!!).
It has been only a few days since I last wrote but not much has happened but I am just killing some time on the Internet. When I arrived by ferry I was surprised to see skyscrapers on the shoreline which reminded me of a mini NYC. Yesterday I explored Georgetown on foot. Huge cockroaches on the streets and like everywhere in SE Asia, rats are running around at night. The cockroaches are 2 inches long and an inch wide and they are everywhere here.
Today I rented a scooter and drove around the island. The beaches are not as nice as Thailand’s beaches but it is very cheap here. Budget rooms are $5 Cdn. I catch a night train tonight to Kuala Lumpur and then on Sunday I catch my flight to Jakarta, Indonesia. I was going to go to Singapore first but after reading my LP (Lonely Planet) book I decided I will do it after I return from Indonesia since I may save some back tracking. Both my international flights cost $75 Cdn (taxes included!!).
I found a little restaurant/pub that plays movies. I watched "Mr and Mrs Smith" last night and tonight I get to pick the movie at 5:30pm. My night train is at 9:30pm. I will be spending two days in Kuala Lumpur and then 3 weeks in Indonesia. I will be flying out of Bali back to Kuala Lumpur on April 18.
Kevin
Not much to say but caught a 12 hour bus from Phuket to Georgetown and got here at 8 pm. You can always tell when you are in an Islamic country because the prayer sirens go off 5 times a day. I got a 3:45am wakeup call this morning. When I first arrived I lugged my backpacker down a dark alley because there was a recommended hotel there and as I walked down this alley I saw the shadow of an old man standing still in the middle of the street until I passed him and that was when he started to walk right into me. He was apologizing over and over for running into me and I thought he was trying to pickpocket me and I did a quick check and then as my eyes adjusted in the dark I realized the guy was wearing coke bottles for glasses and was cross-eyed! I smiled and said No Problem and continued on.
I check my backpack into the hotel room and wander over to 7/11 for a milk and when I step outside some guy passes me and out of nowhere stops in his tracks and looks at me and grits his teeth and says GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! At first I thought I had some wacked-out drug addict trying to start something as he was staring at me uncomfortably for another 5 seconds and then he casually walks over and apologizes many times and says he thought I was his German friend that he has been traveling with (It was very dark after all) and we have a chat about our travels and he tells me he is just here for a Thailand Visa to get back into the country and I tell him I am off to Indonesia in the next few days and he says "Watch out!!". I say "Watch out about Indonesia?" and he say "No, Watch out on this street! There are lady boys everywhere!!". Anyways I take about 10 steps onto the street and some lady boy walks by me staring and it is completely obvious that it is a guy. The German fellow was right, they were everywhere on this street calling out to tourists and whistling (scary stuff!!).
It has been only a few days since I last wrote but not much has happened but I am just killing some time on the Internet. When I arrived by ferry I was surprised to see skyscrapers on the shoreline which reminded me of a mini NYC. Yesterday I explored Georgetown on foot. Huge cockroaches on the streets and like everywhere in SE Asia, rats are running around at night. The cockroaches are 2 inches long and an inch wide and they are everywhere here.
Today I rented a scooter and drove around the island. The beaches are not as nice as Thailand’s beaches but it is very cheap here. Budget rooms are $5 Cdn. I catch a night train tonight to Kuala Lumpur and then on Sunday I catch my flight to Jakarta, Indonesia. I was going to go to Singapore first but after reading my LP (Lonely Planet) book I decided I will do it after I return from Indonesia since I may save some back tracking. Both my international flights cost $75 Cdn (taxes included!!).
I found a little restaurant/pub that plays movies. I watched "Mr and Mrs Smith" last night and tonight I get to pick the movie at 5:30pm. My night train is at 9:30pm. I will be spending two days in Kuala Lumpur and then 3 weeks in Indonesia. I will be flying out of Bali back to Kuala Lumpur on April 18.
Kevin
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