Flashpacking no more

Pina colada + coconut + straw ... check!

We'd booked all our accommodation and transport for the week in advance when we were in Bangkok, so after a few days on Samui we found ourselves herded from minibus to boat to tourist bus eventually arriving in Ko Phi Phi on the west coast of Thailand. We were staying in a really nice bungalow in the main town which is very touristy but still very nice (if you don't mind running the gauntlet of bar touts every time you want to go anywhere). We went for a really great dive trip around the area where "The Beach" film was made, and finally saw turtles! Then it was back on the boat and off to Phuket where we were hoping to do some more diving.

Unfortuately Chris then got a really bad cold so diving was our of the question, and Phuket was hot, expensive and horrible. It was time to get back on budget anyway, so we decided to leave the tourist herd and go to Malaysia, back to travelling on public transport and staying in places without such crazy luxuries as private bathrooms, air-con, solid walls, etc.

We arrived in Penang (an island in the north-west of Malaysia) quite late in the evening and immediately scored a hotel room for 30 ringits, or just under 10US dollars, and a big bowl of noodles for 4 ringits each. Back on track! The room actually turned out to be dirty, with old cigarette butts on the floor and dubious-smelling bedsheets (that's the last time I let Chris inspect a room on his own), but we cracked out the sheet sleeping bags and moved on next day.

The next day was the usual travellers fun, not being able to find the ferry and then spending a long time trying to buy a bus ticket and then waiting for the bus for ages and then the bus breaking down ... and so forth. But at the end of it we arrived at the small island of Pangkor, which is beautiful and not too overrun by tourism yet. This is our last chance for some beach time and we've been making the most of it before we head to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.