First — if I didn’t feel useless enough for not having updated this blog in over a week, Tumblr has to remind me that my ‘tumblarity’ is: 0. Thanks Tumblr. But ask me if I care this time.

It’s 3:20am in Malaysia, somewhere in the Cameron Highlands and after a day spent sprinting to buses & ferries/sitting on buses for way too long, now I’m sitting in bed just dying to shower. Too bad the bathroom is fucking infested. Granted, I am backpacking and every new hostel/guesthouse is a part of the adventure because you never know what you’re getting — but COME ON.

9 hrs ago, the bathroom in our guesthouse in Penang was so nice (on an outdoor balcony) that I was motivated to have a photoshoot while brushing  teeth.

(sorry Sabrina, I was in a towel, had to keep it PG)

9 hrs later, i’m facing a bathroom that looks like it hasn’t been re-worked since the 1920s & there are so many crawling creatures, butterflies & long-legged things that I’m actually scared to stay in there for more than 3 mins. Why would all of the windows be open? WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WOODS. Do I really have to spray on my Deet while I shower?

I will blog instead of showering but I will not enjoy it. Picking up where I left off, three countries ago (Thailand —> Vietnam —-> Malaysia)

Koh Lanta Activities.

We got rained out a bit on the island but we also had motor bikes, so things got done. (Motorbikes are the choice transportation for the locals, save for a few cars and pickup trucks). There’s really one main road you can zoom up, down and around to check out the island, and so we did. I pretty much crashed one bike twice, bruised legs and all that. Lesson learned — don’t let me drive. Or at least make sure to emphasize that while squeezing the brake it’s also easy to squeeze the gas, because they’re in the same place. (Totally not Nadeska friendly)

Koh Lanta has a sizable Muslim population, which caught us a little off-guard. Very traditional, with women wearing their veils (unsure of the accurate name) selling food in street-stalls and taking care of their children while their husbands handled the fishing. (Our resort was run by traditional Muslim men and women also, but somehow they were so indifferent to whatever nonsense we were getting ourselves into). They were all some of the friendliest, most genuine people I’ve met in any country so far. We found one particular street-food stall ran by a group of women who we fell in love with immediately. We stopped by every chance we could to have their snacks.

My favorites: Fried bananas for 1 baht, and some kind of coconut milk snack created  in a contraption similar to a waffle maker for about 5 baht.

Despite the language barrier, which was sometimes a little frustrating for me because I would’ve loved to connect with them on a more personal level, they were always so happy to see us when we stopped by. Food and smiles have definitely managed to transcend any language barriers on this trip so far.

During our snacking obsession, we also fell in love with a little girl – phonetically her name is Salida – but I’m sure that’s not the correct spelling. She was a darling and her mom let us take some photos with her. While we were eating and watching the kids play on the beach, Cliff made the observation that they were lucky to be leading such a simple, happy life but Sabrina and I felt a little bit differently about it. As lucky as they were to be living a life free of all the pressures that some of us know, we also recognized that they have a lack of options. Moving from rural communities — if that’s what you want — definitely seems difficult in Thailand and I have the feeling that our little superstar Salida, might someday want to explore a bit more just like we were doing when we found her. This is a completely personal viewpoint, derived from experiences of feeling confined in the past.

On our last day on the island, we grabbed breakfast at a different food stall, a little sad that we didn’t have time to go say goodbye to them but somehow Salida and her mother just happened to be directly across the street, selling fruit shakes.

Too lucky. We got a few more pics with them, hung out for a few minutes and bought banana/orange shakes for 25 baht. They asked us to come say goodbye on our way to the ferry, but we couldn’t because we weren’t driving. Would be amazing if the universe allowed us to ever see this little girl again.

After a few days on Koh Phi Phi, I finally warmed up to it, but still couldn’t wait to leave. Another last minute decision over breakfast, 20 minute packing and we’re gone.

Next stop: Koh Lanta.

This island is about three times the size of Koh Phi Phi, about an hour ferry ride (350 baht) away and the perfect follow-up to tourist haven in Phi Phi. There are no Spring Break-wannabes on the island and everything is much more spread out, so I felt like I had space to breathe.

The Thai Hustle: Before we even board the ferry to Lanta, we’re swarmed with reps from resorts on the next island pressing us to book rooms with them. Quite the exercise in patience in midday sun in the south of Thailand (I got the worst sunburn I’ve had since I was 9 on the first day there). They hassled us for half of the ferry ride also but in the end, it saved us a lot of trouble.

Accommodation: For 300 baht or $10 (the same price we paid on Phi Phi) we had a bigger room with enough space to fit 4, AC, unlimited internet (their version of that anyway), 2 motorbikes per day and it looked like this….

(Shout out to Cliff for being the ultimate hustler)

Some of you observant individuals (way to question everything) have commented on the fact that the pictures look a little too professional. Diana posed the question best: “Are you taking all those pics you posted with your powershot? Because they’re suspiciously perfect quality for a handheld camera.” So, I’d just like to clarify. Some of the shots are taken with my Canon Powershot SD750 and still look awesome because it’s hard to screw up the beauty of what we’re trying to capture (and let’s not forget my skills). But for some of the unbelievable shots, we’re using Cliff’s Canon Powershot G10. Sometimes when I take out my camera, he’ll actually scoff at me, with a “C’mon Neezy, let a real camera handle this.”

Photography is becoming a part of our trip, he’s teaching me how to adjust the camera for proper lighting, how to take photos in RAW mode etc. So sometimes we’ll take a round just for fun, to see how well we can do. The below is one of my favorites so far.

Snapped on the beach next to our favorite street-food stand on Koh Lanta.

Koh Phi Phi Nightlife

October 21 - 25. Koh Phi Phi snapshots. I swear these are all real. Feel free to make any of them your screensavers or desktop backgrounds. Not copyrighted.

10/20/09 In desperation to get out of Bangkok, we switched up our plans and took a 15-hour bus trek, then ferry ride south to the island of Koh Phi Phi.

Middle of nowhere, 8 hours into the bus trip, forced to use hole in the ground — aka bathroom.

Pulling into the pier, I was so stunned by the scenery that I almost jumped off the ferry and into the harbor. But on land — slight disappointment. Again. The tourists. It didn’t occur to me that Thailand was such a destination spot for the Aussies and Euros (of all ages). Thailand is to them as the Caribbean is to North America.

Soaking up the non-BKK air, on the ferry ride to Koh Phi Phi

Accommodation: 300 baht ($10) a night for a modest but clean room for two with air conditioning. Shower/toilet in one room combination is standard. Everything on the island is slightly more expensive than Bangkok, but still, 120 baht for an amazing dinner, which is less than $5.

Best $15 I’ve ever spent: 500 Baht for a snorkeling trip from 11a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Full day in a “long-tail” boat, zipping around to different snorkel locations and beaches on the chain of surrounding islands. Some of the most breath-taking scenery you can possibly imagine. One of the stops included Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Leh, which is where The Beach with Leo Dicaprio was filmed. When people talk about paradise…this would be it. Photos really can’t do justice.

Please get me off this island: At night, the bars and the beaches turn into a scaled down version of what spring break aims to be. Techno, house and some reggae and hip-hop blaring on the beach with silly people drinking and doing silly things. A bit too contrived. But local Thai boys playing with fire, fun to watch for a while.

Getting away from the main town was the key here. Hiking through the woods to remote beaches, day trips to smaller islands, snorkel sites, sunset from the viewpoints, incredible low tide @ night — unforgettable.

An accurate summation of your mindset after two days in Bangkok.

(Spotted on a typical tourist on Koh Phi Phi island clinging to a cute little Thai girl he called ‘Mamasan’ 50 times in a minute)

Krung Thep — that’s Bangkok to you, Farang. (Bangkok 8, anyone?) Been waiting a long time to get to this city. And then I couldn’t wait to get out.  Most other backpackers I met here were in transit and if they’d been in BKK for more than 2 days, they weren’t too pleased about it.

The city has its’ charms — amazing street food, temples, etc but it can be draining as a foreigner.  Areas like Khaosan Road are teeming with tourists, so you’re constantly on  guard for schemes. Even simple things like taxis taking longer, circuitous routes because you, Farang, can’t read some of the street names. You bargain for everything, which can be great, but also exhausting. Taxis, tuk tuks, street vendors – bargain, bargain, bargain. It’s a city of hustlers but I’m a Brooklyn girl, so I can appreciate that.

In retrospect, a great city to kick off this trip because I’ve got my New York street smarts down but I needed to get a handle on South East Asia quickly.