Hey hey hey to everybody out there! :)From Borneo to northern Malaysia and then a bus ride to Hat Yai in southern Thailand. And shortly after, into another bus going to Surat Thani and after spending the night there - bus and boat and I am finally back to Koh Samui. Didn’t take long to find a nice little A-frame (bungalow) for 250 bath a night (that's about 7 USD) right on the beach in the outskirts of Lamai and that’s where I spent a week being lazy, eating good food, finding new friends and enjoying life.
Yeah, got to tell you about this little annoying kid on the flight from Borneo. This is one of those times I really wish I could knock someone out and get away with it. This little fu**er wasn’t talking - he was screaming, he didn’t move around - he jumped around, he didn’t sit far away from me - he was right behind my seat :( I tried to tell him and his mother to, at least, stop kicking my seat but I gave up after the fifth or sixth time since they did not seem to bother about me. I even tried with the dangerous face, looking really pissed - didn’t help either though...
Anyway, I booked a sleeper train to Bangkok and went there to meet Andreas and Katinka (my friends from travelling in the Philippines) and later to catch the flight to Macau (that’s one of the two SAR's "special administrative regions" in China - the other one is Hong Kong).
We did a day tour that ended with the Tiger temple where you have to sign a release-form before entering (stating that the temple/sanctuary can not be held responsible if you get hurt or eaten by a tiger!). It was a bit touristy but still cool. The big tigers was all so lazy but they still looks much cooler than me in the pictures :) *haha* The REALLY amazing thing was to hold and cuddle the cubs - they were so beautiful.
Bye-bye again to friends and on the flight to Macau, which used to be a Portuguese colony (just as Hong Kong used to be British). Spent two days there walking around taking some pictures and in the evening I went with some others to Venetian - the second biggest casino in Macau that is built to resemble Venice (in Italy) but all is indoor. This must have been one of the biggest and most amazing places/buildings I have ever entered. Yeah, I gambled to, but not that much and I actually won, but again - not that much (about 9 dollar) - but still... :)
This morning on to the super jet ferry that takes you to Hong Kong in just under an hour. Didn’t plan too much about hostels - had this idea that it always works out. I couldn’t be more wrong :) Walked around for two hours looking for a place to stay or at least get some Internet access to have a look there. Finally, after some confusing MRT (underground train system) rides I found a place - lucky. Just back from buying camera lenses for my brother this afternoon and roughly planning tomorrow - will go to the airport to stash my luggage, then take a ride to Disney Land and the HKK lookout - after that might catch a movie and then its boarding time...To give all of you an idea of flights and prices, here is my complete flight route and costs in (USD)...
Copenhagen - Heathrow (103) * Heathrow - Delhi (671) * Calcutta - Myanmar (257) * Yangon - Heho (74) * Heho - Mandalay (36) * Bagan - Yangon (70) * Yangon - Bangkok (41) * Phuket - Kuala Lumpur (xxx) * Kuala Lumpur - Clark (Manila) (xxx) * Busuanga - Manila (81) * Manila (Clark) - Kota Kinabalu (44) * Kota Kinabalu - Kuala Lumpur (74) * Kuala Lumpur - Bali (77) * Bali - Kuala Lumpur (77) * Singapore - Perth (214) * Perth - Adelaide (137) * Melbourne - Sydney (81) * Sydney - Christchurch (169) * Auckland - Brisbane (146) * Cairns - Brisbane (137) * Brisbane - Darwin (137) * Darwin - Singapore (176) * Kuala Lumpur - Clark (Manila) (54) * Cebu - Clark (Manila) (25) * Clark (Manila) - Kota Kinabalu (37) * Kota Kinabalu - Penang (73) * Bangkok - Macau (62) * Hong Kong - London (Gatwick) (240) * Gatwick -(transfer)- Stansted (50) * London (Stansted) - Copenhagen (101)
...and that my friends equals up to roughly 3500 USD (missing prices for puk-kl-crk) for 29 flights during 10 month (= 3 flights a month at a monthly average cost of 350 USD (2450 SEK) and that’s pretty good, in my book anyway :)
To all of you out there, where ever you are... A MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
/ Kristian (with the compass needle pointing home, for this time ;)
PS. In Hong Kong you can buy 24 hour Wi-Fi access for about 2,5 USD and it works everywhere around town (and its fast) - and the best thing is that you but it from 7-Eleven *haha*
