South East Asia on a Hamstring – February 4

Georgetown, Malaysia – February 4, 2000

Our morning rickshaw tour was uneventful and disappointing. Intrepid supplied this but apparently no one was in charge – it was a trip around the historic Georgetown area in bicycle rickshaws.

The drivers took us around, sporadically pointing out sites. We struggled to follow, from our tourist maps, but we were not following a prescribed route and it was hopeless. I began to understand why Andy and my other guide friend Nikki go along on excursions over and over again – they must make sure that things run as planned.

As we stumbled through the few sites we saw, Gerry and Lorraine told me that they were leaving us in Krabi. They were going into Thailand with us tomorrow and they’d stay for the two days there but they weren’t going to continue. They had a few weeks left before they were going to return to Canada and they were thinking of spending it at a resort.

We went to an 11am tour of the restored home of a 100-year-old Chinese man. Unfortunately, I had a massive coughing fit and had to return to my Cathay hotel room for a rest and some vitamin C. I had a terrible cough and spent the rest of the day hunting for a pharmacy and resting. Pharmacies were everywhere but it was Chinese New Year so I was out of luck.

Miserable, I coughed and hacked and considered my options.

Groups are tricky things. I’ve traveled with several. Usually, they work because of the demeanor of the group leader and the inherent need for cooperation. But on this leg of my trip, I was counting down the days until I would be on my own. I needed to find a nice cafe and consider my reasons and my needs for the next week.

This was also the first time that I found myself holding back on my website. To me, if something happens on my vacation, it’s a free-for-all for me to write about. But this time, I was having to edit and strip out large passages that only those on my private e-mail list were privy to.

Between Krabi and Bangkok, there was a trip to a national park that involved elephant rides and jungle hikes. Both are things I’ve done before and will no doubt do again. My next leg, involving Northern Thailand and Laos, starts on February 14. Perhaps I am in need of hot showers and some alone time in a Bangkok hotel room.

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