Thailand and Malaysia
Second
part of the trip
We flew from Chiang
Mai to Phuket for the second part of our trip. We cycled around the
island of Phuket.
After a quiet start in Phuket we cycled to the mainland to Kakua Thung
and hired a boat to visit the karst mountains that are located not far
from the coast. Of course we wanted to see "James Bond Island". Well,
it was fun, but no satellite equipment in sight :-) Via Phang Gna we
cycled to and Phra Nang, where we came across the first Mosques and
Minarets. 
The roads were flat but it was hard to cycle. The wind was strong (in
the wrong way), and many of the roads in the south of Thailand were
being restructured.
This restructuring work meant the workers went over the mud with machines that made cubic holes of 10 cm3. To give an idea: It feels like riding a super Belgian wafer on your bike.
From
Satun in Thailand we embarkes on the ferry to Lankawi, Malaysia. The island
felt like a tropical paradise, our hotel room was a bungalow on the beach,
with veranda and comfortable bed.
After Thailand, Langkawi (and Malaysia) was in one word: different.
Large cars, tourist info, English spoken, familiar breakfast, Kentucky
Fried Chicken, hamburgers and chocolate milk. Also, it was not as much
fun to order our diner as it had been in Thailand. Due to our historic
ties, a Malaysian/Indonesian menu is not much of a challenge for Dutch
people. (Many dishes are called same in the Netherlands as they are in
Malaysia and Indonesia.) Langkawi is clean, has bicycle lanes and has
road shoulders that would not misfit on a golf course.
After a few days of relaxation and touring the island and playing tourist,
we embarked on a high speed Jet boat to Kuala Kedah on mainland Malaysia.
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