Onwards and southwards

So we’ve been to Ko Sweden (Ko Lanta), Ko Germany (Ko Jum), Ao USA (Raileh) and Ko Britian (Ko Phi Phi) and we’ve decided that we’re ready for a new country so an 11 boat/bus/boat journey awaits tomorrow to take us from Phi Phi to Pulau Penang in Malaysia. Love Thailand but after 5 weeks here and the last 3 just spent on the beach and on snorkelling boat trips, it’s time for the proper travelling to recommence. Also, the Eastern coast of Thailand (Ko Samui/Phangnan) is in the midst of the monsoon season so think we’ll skip the rain and stay west!
Chris has done a wee update on what we’ve done/where we’ve been here so save me from repeating things read this... www.rootfest.com
And here’s some pics....

I was just reading the trusty Lonely Planet about Borneo (where we may head after peninsula Malaysia) and it mentioned all the crazy wildlife here and although I’ve definitely got used to smacking mozzies all day and seeing squished cockroaches, not sure I’m quite ready for Borneo sized creepy crawlies especially not the world’s largest cockroaches – Thai ones are quite big enough thank you very much. I had to name the resident cockroach of our Ko Lanta bungalow bathroom, Connie as it made me freak out less every time I went in there in the dark! And then in Ko Jum, we were happily reading by headtorch (generators off at 10.30pm) when we heard odd splashing noises coming from the toilet. Which isn’t that odd really in Asia when the plumbing isn’t great (wonder when i’ll next be able to flush toilet paper hmmm), but it was odd enough for Chris to clamber out from under the mozzie net to investigate. And it turned out not to be odd plumbing, but a mouse trying to escape after somehow falling in the toilet bowl! We managed to rescue it and it went running for the gap under the front door with too much familiarity for the route for my liking... The following day, I then found a something attached to the toilet roll. Needless to say that went flying across the bathroom accompanied by a girly squeal just in case Connie had followed us from Lanta until I realised it was only a gecko... Krabi was relatively animal free, and then Connie reappeared in our bathroom in Raileh... argh. And our walls of the bamboo bungalow made a constant scratchy/nibbly noise which does not help the critter phobic sleep! But there were many unbelievably cute kittens in Raileh so i’ll forgive the one cockroach (and many mosquitoes gah). So in summary, I’m not quite ready for the even larger Borneo creatures yet!
So goodbye Thailand, Connie, spring rolls, pad thai, elephants, “lady you want tuk tuk” and banana shakes served with orchid flowers... time to learn ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ in a 5th language... Kop Chai Lai Lai Thailand... oops that was Laos-ish....!