5 months in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines: part one

It was a fine journey through 3 countries of different religion: Buddhist Thailand, about 50 days; Muslim Malaysia, about 45 days; Catholic Philippines, about 45 days. I arrived in BANGKOK on 12.11.11 and since the city was flooded I immediately took a flight to PHUKET, where I stayed a week. I spent a lot of time at the seaside at Patong beach, where I met quite a few people; I hired a scooter and went around with another Italian, risking my life because a car nearly ran me over. Then I set off for PHI PHI ISLAND by speedboat and stayed another week on that beautiful island, which I had already visited. I did the classic excursion, met a group of young Brazilians and had a lot of fun at the beach bars of the main beach with the fire shows and the music.

After a week I set off again by boat for KO LANTA, a fine long island with a whole series of beaches on the east side and an interior that reminded me of the island of Cuba. I stayed on the very long first beach and then went exploring the others by scooter in the company of a young Austrian guy, Robert, whom I had met on Phi Phi. The week was pleasant even though I led a quiet life and went out little in the evening, also because there wasn't much besides a few beach bars with the usual fire shows, which were starting to bore me. Then I reached, again by speedboat, KO LIPE, which was the most interesting island: tiny but with a wonderful sea and 4 beaches, each more beautiful than the last. You walk barefoot or in flip-flops and within a few minutes you reach all the most beautiful spots, such as Sunrise beach, which has water among the clearest and most transparent I have ever seen.

I met various people, tourists like me just passing through, but here too I led a rather quiet life. Then I left Thailand and reached by speedboat the island of LANGKAWI in Malaysia, where I stayed a week. Not as beautiful, especially as far as the sea is concerned, as the previous islands, and moreover the Muslim religion doesn't help you have a good time, since beer costs more than in Europe and the women all go around veiled. I consoled myself by driving around the island in a small hired car for only 11 euros a day. I went up the cable car that leads to the top of the island's highest mountain, from which you enjoy a spectacular view. I visited the capital Kuah, where I thought I'd buy photographic gear, since it's a duty-free zone, but in the end you only saved 5-10%, so I gave up on it.

I then crossed to the mainland, reaching CAMERON HIGHLAND by ferry and then by coach, a fine mountain resort that the English frequented during colonial times to escape the heat of the coast. I did an interesting excursion that included a visit to a tea factory and its plantation, the strawberry greenhouses, other gardens with flowers, cacti and butterflies, and a short trek in the forest after admiring the view from a tower. I took nice walks on the spot, admiring the green, hilly landscape, the colonial villas, the luxury hotels with golf courses, and then I reached the capital KUALA LUMPUR. I stopped only one day in Chinatown, Petaling street, and visited various places, going up the Menara tower, a full 450 metres high, from which I could see the hundreds of skyscrapers scattered over a green and pleasant area, with majestic, very tall trees.

I visited the famous Petronas, the twin towers, and a park that includes various gardens, greenhouses, the national mosque and the museum of Islamic art. The colonial part of the city is lovely, with the large Merdeka square all laid to lawn and surrounded by very beautiful white buildings. I then reached the fine colonial city of MALACCA, which really delighted me. Very interesting because there are churches and buildings from the colonial era, above all Portuguese and Dutch as well as the last English one. There's the river that crosses the historic centre with its low houses, many of them painted with very colourful murals, which you can admire also by taking part in a boat excursion, especially at night, because it's more atmospheric with the lights illuminating the banks.

There's a beautiful colonial house that the last descendant of the family, a very likeable old man, shows to visitors, illustrating everything. But the most beautiful thing about Malacca is Chinatown, absolutely the most beautiful I have ever seen. There are many Chinese temples, but also a mosque and old houses of wealthy Chinese turned into museums or luxury restaurants-hotels. There's a very interesting night market and plenty of life in the bars and restaurants, where people even dance rock and roll, mainly thanks to the Chinese, because the Muslim Malays are very reserved. In short, a beautiful city that I thoroughly enjoyed and that I recommend to everyone, including going up the revolving tower to admire the city view and the swimming pool below, a real tonic on the very hot days.

I then left Malaysia too, which I would revisit two months later on the way back from the Philippines. I arrived by plane in MANILA, the big capital, where I stayed only one day, reserving the rest for the end. I stayed in Makati, in the city, the richest part with the skyscrapers, the parks, the big shopping centres, and I saw all the Christmas lights of the next Christmas. By plane I reached the wild, long island of PALAWAN, where I stayed for about 3 weeks, first in the capital PUERTO PRINCESA, where I stayed a couple of days, dazed by the thousands of motorcycle taxis, before reaching SABANG BEACH by coach, very beautiful but with rough and dangerous waters. I lodged in a simple bungalow on the beach, where I spent the night of the hurricane that caused 2,000 deaths and as many missing on the southern island of Mindanao, fortunately far away.

I was very frightened all the same, because the wind was very strong and the water had come in through the roof, soaking everything. Luckily in the morning everything was fine; it was enough to repair the roofs and dry the wet things. I did a nice boat excursion to the famous UNDERGROUND RIVER, that is, a river a full 8 km long entirely inside a cave, which you visit for a couple of km in the dark, with lamps on your head. I took nice walks around the beach, even risking an encounter with a big crocodile that had been sighted in a river I was crossing on foot, since in one stretch it wasn't deep. Fortunately someone stopped me, and then I used a raft to get to the other side.

After Sabang I took another coach and reached EL NIDO, in the north of the island of Palawan, a fine seaside resort where I stayed 5 days, doing two excursions to very beautiful places, stunning bays, coral islands, doing lots of snorkelling and meeting loads of people. Then I made up my mind to reach the island of BUSHUANGA with a terrible 9-hour trip in a banka, that is, the wooden boat with outriggers, with very high and dangerous waves which about 10 years ago had sunk a banka with a group of Italians who lost their lives. CORON is the capital of the island, where I stayed another 4 days in a family hotel, very welcoming, which invited me to lunch and dinner on Christmas Day and to the boat trip the following day with the younger members.

In Coron I did two other beautiful excursions, one to the island opposite, which has a very beautiful inland lake where you snorkel to admire the fish and then go diving into the caves. Another nice trip was to the faraway beach of MALCAPUYA, a deserted island with only the restaurant where we had lunch