Let me introduce myself;
My name is Lee Persson and I’m a full timer Koh Phanganer since October 10.
I’m a Swedish young woman at the age of 28.
I have been living here on and off in 2 separate times before.
First time I visited this island was during a backpacking trip I had in 2010 in South East Asia.
I started my backpacking in 2009.
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I never had the chance to update so much about my time in Malaysia.
I’m very sad to say it but I had a bad experience with Malaysia the last time I was there in 2009.
I tried to give it another shot and do my best to come in peace and be open.
Sadly, it was not the best experience for me again, even if I tried. It was much better I have to say, but some places are not just for you.
I didn’t say that I didn’t have a good time, I did.
And I’m super glad that I had the chance to visit Borneo and to see my friend Joey again and come to his wedding.
I’m super thankful for this and for letting me stay at his Aunties and Uncles house.
So, what’s my problem…? Well…. Being the only white person, the only tourist and the only one who are”visiting” was a bit hard for me.
Mostly only my own problem.
It felt a bit lonely from time to time. But I know that this is good for you too. I was the second person who was white who came to visit them. It’s just something you are not used to and it’s a culture crock for me.
And the food… Being a vegetarian in Malaysia is hard. I ate what the family ate most of the time, I could barely cook my own food and when I did, it was very simple and basic stuff.
They bought what they thought I liked more or less.
And my friend Joey who is a 5 star chef, didn’t really cook me anything either. He doesn’t cook when he is not working.
BUHU for me.
It was just to accept and eat what is served and try to blend in.
Their English is way better than the Thai’s though, so that was nice.
Like I said, I’m very pleased with the experience, but I don’t think I’ll ever do it again.
I was there because of my friend was getting married and it was my first wedding to go to, and going to a wedding couldn’t get any cooler than going for one in Malaysia.
Climbing the mountain was something I was looking forward to do.
I never did anything extreme before.
I got a good deal from Joeys cousin who is a tour guide.
We had the rain with us the whole way up on the mountain until we reached the shelter to rest and stop at during the night.
We climbed 6 km uphill, and believe me – it was worth it even if it was hell.
It was absolutely amazingly beautiful.
We arrived there at 16.00 and had lunch.
After that people just went to bed since everyone was tired and it was really cold. And by cold I mean cold like in Sweden. All your clothes were wet and there were no heaters at the shelter and no hot showers either.
You just didn’t shower until you got home. You can imagine the smell of wet clothes and being sweaty.
You got 2 big blankets during the night. I shared the room with 7 Chinese people and during the night both I and 1 couple got sick.
I don’t know if it was the altitude or if your body was not used to do anything extreme.
I started with 1 km and then my body refused to continue. I was out of breath and I started to vomit.
I decided to listen to my body and go back to the shelter again.
So, I never reached the top…But I prefer to listen to my body instead of pushing myself way too much over the limit. I was cold and couldn’t go back to sleep even with 3 blankets.
07:30 it was time for breakfast and after that you could continue and go down and go home.
The way down was easy peasy compared to going up.
Couple of days earlier we went to a hot spring and nature park in Sabah.
It was good for me to be more prepared for my hike up the mountain, some and Cecilia (Joeys wife) climbed up to a big big waterfall.
It took us 2 hours and 3 kilometres, uphill.
It was very hot that day and vety sweaty.
So, coming up to this magical thing was amazing and I couldn’t swim, but I dipped my feet and head to chill down. There was also a bat cave on the way, some smaller waterfalls and beautiful sceneries the whole way. When we came down we made some canope climbing. (Walking bridges between the trees) That was also amazing and beautiful.
Even if I love Asia, Malaysia is not my number one country to visit.
So far, Borneo has been the most beautiful place nature wise to visit.
But I like a country where I can be myself without having people staring at me like I’m an alien from out of space. That’s why I love Thailand! Here I’m not the lonely farang …. A bit more tourists!
We are all the same, no matter where you come from ♥ ♫ ♪ ✿ ♡ღ ツ
My hair colour might be different, but deep within I’m just as anyone else. Just as you are the same as everyone else. Black, white, yellow or brown, it doesn’t matter what colour your hair or skin is. We should start treating each other with the same respect.
I hope that the world start to wake up soon and realize that it doesn’t matter.
And look at a person like there is no difference.
After I finished my massage course in Chi Nei Tsang massage at Blue Garden in Chiang Mai, I just rested a lot because the massage affected me a lot and I was sick for couple of days.
I had no energy, and I couldn’t eat for couple of days.
But I knew that I was ok and this is a normal reaction from the massage and there is nothing to worry about.
I still recommend everyone to detox your organs once in a while.
It’s amazing how you feel afterwards.
As soon as I felt better I went to see one of my ex boyfriends, The Libra ♥ ♫ ♪ ✿ ♡ღ ツ
The one I briefly mentioned in chapter one. He is a good friend today and he lives in Phuket and Bangkok since 2010. He has a kid, a wife, and speaks fully Thai.
He means a lot to me, he always have and always will. But after all we have went through, he feels like a brother today. He stayed at a mutual friend of ours that we both worked for back in 2010. The rents a big resort by themselves.
Amazing place. It’s a lot of traffic in Chiang Mai, and I’m not staying at any hotel with a pool. Where I lived, it was a 3 floor apartment building. We lived on top. No pool nearby. Coming to the beautiful”Cowboy camp” as we started to call it, felt like heaven. I could relax! FINALLY! Be a girl, get a tan, swim in the pool and all that…. But only for one day. The next day was cloudy and the next day too.
At the Pirate camp every little bungalow is old school Thai, and the windows, porch etc are in old cowboy style. Really cool place.
Little hang out area, pool, little gym and 6 places (rooms) to live and a Yoga platform on the roof! Kitchen area, and a bar area.
Would be really cool to have a retreat there. Mishiko, the wife of the man we worked for is also a Yoga instructor, in Ashtanga.
Really nice and kind woman!
I didn’t do much yoga at the platform though; it was more fun to go into town with The Libra, now when I had the chance to hang out with him. Sorry Yogis, I’m not perfect I’m on it now again though, and man… my back muscles are sore ha-ha.
I like to hang out with him; he is a good friend today.
We stayed there for 3 nights.
It was a nice start after been feeling bad after the Chi Nei Tsang massage.
I could eat really good food. We could drink coffee and yeah, I think I gained weight just from the thought about all that nice food we bought at a really luxury mall outside of Chiang Mai.
Central Festival in Chiang Mai. Just opened ♥ ♫ ♪ ✿ ♡ღ ツ
I saw H&M and I wanted to go in, but that store wasn’t finished yet. Damn it!
I had some really good sushi instead. One big floor with only restaurants, and mostly were Japanese. That meant SUSHI. Good ass sushi. Real Japanese sushi! YAAAAAY!!!! ♥ ♫ ♪ ✿ ♡ღ ツ
I love cooking. And I like to be creative and experimental in the kitchen.
So, not being able to cook your own food for more than a month, having good food when you are eating out is a must. I guess I’m pretty picky with my food…
After couple of days of relaxing and resting it was time to go back to Chiang Mai city and start to pack your bags to go back to Koh Phangan... Couldn’t wait.
My last day I spent together with Carole who also was sick the same time as I was.
But she had dengue fever the poor girl.
We had Indian dinner and she helped me to do some shopping before I left.
My flight was at 23.10 at night and I was flying to Bangkok (to the small airport).
I landed at 00.30 and my flight from Bangkok to Surathani didn’t leave until 06.45.
My plan was to sleep a little bit, but I gave up after 1 hour in the cold air-condition.
I went outside to breath for a little bit and I bought a coffee. In front of me was a good looking American cowboy, that kept me up until it was time to leave. And a chocolate croissant. From the airport it was a 1 hour bus ride to Donsak Pier. Yes, many of you might already know the route.
When I arrived to Donsak Pier (where the ferry over to Koh Phangan goes), the next ferry leaves in 4 hours… seriously?
I arrived safe ♥ ♫ ♪ ✿ ♡ღ ツ at Koh Phangan with the slow big boat at 15:55.
My motor bike has been standing outside of the ferry port for over a month.
I was glad when I saw she was still standing there. She took couple of minutes to start up again, but then she worked perfectly… ♥ ♫ ♪ ✿ ♡ღ ツ
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