Visas, Visit to Penang and Visitors

Oh, ok ok…. We know we have been very tardy in updating the blog, but PHEW have we been busy, and has it been great! Please jump in and share the stories…
The “trouble” with this cruising life is the frequent need to get another visa for wherever our abode is at the time. The requirement therefore is that we leave that country and re-enter it, kicking off another visa period; this has brought about many enjoyable sails down to Langkawi, Malaysia… but this time, we had no anchor (sent to Bangkok with 60m chain for re-galvanising: drat that rust!) so we were “forced” to fly to Malaysia…. and made it Penang since we love being in Georgetown and could organise a 2-month visa from there.

Love Georgetown? How can you not!? Fascinating history, interesting streets: grand Colonial buildings as a historical backdrop to Malay, Chinese, and Indian areas; it is a city of contrasts in architectural and decorative style that reflect the different cultures....

… there is no end to the variety and opportunity for astonishment… it just keeps you walking and gawking!

This time we hit the jackpot: on-going Chinese New Year festivities with Dragon dances and Lion dances (a South African take: those guys are skilled dancers and gymnasts, but those lions are awfully cutesy, fluttery-eyed and tail-wagging; makes one want to go on safari and pat a lion….!)

Then it was also the time of the Hindu Thaipusam Festival (full moon of the Tamil month of Thai: January / February). Wow! What an incredible spectacle. Early morning saw us in the midst of the throngs…

the ladies in their wonderful colourful saries and bedecked with jewels and flowers, most men were in traditional clothing while the devotees, in garments ready for the pilgrimage, carried their burdens (kavadi) whose beauty (from the peacock feathers and colourful fabrics) however, would not have detracted from their weight after two days of walking with them.

The silver chariot was pulled by bedecked bulls, platters of fruit were passed over heads for blessing and candle-lighting; piles of coconuts were smashed ceremonially and exuberantly in thanks-giving; all contributed to the melee which was joyous and abundant!

It was great to be a small part of it all, but the unfortunate timing of our flight out meant we did not see the body-piercing (mortification of the flesh) rituals at the end of the pilgrimage the following afternoon.

So it was back to the boat in Phuket, and hello to Mark and Livi for a two week stay with us. PhangNga Bay never fails to inspire with its beauty

and offers beaches, hongs, and exceptionally beautiful nights with black skies to display the stars and awesome amounts of bioluminescence in the water. We were grateful for rain:

Of course for drinking and showering (the motor of the water maker pump died) but also for its beauty... when night rain falls, every drop on the sea surface produces a diamond-sparkle from the bioluminescence. Wonderful.

The other side of the bay offers as much, but different, beauty: Krabi is a renowned climbing area and the vertical cliffs are stunning backdrops to an overnight anchorage.

Some islands are so tiny that they appear to offer little...

But they are the base for a wonderful opportunity for a snorkel and meal off the boat:

This was particularly necessary as fishing attempts from Ketoro resulted in only this...!

The time with our family passed all too quickly, as usual, and we are now about 120nm north of Phuket, near the Burmese border (topic for the next blog: that WILL be soon!) having quiet time.... and doing an enormous amount of planning and preparing for a trip to China and Laos then back to Thailand followed by the UK: all of which need visas.

Following that, we need to make some very big decisions about where to sail next (plans for ultimately getting to South America), and how... but in the last blog we stated “On reflection we wonder at our habit of making major life decisions based on little more than intuition…”, so perhaps we should go slowly on the planning!?