Early in the morning of June 24th I took a local bus to Bangkok southern bus-terminal. There I changed to the Kanchnaburi bound bus, a trip of only 2,5 hours. Kanchanaburi, a city with a population of 38.100 people, lies 130-km west of Bangkok. Among foreigners it is well known for the River Kwai Bridge and the 'Death Railway'. It all dates back to WWII. During this period the Japanese ruled over Thailand as well as Burma and Singapore. Thousands of POWs (prisoners of war) and civilian laborers (referred to as coolies) were forced to build a railway from Thailand to neighboring Burma. The construction started in September 1942. Japanese engineers at the time estimated that it would take five years to link the two countries. But the Japanese army forced the POWs and many coolies to complete the 415-km in 16 months. An estimated 16.000 POWs and approximately 100.000 collies died while building the 'Death Railway'. Part of the railway project was the construction of a bridge at Kanchanaburi. The first bridge over the Kwai River was completed in 1943 and was all wood. This bridge doesn't exist anymore. The second bridge was all steel and completed in the same year. This bridge was in use for 20 months before the Allied Forces bombed it in 1945. After the war it was rebuilt. During my stay in Kanchanaburi I learned that the famous movie "Bridge over the River Kwai" doesn't tell the true story about the bridge but that it was pure fiction. One afternoon I visited the bridge and expected to find a silent and rustic memorial of a horrible past. However, I was to naïve thinking that. It appeared that to be a Disney-like scene with many tourists (mostly Japanese) and the usual souvenir shops selling nothing but worthless items.

Far more interesting was the JEATH War Museum that was founded by a Thai monk. The acronym JEATH represents a meeting between Japan, England, Australia/America, Thailand and Holland at Kanchnaburi during WWII. The small museum gave a good impression about the lives of the POWs (of which many were Dutch) building the railway and the horrible circumstances they had to work and live in. By bike I also visited the Chung Kai Allied War Cemetery, on the other side of the river a few kilometers west of Kanchanaburi. The grounds of the cemetery used to be a camp and hospital for the POWs. Now it was a place where 1.740 casualties were buried. It was weird to walk along the tombstones on this beautiful and well-kept cemetery, and be confronted with a piece of Dutch history I wasn't too familiar with. A total of 313 Dutch POWs were buried here. Simple stones bared the names of those who didn't survive the casualties. I noticed that many died just before the Japanese capitulated. On my last day in Kanchanaburi I took the bus to Erawan National Park. Here I enjoyed Thailand's most famous waterfall, consisting of seven levels with many crystal clear and refreshing pools.

It was time for me to board a train again. On the 27th I took the 3rd class train to Nakhon Pathom (in Nakhon Pathom Province). The trip only took 1,5 hours and was great. During the ride I remembered the many 'rail-trips' I made in India. What a difference does the State Railway of Thailand make. Train stations were clean, organized and not overcrowded. Also the carriages were super-clean, the windows offered a great view (in stead of staring at iron bars) and could be opened which allowed me to stick my head outside for the ultimate train experience. Also, the number of vendors was limited and the train left on time. In Nakhon Pathom I boarded the night-train to Surathani, 651-km south of Bangkok. I bought a 2nd class sleeper ticket for the nine-hour journey. And again I was happily surprised; I was kindly assisted to my berth where I found a pillow and clean, fresh smelling, bed linen! There was even a curtain to provide some privacy. While listening to blues of Keb Mo on my walkman, the train cruised its was down to the south of Thailand. Early the next morning I arrived at Surat Thani. I didn't bother looking around, I immediately took a local bus to Krabi, a three hour drive to the West Coast of Thailand.

In Krabi I paid for a seat in a mini bus to Ko Lanta Yai. Because of the low season, no public boat service is available to take people to the island. The two-hour journey brought me to the village of Ban Hua Hin. Here we took a small ferry to the village of Ban Khlong Mak (on the island of Ko Lanta Noi). On the other side of this island we again boarded a small boat which took us to Ban Sala Dan on Ko Lanta Yai. Ko Lanta is part of the Krabi province, which consists of 52 islands (12 of these are inhabited). Soon I discovered that the island was deserted. I knew that it wasn't the high season but I did expect to find an empty island. However, it was the right time to get nice accommodation for a bargain price. Based on recommendations from travelers I met in Krabi I decided to stay at Lanta Villa Resort, right on the beach. But what a disappointment this place was. The accommodation was good but the people who managed it were far from being customer friendly (to say the least). I decided to stay as other accomodation was further away from the main village and transportation wasn't available. At least I had the beach for my self. During the two days I stayed on the island I counted five other foreigners. I concluded that Ko Lanta Yai isn't the island to stay. The beaches were dirty and far from what the pictures in the glossy travel magazines show - I even think there are nicer beaches in Holland - and for the active traveler there was not much to do.

On the 1st of July I left the rainy island of Ko Lanta. Fortunately I met Oliver, an English journalist/photographer (residing in Chiang Mai, Thailand), who offered me a ride to the mainland in his 30+-year old Jeep. He visited the island and other spots on the south coast of Thailand to gather information for a new guidebook that he planned to write. Before we left the island Oliver visited a few resorts and made sketches for a map of the island. We were also invited to visit a local home. It appeared that the original residents of this area were called 'sea gypsies' (Oliver preferred to call them 'sea people', as 'gypsy' sounds negative). These people left their homelands (Middle East) many centuries ago and some settled on different islands on the south coast of Thailand. They mostly are fishermen and music plays an important role in their lives. Nan, the man who invited us, kindly showed pictures of typical local festivals and dances. He also played the violin for us, which was like listening to a performance of eastern European musicians or gypsies. Because Oliver speaks and understands Thai perfectly, it was a good opportunity for both him and Nan to talk about the 'hidden' culture of the 'sea people'. On the mainland we passed by many impressive plantations which produce palm oil, rubber and coconuts; the three most important products of the economy in this region.

Oliver dropped me on the crossroad twenty minutes north of Ban Hua Hin where, within 10 minutes, I caught an air-conditioned bus to Trang (three hours). Here I took the bus to Hat Yai, which was a 2,5-hour drive. The landscape consisted mainly of palm oil and rubber plantations. Hat Yai was a busy town but had a friendly atmosphere. I took a room in the friendly and well managed Hok Chin Hotel (good room with bath and fan for 150 Baht). Here I learned about the tragic defeat of the Dutch soccer team in the match against the Italians. Every time I tell people that I am Dutch - and especially in hotels where my nationality is immediately known after registering - people start talking about Euro-2000 and seem to know more about Dutch soccer and care about the Dutch performance than I did.

That night I had a great Chinese meal and a cold beer in one of the many 'hawker stalls' (food stalls in the street which mainly cater in the evening) in the center of the city. The next day I visited the TAT-office (which is the Thai tourist office) to get some ideas about the interesting spots of Hat Yai. It appeared that I choose the wrong city. The main tourist attractions of Hat Yai were the shopping malls. Later I learned from a Chinese Malaysian that many (male) Malaysians cross the border to visit Hat Yai to, besides shopping, play golf, and get some 'attention' in the many massage parlors.

On the 3rd I left Hat Yai. A local bus brought me in less than two hours to the Thai/Malaysian border at Padang Besar. The last Thai I met before I left Thailand were two heavily armed policemen. After checking my passport (again) - and noticed that I was Dutch - one of the men mentioned, with a big smile on his face, that he was disappointed with the performance of the Dutch soccer team and that he lost money on a bet. I walked the last few hundred meters to the Malaysian border and greeted a border official. He handed me an immigration form. On the first page it welcomed me with a warning in bold and red colored letters; "Be forwarded. Death for drug traffickers under Malaysian law".

Soaked in sweat - my pack was too heavy - I arrived at the railway station. Here a friendly Malaysian railway official told me that I just missed the express train to Kuala Lumpur. I discovered that I miscalculated my trip from Hat Yai to the border because I forgot the one-hour time difference between Thailand and Malaysia. Bad luck, the next train would arrive in six hours. After six hours spending my time reading, eating (delicious fruits like Rambutan and Longan) and writing on the empty platform, the train arrived exactly on time.

I entered the nearly empty sleeper compartment and found my berth. Within minutes we left the station. Again I was comfortably lying on a clean berth and enjoyed the scenery. At three o'clock in the morning the train stopped, but nobody seem to worry about it. However, after two hours the train still stood on the same spot and hadn't moved an inch. At six o'clock we got the message. Apparently the train ran into two huge water buffalo's causing damage to the locomotive. Also, the two corpses were still under the train and people were trying to remove them with chainsaws, however, they weren't very successful. The fact that we stood in the middle of nowhere caused extra delay. A new locomotive had to come from far and railway personal with proper tools weren't close either. A Malaysian man who had the berth across the aisle told me that the last time this happened, two carriages derailed and people got injured. After a while I decided to take a walk. All the doors were open and I was able to go outside. Here I noticed that one of the buffalo's got under the carriage I slept in. After more than four hours they still hadn't removed the carcass. It was a bloody mess and different parts of the dead buffalo could be seen alongside the track. I had an interesting chat with one of the passengers, a retired teacher, about Malaysian politics, its 'guided democracy', the relatively stable economy, its colonial past and the relations Malaysia has with other Asian countries. Finally, around eleven o'clock, the train continued its journey to Kuala Lumpur. But KTM (the privatized Malaysian railway-company; Keretapi Tanah Melayu) took good care of us. At the first station they provided us with hot drinks and even offered us a warm lunch). Finally, after a delay of eight hours, I arrived at the Kuala Lumpur's well-organized historic railway station (built in 1911) around two o'clock in the afternoon. At the 'Travelers Station', a great budget place inside the station with excellent facilities and friendly Indian staff, I took a bed in the air-conditioned dorm (15 Ringgit, approx. US$4).

Kuala Lumpur (K.L.) is a modern and vibrant city where people from different ethnic cultures can be seen in its busy streets, like Malay (the original inhabitants), Indians (brought in by the British mainly to run plantations), Chinese (who were and still are in control of Malaysia's economy). Further, one can see mosques (Islam is the state religion), Hindu temples, Sikh temples, Chinese temples and in East Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah) many of the local people have converted to Christianity. I immediately noticed the difference between Thailand and Malaysia. Malaysia has a much more modern 'face', its infrastructure is good, it's less chaotic and well organized. Most people speak some English and many signs are readable. But besides all this I still was able to enjoy delicious and cheap meals in the street and take pictures of beautiful typical Asian street scenes.

I looked forward to the 6th, it was the day that I would meet my dad (Kees) at Kuala Lumpur's new international airport (KLIA). Together we would travel through Malaysia for about three weeks. The night of the 6th of July we stayed at the beautiful and comfortable Pan Pacific Hotel at KLIA. Our first destination was Kuching, the main city of Sarawak, East Malaysia. East Malaysia is part of the island of Borneo (as well as Brunei and Kalimantan - Indonesia) and consists of two provinces, Sarawak and Sabah.

On the 7th we flew with Malaysia Airlines to Kuching, a three-hour flight. We got a room in the friendly Telang Usan Hotel. The first day of our stay we explored the city and quickly concluded that is was a very modern city with many hotels. Alongside the Sungai Sarawak - the main river, which leads to the sea - was a pleasant waterfront. We visited Fort Margherita (built by Charles Brooke - the third white raja of Sarawak - in 1879) which in the old days guarded Kuching against pirates. The Sarawak museum was an interesting place with an excellent exhibition about the Sarawak's culture, people, history and wildlife.

On the 10th of July Kees and I made a pleasant day trip to Bako National Park, which is Sarawak's oldest national park and protects 2728 hectares. From Kuching we took a local bus to Kampung Bako, 45 minutes northwest. Here we chartered a small boat, which took us to the park HQ, a journey of approximately 30 minutes. The boat ride was nice. The sea was calm and we enjoyed the beautiful sandstone formations overgrown by thick jungle-like vegetation. We hiked two trails, the Jalan Lintang and the Jalan Telok Paku. On the first trail we heard, and saw the Proboscis monkeys. Most of the trails lead through thick rainforest where we encountered many different and huge trees (with long and beautiful lianas) and beautiful plants. Sometimes we crossed dry and hot desert-like areas. Unfortunately we hardly saw and heard any wildlife, except for the monkeys. At the end of the Telok Paku trail was a secluded beach where I had a nice swim and was able to cool down from the humid and hot hike. Around 19:00 hours we were back in Kuching. That night we had an excellent meal at the See (as opposed to Sea) Good Food Center, where they served delicious and fresh seafood. We ate here on three occasions and enjoyed - relatively cheap - Angelfish, Snapper, sweet and sour prawns, shrimp baked with garlic, lobster baked in butter and steamed ambol, which are finger clams (served with ginger and lemongrass).

On the 11th of July we decided to make a day trip to Gunung Gading National Park. The main attraction of this park is the Rafflesia, the world's largest flower, and this is one of the best places in Borneo to see this rarity. The Rafflesia - named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, a British lieutenant - lives most of its life as an underground parasite. One can only locate the flower until it flowers. Once the flower is fully opened, which can be one meter in diameter, it only stays up for two days. Unfortunately we didn't see one. But we made a nice hike up the hill of the Gunung Gading Mountain and had a nice rest and swim at one of the waterfalls.

On the 13th we flew back to K.L. and took a room in the Swiss Inn, a hotel in the heart of Chinatown. The next day we used to explore the city. We visited the world's tallest building (2000) the twin skyscrapers named the Petronas Towers. This beautiful construction is 452 meters high (1.483 feet) and counts 88 stories (this tall building can be seen in the movie 'Entrapment'). We also went to the Lake Gardens, an enormous park with many attractions, like the Birdpark. Most zoos in Asia I dislike, mainly because of the cruel situation in which animals are kept. But this one was different. It was a huge walk-in aviary with 160 species of birds. It was clean and the animals appeared to be healthy and well fed. Birds we enjoyed the most were the Rhino Hornbill, Wreated Hornbill and the Great Hornbill, which bill is beautifully colored with yellow and red stripes. Also part of the Lake Gardens is the Butterfly Park. This park, which claims to be the largest in Southeast Asia, has many beautiful butterflies in a landscaped enclosure. According to me, the most impressive butterfly was the Nymphs, a small creature with red, orange and blue colored spots. It was also in this park that I saw a beautiful yellow/red flower called Heleconia (or False Banana).

We left K.L. again on the 16th, and took a bus to Kuala Tembeling, a four-hour journey. From Kuala Tembeling we had to take a small boat, which took six other tourists and us to the headquarters of the Taman Negara National Park. It was a beautiful, 2.5-hour boat ride along the Sungai Keniam, which crosses through thick jungle. This park is the most famous of Malaysia and attracts many people, both Malaysians and tourists. We stayed at the Taman Negara Resort, a place with chalet type accommodation. However, the facilities and the luxury in the park amazed Kees and me. Unfortunately there were too many visitors which meant that we didn't see any wildlife. But, we made a few nice hikes and had a lot a fun with each other. We both enjoyed the impressive and giant trees like the Bayur (Pterospermum Subpeltatum in Latin). The many lianas hanging from the trees make the setting even more spectacular. One of the main attractions in the park was the Canopy Walkway, suspended 25 meters above the ground between massive trees.

On the 18th we left Taman Negara and drove back to K.L. by bus. We rented a car and drove along the West Coast to Melaka, approximately 135-km south of K.L. Melaka is an interesting city mainly because of its history. The Portuguese, Dutch and British ruled over this city, as it was an important trading post. Kees and I took a basic room at the Heeren House, a guesthouse in the center of town which owners were very weird. We visited many interesting historical sites like the Stadthuys (Dutch for town hall) which was built between 1641 and 1660. Part of the Stadthuys is the History Museum that housed a superb exhibition about the history of Melaka; from the day the Chinese arrived (in year 1405), the Portuguese first showed interest in the spice and china trades (in the year1509), the Dutch won a battle of eight months with the Portuguese (in the year 1641), the British 'kindly' asked the Dutch to leave the city (in the year 1824) and finally Malaysia's independence.

Today we drove to Mersing, a city on the East Coast of Malaysia, about 250-km from Melaka. While crossing the Malaysian Peninsular from west to east, we drove through rain forest and also passed many rubber and palm oil plantations. Around 16:00 hours we arrived in Mersing, which is relatively small town. At one of the local market stalls we bought a small Durian. A spiky fruit which, on average, has the size and shape of a rugby ball. People in Southeast Asia adore this fruit. Its name means: "The king of fruits". However, not many westerns share the love most Asians have for this fruit. It starts with the smell that immediately makes most westerners sick once the skin is removed (which isn't an easy task because of the spikes). Once I noticed a warning posted in a hotel, which forbid guests to eat Durian. The taste of the fruit is weird and not comparable to any fruit I know. The flesh is slimy and has to be sucked from a huge pit. And then there is the after-eating-effect, which makes you feel warm inside, especially when you eat a lot of this peculiar fruit.

That night we again enjoyed fresh seafood; prawns and squid with a big bottle of Tiger beer. From one of the beaches we could already see the beautiful blue/green colored sea. We decided to leave the next day and spend a few days on one of the little islands off the coast, Pulau Tinggi.

From Mersing we drove to a small place called Tanjung Leman. From here a boat would bring us to Pulau Tinggi. It was a fast one-hour journey. Tinggi is a small island and actually an extinct volcano. It only takes one hour to circle the island by boat. The island had one resort, Nadias Inn. It was a nice place but poorly managed. Kees and I swam, talked and read on our little patio, which overlooked the blue/green colored sea. One day we met two Malaysian's, Ben and Philip, who owned a few cabins of another 'resort' on the island. With them and a man from Singapore we went sea fishing for one day, which turned out to be disappointing because we hardly caught a fish. But we enjoyed being out on the sea. The next day, just before the weather turned bad, I had the chance to go diving with Philip. I enjoyed the dive but I was shocked to see that the coral reef we dove at was, for the most part, dead. Fishing nets, anchors and fishing with dynamite (which of course is prohibited) probably destroyed it.

After three days we left the island again. That day we drove for eight hours, all the way up north to the city of Kuantan and from here we drove westwards in the direction of K.L. to the hill station named Fraser's Hill (which was developed in the year 1910). It was a long but nice drive, especially the last part. The last stretch went over a narrow road with many curves. The station is built at a cool 1524-meters altitude and is relatively undeveloped. During the day traffic is controlled by timeslots of one hour in which cars can only go down or up, this to avoid collisions. Immediately after we arrived we noticed the change in temperature. Here we actually wore a jacket at night. We stayed at the Quest Resort, a hotel that probably had known better times. But it was affordable and well positioned. The first night we ate a typical European dinner in the English style Smokehouse Hotel. The next morning Kees played a good game of golf at the Fraser's Hill nine-hole course. A mediocre course in the center of Fraser's Hill.

Today we had to return to K.L. Unfortunately, late this night Kees had to catch a flight back to Amsterdam. The time we spent together passed quickly. However, before we left Fraser's Hill we visited another golf course. This time an 18 holes which was just opened. It was an excellent course and, according to Kees, not easy to play (he lost a total of six balls). The biggest challenges were the many elevated parts in the course. After we completed the course in four hours we left for Kuala Lumpur's airport. Late in the afternoon we said goodbye to each other. It was a great trip and I treasure the time I was able to spend with my father.

Day 300 of my trip! On the 28th I took the 7:30 AM express train from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. There I would visit my good Dutch friends Charlotte, Gilbert and their two-year-old son Casper who are living in Singapore for more than a year.