Back in Malaysia

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And so to Malaysia……….!

We arrived in Malaysia on Wednesday evening and after a night sleeping over in Kuala Lumpur we took a short flight east to Kota Bharu and then a “speed” boat out to the Perinthian Islands.

Our plan was to stay 2 or 3 days and then head south to some other islands down the coast…..hmmm…..well its 8 days later and we are still here! We are staying on Small Island (Pulau Kecil) on Coral Bay in a 30 ringget (4 pound) a night beach hut. We have our own bathroom and a good fan and step off the balcony onto the white sand beach!

We have spent the last week doing nothing more energetic than snorkeling over the coral watching the fish and turtles and lying on the beach or in the hammock reading! Food here is really good and cheap, lots of BBQ’s and noodles. And…..Thank Goodness…we have found a great way of getting our caffeine fix! After being in Malaysia last year and never finding any really good coffee, it was weak and made with condensed milk so really sweet, the restaurant next door to us now does the BEST coffee milkshake, made with espresso coffee and guaranteed to put a spring in your step!!! Yea! All is right in our world!!

This place seems to be a place were lots of people come for a few days and end up staying much longer and we have met some really nice people. Milena and Fais who run the cabins, Lindsey and Nick who run this internet place and we have a room guest bunking in with us, Anna who is Australian and is traveling SE Asia on her way home.

We spent the other day on a tiny nearby island called Rawa about 20 minutes from here by boat, the island is uninhabited and really just a piece of jungle in the sea with a little beach and surrounded by lovely coral and a million little fish! We were the only people there and felt a bit Robinson Crusoe!

My birthday was on Sunday and I think this is the most idilic place I have managed to spend the day so far….(have challenged Tel to beat it next year tho!) I even had a birthday cake and lots of beer was drunk!

So we have 6 days left in Malaysia before our flight to London, we have decided to stay here for a couple more days and the two days in a little town south from here to see some water falls and where there is apparently lots of fire flies. We fly back into Kuala Lumpur in the 14th where we have booked into the Mandarin Oriental Hotel as a treat to celebrate our anniversary. Then the last night at the airport hotel to catch an early morning fight back to London. Going back to the cold is now becoming a scary prospect, not having spent a winter in the UK in 3 years. We don’t even really have any warm clothes and the prospect of having to spend money on something so depressing is not good! So a trip to Primark for some essentials is first on the list!

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