Smog, Scratches and Scuba Diving

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So fresh faced and naive we arrived in Singapore. You don’t appreciate just how lazy you get travelling round Oz, but it took us a while to get back into the whole backpacker thing!

After a couple of days exploring Singapore (which really was more than enough as it’s so small and way too expensive!) we got a bus into Malaysia. As soon as you went over the border you noticed a real change in the scenery...from high-rise heaven to real lush jungle! Bliss!

Smog
Unfortunately our trip in Singapore, and a lot of the west coast of Malaysia, was hampered by dense smog. This is caused by intense plantation fires in Indonesia which blew over to here! Got a bit annoying after a while as all our piccies are really grey! It’s apparently caused by the plantation owners who owe money to the government, and so burn their plantations down to avoid paying!

First stop was Malacca on the west coast which is a random place that has been controlled by the Dutch, Portuguese, British and anybody else who fancied a go! So you have a really weird assortment of architecture around the place. After a couple of days there we moved onto the East Coast.

Scuba Diving
As we were short of time we just legged it up to the islands at the north of the East Coast and stopped on Pulau Redang whilst we completed our PADI Open Water Dive Course! So we are now both official scuba divers! Check us out!

So Redang was pure luxury...a bungalow on the beach with air con, and plush restaurant with waiters that called you sir and madam! We weren't used to this service! We had 4 days there and loved every minute! So beautiful!

From Redang we again legged it over to the West Coast on the night bus (oh how I missed those from South America!). We stopped at the island of Penang, which was very nice, but unfortunately overrun with tourists as it was religious holidays at the time (Deepavali and Hari Raya)!

Scratches
We moved from there inland to the Cameron Highlands, where we had a go at some trekking - as I am sure you will not be surprised to hear it was a total disaster involving me slipping down this huge bank on my bum whilst getting scratched to bits by thorny bushes!!! Fun fun fun!! This was all because Rich took us off the path at one point, convinced he was going the right way (no comment from me there!!).
Anyway we also had a little tour of the area, including one of the tea plantations. Had lovely cream tea there! (just like home!)

From Cameron Highlands we moved to Kuala Lumpur. It really is a buzzing city. Really vibrant and a bit more atmosphere I thought than Singapore (and a hell of a lot cheaper!).

We stayed there a few days and went up the Petronas Towers, and also spent a day at the water park to escape the heat!!

Overall we both really enjoyed Malaysia, although we totally rushed it. The nice thing about Malaysia and Singapore is that is just so multi-cultural. You can walk down a road and see next door to each other a Thai Buddhist temple, a Burmese Buddhist Temple, a Mosque and a Hindu temple. Also it is such a breath of fresh air to see all these religions living alongside each other so easily. Always a lovely atmosphere.

The food in Singapore in pretty rubbish to be honest…loads of fish head curry and horrible things like that! In Malaysia it was much nicer as there was the Indian influence, the Thai influence and the Chinese influence. You could eat something different every night!

Into the land of smiles…
So we then flew to Bangkok where we spent a few days exploring the joyous Khao San Road and the Grand Palace. Was weird for me to be back in Bangkok again but also really great. You forget just how good the food is here in Thailand (Pad Thai, Green Curries etc).

We headed straight out of Bangkok and met up with our friend Tom from Liverpool in Koh Phangan, where we experience our first Full Moon Party! From there we moved to Koh Tao where we have done some more diving. Rich has now completed Advanced Open Water Diver, but I hurt my ear so no diving for me just yet!!

Anyway, photos of Thailand to come next blog.

Love to old blighty, home in under 3 months!

Rich & Zoë

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