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Neighbours
Meeting up with Jonathan Eagle from back home was great. A good friend of our daughter, he is now working and living in Brisbane. What a difference. A seven hour flight from Brisbane, crossing the lunar landscape of the Northern Territories upto Darwin and then over tha Equator (just) and back to the Northern Hemisphere and Singapore. Our arrival downtown at 10pm coincided with rush hour. Welcome to Asia. We had just a day to explore the city, which is a fascinating mixture of new and old and a melting pot of cultures and religions. Some interesting temples, a teeming Chinatown with a terrific food hall, modern business district and, of course, Raffles Hotel. A rainstorm forced us to buy an umbrella, which so far we have done without.
It's strange how, when you plan a world trip like this, it is easy to forget a country which you must pass through. On our way to Thailand by road and rail we must cross Malaysia, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary as a nation this year. Caught a train from the wonderfully old and seemingly out of place main Tanyong Pagar railway station in Singapore for an eight hour journey to Kuala Lumpur, the capital. Stayed overnight and then caught a bus further north to the island city of Penang, where we spent a
Whitsunday Sailing
Taking ther helm under full sail. Sailed around the Whitsunday Islands off Queensland for three days. The yacht was called 'Boomerang' and won a world championship race in 1993. Amazing. few days. Almost no western faces, which is refreshing, apart from in our local Indian restaurant. I wonder why.
Malaysia is a rapidly developing country, with the usual contrasts of rich and poor. The best maintained motorway I have ever seen running through very poor village areas. Not sure the development is all good, however. For example, the huge demand for cement has led to the literal dismantling of some of the beautiful limestone mountains. Still, some of the scenery north of Kuala Lumpur is spectacular.
Our accommodation is now in en suite hotel rooms, costing about ten pounds sterling a night. We are not missing hostel dorms one bit. The weather is very hot indeed, however, and this is taking some getting used to.
The journey across the border into Thailand involved nine hours in a very cramped minivan with no air conditioning, so, by the time we reached Krabi we were 'shredded'. Still, it did only cost five pounds for about three hundred miles.
After a couple of days to rest we headed straight for the beaches, first to Ao Nang and then to the island of Koh Lanta where we are enjoying our first real stop since
Welcome to Singapore
Christine's second visit to the City, but my first. we were in Fiji over three months ago. Wonderful. It is the end of the season so our beach resort is almost deserted. We are living in a beautiful air conditioned bungalow fringed by palms and frangipan trees and right on the beach. Not much to do except swim, sunbathe and read. This is serious R and R. Thanks for all your comments and messages. Keep them coming. It makes us feel closer to home.
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Rhian
non-member comment
WOW!!!!!!!!!
The photos are amazing and you're becoming particularly adept at travel writing. Maybe you could give that a whirl as a new career given you're both unemployed! Don't forget to eat Tom Kha every day whilst you're in Thailand. It's £7.95 a bowl at Tampopo on Albert Square and not even close to being as good as the real thing!!!