Malaysia

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Helloooo,

Aren't you lucky that where I am staying in Phuket is rubbish and I am happy to spend hours at a time in internet cafes. Honestly its not the Thailand I got to know and love on my trip so far... anyway... back to Malaysia.

The bus journey from Singapore to Melaka, our first stop is long - 6 hours. It was broken up by the immigration necessities getting on and off buses and toilet stops and the bus is comfortable - a bit like National Express without the in-seat service!

Our arrival in Melaka conincides with the clouds getting heavy and just as soon as we are checked in and are settled having some lunch in a local restaurant the heavens open and stay that way for the rest of the day. lunch was good - I had mango Chicken. As it is raining I visit the museum which details the long and interesting history of this little town. It's location was seen to be a gateway to the east and everyone wanted (and took) a piece of it throughout the ages. After the museum I have a little wander to the shops but I get cold in the rain and head back to the hotel for a nice cup of tea.

We meet for dinner - with the original plan of a trishaw ride to the restaurant, but we decide to postpone this until tomorrow when (hopefully) its not raining. As an alternative and not to miss a photo op - we all sit in the trishaws and pose for group photos. The trishaws are 3 wheeled carriages pulled along by a bicycle - these are popular across Asia, but these are adorned with lights, flowers and are quite beautiful.

On the way to dinner we spot a guy with 3 pythons selling photo ops with the 7 foot beasts draped around your neck. No-one in the group decided to part with their ringits and we walked on. The restaurant was nice - we had a big long table and I ordered satay chicken and seafood noodle soup. It came in a bucket (well, a very big bowl!) - yummy but far too much for me. After dinner, we went to a bar and had a few drinks. The rain eased off and Wasa went off to see if she could get us some trishaws. Just as we were beginning to give up and talked of leaving the bar - along she came with 4 trishaws in tow. So we left the bar in a show of lights and music - oh yes... we had hard core dance music blaring from speakers under the seats as we paraded through the streets back to the hotel.

We left at 8am and got a bus to Kuala Lumpur. Its a huge city and out hotel is in the centre of chinatown. The bus journey was abouit 3 hours - again on the local bus and was fairly painless. When we arrived at the bus stop we all had to trek through the markets with all our bags - not pleasant. It was so hot - about 34c and really humid. Thankfully the 15mins walk was indeed 15 mins and soon we were in the air conditioned lobby getting our breathe back.

We didn't have long to cool down as it was lunchtimne and Wasa was keen to take us to a local Indian restaurant. So we trudged back along the street of chinatown and past the bus stop we'd just arrived at and up a little hill to a very busy place. It was a buffet and it all looked very spicey. Some of the group went for the spiciest things they had - I on the other hand was looking for something at the other end of the spectrum. I ended up with some daal, rice, honey chicken and fried chicken. The daal was good... the rice awas godd... the fried chicken was fine but the honey chicken... wow... it had a certain kick to it - like a Thai Boxing mule! I ate as much as I could (I was hungry) and hoped that my tummy wouldn't complain too loudly!

After lunch we headed back to the hotel and we went on a tour of the city. We saw a lovely Taoist Temple, Petronas Twin Towers, KL Tower, War Memorial and visited a batique factory and then a leather shop. It was fine, but I was really tired and it was so hot!

Afterwards I had a little rest and watched some TV (Star Movies - the film channel that keeps on giving!!!) and got ready for dinner. Wasa took us to a really nice restaurant in Chinatown and the chicken with cashew nuts and pineapple was amazing... and not only because it was served in a half-pineapple. Post dinner drinkies was at the Raggae Bar - a real find (thanks Wasa!). As I hadn't really let my hair down for a while I decided to go for it and was enjoying very cheap vodka redbull for a good few hours. By 1am I was getting tired so I headed back to the hotel.

The nightmarket had finished and the last of the stalls were packing up. It was quite a sight... the streets were littered with, well, litter and the smell of drains was overpowering. Its an aroma that has been a part of my adventure since leaving Australia - it usually comes at you in waves as you are walking down the street, but this, well I was literally walking through the drain. Not pleasant.

Anyway, I made it back to the hotel and although my ears were still ringing Bob Marley tunes I was feeling fine. Sadly at 2.30 I was very awake and projectile vomitting. I spent the remainder of the night in the bathroom and by the morning felt as if I'd been punched repeatedly in the stomach - everything hurt. I drank a load of water and took some painkillers and rehydration sachets.

We had a free day today and my plan had been to join Carolyn, Philip and Dominique and visit Batu Caves - sadly I was feeling too rough. It was definitely something I ate rather than the drinks - Tom, who'd also had the same for lunch as me was sick too! In fact, he'd left before we went to the Reggae bar - he thought it was jetlag... wrong. I read all day and when they all met for dinner I stayed in - I was still feeling rubbish so I had an early night.

It was just what I needed and by the morning I was as right as rain which was good because today is a travelling day. We left the hotel and trudged back to bus stop again. We were down on the platform all standing around waiting to get on the bus when Carolyn realised that her day-pack was missing. Someone has literally walked right by us and swapped their empty bag for hers. Not surprisingly, she was really upset - she had all her travel documents, money, credit cards and her camera in that bag. Her passport was safe in another bag - which was a relief, but she spent the next 4 hours on the bus trying to get through to her credit card compay to cancel the cards and trying to come to terms with the loss. We all felt for her but were helpless to do anything for her - it was horrible.

The journey up to the Cameron Highlands itself was spectacular. Good job I was dosed up on travel sickness pills though! It was a steep and winding road but absolutely beautiful. We passed tiny villages and roadside fruit sellers - its amazing to see how basically people live in these hills away from the crazy city life of KL. Worlds apart yet just hours away.

We saw the lush green of the tea plantations - (which Dominique insisted on saying looked like her mum's carpet) and the hillside villages perched on steep valleysides. We are staying in a small town where there is just a main street with shops, bars and restaurants. Perfect! Our hotel is family run and is very well kept. My room is huge and has a verandah overlooking the very nicely landscaped garden.

We head straight out for some lunch after the long journey and afterwards we have a wander along the main street. This is where we find some giant vegetables.. I kid you not! I have a photo of me riding a giant sweetcorn to prove it. (see facebook!) Then, yet another surprise... a very swish Starbucks in this tiny village. A mocha frapuccino was consumed and all was right with the world.

Before we headed out for dinner I had a cup of tea with Duncan - who has joined our group for the day after leaving his friend in Singapore. We headed out to a local restaurant that specialises in 'steamboat' - a big bowl of soup on heat and plates of meat, fish and vegetables that you cook in the soup. It looks good but there are concerns from the others that it might not be safe to eat- raw and cooked meat contamination etc. Philip, Duncan and Wasa survived the dish - the rest of us have opted for the more European selections from the menu - Lamb chop and chips for me. Sometimes you just have to go with what you fancy!

The next day was free and there were a few things we could have chosen to do - No1. a 6 hour hike to see a waterfall and the biggest flower in the world (which is actually a mushroom) or No2. A visit to a tea plantation, some farms and a rose garden. I ticked box No. 2.

It was a tame day, but loads of fun. We spent the day taking silly photos... drinking tea at the tea plantation; plucking (that's what they call it here) strawberries; and the rose garden was jam packed full of opportunities to pose... we could easily have spent the whole morning there! It was really lovely. The last stop was at a butterfly farm and as you may or may not know, I am scared of butterflies (I know, I know) so I stayed outside and instead met a triple-horned rhino beetle (biggest beetle in the world) - marvelous! I wasn't brave enough to touch him, but I did hold onto the stick that he was crawling along... and that was as close as I was gonna get. Imagine doing that over a walk through some flying butterflies... its a worry.

We got back to the hotel around lunchtime and I mooched about until it was time for dinner. Tonight I am going to 'steamboat'! I share one with Carolyn and am very careful, I cook everything well and both of us survive without contracting food poisoning. It was really nice - I even enjoyed the 'oh so spicey' tom yam soup! We all had an early night to preapre for the 6.30 start in the morning.

I didn't get any sleep thanks to my neighbours in the adjoining room who after returning at 2.00 had a party. There's little worse than being kept awake by people talking and laughing in a foreign language... you can't even enjoy the jokes! Anyway - by the time I was getting up at 6am they had finally shut up and one of them was snoring. I tried to make as much noise as possible when I left but I doubt he even noticed. Grrrrrrrr.

The long drive back down the hills was indeed long and by the time we arrived in Penang I went straight to sleep in my big bed and had last night's snooze. Dinner this evening was in a local food court - stalls selling a selection of Thai, Indian, Malay and Japanese dishes. I didn't have much of an appetite - but opted for Japanese. It was ok but I have been spoiled by the amazing sushi restaurants in London so didn't eat much.

Carolyn was keen to find a replacement for her lost camera so a few of us headed to the shopping plaza after dinner. Unfortunately I'd lost them within 5 mins of walking through the door, so I wandered around for a couple of hours and then got a cab back to the hotel. I was greeted by the hotel concierge who led me to the others who were sitting around a tall circular table in a red painted room. It was hotel's own karaoke bar - they looked bored rigid. The bar served Tiger Beer exclusively and Catherine, who doesn't like beer was forced to sit there and drink tea! Personally I could easily have been persuaded to sing a little song - even if it was in another language (undetermined Asian) - sadly the others had had enough and we all left just 1 beer later.

Our final day in Malysia was spent seeing the sights of Penange - we saw a Snake Temple, where there are live venomous snakes protecting the buddha, a hindu temple where I was blessed with white chalk (which apparently means I'm a married woman - not sure how Mr Monk came to that conclusion... right or wrong just by looking at me but hey!). We went to the botanical gardens where we saw monkeys and Wasa showed me the species of tree that is special to Thai Buddhism. Buddha's mother was on her way home to give birth to him but he started to arrive early. She stopped and used the branches of this tree to support her as she delivered him. You heard it here first.

Our final stop was a vialle where the sea gypsies lived. These are basic wooden homes builkt on stilts at the water's edge. Their main income is fishing and the boatd and nets line the rickety wooden walkway through the village. It didn't look very safe to walk on and there was much evidence of recent repairwork which did nothing to reassure. Women and children peered out at us from the darkness of their rooms as we walked by. I am sure they are well used to tour groups strolling by, but it felt like an invasion of their privacy all the same and I felt quite uncomfortable. Again, its the smell I remeber most from that place - a combination of fish and sewerage. Their toilets - literally holes in the floor with the sea below... not sure there is rule that you can only go when the tide is high!

After a long shower and a snooze, tonight for dinner we headed to the promenade where we'd passed some nice looking bars. We stumbled upon a seafood restaurant - floor to ceiling in tanks full of fish and seafood where you can 'pick your own dinner'! Everyone was impressed with their meal and those that didn't opt for seafood of some form or another selected from one of the more unusual alternatives... ostrich. The meal was a bit hit and we were there for a good few hours.

We left early the next day for the journey to Thailand. We were all looking forward to it - not only were we going to a new country, but in 2 days we'd be on the beach!!!!

Leaving Malaysia was straight forward - a stamp and a smile and we were on our way. Not so easy entering Thailand...

M x

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