Another planned trip took us to Gua Telinga the Cave Exploration deep in the heart of the rainforest. The group and I were totally unprepared for what we were about to discover. The rain had made the area very slippery and dangerous so guide provided gloves (as if they were gonna help!), via ropes we desended into the dark depths of the caves through water we walked upto our a knees at points. Then the guide would stop and show us something, a cave centapeid, nasty looking thing about 5inches long and poisonous so I hear. Then spiders as big as your hand, not dangerous but they leap at incredable distances, in our case right over us scaring a couple of dutch girls half to death. Under tight crawl spaces and through more water we wade ... read more

I wake to the worst hangover I've had in years and to think I have the next 9ish hours on a bus. Struggling to pack and get to the reception I fall asleep to be woken up by a German girl asking if i'm alright, I look in the mirror to my horror I see blazing red eyes and a pale complextion. The bus finally arrives and its off to Gua Musang the first drop off point where I was transfering to my next bus to complete the journey. A quick lunch with the Britta (the same German girl) before moving over our stuff and off to the next stop in Jerantut where we aquire our park and camera permits. Also book our accomadation somewhere with airconditioning, that proveed later to be useless. Finally around 8 ... read more

The resident guide Bob had us up around 6ish to do the early morning hike. On came the boots, the long carggys, the big old socks all which have been collecting dust in the bottom of me bag and off into the hills. From the word go I could tell this was gonna be fun, as the mist was still hanging around the hills and due was coating the bushes and trees. Bob being a local nature guide indulged us all in the flora native and unique to this region of the highlands, with comedy and gesture. The first climb was to a sumit of around 1650m by which time the mist had cleared and you could see for miles around the towns scattered about and the mountains covered with thick vegetation. A quick break preceded ... read more

So it begins in for my Malaysia trip, in Penang an island first operated by the British East India company back in the sixteenth centuary. My first thing was to find a suitable place for breakfast this came in the form of Jim's cafe top bloke with excessive amounts of local information. My afternoon began at the Cornwallis Fort where the British were based and used for trading in the Indian ocean area. A great little spot to see how the British empire spread in this era of history. A mission followed to find the bus station as the lonely planet guide lies big time!!! Eventually found one to take me to Kek Lok Si Temple- set at the foot of Penang hill. Towering above lots of temples is the Ban Po Pagoda an enigmatic sight ... read more

What a day to look forward to- a 10 hour bus ride to Bangkok passing Thai immergration en route. We were pre warned of the Cambodia road- picture it 154km to the border took just over five hours never before have I been on such a bumpy road. As you can immigine no sleep for stavy.... After passing through the boarder we had another 300km to cover but on a much smoother road and more comfortable minibus. The excitment never stops as one of the minibuses drove into the back of a car- what can I say women drivers no indication and no control of the brakes. So only an hour from bangkok we had to wait for the insurance company to arrive which took forever.Finally back in Bangkok we had a freshen up before the ... read more