Day 24 Today we headed off to Batu Caves to view the cavern and Hindu Temple inside. We got away a bit late and in the end we did not see the main temple cave. It is important to get to the caves early enough as the temple cave is closed from 1pm to 4.30pm. As it happened, I checked the bus routes last and we should have got the monorail to Titiwangsa as we had to change buses there anyway. While waiting for the bus we were told to catch, we could have caught several others which would have taken us to the same destination anyway. We also learnt today that buying a RM2 ticket on then KL Rapid bus gives you unlimited travel all day on the system with one exception. You need a ... read more

Day 22 Today dawned muggy and polluted as usual in KL. With it’s usual hze the city looks slightly surreal. Anita, our maid, turned up at about 8am with our breakfast and we had eggs and roti and coffee for our first breakfast in KL. As we had dental appointments, Peter, Gina, David and Mary headed off on the monorail to KL Sentral, the main railway station. Once there we transferred to the light rail system and heade to a place Taman Bahagia where the dentist is located. Peeter has been here before and he acquainted David with Dr Sara and we had our treatments finished by about 11.30am. We then caught another train to the Kuala Lumpur City Centre rail station, which is where the twin towers are located. We had arranged to meet Abby ... read more

Day 20 Today is our last full day on Langkawi and tomorrow we are off to Kuala Lumpur for our last week of this great experience. We’ve learnt a bit more about each other on this trip and it’s all been so very worthwhile. Today we did what is called here Island Hopping. We rented a boat for half a day for the princely sum of RM240 (about $90) and headed off in the boat on the open sea. We were picked up from our hotel and transported to the beach for a wonderful half day of sun and fun. Our first stop was Pulau Dayang Bunting which is home to the lake of the same name. It means the Lake of the Pregnant Maiden and legend has it that childless couple tried for 19 years ... read more

Day 18 Today, once again everybody made there own way around the island at their leisure. David and Mary headed off on the bike at about 8am and went to the Oriental Village and went on the cable car. This rises to a height of about 800m above sea level and gives a spectacular view of the west coast of Langkawi. After this they went a short way up the road to the Seven Wells waterfall. It wad a grueling walk up the hill which turned in to a mountain to reach the top. Mary said the expression on other tourists faces said what the climb was like. They went for a swim and then hopped back on the bike and headed back to the hotel just after lunch time, where they extended the bike hire ... read more

Day 16 Today proved to be extremely hot and humid and very uncomfortable for all of us. After breakfast and a swim in the pool, we headed off to the Oriental Village which is the base station for the Langkawi cable car. On the way we called in at the Batik Shop where we were once again given a demonstration of batik making. The sad thing about this place is that they only have one artist left, and as in the west the traditional arts and crafts are dying out. Even the manufacture of the dies for block printing is in danger as only the older artisans make them these days. We were shown a block and the work involved in creating the intricate design is just amazing. We then went to the Oriental Village but ... read more