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Petronas Towers, KL
It's really difficult to get a decent photo because they're so tall.Hello everyone,
how are you all? Hope you've been enjoying the bank holiday weekend! It's been a while since we've done an up to date blog so this one covers quite a lot of areas throughout Malaysia. However, I've got a treat in store for you this time as this is Stu's debut blog. Enjoy.......!
We arrived in Kuala Lumpur on the 12th May after taking a pleasant coach from Penang. We found the bus surprisingly cool with good air conditioning and it was a nice change not to leave the bus feeling like you had just gone for a swim at the baths. Actually we nearly didn't make the bus to KL as Michelle had a last minute craving for "something chicken". This was inspired by our first sighting of an Asian McDonalds. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed, I think only Gareth with his matching passion for McDonalds can relate to the devastated face of Michelle! Determined not to concede defeat, Michelle wandered off to search for lunch at the market stalls. No sooner had she gone, the coach arrived and speedily stowed away the luggage. Luckily Michelle made it back just in time as I had visions
Petronas Towers, KL
The walkway bridge 41 floors up of having to perform a sit down protest in front of the bus to stop it leaving without her. Whilst waiting for the bus, I got talking to an elderly Malaysian guy called Gunnar. As is the case when a local finds out you're from England, the topic of conversation very quickly turned to football. He had been extremely happy that his team Man Utd had secured the title the day before and assumed that I was also a Man Utd fan. Needless to say he was corrected immediately! After a long discussion during which he tried to point out the advantages of supporting Man Utd instead of West Ham - mainly they win every game - I decided against going into the factors of loyalty and glory support. Congratulations to all the Bolton fans on staying up and well done West Ham fans on a good seasons - why did I just envisage silence and tumble weed rolling by for that last comment!
On arriving in Kuala Lumpur we settled for a budget guesthouse. Unfortunately we found the expensive prices of the city didn't really match the budget room in terms of quality. At least the air conditioning
Petronas Towers, KL
Michelle standing on the walkway bridge worked well, too well at times as I woke up countless times very cold, mourning the loss of my sleeping bag which we assume took a plunge into the sea on an earlier ferry ride! Rest in peace with the fishes my little bag!
The main attraction we wanted to see in KL was the stunning Petronas Towers. As you can see from some of out pictures it truly is an amazing landmark that dominates the Kuala Lumpur skyline. For the Formula One fans amongst you, it is the base for the Petroleum company "Petronas" who have strong links to Sauber. The 88 floor structure consists of two gigantic towers made of stainless steel, both connected by a long bridge walkway at the 41st floor. It has replaced the World Trade Centre in New York as the worlds tallest twin towers after 9/11. The beauty of this tourist attraction is that the tickets are entirely free each day. The only problem is due to the high demand to view and as there are only limited tickets available on a first come first serve basis. We decided to be cautious and to make sure we would be amongst the first
Petronas Towers, KL
The views from the bridge in Petronas Towers people in the queue we arrived at the building at 8am to find to our shock a long line of hundreds of tourists who had come even earlier than us (it doesn't even open until 9am). As it turned out, there were plenty of tickets available and the poor people at the front of the queue, who had actually been there since 5.30am, had received no advantage in doing so. Ascent to the bridge is via a high speed lift that leaves your ears feeling like you have just been on a flight at 30,000ft. The bridge offers superb views over the entire city, including some very picturesque gardens which breaks up the concrete city feel. The bridge appears to be supported by very little as we were wary when the guide informed us that the bridge had actually moved 5 inches as a result of the 2004 tsunami.
We also visited Hard Rock Cafe in KL, where Michelle was able to add another Hard Rock Cafe shot glass to her growing collection. WE also had the opportunity to visit numerous malls and plazas, which offered something to Michelle that Thailand and Laos couldn't - retail therapy in a
Kecil Island
The views from our room overlooking to beach smart air-con mall. Although I have to admit she was on her best behaviour and didn't blow out remaining budget.
We left Kuala Lumpur on 15th May to depart towards the Perhentian islands on the East coast of Malaysia. We embarked on a flight with Air Asia to a place called Kota Bahru. The flight put a lot of British airlines to shame, although being a budget flight, we were able to appreciate comfortable seats that offered leg room. Yes First Choice and Jet 2, as well as plonking your bum in the seat there also needs to be consideration for the two limbs attached from it! The flight was very enjoyable and the plane was only half full of passengers. What should have been a 55 minute flight only took 40 minutes and needless to say we were extremely impressed.
We staying overnight on 15th May at the port of Kuala Besut which was really quiet as it was just a fishing town used as a stop over. On the morning of the 16th May, we boarded a speedboat to the island of Kecil. Bouncing off the waves sure tends to eradicate that sleepy morning feeling! We
Kecil Island
Stu relaxing on the beach found accommodation in a nice looking bungalow overlooking the beach front. Little did we know that the accommodation would be shared! With rats! On the evening of our first night, Michelle shrieked as she saw a couple of rats squeeze under the bottom of our door. After failing to fin them, we reported the rats to our very eccentric guesthouse owner. At the same time he was trying to con a couple of backpackers into taking a more expensive chalet by claiming this was the only room he had left. On their refusal of the room, he miraculously remembered that "an Australian couple" had reserved a cheaper bungalow but failed to turn up so they could have that room. The owner then came to our room where we showed him the signs of the rats and a lot of litter behind furniture which hadn't been cleaned. The owner thought about it for a split second before declaring that the litter was the work of "the Australian couple"! Obviously what with all the littering and failure to keep their reservation, Australian couple were hardly sounds like Kylie and Jason, or was our crazy little owner telling a few porkies - I
Kecil Island
Michelle relaxing on the beach will leave that for you to decide!
3 out of 4 days we were on the island Michelle spent diving. The visibility wasn't as good as when diving on Koh Tao in Thailand, nevertheless she managed to swim with both turtles (a dream she has always had to swim in the wild with these graceful animals) and sharks. Amazing! The last dive site was called Sugar Wreck and it was a huge cargo ship which had sunk back in the year 2000 and - you guessed it - it's cargo was tonnes of sugar. Luckily the ship took two days to sink after tipping over so there were no fatalities - Michelle needn't worry about ghosts! This particular dive was great and swimming around the inside of the ship was fascinating, surrounded by all the marinelife who now call the ship this home. I guess you could say that it made for a pretty "sweet" diving site!
The beach on Kecil was another major attraction here, with a large golden seafront, it meant that everyone had large sectors of the beach to themselves. There is a strong current in the sea here and the waves sometimes crashed like
Kecil Island
Long beach is the biggest beach on the island on the slightly less golden shores of Blackpool. We had a lot of fun getting splatted by the sudden huge waves! Apparently the locals were shocked at the force of the waves as the beach is usually as calm as a sedated snail.
As well as the rat population, the island is also home to a very unusual bird which often soared over the island. On our last day we found this huge bird sitting on the sand, we guessed it was a type of Eagle but if anyone knows any different from our photo, please let us know.
We left Kecil Island on 20th May and arrived in Kuala Tahan in Central Malaysia on the same night. We came to this particular section of Malaysia to visit the magnificent rainforest of Taman Negara - the oldest surviving rainforest in the world and twice the size of Luxemburg. We decided to stay in the quiet village of Kuala Tahan, across the river from the rainforest as the accommodation was cheaper and it was a very scenic and peaceful place to stay. On the journey to Taman Negara, we spotted a monkey peeking out of the bushes and hoped
Kecil Island
What we think it an eagle sitting on the beach, if anyone knows, please tell us... that we would be able to see plenty more wildlife in the jungle. As soon as you arrived we immidiately felt the humidity change as we got closer to the equator. The village itself was very unique with all the restaurants floating on the river and having to walk across a wooden plank to get inside. It was nice being able to watch the river float by whilst eating. The community seemed really nice in this small village and everyone was very friendly towards us, it was the first place in Malaysia where we felt really welcome.
During our time on the rainforest we took part in a two hour night safari on a four by four. It was great driving along in the dark with the guide shining a huge spotlight into the trees whilst trying to spot the wildlife. WE drove through huge palm tree plantations and were lucky enough to see an owl, leopard cats, wild boars, poisonous spiders, wood peckers, monkeys and a flying squirrel. On our last day we decided to go trekking in the rainforest. In typical Stu and Michelle fashion, we managed to choose the most humid day to do so and
Taman Negara
Looking over the river towards the rainforest from the village of Kuala Tahan the heat was intense! It was a tiring but worthwhile experience as we were able to see some wildlife such as huge monitor lizards and a lot of pheasants, although it's very difficult to see many animals on the dense forest. The monitor lizards liked to camouflage themselves in the undergrowth, resulting in Michelle nealy standing on one - she had a shock when the huge reptile scuttled away from her feet! We managed to last around 2 hours walking through the rainforest before we decided to head back to the air-conditioned room! It doesn't sound long but it felt more like 5 hours in the heat! Taman Negara was a great experience to be surrounded by the oldest rainforest.
We left on 24th May for Johor Bahru, the most Southern point of Malaysia before Singapore, in time to get out flight on 27th May to Borneo. Unfortunately we made the decision of taking "the jungle railway' train to reach Johor Bahru. ON an extremely humid day we were given seats in a carriage where the air-con was broken, the windows wouldn't open and it was squashed full of people. It was certinaly a very testing 8 hours of
Kuala Tahan
The floating restaurants our trip and we were extremely relieved to arrive at our destination to have a old shower after our sauna-esque train ride. Whilst in Johor Bahru we're having a couple ofrelaxing days and doing some errands. We're very excited about what's in store for us at our next destination of Kota Kinabula in Sabah, Borneo.....
We hope that you're all okay and look forward to hearing from you.
Love Michelle & Stu xxxx
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anne
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Hi Stu and Michelle. Loved the blog again. Well done Stu! Looked up bird on Google - looks like a white bellied sea eagle. I don't think I would have fancied concealed lizards in the rain forest. The Petronas towers look fantastic. Really annoying about the United fan - we had that in Egypt. Much better achievements by Bolton and West Ham. Look after yourselves and carry on having a wonderful time! (Expect I'll be your first reply as nearly all Michelle's family are in Turkey!)