Hong Kong, Singapore & Malaysia

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We spent 2 weeks travelling through Hong Kong, Singapore & Malaysia.

HONG KONG

We arrived to a deluge of 'black rain' - so heavy that we could get off the plane, but baggage handlers refused to go out into the weather (for over an hour) to get the bags off for us!! Then we found that hotel had reserved was not what we had wanted, and so had to switch hotels. Then it started raining again - however, aside from all that, we did have a good time in HK!!

We tasted the ex-pat lifestyle with Rupert (an ex-work colleague of Helen, currently working in HK), with dinner, drinks & dancing to filipino bands until the small hours of the morning.

We explored Central Hong Kong island ... took a bus to visit & buy souvenirs at the famous Stanley Markets ... caught a double-decker tram along northshore (of HK island) to end of the line ... took the Star Ferry across to Kowloon to watch the 8pm light show & explore that area at night.... and watched England's first World Cup match (painful as it was!) ... and we saw the main city at night from the top of Victoria Peak.

SINGAPORE

We only had two nights in Singapore, but spent our time walking around Little India & chinatown ... eating some good meals at the bustling Boat Quay ... had a Singapore Sling at Raffles Hotel (it would be rude not to!) ... and tested the local health service when needed some antibiotics for a cut on H's toe (- it took only 25 mins to get to see a doctor - much better than home!!)

MALAYSIA

After so long on the move through various cities, we opted to spend a few quiet nights at Minang Cove on Tioman island (off east coast of Malaysia). We had a relaxing time & the hospitality was great (so much so that H ended up drinking her way through their entire cocktail board in 1 night...ouch!!)

We then moved on to KL for one night (not our favourite place, as traffic was horrific & smoggy - in fact, our nice guest house was our favourite bit!) ... before heading up to the Cameron Highlands. In the highlands, we went on a jungle trek to see the The Rafflesia (the largest flower in the world, allegedly! - see photo). We also visited the Boh tea planataion & a local indigeneous village. However, the trek was highlight as the hike was much longer than we had been lead to believe (ie: 4 hours & not 2 hours), and it had rained so much the night before that our 4WD truck got stuck trying to drive up hill to start of the walk (see photo).

We next caught a bus up to Georgetown, on Penang (the main British colonial centre in Malaysia, until its independence in 1957). Here we took the lazy option and toured the sights of the town on a type of tri-shaw, with a little old man peddalling us round all day, whilst we just sat in the front seats (- don't worry, we paid him well!)

From Penang, we caught a number of minibuses up to Koh Samui (east coast Thailand), and after a 15-hour bus-bus-bus-ferry-taxi journey, we arrived there for a few relaxing days on the beach again. Then it is off to Bangkok, followed by Cambodia, Los & northern Thailand - but only a month to go now!!

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Photos

The Rafflesia
The largest flower in the world - it was worth the Cameron Highland trek!

Hong Kong at night
A view of the north shore of HK Island & south shore of Kowloon, taken from Victoria Peak

Minang Cove, Tioman Island
The view from the balcony of our room...not bad really!!!

A struggle up the hill...
...and that was even before we began our two hour trek to find the Rafflesia flower!

C & H in the tea plantations...
...in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia