Advertisement
Published: September 5th 2009
So its been a while my friends!! Sorry I have been s busy since leaving Broome. Finding it hard to keep up with the blogs as sometimes finding the Internet can be hard when your on the move.
I was originally a bit anxious about traveling to Asia on my own even if I had arranged to meet Joe but I need not have worried as I have met so many people here already. After flying to Perth I stayed a few days with Ciara (Irish girl from Red Safari tour) on a makeshift mattress on her bedroom in her share house. It was comfy and quiet and not surrounded by people 24/7 so I wasn't complaining and most of all it was free. So I recharged my batteries and re-packed for Asia after a frantic search for some contact lenses and some more Malaria tablets!!! I got to Kulala Lumpor and very much like my original experience in Singapore, it was very very hot and humid and very difficult to carry a 18kg backpack. I left London with 13Kg, how does that work?????
Stayed at a place called "Back Home" hostel as recommended by Joe. Its a small
place in the middle of Chinatown but it is surprisingly very homely and friendly. The rooms and the beds are huge and they have lockers and power points above your bed. (A luxury in hostels!!!!!) All this for 35 Ringitts a night (6 pounds). Here I met Steve, 6ft 7 rugby player on his way home and Theo from Surrey about to start an internship in a government office in Canberra. I spent a few days with Steve and a Canadian girl called Ide from Vancouver, we went shopping and bowling in Times Square where they have a rollercoaster in the shopping centre??? The next day I went to see the Batu Caves, the highlight being all the monkeys outside. Slightly disappointed here. We had arranged to go to the Sky Bar in he Traders Tower in the city that evening when I met Jen from Colchester who had just arrived at the hostel. We decided to all go for a nice dinner and then posh drinks. The Sky bar was fab, it was a great bar at the top of the Traders Tower in the heart of KL. The views were spectacular and you could see the Petronas Towers
just out the windows, which were all open!!! We only had one drink in there as it was 40RM (7 pounds) per drink. Me and Jen had a Lychee Rose Margarita and as a consequence have developed a liking for all things Lychee now!!! Then it was an early nite and then shopping the next day. After numerous attempts at the train and monorail and going the wrong way EVERY time we got on a train (it wasn;t as easy to navigate round, unlike Singapore) we eventually got to the shopping district. Again like Singapore it is very Western and I nearly cried after seeing all the new stuff in Topshop that I couldn't buy and couldn't even fit in my rucksack anyway. So we window shopped!!!!
We had decided to leave KL and follow some Germans who were traveling to a place called Tioman Island on the East Coast of Malaysia. It sounded very exciting and we had had enough of the City and the noise by then and were looking forward to the sea!!! We left about 2 o clock and got a bus that was SUPPOSED to leave at 4pm. It didn't, we got to the
station then had to walk for ages out of the station to get the bus but they had over sold the tickets. That weekend was a bank holiday weekend and so the buses were very busy. It was there Independence Day celebrations, then it dawned on us why there were so many Malasian flags everywhere. We just thought they were flag obsessed until we were told! We waited another 2 hours for a new bus to arrive and then leave, then another 2 hours to get out of the city. We eventually arrived at our destination - Quantan at 11.30pm. Theo had prebooked some accommodation North of Quantan in a place called Cherating - Ruby's Resort, where we were supposed to meet the Germans, They weren't there but we decided to go anyway. After another 40 mins looking for a taxi and trying to fit 4 peoples luggage and a 6ft 7 rugby player in a small taxi we got there at 1.30am. Ruby was not happy. She told us the next day she had worked in London for over 20 years for a Palestinian arms trader............!! But she turned out to be the nicest lady, she let us use
her laptop, told us the bus times. Went and bought tickets and taxi'd us around, all for free!!!!
Rubys Resort was fab, it had its own private beach and so we chilled for a day. Steve and Theo decided to go South while myself and Jen decided to head up to the Perenthian Islands after stopping off at another island - Kapas, so we had an extra night there in our 10 bed dorm chalet. After the hassle of catching the bus in KL we were a bit apprehensive about getting another bus, but it was fine. It left on time, had comfy seats and we had a nice 4 hour rest before getting off in Merrang and taking another hike to the jetty to get a boat to Kapas. In the lonely planet it says Kapas is an island you will not want to leave and it has the beach without the scene!!! It was certainly that, we found some nice little bungalows on the beach for 60 MYR between us (5 pound each). This was in the exact spot where the boat dropped us off, we were so glad as walking in sand in the heat with
Back Home Hostel
Curry for breakfast!!!!our backpacks was not pleasant. getting off the boat was funny as we did no get dropped at a jetty or anything, we just jumped out the boat into the water. The bungalows were basic but fine. We had a fan, a toilet (but no toilet paper) and a hosepipe for a shower. We celebrated Independence Day that night and had a few drinks wth the locals. On the Island there is nothing, no shops, or anything, The place we stayed at Kapas Beach Chalets were always running out of things and had to take shopping trips to the mainland every few days, The food was good although I have had enough rice and noodles now!! The second day was very exciting as we played Monopoly!!!, it was raining so we stayed in the bar and played with a Dutch guy called Vincent who clearly did not want to play and kept buying loads of property to lose his money only to get more back in rent!!! After 2 1/2 hours we gave up and lounged about in the hammocks, it was so quiet and I don;t think I have ever been anywhere where there is absolutely nothing to do
apart form sunbathe, swim or sit in the hammocks and read, which Jen chose to do......this is where the mosquito attack happened, she came in that night and after counting them she had about 35 bites....I had none. I have been taking Vit B6 which is supposed to be a deterrent for them so we figured this was why, maybe I don't have nice blood, who knows? After a couple of nights here we had had enough and left the island to travel to the Perenthian island in the North East of Malaysia. We had to get another bus to a place called Kota Bharu which I don't want to ever go again. The place seemed dingy and really dirty and the hostel we picked - KB Backpackers was awful. Also by this this time my obsession had turned to bed bugs and other small creepy crawly bugs, Surprisingly cockroaches don't bother me anymore, I'm scared of the ones you can;t see!!! Luckily Jen has lived with some pretty neurotic people before so she is coping with me very well.
We got a bus the next morning at 8am after only 2 hours sleep!!! and tried to find breakfast,
even McDonalds was shut, we settled for some Ritz crackers and some Oreos for our bus journey and kept our spirits up with the fact that we would soon be in paradise. On the minibus we met another girl called Lisa, originally from Stockport, now living in London. She was on her own so we re-grouped as a 3 for cheaper accommodation. We were a bit worried about the accommodation situation as we were just turning up to an Island with nowhere to stay but we found 2 places that had rooms and we chose to stay at Matahari Chalets. We had a lovely bungalow with a double bed and a single bed. The bed was huge so me and Jen decided to share. It had a mosquito net too which was a good thing for Jen as she was constantly getting eaten. We had our own bathroom, towels and yes we had toilet paper this time and a functional shower all for 6 pounds each, bargain!!!! The island is beautiful, there are two Islands, we are staying on the smaller one called Kecil. This tends to be where all the backpackers stay. The other is a bit more luxurious
and resort like. So for the last 4 days we have just lazed about on the beach. We were feeling a little bit more energetic yesterday and went snorkeling which was amazing. We swam with sharks and big turtles and then all around the outer coral reefs. It was a really sunny day and so the water was beautiful. We have a few "creatures" on the island too, including lots of iguanas and massive Monitor Lizards about 1-2m in length just wandering about, they look pre-historic and a bit strange and scary but don't bother anyone.
We are leaving tomorrow but I definitely want to come back here, I could snorkel everyday. It is a real divers paradise and all along the beach there are dive shops offering the Padi Open Water courses. Apparently it is in the top 10 places in the world to dive. We kept watching them carry all their scuba stuff in to the water and it just looked like really hard work so not sure if I will ever manage to do it, I think I will continue to snorkel for the time being.
So we leave here tomorrow and then we are
off to Penang, an island off the west coast so we have an exciting 7 hr bus trip tomorrow to go coast to coast. We plan on staying there for a few nights and then traveling over land to Thailand to Kho Phi Phi and Kho Tau islands where I hope to dosome more snorkelling.
I have decided not to go to Vietman and it seems unlikely I will make Cambodia, I am meeting Joe after Thailand in Laos and then see were else I want to go. Still really want to go to Bali so we will see, plans change daily!!!!!
Phew,..wont leave it as long next time!!!!!
Update you all again soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.125s; Tpl: 0.042s; cc: 7; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0696s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Deb Deb!
non-member comment
Alive!
I've missed not having blogs - but i'll let you off because you've been so busy and there's not much internet around. You know, Asia seems like a perfect choice - the monkeys and mini turtles - again i would of needed to put those in my backpack and take them them home with me! ha! ha! I bet it's like another world? There's nothing better than getting than away from the hustle and bustle of everyhing and going to places that are undisturbed. By the way - still not jealous! I'm so glad your enjoying yourself. You seem to be really having a good time again - and actually travelling!!!! All though there are only so many buses you can get on. I'll await your contact number and catch up properly on the phone. Look after yourself! Deb xxxxx