Blogs from Malaysia, Asia - page 747

One of the most time consuming parts of travelling is doing research and today we spent a huge chunk of the day looking into accomodation and transport options for our first stop in Malaysia, which we had thought would be Kota Bahru via a 12 - 13 hour bus journey. Then Glynn remembered about a low cost airline that the Singaporean couple had mentioned a couple of days ago called Air Asia. He looked up the cost of a flight from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur and was astonished to see it would cost only £60 for both of us to fly. This might have been double the price of the overland journey but it would be far more comfortable and also direct. An hour later, we had it all arranged. God bless the internet! After my ... read more

Well, on Tuesday I got to add one more to the passport. Simon and I crossed the border into Malaysia, and got the bus up to Melaka. Nice enough little place. Lots of colonial history (Portuguese (who built a church among other things), Dutch (who modified the church among other things), and Brits (who used the church for storing gunpowder, among other things...)) Saw some of the sights, then decided it was basically too hot to keep tramping around, got on a bus, and came backto Singapore. Wednesday night Si and I had a boys night out, and got terribly, terribly drunk.... What do you expect when drinks cost $12 a jug (4 quidish), and Si knows the assistant manager who makes them significantly stroonger than usual?!!! Few more days to go, can't believe time's gone ... read more

Hello. Thanks for all the messages. We have heard about the Thailand situation but not in much detial. I will look into it further. We are initally planning to go straight from Bangkok to the north to get our Indian visas then go to Loas. If stuff is still looking bad then we may head straight to Loas or even get a flight there. We will see closer to the time. If you hear more do let me know. On to what we've been up too. We went from Penang to the perhentian islands. It turned into a bit of a nightmare journy. It was an overnight bus...so no sleep and it was meant to drop us at the jetty to get a ferry. However, it droped us in a different place at 4:30 am so ... read more

When passing through the borders in Asia so far we have noticed subtle differences in the faces and mannerisms of the nationals, Malaysia however is a vibrant mix of original Malays, and imported Indian and Chinise ancestry. The various mix is due to the area's importance as a stop off on the old Indian/Chinese trading route while ships were docked awaiting the monsoon to blow the opposite course! Religion in the country is much more prominant - Being a Muslim country I wish I'd appreciated this beforehand as I flew in wearing shorts and a vest! Anyway, into Kuala Lumpur (KL) and we are immediately hit with the complexity of the transport system. They may have an underground, a mono rail and an urban train network but none of these are connected. You have to hop ... read more

Salamat Datang! (good day). I'm in Penang at the monent which is nice but very touristy. We're staying in The Blue Dimond hotel which i stayed in four years ago. It's a cool place with a mexican food place and live music in the evenings. I'd recomend it but only if you can put up with grubby bathrooms. We've done all the touristy sights. (photos will follow, no usb on the comp). Yesterday we went to the biggest Budhist temple in Malaysia, Kek Lok Si. It is an amazing place and pretty big. they are in the process of finnishing a Buddha staue that is huge and on top of a hill. Although no where near as big it's position gives on the hill is remenicent of the Jesus in Rio. We also went all the ... read more