Our next method of transport was a Sawngthaew, or truck with benches in the back. Sounds like a novel way to get around town? We had 6 bumpy hours ahead of us. Surprisingly it wasn't actually that uncomfortable. Did get a bit chilly as we drove through shaded valleys though. The scenery was stunning as we drove through more mountainous jungle today, following the Salween River along the border. About an hour or so out of Mae Sot we passed the Refugee Camps - wooden stilt houses much like those of the hilltribes round here, but in a guarded and barbed wire encircled compound that stretched for miles. The people in this area look different from the local Thais - the women wear colourful fabric as long skirts, have Thanka (a white paint) painted onto their ... read more

Walking along the river as the sun set the sky was coloured all shades of pink, orange and blue. Along the riverbank people walked together, did aerobics (it's called healthy street) and set up their stalls for the evening market. The birds chattered away like a group of gossiping ladies, fillng the night air with their song, and even overpowering the noise of the motorbikes as people returned home after a day out or at work. We decided to head back to the night market by the train station where we had super delicious pineapple and watermelon shakes, followed by some hell tasty bbq chicken hot off the grill and some rice to mop it all up with. Our tummies satiated we returned up the creaky wooden stairs, past the giant elephant, to our quaint little ... read more

Oops! Just noticed that the chaotic entry I hurriedly wrote whilst queueing for the flight to Bangkok never got uploaded - must have pressed the wrong button as I prepared to shoulder barge the golden oldies to get me a seat! Anyhoo, our few days in Singapore were great, though it was might hot and humid and we were very much glad of our airconditioned room! We spent a whole lot of time wandering up and down Orchard Rd checking everything out, sadly though we are not made of money and don't have 100 porters to carry all our hearts desires so in the end Corb picked up a very cool pair of shoes and I got an iPod. We did make it out to the BrightHills Temple, which was huge and very peaceful, though it ... read more

The bus down from KL was hot and long, but apart from that Melaka was all kinds of wonderful! Showing up mid afternoon we caught the bus into town, the familiar sights guiding us once we jumped off the bus and headed over the bridge into the Old Chinatown area. We decided to get a room at the Sama Sama Guesthouse, a 300 year old plus Chinese house filled with plants and lazy cats. The owners are a friendly Malay guy and his eccentric Swiss German wife, but they make the place totally liveable, and the cute decorations make it all very homely. We were lucky as just after we'd got inside the heavens opened and all hell broke loose. Water cascaded down everywhere, and the central courtyard was like an outdoor shower on full pressure. ... read more

So from Thailand we busted over the border with our sneaky bananas to Malaysia. Right away all our memories came flooding back and, despite a few changes, the place looked pretty much the same. We quickly found ourselves a bed and set out in search of the food Penang is so famous for. We didn't have to look far. In fact the only way to avoid the fantastic food of Penang was to stay in our room, and that wasn't something we were up for so there was a lot of eating fitted into our few precious hours in town. We started with the classic Hainese Chicken Rice, and our plate was deemed by Corb to be the best he'd tasted. Hard to beat such a strong first meal, we had some mighty fine curry mee, ... read more