A return to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Arriving back at the guesthouse it was really good to see Debs. While I had been climbing the mountain she had been having a restful time. I managed to drag myself upright long enough to go out for some food, but by about 9pm I was fast asleep.
Waking up early the next morning, feeling refreshed in mind but not in leg, we boarded the minibus bound for Kinabalu Park and Poring Hot springs. After dropping some other people from the minibus off at the start of the climb (it was a nice feeling knowing I didn’t have to climb again) we returned to the park HQ to begin a short nature walk. We paid to have a guide and were pleased that we did as he pointed out many things that we would have missed on our own. During the brief walk we saw the world’s tallest moss, the world’s smallest orchid (Pinhead Orchid), several squirrels and lots of trees that are still to be identified. From the trail we then visited the botanical garden, where we met another guide who showed us several more varieties of orchid and some very small pitcher plants. Unfortunately heavy rain started to fall bringing the tour to an end, so we headed back to the minibus ready to go and get some lunch.
After lunch we got back on the minibus for the 40 minute drive to Poring Hot springs and a jungle canopy walk. By now my legs were aching badly and Debs had been feeling slightly ill all day, so it was with some relief when we finally arrived at the hot springs. The hot springs were established by the Japanese during their occupation and are basically a collection of small thermally heated pools (ideal for weary legs). We spent a very relaxing, if somewhat hot, hour or so soaking in the pool watching the rain fall around us. Unfortunately our intended canopy walk was rather stopped by the heavy rain, so pink skinned and wrinkly toed we once again boarded the minibus for the return journey to Kota Kinabalu and our guesthouse.
As it was the FA cup final we thought it would be good to go to the Stadium sports bar, have a few beers and watch the game. The ‘Stadium’ is owned by the same people who own the guesthouse, so the shuttle bus runs to the door. When we discovered that the match wasn’t on until 10pm and that we were the bars only customers, we decided instead to head back to the hostel. I did see some of the match, but I have to confess to going to bed half way through (I did see the result on the internet the next morning). Debs had already taken the smarter option of missing it altogether, choosing to pack before we left for Sarawak the next morning.

Next Kuching, Sarawak

Climbing Mt Kinabalu, Sabah

• Woke up at about 6:45am, checked I had everything, said morning and then goodbye to a very sleepy Debs and then went through to the lounge to wait for the 7:30am minibus.
• Find out I am the only climber as the other people I am sharing the minibus with are going to visit a hot spring. Settle down for a pleasant 2 hour journey to the national park.
• Arrive at Kinabalu National Park at around 10:00am via a small market town, where I got my first good view of the mountain (looks very high!).
• Meet my guide Wilter and get given my climbing pass. I could have sworn my guide said his name was Walter, so that’s what I called him for the next two days. He, much to my annoyance and prompting, refused to call me anything but Sir!
• 10:30am get dropped off at the Timpohon gate (1866.4m) to begin the climb. Discover the first 70m is downhill, so we are off to a good start.
• Some idiot decided it was a good idea to cut steps into the trail; honestly some of them are nearly 2ft high. 1km in and my thigh muscles are already burning, my guide being a friendly soul has disappeared somewhere to have a chat! I continue unguided.
• 3.5km (2634m) decided that exercising my legs by walking to the restaurant/bar and my arms by lifting a fork/beer has not been great preparation for mountain climbing! My legs are protesting and I still have 2.5km and about 600m in altitude to gain until I get to the lodge.
• About 4.5km in and we make a brief excursion from the main trail to look at some Pitcher plants (very strange looking things). Somewhat strangely my legs have started to feel better, no sign of any altitude problems yet.
• The next 1.5km passes without too much incident, but the trail definitely gets rockier and steeper.
• After about 4 1/2 hours of hard slog, I arrive at Laban Rata Lodge (3272.2m); my home for the evening. Check into my room (sharing with 3 world champion sleepers from Japan) and have a very welcome shower.
• 3:30pm fall asleep in the restaurant with all the other climbers while waiting for the evening meal to be served at 5:00pm
• 5:00pm have a really good although very expensive evening meal (can’t really complain as my stay is all inclusive) and then watch a beautiful sunset from the balcony.
• 7:00pm say goodnight and head up to my room with the intention of sleeping as we have to be up at 2:30am to begin the summit climb.
• 9:00pm the heating cuts in and is set to roast! At one point the headboard on my bed is too hot to touch. Wide awake and sweating, I leave the room to cool down in the hall.
• Suffering from heat stroke brought on insomnia, I finally switch off the heater (ignoring the sign telling me not to!), on the off chance that I get 1 hours sleep as it is now 1:00am.
• 1:30am the noise of people getting up ends any chance of sleep, so I get dressed and join them. Am pleased to note that my Japanese room mates have slept like babies, oblivious to my plight.
• 2:15am a cheerful Wilter arrives to guide me to the summit. Incidentally, he has slept very well!
• 2:30am stuck in a very slow procession of climbers, as we negotiate the narrow steps on the first part of the climb. I eventually get past with a sudden burst of speed and start to make better progress.
• As we get onto the main part of the mountain we have to follow guide ropes and the path opens up and becomes wider. Really starting to suffer from lack of sleep and fitness!
• Still no headache from the altitude, but start to feel a bit nauseous as we pass the 7.5km mark (3668m). My progress has started to become very slow, beginning to wonder if I will reach the summit by 5:45am (sunrise).
• Through willpower more than strength, I reach the 8.5km point at about 5:00am only to be greeted by a steep climb to the summit of Low’s Peak.
• Decide that I can watch the sunrise from here. No reason to exert myself by heading up the last little bit!
• Decide that I have to climb that last little bit!
• 5:20am Arrive at the top of Low’s Peak and jostle for position with everyone else at the very small summit.
• True to my guide’s word, the sun does rise at about 5:45am and we are all treated to a truly amazing experience as the whole of Sabah lies before us.
• Have a photo session with Wilter, who miraculously appeared beside me. I hadn’t seen him at all for the last hour. We take in the view for a bit longer and then head down.
• The descent is more painful than the ascent, but we make good time and arrive back at the lodge for breakfast at 7:30am. Wilter suggests we leave the lodge in 1hr but I persuade him there is no rush and 2 1/2 hrs will be fine.
• 9:30am feeling better for the rest and food, I gather my belongings, check out of the room and begin my return journey to the Timpohon gate.
• I have the company of a very nice Australian couple on the way down so the journey goes relatively quickly. We make a brief stop to see some more Pitcher plants and then continue on our way.
• The steps have really started to hurt, with no strength left in my legs every one of them is jarring. I find myself wondering if getting down to the bottom might be a bit of a problem!
• I finally pass the 1km mark at 12:40pm and gain a little strength in knowing that I am nearly down.
• 1:10pm remember I said the first 70m were downhill? Well now it’s bloody uphill!
• 1:15pm slightly late for my lift back and thoroughly exhausted I find my minibus, which is parked as far away as possible and go to the park office to get my certificate.
• Certificate in hand, I say goodbye to Wilter, climb back in the minibus and doze through most of the journey back to the guesthouse.
• The climb had been an amazing experience and tougher than I could ever have imagined, but definitely worth it.
• The world record for climbing and then descending is 2hrs 36minutes and 59seconds set by Marco de Gasperi during the 2003 Mt Kinabalu Climbathon. If you take longer than 4 1/2 hrs you are automatically disqualified, so that rather leaves me out!

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Borneo

Deciding to start our trip to Borneo in Sabah, we boarded an Air Asia flight from Kuala Lumpur bound for Kota Kinabalu (the state capital). The intention was to spend a few days in Sabah while I climbed Mt Kinabalu (at 4095.2m the highest mountain in SE Asia), have a brief look around and then head to the larger state of Sarawak. Having already booked some accommodation, we were met at the airport by our guesthouse staff and taken to ‘Borneo Global Backpackers’ in Kota Kinabalu.
As time was limited and having already heard that booking accommodation for the mountain climb could be a bit hit and miss, I decided to try and book a package climb. While more expensive than doing it myself, it offered me the best chance of being able to climb. As luck would have it, the staff from the guesthouse discovered there had been a cancellation and that I would be able to climb on the 17th May, only 2 days away. With the trip booked we decided to walk into the city centre for a look around and to find something to eat. From first impressions there isn’t very much to Kota Kinabalu, its sights are quite limited and coming from KL the shops are certainly not on the same scale. We did stumble upon a chiropractor who was able to realign Debs’ back and enjoyed a very good meal and cultural show at Sedco Square evening food hall. I can’t personally say I am much of a fan of cultural shows; they all seem a little fake. This one however was quite entertaining and the finale involving one of the dancers jumping between rapidly moving bamboo poles whilst blindfolded was extremely impressive.
The next day we headed into town to have a look around the traditional craft market. Like craft markets everywhere this one was a bit like passing a continuous conveyor belt, where every five stalls the goods repeat themselves. Not finding anything that we wanted to buy, we crossed the road to a nearby shopping mall just in time to miss the onset of torrential rain. Deciding that the change of weather was a good cue to get something to eat, we had a nice lunch in a pleasant coffee shop and then hailed a taxi for the return to the guesthouse. In typical fashion the rain eased just as we got back!
Later that evening we took the guesthouse shuttle bus into town, decided to have dinner in Pizza Hut (seemed like a safe option with my climb starting tomorrow), stocked up on energy giving food and then caught the shuttle bus back for an early night.

Kuala Lumpur

After a relatively short four hour journey through some beautiful scenery, we arrived in Malaysia’s capital city Kuala Lumpur (affectionately known as KL by the locals). Thanks to the recommendation of a couple from the Cameron Highlands, we checked into the ‘Haven Guesthouse’ on Bukit Bintang (as it turned out, the main shopping street in the city). The guesthouse has not been open long and has been designed in the style of a longhouse (tribal home famous in Sarawak, Borneo) with timber partitioned rooms. Once we had got ourselves comfortable and with the aid of Evan from the guesthouse, we located the nearest hospital and headed out to get Debs foot looked at. The Tung Shin hospital was only about 500m from the guesthouse and so couldn’t have been more convenient. Unfortunately, as it was Saturday the surgeons were all on half day and wouldn’t return until Monday morning, so we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the nearby area. Later that evening we had a look around a couple of the nearby shopping malls, found a restaurant for dinner and then went back to the guesthouse for the night.

With the hospital put on hold until Monday, we got a taxi to take us to the National Monument and Asean Sculpture Park, both of which were pleasant but not worth too much time. Debs did however display a fine command of gymnastic skill, when she commando rolled down the steps to the park, coming to rest some 20ft away from where I last saw her! Slightly more carefully, we walked through the park to the KL Butterfly Park which houses more than 6000 butterflies consisting of 120 different species. The most spectacular of all, was the huge Raja Brooke butterfly (the national butterfly of Malaysia).
From the butterfly park we went to the Orchid and Hibiscus garden (the hibiscus is known locally as Bunga Raya and is the national flower) and then took a taxi to Pasar Seni (central market), passing the huge state mosque along the way. Pasar Seni used to be the city’s wet market and now holds a collection of overpriced tourist craft shops in what is admittedly a very nice 1930’s Art Deco style building. In its defence, we did find some very nice Batik pictures and some equally interesting abstract elephant prints (no prizes for guessing who bought them); it also contains a very good food hall.
With our stomachs full of chicken teppanyaki and our wallets somewhat less full, we continued our tour of the city by visiting the Masjid Jamek (the city’s oldest surviving mosque). The mosque looks very nice from the outside, but when compared to the staggering scale and beauty of the ones we have seen throughout Turkey, Iran and Pakistan, it falls rather short. Debs did get the joy of having to don a shapeless robe again, when we ventured inside for a closer look. Starting to get quite tired, we made a brief journey to Merdeka square, passing a strange pitcher plant fountain on the way. Merdeka square is where the Union Jack was lowered on 31st August 1957 marking Malaysia’s independence and now holds, what is, at 100m high, reputedly the world’s tallest flagpole. It is also where we hailed a taxi and headed back to the relative cool of the Haven Guesthouse.

With the weekend over, it was time to go back to the hospital and get Debs’ foot looked at by a surgeon. The rest of the day went past in a bit of a blur; the surgeon said it was a cyst on the tendon that he would prefer to remove and that he could do it that day! So having seen the surgeon at 10:30am, she was admitted at 1:00pm, operated on at 2:00pm, recuperating by 3:00pm and discharged at 5:30pm minus a lump (she has still got it in a jar though!). Still a bit groggy but able to walk, we headed back to the guesthouse with the instruction to take it easy and return in one week.
We had planned on staying in KL for only a few days and then going to Borneo, but Debs had to take priority so we extended our stay in the city, not that it was any particular hardship. Eugene and Evan from the Haven are great and the guesthouse has a huge selection of DVDs to watch. With so many big shopping malls and good food courts nearby, there was no real difficulty in finding something to keep us, or more correctly me occupied! During the next week we treated ourselves to new bags (Debs’ fourth bag, my second), had a look at the Petronas Towers (both at night and during the day), and visited Petaling Street (a tourist market in Chinatown full of cheap tat and knock off goods).
On my birthday we made a somewhat ill advised trip to the Batu Caves. Debs was not really ready to climb 272 steps, even if there was the promise of monkeys and a Hindu shrine! To be perfectly honest I wouldn’t recommend the trip to anyone, there isn’t much to hold your attention and we got ripped off by a taxi driver on the way back (this time he put the meter on and then proceeded to take the most circuitous route back known to man). Fortunately we made up for it with a really nice meal at the Outback Steakhouse (not very Malaysian, but you have to have steak on your birthday!).
Before we knew it, a week had passed and it was time to go back to the hospital and have Debs foot checked over. The stitches were removed and she had to have it aspirated, but everything else appeared to be ok so there was nothing stopping us from moving on. Heading back to the hostel we sorted out our bags with the intention of leaving the big ones in KL until we returned from Borneo (Air Asia’s 15kg baggage limit is a real pain!). We then went to the nearby Berjaya Times Square Mall to watch Spiderman 3 at the IMAX theatre. Berjaya Times Square is quite a place, as not only does it contain lots of shops and two cinemas, it also has a theme park (Cosmo’s world) within its walls, complete with a looping rollercoaster!

With our time in KL over, it was time to say goodbye to everyone at the Haven and head to the airport bound for Sabah in Borneo, where I hoped to climb Mt Kinabalu (at 4095.2m the highest peak in SE Asia). Kuala Lumpur is a great city and our stay was made even better by Eugene and Evan at the Haven Guesthouse. We can’t recommend the place enough, going so far as to say it is one of the nicest places we have ever stayed.

Next entry: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

A brief return to the Cameron Highlands

After a long journey from the Perhentian islands, we finally arrived back in Tanah Rata and checked back into our old room at Daniel’s lodge. It was really good to be back; we can’t understate enough how nice it is to find somewhere you feel completely at home when you have been travelling around so much. Dropping our stuff off in the room we headed out to get some food, as it had been a very long time since we had last eaten. Suitably full from a nice meal, we returned to the guesthouse for a few beers and then some much needed sleep.
Aside from the transport links to KL, the main reason for coming back to the Highlands was to take Debs to the hospital. She had spotted a small lump on her foot while in Japan and over the coming weeks it had increased in size, so we thought it best to get it checked out. The hospital turned out to be really nice and Debs quickly got to see a doctor who sent her upstairs for an X-ray. The X-ray department was a bit of an experience as the staff were watching a kind of Malaysian equivalent of Pop Idol and cracking jokes. Debs got her X-ray done in double quick time and it was then duly inspected by everyone on duty. Not sure this was actually hospital policy, perhaps they hadn’t seen an X-ray of a western foot before!
Returning downstairs X-ray in hand, she was once again seen by the doctor who informed her that he believed it was a soft tissue growth. Debs was told that it wasn’t anything to be too concerned about, but that it might get bigger and therefore advised that it be removed. Unfortunately they were unable to do it there, but he wrote Debs a note to give to a doctor in Kuala Lumpur explaining his diagnosis.
Feeling somewhat better about the situation, we headed into town for a late lunch, booked our bus ticket to KL in the morning and then went back to our room for a rest. The rest of the day was spent just hanging out with the other people at the guesthouse, eating an unbelievably spicy Tandoori meal, drinking a few more beers than intended and eventually getting to bed somewhat later than planned (the latter was me only, Debs was sensibly in bed!).
It had been good to see everyone again but Kuala Lumpur beckoned, so slightly hung-over (again, only me!) we boarded the bus and waved goodbye to the Cameron Highlands for the last time?

Next: Kuala Lumpur

The Perhentian Islands

Moving on from the Cameron highlands, we headed by minibus to the small town of Kuala Besut, on the NE coast of peninsula Malaysia. From there we boarded a boat bound for Perhentian Kecil, the smaller of the two Perhentian Islands. When we booked our tickets to the islands, the advert had said by minibus and fast boat; what they didn’t say was just how fast (the sight of two 200bhp engines was probably a bit of a giveaway). Anyone with a weak stomach would be better off taking the slower option, or at the very least hoping the sea was a little calmer than it was for us. Debs spent most of the journey hanging on like a limpet and trying not to be sick; for my part I quite enjoyed the ride. After about 45 minutes we arrived at D’Lagoon cove, where we had to transfer to a small dinghy as the water was too shallow for the larger boat. Transferring ourselves and our luggage proved to be no mean feat, as the sea was quite rough and we received no real help from either captain!
Arriving safely on the beach we headed up to D’Lagoon resort to check in. We had arranged our accommodation through Gil in the Cameron Highlands and it had come highly recommended as being the best place to snorkel from on the island. Unfortunately we were not greeted with the welcome that we have come to expect from the Malaysian people; to be honest it all seemed like too much trouble. Putting it down to just a bad day, we headed to our beach hut, quickly got changed into our swimming gear and set off to explore the reef. Our introduction to the island may have started badly, but the reef was truly beautiful with a huge variety of fish and coral.
Our first evening on the island started well, when a huge 2 meter long monitor lizard turned up outside the restaurant causing lots of excitement. Nobody was terribly keen to get too close and for the lizard’s part it didn’t seem remotely wary of us. After a photo session we returned to the restaurant to wait for our evening meal, and that’s where we sat for the next two hours foodless. The food did eventually arrive but it wasn’t anything to write home about; the tropical storm that accompanied the food was certainly very dramatic though.

Waking early in the morning on our first full day, we hired some flippers and a life jacket for Debs and headed through a small stretch of jungle to Turtle beach. A notice on the restaurant wall had advertised ‘swim with friendly sharks 7:30am to 9:30am at Turtle Beach’. As we approached the beach we were really surprised to see several baby black tip reef sharks swimming right close to the shore. Quickly putting on our masks, snorkels and flippers we set out to try and get a fish eye view of them. We did get to see lots of fish and I caught the odd glimpse of the sharks as they shot past, but the previous night’s tropical storm had stirred up the water making visibility poor. Nevertheless, we left the beach happy with the intention of returning again tomorrow.
With the sea still quite rough, we did a little bit more snorkelling in D’Lagoon cove spending the rest of the day reading and catching up on journals etc. We returned to Turtle beach later in the evening to watch the sunset and spent a pleasant hour gathering interesting shells and coral. The sunset wasn’t particularly spectacular, but it was very nice to spend some time together on a completely deserted beach.

Setting off even earlier this time, we once again returned to Turtle Beach with the hope of swimming with some sharks. Knowing that previously we had seen most of the sharks near the shore we decided to stay as near to the beach as possible. While floating near some rocks I spotted a small ray swim off into the distance and while attempting to follow it came across about 5 small reef sharks. Quickly calling Debs over, we allowed ourselves to drift over the rocks and were amazed to see at least 20 sharks swimming in a group. We stayed back for a while so as to not frighten them away, but it soon became apparent that they weren’t overly concerned by our presence. Very shortly we were drifting amongst them while they circled us and came right up close to our masks. The whole experience was totally amazing and we both felt really privileged to have been amongst such graceful creatures. We are not overly convinced that we want the same experience with the 2m long fully grown adults though!
With the poor weather still hitting the east coast of the island, we decided that it was time to leave and head back to the mainland. The D’Lagoon staff again outdid themselves, with absolutely no help on how to move on from the island, instead telling us “you have a phone, just ring a travel agent!” After an extended telephone call, handled magnificently by Debs to a non English speaking travel agent, we arranged our escape from the island. The original plan had been to head straight for Kuala Lumpur, but that involved an overnight bus journey that would get us to KL at about 5am which we didn’t want to do. Knowing that transport to Kuala Lumpur was really easy from the Cameron Highlands, and being quite happy to return there, we decided instead to head back to Tanah Rata and Daniel’s Lodge.

By the time it came to get on the fast boat bound for the mainland, the weather had improved so the return journey was not as eventful as the first. We left the Perhentian Islands with mixed feelings; the staff at D’Lagoon were too unfriendly and unhelpful for us to recommend it as anywhere to stay. However, the snorkelling is undoubtedly excellent and if your idea of paradise is a basic beach hut on a very quiet island then it could be exactly what you are looking for.

Next: a brief return to the Cameron Highlands

Cameron Highlands

After an extremely scenic bus journey from Penang, we arrived at our destination of Tanah Rata; a small town around which nearly all of the trekking routes and tourist attractions are situated in the Cameron highlands. The Cameron highlands were named after William Cameron, a British surveyor employed by the government on a mapping expedition in 1885, who discovered them.
Having already booked some accommodation, we checked into Kang Travellers Lodge (Daniel’s Lodge), unpacked and set off to explore the town. Tanah Rata is really more village than town, with one main street full of restaurants, supermarkets and souvenir shops. So there is absolutely no chance of starving or leaving without, at the very least, a postcard! Most of the buildings and hotels around the area appear to have gone for a kind of ‘Mock Tudor’ look, complete with wooden beams added with no regard to whether they go or not. The look, along with the cooler temperatures (10-25 degrees C) gives the area a slightly British feel.
After a good meal which included scones with strawberries and cream, we returned to the hostel to have a look around. We found Daniel’s to be one of the friendliest places we have ever stayed; our fellow guests were genuinely friendly and all the staff very helpful and knowledgeable. With the promise of a warming camp fire (it is quite amazing how cold it gets at night) we headed up to the ‘Jungle Bar’ for a drink. After the more impersonal hotel based accommodation of Thailand, it was really good to sit around with some fellow travellers and chat about our various experiences. A few beers down the line and it was time for some sleep.
On our previous travels, we have found a few places where we have felt completely comfortable and at home. Nepal/Kathmandu was one of those places and we would definitely add the Cameron Highlands/Tanah Rata to the list. Rarely have we stayed somewhere that actively encourages you to do so little; we used our time to catch up on journals, blogs, reading and sleep.

Deciding that we really ought to do something with our time, we booked on a half day tour to go and see the Rafflesia (world’s biggest flower). The tour started with a trip to an Aborigine village where we had a blowpipe demonstration from the diminutive chief and then all got to have a go. I am pleased to report that both Debs and I were naturals; provided our intended meal was no more than 10m away and quite large we would be welcome on any hunting party! The tour continued with us being fashioned walking sticks from bamboo (these proved to be surprisingly useful on the slippery sections of the trek), leaf hats (these proved to be no use at all) and rattan bracelets (Asian guides seem to be obsessed with making them for us). After about 1 1/2 hours of surprisingly tough walking with some very slippery inclines we arrived at our destination. From the information we received from our guide, we were told that the Rafflesias don’t bloom fully until they are at least a year old and then only for about 5-7 days depending on the weather. Apparently the reported rotting flesh smell as they decay has more to do with animals excreting on them and the chemicals then mixing, than the flowers themselves. I won’t go into too much description of the actual flowers as you can see the photos; suffice to say that it was very big, surprisingly robust and certainly different looking. Following a brief stop to take photos, we followed the trail back to the minibus and set off for Tanah Rata, stopping at Brinchang on the way to visit the excellent night market. The market is on every Friday and Saturday evening and is a great place to stock up on strawberries, fresh fruit and vegetables. It also has great food stalls where you can try any manner of local foods, as well as the western favourites of pizza, burgers & hotdogs for all those not so adventurous!

Our last few days were spent very much the same way as the rest of our time in the Cameron Highlands, doing very little! We were fortunate enough to witness the night blooming of what our guesthouse owner called ‘Lucky Flower’ (real name Night-blooming Cereus). He told us that he had only seen a few bloom in the last two years; the flower blooms once a year at night and then only for about 3 hrs. Aside from that, We did have one more visit to the market in Brinchang and then had to walk the 5km back to Tanah Rata as there were no buses. Fortunately we had the company of Emma, Katherine and Eva (hi girls, hope the travelling is going well), so the walk went quite quickly.
All in all, our time in the Cameron highlands has been great and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend ‘Daniels Lodge’ as a good base. A final special mention has to go to Gil, who made me a great hat, has the sweetest son Mario and has the best tour information in town. Check out his booth in the entrance of Kang’s Restaurant.

Next stop the Perhentian islands.

Penang, Malaysia

Crossing the border into Malaysia with the minimum of fuss, we continued our journey to the island of Penang. We chose Penang and its’ capital George Town as a good introduction to Malaysia, mainly because of its proximity to Thailand.
Arriving at about 6pm in the Lebuh Chulia (China town) area of George Town, we set about finding some accommodation for the next few days. Our first impression of Malaysian hotels/guesthouses is that they may be reasonably priced, but you certainly don't get the same standard of accommodation as you do in Thailand.
Lebuh Chulia road is wonderfully seedy with dilapidated buildings and prostitutes working many of the hotels (which may explain why some of them are so dreadful). We eventually stumbled upon a new hostel in Love lane (I will leave you to guess why it was given that particular name!) called SD and checked into an air-con room (Malaysia is bloody hot) with shared bathroom for 35RM/night (about £5). SD may not have the character of some of the hotels in the area, but at least it was clean (which is more than can be said for many of the others).

Unaware that Malaysia is one hour ahead of Thailand, we got up not quite as early as planned (!) and set off for a look around the city. We first stopped at the harbour to see the Clan Piers (a collection of houses on stilts housing about 2000 boatmen & fishing families). Then we wandered along the coast to have a brief look at Fort Cornwallis; built on the site where Captain Francis Light first landed and took possession of the island for the East India Company in 1786. On the day we visited, the fort was being used as a venue for a family fun day, which we stopped to look at for a while. The event was being largely compeered in English, which was somewhat unexpected.
Leaving the fort behind we strolled down Beach Street (the main banking area) which holds a large amount of grand old colonial buildings. Rather sadly the old spectre of scaffolding reared its ugly head, completely covering the one building we actually wanted to see! Slightly disappointed we continued our tour down to Armenia Street, where we had a very nice lunch at the Edelweiss Café (a beautifully preserved 19th century shop house with an antique laden interior). As we were starting to get temple withdrawal, we stopped to have a look at the Cheah Kongsi and Khoo Khongsi; the latter reportedly being one of the best examples of Chinese architecture in Southeast Asia. They were both very pleasant, but the feeling of ‘been there done that’ is definitely starting to creep in to our travels.

On another day, we followed the highly recommended ‘Traditional Trades and Food Trail’ getting an insight into the variety of trades brought to the island from other parts of Asia. The tradesmen in general were very friendly, especially the Joss Stick maker, ‘Songkok’ maker (Muslim headgear worn for religious and ceremonial purposes) and Rattan weaver. Special mention along the food trail has to go to the ‘Ais Tingkap’ (window sherbet). The sherbet is a drink that originated in Sri Lanka; it is flavoured with rose essence, fresh coconut and various seeds and herbs which give it the consistency of frogspawn! It is advertised as the being one of the most refreshing drinks ever. While undoubtedly being refreshing, getting past the texture is a little tricky, the taste itself is quite pleasant and the snacks that I ate with it were really good (not to mention cheap).

Moving away from the centre of George Town, we visited Wat Chaiya Mangkalaram (a Thai style temple housing a 33m long gold plated Buddha in the Disney style!), Dharmikarama Burmese temple (if anything even more Disney, complete with colourful statues and a motorised wishing pool!), Penang hill (the islands highest point at 830m above sea level), and lastly reportedly the world’s largest toy museum (more a collection of action figures than lots of toys; interesting for me though, Debs is maybe a bit young!)

In total, we spent four full days in George Town and found it to be a fascinating city with an eclectic mixture of ethnic influences. The whole city is a combination of the old and new, with old crafts still being practised alongside modern industry and huge shopping malls. All of this goes on in a city with a slightly edgy undercurrent that stops you from ever feeling completely comfortable (especially in the dilapidated china town areas). Whether this amounts to a good indication of what to expect in the rest of Malaysia remains to be seen.

Next entry: The Cameron highlands

Ao Nang, Koh Mook and Trang

With our time coming to an end in Thailand, we travelled to Ao Nang and arrived in the middle of the ‘world’s biggest water fight’ called Songkran (Thai New Year). Songkran is a water and flour festival where the Thai people kit themselves out with water pistols, barrels of water and bags of flour/talcum powder and then set about getting everyone as wet and floury as possible.
Trying to avoid getting our bags too wet, we quickly checked into a nice guesthouse, got changed and set off to join in the watery fun. The purchase of two water pistols later and we were all set for the action. The atmosphere in the town was fantastic; the streets were filled with pick-up trucks laden with people and there were smiley faces everywhere. The whole day was really great fun and we couldn’t have been more wet and floury if we had tried.
On our second day in Ao Nang, we visited nearby Railay beach where a speed climbing competition was being held. The competition turned out to be a bit more low-key than we had expected, but it was still amazing to see just how fast some of the top competitors scaled the cliffs. After watching the climbing for a while, we had a quick swim in the sea and then headed back to Ao Nang.
One of our main reasons for coming to Ao Nang was to go kayaking. We spent the morning paddling through the mangrove forests around Ao Thalene, stopping in a sheltered cove to feed the monkeys and then visiting crocodile cave; which had no crocodile. The whereabouts of the crocodile remained a mystery due to the poor English of our guide; it turned out that he seemed to know every English word except ‘why’. After a long tiring paddle against the current, we arrived back at the jetty for what turned out to be a pretty average lunch. After lunch, we were driven to Emerald pool for a swim and then headed back to Ao Nang. We had a good day, which was made even better by meeting some very nice people; especially two Kiwis, Debi and her son Sam (hope you had a good trip, hopefully see you in New Zealand).

From Ao Nang we had a bit of an epic journey to Koh Mook; it involved standing up in a bus for 2 hrs because it was full (this is what happens when you don’t book ahead). We then failed to find the travel agents we were looking for in Trang, so ended up making our own way to the island; first by ‘tuk tuk’, then a local minibus and finally by boat. It was with some relief when we finally arrived at the island; it was just a shame that I fell over in the sea while leaving the boat, soaking my ipod & wallet (everything still works, fortunately!).
Meeting up with Sarah, we checked into a very basic beach hut and had a quick tour of our part of the island; basically a few small resorts a shop and a couple of restaurants. Tired from the travelling and suffering from a full blown head cold, I settled in for an early night. Meanwhile, Sarah and Debs spent the evening catching up.

The next morning we had planned to visit nearby Morakot (emerald) cave that you can only reach by swimming at low tide. Still feeling dreadful, I gave it a miss and tried to catch up on some sleep. From Debs’ description, the cave visit sounded like it was good fun. They had to swim 80 meters through a pitch black tunnel encountering a sea snake on the way and finally arrived at a beautiful bit of beach. I spent the remainder of the day resting while the girls sunbathed and swam. Later that evening we went to ‘Mookies’, a bar and camp ground ran by an extremely friendly Aussie called Brian. We had a good meal of Pork chop and mashed potatoes (before anyone says that’s not very adventurous, we were getting sick of rice & noodles) and a few cold beers.
It turned out that Brian owned a yacht and he was quite happy to take people out for a small fee, so the next day, with my cold easing slightly, we boarded Brian’s yacht and headed to the nearby island of Ko Kradan. On arrival at the island Brian pointed out a good snorkelling beach and armed with bananas for the fish we set off to see what we could see. The fish feeding was hilarious, within a short amount of time we were absolutely mobbed by hungry fish. At one point I turned around to see if Debs was ok, only to turn back and find a large fish was attempting to make off with the whole banana. Having had a thoroughly entertaining time, we set off to the bar to meet Brian and the others, had a bit of lunch and then boarded the yacht for the journey back to Koh Mook.
As it was Sarah’s final night in Thailand we had a nice meal, more than a few beers and played several silly games with the guys from Mookies. With our time on the island over, it was time to board the boat back to the mainland and then catch the minibus back to Trang. Sarah booked her transport to the airport and we arranged our journey to Malaysia in the morning. After a meal and a quick look around the shops, we said our goodbyes to Sarah and went back to our hotel to settle in for the night.

We have had a really good time in Thailand and feel that this time we have at least done it some justice and have some fantastic memories to take away with us. Next stop Malaysia.

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