Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)

KL on arrival seemed a lot like Shanghai or any other masisve, hustling, bustling and busy city. We chose to stay in Chinatown mainly as its cheap and centrally located, we fittingly chose a hotel named 'Hotel Chinatown (2)'. The hotel was nice, a/c, good WiFi, centrally located and once I'd killed the cockroaches we were fine :-)

I was definitely in full illness mode by the time we reached KL, a daily diet of several paracetamol and ibuprofen washed down with litres of water seemed to only take the edge off my head and flu. It was nearly time to break out the emergency course of antibiotics we brought.

Chinatown was bustling and chaotic as most Chinatowns are. From early on the main streets begin filling with market stalls selling most things and various knock off qualities. By the time the sun sets the main street has been transformed into two small ally ways which on both sides backed by small stalls. 'Rodney' like characters saying 'new walet sir', 'handbag Madame', 'just look cheap price cheap price' as they wave you in and try various other tricks to get you to look and the genuine fakes on offer. A few evenings we went shopping purchasing some converse trainers and other clothing items, obviously izzi was shopping!

Around Chinatown were several local eateries which we used and ending up eating some delicious Chinese and Indian food. One of the hardest meals to source is breakfast when travelling in our opinion but luckily next to the hotel a lovely buffet style breakfast was on offer for only 12RM (£2.40) for people staying at our hotel, by comparison its expensive as we have eaten full meals for the same but still good.

In KL there is the usual things to visit but we wanted to see some different stuff so highlight a big park we could go to with the hopes of being able to rent a boat, trying to go up the famous twin towers, Chinatown and the national museum to give us some history on Malaysia.

The twin towers were first on the list but upon arrival they were fully booked until after we left the city. We changed plan and walked about 20mins to KL communication tower which had a viewing platform at 250m high. The tower was similar to towers we had seen and even had a big picture of the other ones we had seen in Shanghai and Berlin last year. The views were spectacular and we couldn't have picked a better day. The views looked almost fake, like you were looking down on little models and not the city below. The walk down also proved fruitful when we stumbled across a troop of monkeys relaxing and eating the new shoots of a tree. We got many pictures but the big male soon came over looking aggressive and showing us his teath so we moved on promptly to avoid a monkey beating.

We headed for a large park which had an orchid garden, a deer farm and a lake which lonely planet said you can rent boats on but we soon realized that the book must be out of date as no boats were to be seen. The gardens and park were nice, the deers just looked hot and didn't do much as they tried to keep cool.

KL has a good and cheap metro system and has main things a tourist can see and do, all in all it has been a pleasant stay even if I had been ill, we probably would have done more if I wasn't but you can't win them all.

One thing we have done is spend a few nights planning and booking things and we have booked tickets home. We will be flying back from Bali on the 20th September, mainly this is due to the fact you need onward travel to enter Indonesia. Booking flights home has been like a smack to the face by reality, talk of work, where we will live and what we will do have been on the agenda for the first time in several months. We obviously don't need to make all the decisions now but at some point we will need to. Travelling around means you make decisions about things much later and have a much more relaxed attitude. One day I will write a blog about what I think I have gained from doing a bit of travelling but not now, that seems too final for just yet!

On to Cherating next to see the turtles.

Malaysia (Cameron Highlands)

We got on the bus from Penang to Cameron Highlands and were both pleasantly suprised the bus was clean and with massive seats, instead of 2x2 seats in one row three extra large seats made for a comfortable journey.

The morning we set of from Panang I wasn't feeling great, this only got worse, the first day after an awful sleep I had developed a fever and flu like symptoms. The main reason I wanted to go was to sew the tea plantations and eacpae the heat for a few days.

Day one we had booked a tour of a local Mossy forest and to the see the tea plantations. The tour was great, we had a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide who showed us loads of cool things and was very informative. The Mossy forest is called that as at such high altitudes all the trees are covered in moss, this then works to trap the moisture and has a symbiotic relationship with the trees. As we walked around the forest, some of the scenes and backdrops looked like them had come from the set of The Hobbit or Jurassic Park, looking prehistoric and spooky. We encountered lots of forna and loads of bug eating plants, far more than we expected, some were very big indeed. We went on a short hike through the forest, as we went along stopping and the guide would point out plants and trees with medicinal properties or which are herbs. It was a great start to the day and things could only get better. We headed off the see one of the largest tea plantations, something I wanted to see. Upon arrival tea was everywhere, as far as you could see, on every hill and slope. He explained the tea likes the climant and strong UV rays it gets being so high up. We walked around and spoke about tea, surprisingly interesting, especially if you drink a lot of tea like me. After we headed to the tea factory and shop where we saw how it gets oxidized and turned into drinking tea then we got the chance to drink some. It was very good, even better as we had just seen it being grown and made.

We have only a 2 day stop here to see the tea plantations and then we head to Kuala Lumpur to see the capital of Malaysia.

Malaysia (Penang) - Georgetown

We decided to head straight to Malaysia after the full moon party as we only had a few days left on our visa which wasn't really enough time to see the west coast like we planned. Both of us were tired and wanted a change after island hoping for 11 days with the lads. They left us to go home and we need to get back into the travelling attitude, moving on every 3-4 days, slumming a bit and generally not being on holiday.

We had booked our tickets to Butterworth in Malaysia then we intended to catch a ferry to Penang for a few days. After catching the early ferry from Koh Phangan to the main land, we then got picked up by bus and driven to the bus station. We then got told to get in the back of this pickup truck to take us to the bus to drive us to Malaysia, we did as at this point we didn't suspect anything foul. We were driven to another travel agents where the bus was going to pick us up. On arrival the women firstly said we could pay a little extra and the bus would get on the ferry and take us to Georgetown, we did again pay as we had no reason not to believ her. After that she then said we needed to have 200RM per person to show to immigration in order to get our visa, alarm bells were ringing! She even offered to take us to the cash machine to get out Thai BHAT which she would then change at a very very poor exhange rate for malaysia dollar. We refused after confirming that this was bullshit. We were then told to get back in this car where they would take us to the bus, hold on firstly she said the bus was coming picking us up from here! We got in and were taken to another bus station, the bus we were supposed to get on was set to leave at 11:30am. We ended up not leaving until nearly 1pm and then had to change to another minibus after a few hours. What actually happened here is we were kidnapped to be scammed, we never ended up going to Butterworth and were drove straight to Panang, we never needed the 200RM pp for immigration, we missed our actual bus at 11:30, we then were driven around and passed between companies until we eventually arrived after nearly 17hrs of travel. Not a great way to start our Malaysia trip and definitely put a dampener on Thailand, it was one of the longest and stressful bits of travel we had done to date.

Malaysia straight away seemed ultra developed with great infrastructure and transport, something neither of us expected. Penang was pleasant and we stayed a total for 5 nights. Georgetown where we stayed offered lots to see and do and all with walking distance. I liked the fact it was a old British coloney, retaining some of old England and you could actually get a cup of English tea and fresh scones and jam which was amazing! Penang is said to be a place of food and it certainly is, on every corner small food stalls selling Malay, Indian, Chinese or a fusion of them all at cheap prices, mostly all delicious, however the curried octopus wasn't the best. We did a lot of touristy things, visiting Penang Hill via the tram, visiting the beach and butterfly garden, visiting fort Cornwallis and the museum, all in all a good few days.

We ate out at this local food court two nights, the court was surrounded by micro kitchens and food stalls. You get a table, walk round until you see something you like, order it, tell them you table and they bring it over within 5-10 mins. We tried several dishes in total, it ends up being a bit of a taster meal with several small dishes. We also visited little Indian which was underwhelming to be honest however the onion bhaji things we had for lunch that day from there were good. We ended up doing a lot of eating in Penang which makes sense as they say the main hobby for people from Penang is food. Next we head inland to Cameron Highlands to see some tea plantations.

Thailand (Bangkok -> Ko Samui -> Ko Phangan)

Eagerly awaiting the arrival of some of our friends, we sit outside the hotel they have booked and get a drink waiting for them to arrive. John, John and Andy have come out on holiday for two weeks and we plan on joining them for their comparatively small trip. We however are not staying in 4 star £80 a night hotel but are down the road in a nice clean guesthouse for £20 a night. I will refer to everything as a holiday as we weren't really travelling for these two weeks.

Bangkok is an interesting and bustling city similar to places we have visited like Saigon or Shanghai. The city seems multicultural and the stereotypes are true about ladyboys. The holiday got of to a boisterous start with the first night I ended up sleeping on their sofa and izzi on one of the beds in the lads hotel, waking up at 10am confused and dazed we had drank too much for sure. The good things is as the lads had booked a joining family room they got extra breakfast tokens so for the next three days me and izzi casually strolled through reception and into a 4 star buffet breakfast courtesy of the President Palace Bangkok, delicious it was too (even better as it was free!). That day we didn't do much other than sit by the pool and chillout. One of the main attractions was to go see some temples and then to go out down Khao San Road, a bustling party street known for ping pong shows and late night regrets. All together Bangkok was good although we didn't end up going to see a ping pong or ladyboy cabaret show which both of us said would have been interesting. We did manage to drag ourselves to one temple (while extremely hungover) which housed a ridiculously large reclining Buddha. 

Koh Samui is an island off the east coast of Thailand, used as a beach get away and a jumping point to the infamous Koh Phangan, full moon party. This time in Koh Samui we stayed with them and split the bill, racking up costs about 3 x what we would normally pay but we knew this would happen. We spent most days on the beach, water sports, drinking, reading and sunbathing being the main activities of choice. We went out to the main strip a few nights visiting many bars and even a strip club, quite an odd place, one street was lined with working girls and they literally would try and drag you in and garb you as you walked by. One night we went to see some Muay Thai fighting which was actually good fun, not that brutal until the last fight when someone got knocked out and bad way! Footbal golf was also good fun, however all of us were rubbish, and I actually won which is a surprise as am I totally useless at football.

Koh Phangan this mystical party island of the east coast of Thailand known for complete and uter debauchery where anything goes and the party is never too far away. Me and Iz had mixed opinions of what to expect from it, looking forward to the full moon but not sure what we would make of it. We have 5 nights here and plan to see some of the island as we've read its much nicer than where we are staying, haad rin bay (the party beach).  We rented a jeep one day, however it was more of a buggy on steroids and me and izzi sat in the pickup bit at the back, not the safest or the most comfortable and the ride was hair raising but we survived and managed to drive around to see several other areas which are definitely nicer and also beautiful. On the way back we stopped at a shooting range so John could shoot a gun, I wasn't that impressed with the range but the AK47 and M16 I shot in Cambodia and Vietnam felt a little more backstreet rustica style. We headed one night to Mellow mountain where they serve magic mushroom shakes, openly smoke ganja and playing really good music which turned in to a very funny night. We ended up sitting there and laughing, maybe offending some people, for several hours without realising, god knows why (um...?).

The fullmoon party was here, we dond our fluorescent gear and painted ourselves up, joining in with the kids, I say kids as sometimes we did feel a bit old. We headed down after consuming several buckets in the room, taking nothing but essentials as we hear it's easy to lose stuff. As you get closer to the beach the crowd starts to get thicker, the music louder with buckets on sale everywhere you can see. The beach is bonkers, packed with thousands of people all raving their tits off to some equally good and equally awful music. We wondered up and down stopping to take photos or to watch some fire rope skipping or juggling and to have a dance. After a while we got separated not by choice, I took John home as he was a goner, this was my biggest mastake. I ended up not finding them for nearly 2hrs 30mins. I had sobered up and they definitely weren't. After eventually finding them we got back on it and joined the party. The night was okay, in my opinion I have been to better parties and raves in the UK, probably not helped by me wondering around for hours trying to find them but still it was an experience. The next day was most definatly a write off for everyone, spent mostly doing nothing, occasionally stopping this to eat.

The next day they leave us to go home, sad and strange for us as we have a good few months left. We now plan to move further south into Malaysia and see what it holds for us.

Thailand (Kanchanaburi)

We headed straight to Kanchanaburi after a pretty awful and bad experience spending one night in Bangkok. The night we spent consistsed of walking around Chinatown trying to find somewhere clean to stay within our budget that wasn't infested with cockroaches or prostitutes. We believed it would be easy to find a place to stay around the train station but it wasn't!

We boarded the train to kanchanaburi which was full to the brim and all seats taken. The train was supposed to leave by 11 but as its Thai-time and after the guards decided to remove a carriage and squash everyone up into a small space, then realising and putting the carriage back on the train we didn't leave until gone 12ish. The train ride was fun and at one point we stopped as the rain was so torrential the track was flooded. As the train bobbed along, at one point it breaked suddenly and everyone who's window was open got covered in water which was funny (people soon closed up their windows after that!).

On arrival we checked into our guesthouse, a clean old fashioned looking room with a/c private shower and bathroom, however the toilet had manual flush consisting of a large bucket of water and a jug. It sounds awful but it really wasn't that bad. We have experienced these before but not had one to ourselves before! There were also several cats & dogs which appeared to live at the guesthouse. Two of the cats would occasionally meow at our door until we would let them in, they were very friendly. 

The town is small and easy to get around, a main street runs through most of the places we will need and it seemed to be popular with backpackers as well as a few crusty old expats drinking in bars from morning until late. Compared to Bangkok it was cheap and comfortable.

We have a few things to see and do including exploring the town and visiting the bridge over the river kwai, where the classic film is based and is one of the reasons it is famous and popular to visit. On our visit to the bridge we saw a man sleeping with a leopard with another baby leopard in a very small cage. He was trying to raise money for the nearby safari park - very unethical if you ask us. The death railway was started here by Japan and built during the 2nd world war, killing hundreds of thousands of POW to get it finished. Historically very interesting and the war museum we visited was very good and provided much detail and insight into the murky and gruesome past of the death railway. Outside the museum there was a large lizard baking in the midday heat. We're not sure if he was a wild lizard or belonged to someone at their museum but he was interesting all the same. 

We had only planned to stay two nights but actually found it very pleasant and also got word of some amazing water falls nearby so decided to stay another night. Every evening we played pool and had a few beers, the bars were cheap and the beer cold.

We caught a bus to the waterfalls about an hour away, famed as the best in Thailand. The bus was packed and sweaty but manageable. The waterfalls were really nice. In total seven levels of waterfall cascaded down the mountain which was right in the middle of a national park and nature had been left alone leaving dense jungle all-around. We only went to the first 5 levels. At each level were pools you could swim in, waterfalls and hundreds of fish of varying size which would start nibbling on you as soon as you jumped in, a bit like the things in England where you put your feet in, 'happy feet', although much big fish and quite unnerving when they start chomping all over your body. The bus back was probably very dangerous and quite an experience. The bus slowly started filling up and we realised we would be standing. In total there was 25 people sitting, 27 people stood up! To say the bus was overloaded would be an under statement, at one point four people were considering getting on the roof which wisely the driver said no and further squashed them on the bus. I couldn't even stand up and the trip home was very uncomfortable, thankfully we got home safely.

We booked on a minibus to Bangkok to go meet our friends and made sure we booked somewhere nice and in a better area than our first trip.