Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia!

Its been ages since my last post and I have traveled through 3 countries during that time. I left the Malaysian Rainforest and headed to the Cameron Highlands which was much colder than it has been in the last two months because it was so high. I went trekking in the jungle and found a Rafflesia flower which is the biggest in the world and we also went to the tea plantations and to a tea factory. I was in heaven!

From there I went to Georgetown near the Thai border and spent a few days exploring the city on a motorbike, played the trumpet with a guitarist friend in the markets and found time to try lots of different foods, such as stingray, frog, cuttlefish, grasshoppers and scorpion... Not that I would really recommend any of them! 

From Malaysia I crossed the border into Thailand and after a few days on the mainland I took a boat to the island of Ko Phi Phi to meet some friends that I had met in other countries. It is a tiny island where the film 'The Beach' was shot. It has so many white beaches and is good for snorkeling and relaxing. The sea was so warm that we couldn't stay in for long and had to get out and sit in the shade! We had a bamboo hut on the beach and I spent most of my time swimming in the sea, reading in my hammock or out on a boat that you could rent to go snorkeling on the reefs

Whilst I was on the island I got up early one morning and rented a kayak. I paddled out to the headland and then across the bay to the opposite side. When I was half way across a huge fin popped up out of the water beside me and started circling the kayak. I was more than a little scared to put it politely so I paddled rather quickly to the cliffs... not that I could have outpaced a shark but there's not really a lot else you can do! Anyway, after a while it lost interest and swam away, but it was certainly an experience to provide an interesting anecdote at dinner parties! 

After a week on Ko Phi Phi I took the night bus to Bangkok and spent a couple of days at the markets, museums and temples before flying home for the weekend for a friends wedding. After 3 amazing days with friends and family I flew back into Bangkok and spent a couple more days with an old school friend exploring the city and more temples. It was great to be in Bangkok but its not somewhere you want to spend too long because its so hectic and loud. There is a lot of interesting culture there though - not all of it is high class! 

From Thailand I caught the bus into Cambodia and finally arrived in Siem Reap. Because it is the rainy season the fields and villages are all flooded and we are having to wade through the water to get to the market. It rains hard at about 4pm each day for about an hour during which time you have to be inside because the rain is so strong that it is painful! 

Today we got up at 4am and took a tuktuk to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat which is the biggest religious site in the world (248 square miles). Obviously we didn't look at the whole of it, but we explored many of the most famous temples, including the one where Tomb Raider was filmed. Whilst Angelina Jolie wasn't actually there today the site was so impressive and great fun to explore. 

Tomorrow we are going by boat to visit a floating village and market on a nearby lake (though all the villages seem to be floating at the moment due to the floods!) and then in a few days to the capital Pnomh Penh. I have until the end of the month to travel through Vietnam, Laos and back through Northern Thailand to Bangkok ready for a flight to Myanmar (Burma) which has only recently opened up to tourists. More in a couple of weeks! 

Java, Sumatra, Singapore and Malaysia

It has been a really busy few weeks. After Bali I headed through the island of Java and visited temples and went into the capital Jakarta.

I went to the Buddhist temple called Borabudur and a family said 'You're a Buddhist - can we have our photo taken with you?' I replied that I wasn't a Buddhist, I just have no hair, but they insisted that I was and took the photo. Then I had exactly the same conversation with the next family who also had their photo taken with me. I stopped counting after being asked 30 times... It was funny for a while!

 

From there I flew to Sumatra which is full of mountains and jungle. We then travelled for 20 hours on an old bus to a huge lake called Lake Toba. 

In the lake is an island called Samosir which is 30 miles across. We stayed there for 5 days and there was very little to do except relax. During this time we lived in a traditional old house and rented scooters to see the island. Every day it was hot in the mornings and then about 3pm it would rain so hard that it would hurt if it landed on you. 

From there I took a bus and a plane to Singapore and loved it. It was so different to stay somewhere so modern that its like living in the future after being in such a poor country for so long! After 3 days exploring Chinatown and Little India we took the train to Kuala Lumpur which was also great and had a lot to do. 
 

In the photo are the Petronas Towers which I have always wanted to see since they were built.
 

We are now in the Malaysian rainforest at the moment. We got a traditional canoe down the river to a little village and are staying in a small chalet. Its so humid and apparently the temperature is 45 degrees! We had to swim in the river to cool down. Loads of fish but no crocodiles! We have been to a rope bridge through the jungle canopy. Its the biggest in the world and you can look down on the rainforest but its so high that you can't see the ground!

From here I am going to head off on my own to the Cameron highlands where it is a lot cooler. That's where all the tea plantations are on the mountains and you can stay in the plantation owners houses and then from there into Thailand. 

Still on Bali

Hi all, sorry for the lack of content recently. I lost the cable to put pictures on here from my camera so was going to wait, but there are no computer shops here to buy a new one.

The last week has been very busy. We went from Bali over to the Gili islands which involved 2 ferries, 2 busses and a taxi. They are a group of tiny islands off the coast of Lombok. Whilst we were there we went snorkeling And saw all sorts of brightly coloured fish and some turtles too (photos as proof!)

And we also rented canoes to go to the smaller deserted islands with white sand, clear water and palm trees. It was perfect. After 4 days of this we headed back to Bali and to the cultural capital Ubud. Here I stayed for 3 nights in the king's palace which was incredibly luxurious. There was even hot water!

Each evening there was a gamelan performance which is traditional in Bali. It was really interesting, but I can't say that the music was particularly pleasant to my ears being so discordant!

Whilst I was in Ubud I bumped into some friends I had made on the Gili islands and we decided to rent scooters and travel all around the island seeing the sights.

The roads and really bumpy and we have to keep stopping to ask for directions in sign language. As we ride by houses the children run out and wave at us. We feel like celebrities! So far we have been up a volcano, seen huge, beautiful golden temples and jungle waterfalls. By this evening we should be in Amed on the coast to do more snorkeling and relax after a few days riding. We should be back in Ubud by the 14th to return the scooters and then I will head over to Java.

First Few days

Arrived safely in Bali on the 1st after 30 hours of travelling. The first night I spent time getting to know other people in the hostel and planning what to do the next day. We got up early and travelled towards the centre of Bali to the forest where there were loads of monkeys living in the old temples. We took along bananas and the monkeys were very interested! We quickly became covered in monkeys of all sizes trying to get them from us - the babies were fine but some of them were huge! 

At the moment I'm on the island of Gili Trawangen just off Lokbok in Indonesia. Yesterday we left Bali at 5am and took 2 busses to Pedang bay before getting a ferry to Lombok and then a bus through the jungle road to the other coast. After a wait on the beach a small boatbcame along and we travelled over to Gili Trawangen. It is a very small island surrounded by a coral reef and white beaches. There are no vehicles on the island and the houses are more like huts with thatched or tin rooves. Today we hired gear and went snorkelling. The water was so warm and clear and there were so many fish with amazing colours. We are now just chilling out next to our hut and listening to the calls and singing from the temple near us! Tomorrow maybe more snorkelling to try to see the turtles that are common on the reefs or maybe hiring surf boards...

All set!!!

Final night in the UK with family and friends and the last of a bottle of decent single malt! All set and ready to go - bag packed with less than a quarter of the stuff I had intended to take but at least it's not too bulky and heavy! Heading to Indonesia for a month of island hopping first then over to Malaysia and Thailand before coming home for 3 days from Bangkok for Wez and Erica's wedding at the end of September - some things are more important than money (and it's OK if you have loads of credit cards! - it's not real money is it!?!)

Time for bed ready for an early start tomorrow - not sure how I'm going to last 24 hours on a plane - I can't even sit still through a movie! 

Nearly time

Starting to move out of my house, 2 more days of school left and 10 days until I leave. I'm going to be sad to leave the children and my and family but I'm looking forward to experiencing the world and not working for the next 13 months.

First stop Bali in Indonesia for a month island-hopping. Staying at the royal palace. Check it out

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=puri+saren+agung&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=xFLsUevqLdOwhAeg44CoBw&ved=0CDkQsAQ&biw=600&bih=904


have all the stuff I need... In fact I have too much stuff and need to work out what I can leave behind.

10 days and so much to do!!!!