Gem and Stu’s World Tour

After sadly saying goodbye to lovely Luang Phrabang we got picked up from our guesthouse to head for Vang Vieng (VV). Not learning the lesson from getting a ‘tour’ to places we had booked a transfer from our guesthouse to VV - I was pleased that we got a nice seat on a mini bus but was very much upset when we got to a mini bus centre, 10 mins later, and had to change buses. These were uncomfortable and (again) we were all rammed in. The only plus side is we had some cool people in the bus to chat to and reminice about Newcastle (they were from Low Fell)!

Anyway, Stu was stuck next to Barry Owens and a couple that insisted on kissing each other at regular intervals so he thoroughly enjoyed the 5 hour mini bus journey which was also at a worringly high speed.

We arrived in VV safely but were shocked to find that the “spectacular natural playground” (Rough Guide, 2005) was in fact a built up town with no character. We managed to find an guesthouse that overlooked the river and was quite comfy and had a cute pet pig. We had a few beers with the people from the mini bus that night and the man from the ‘bucket bar’ kept plying us with free drink - Adam was very sorry about this when he felt rather ‘ill’!

We did give VV a chance but we just felt we did not fit in there - think drunk brittish teenagers shouting alot, where the greatest cultural activity was sitting in one of the many bars showing endless episodes of Friends. We did partake in the tubing (getting on a inflated tractor tube and floating down the river stopping off at bars along the way - they just pull you into the bars from the water). This was fun but I had my sensible head on (I know this does not happen often) and did not drink too much as the river was actually very full and the currents strong.

The day after the tubing we decided enough was enough and booked ourselves onto a bus to Vientiene to see Rachel!

What a lovely place Luang Phabang is (that is probably why it is a UNESCO World Heritage City)! Our 1st day there we made very good use of the coffee shops and had a lovely relaxed breakfast with some decent toasted bread (we are easily pleased) - Stu’s eyes also glistened with delight at the smell of fresh coffee!

The main thing about Luang Phabang is that it is so chilled out and so pretty (but it also has the positives of chicken baguettes and Beer Laos on every corner). We spent most of our 3 days here wandering around the lovely craft shops (Adam managed to get a fab original painting for a really good price), going to the night market (again, Adam bought lots of stuff - even a very tasteful pink Beer Laos t-shirt - but I managed to hold back on the cushion covers), visiting waterfalls and Watts. The Watts were really nice and a lot older than Thai ones. We did not see all of the Watts in Luang Phabang (nor did we want to) but they were definitely our favourite. There were also a lot of friendly monks to chat to at the Watts.

On the 2nd day we also visited Kuang Si Falls which is quite spectacular. Parts of it were just like a swimming pool in a posh hotel and the colour of the water was amazing. We climbed to the top and then had a swim in the pools at the bottom which were very refreshing!

Alongside stuffing our face with cake and coffee we also managed to sample some of the local delights in Luang Phabang (in desirable order): Luang Phabang sausage, stuffed bamboo, Laap, Wine Laos (not to be repeated) and Adam bravely took on the whiskey that had been preserving snakes and scorpions for sometime!

We were sad to leave Chaing Mai as it was such a fab place, but after a leisurely last morning in Chiang Mai we reluctantly pilled onto the smallest mini bus filled with backpackers. We had paid for a ‘trip’ to take us to the Thailand boarder at Chaing Khong, transport us across and get us into a slow boat on the other side. However, after squeezing onto the mini bus we relalised suddenly this may have been a mistake and we should have just sorted it out ourselves. There were some ‘characters’ on the bus who made us laugh in a ‘I’m so glad I’m not you’ sort of way and the journey itself was fine. We arrived at a guesthouse in Chaing Khong and were pleased to find that we were not sharing dorms and had our own room. After dinner we sat on the verandah of the resturant and consummed some Chang Beers.

The next morning I felt dreadful! Chang Beer is very strong and it was not agreeing with me at all. Anyway, we got up early, in time for when we were told we were being picked up and taken across the border. Only to be left waiting. Eventually, we got to the border and got our stamp into Laos with no problems at all (apart from Adam being shouted at by the man sorting our visas). Being in a ‘group’ ment that we were waiting around a lot of the morning - something that was annoying Adam and Stu (a lot) - but eventually we rocked on up to our long boat. It was a old thing and seemed to be crammed with people (but we had yet to get on)! We managed to get a seat (allbeit hard and wooden) and settelled down to our relaxing journey.

The joureney down the Mekong was really nice and chilled out. Our bottoms were sore by the end of the day but we saw lovely views from the river and got to see the rural Laos.

On arrival at Pakbeng (our overnight stop on the journey) we got to our accomodation - it was listed in the guidebook as one of the ‘better’ places to stay (however, I would have dreaded to see the less desirable and cheaper guesthouses). We did try to make light of the situation and say it was fine but me and Stu realised it was the worst place we had stayed on our trip thus far (thank god that we had our own (clean) sleeping sheets)! However, it must be said the relaxing drink overlooking the Mekong made up for the accomodation.

We got up very early the next morning and hotfooted it down to the boat to get a good seat. All of the comfy seats were taken so we ended up on a hard seat again. More of the same on the 2nd day of the journey (apart from a bit of rain and everyone a bit more subdued today). 

After 7 hours on the boat we arrived at Luang Phrabang. What a lovely relaxed town. We managed to get a really nice room in a colonial style guesthouse (with a hot shower - luxury). More beer and a dinner on the riverfront recouperated us after the long journey!

If we thought that five months was not enough time to adequately do the whole of South East Asia, then Adam was soon in for a shock when we sat down to plan our 4 weeks together. He came with a list of places he wanted to see while he was here and, unfortunately, we had to unceremoniously tear up his plans. Gem and I had learned from experience that travelling anywhere takes up a day and if you only spend a day in each place, you are soon going to be worn out. Add the fact that our budget doesn’t extend to taking too many flights (especially on monopoly run routes) and it became clear that we were going to struggle to fit everything in. Plan C had us heading north to Chiang Mai, spending a few days there and then hopping over the border to Laos - this gave us the option to fit the most important things for each of us in, without doing the worst bus journey on the planet (Bangkok to Siem Reap).

So, on Sunday morning, we got the early train from Bangkok. We were quite amused when the national anthem sounded at 8.00 and everybody stood up (they are a very loyal bunch the Thais). The journey itself was fine - not as comfortable as the sleeper train but reasonable enough, although it was a couple of hours delayed and we didn’t get into town until 20.30. Adam was a little worried that we had booked him into a guesthouse that only cost $4 (the green tulip) but it was a lovely little place, possibly one of the best we have stayed in. Very new and clean, away from the busier end of town where all the other backpacker-type places are. It also had a lovely little roof garden to chill out on with a beer or two (from which we saw some bizarre flying lights one evening - unfortunately rationalism kicked in and we guessed they must have been some sort of mini hot-air balloons sent from the airport but it would have been much more fun to think they were ufos).

Our second day in Chiang Mai, we signed up to do a little trek - this wasn’t a proper 3-day hike through the jungle mind (I was outvoted on that one), more of a day long excursion involving a small trek, an elephant ride and white-water and bamboo rafting. Surprisingly, the elephant ride was the highlight of the day; we spent an hour trundling along and then back through the river. Ours had a little baby with it which was quite cute… The hiking was a bit of a joke, five minute stroll to a small waterfall, where we all went for a swim and the rafting was quite fun, although you could encounter more dangerous rapids in your bath-tub (and our bamboo raft was overladen and sunk)!

The next day we did a Thai cookery course (with these guys), which was a whole lot of fun. There was only the three of us doing it; first of all, we were taken to a local market and our chef told us bout all the different ingredients that are used in Thai cookery, then he took us to his house and we spent the day cooking and eating lots of lovely food :o)

We started with with some spring rolls and hot and sour soup (gem did the coconut one), then made a stir-fry each with a papaya salad, and finished with green/red curry followed by mango and stickey rice. Half way through the guy’s wife taught us to carve vegetables which, needles to say gem enjoyed more (and was better at) than adam and myself!!

We really enjoyed Chiang Mai, it is a lovely and relaxed town. It is still a pretty big city but does not have the hectic feel of Bangkok. It was a shame we couldn’t stay longer and explore a bit more but we were on a much tighter schedule with Adam around, so the following day we started our epic journey into Laos…

Moving on from our luxury accommodation, we met Adam at our new hotel - Siam II; for a budget place, this was actually pretty good - it even had a pool. Adam had flown all the way from Canada and was pretty tired but we managed to persuade him to have a few beers with us! Unfortunately we got a bit carried away with having a friend with us on our trip and had a very late night in the khaosan area (and managed to pick up a random American)!

We had waited until Adam joined us to do the main sights of Bangkok (so we did not have to do them twice). The Grand Palace in Bangkok is really spectacular (especially as we had not seen any Wats yet) but very busy indeed. It was also really unbearably hot when we went there - especially as you have to make sure your shoulders and knees are covered! Luckily we were able to go and swim in the pool at the hotel to cool down.

The day after, we were not as hungover, so could put up a better attempt at exploring. My favourite part of Bangkok was chartering our own boat (which was big enough to fit about 20 people) and going through the canals. It was amazing to see all the houses on the water (some of which were nearly falling into the water) and different parts of Bangkok.

The reclining Buddah was also fab and HUGE! And after visiting another Wat (largest solid gold buddha) in the Chinatown part of the city we did start to feel a bit ‘watted’ out. The market in China town was worth a look though and I loved the flower market - i could not belive that they were selling about 2 dozen red roses for 40 baht (about 70 pence)!

Shopping on the Kho San Road was also fun - I got very excited indeed when I saw ‘Boots’……but after about an hour it becomes a bit ‘too much” - it is full of the worst example of backpackers (who we are steadily becomming to detest); self-righteous, drunk europeans and north american with no concept of where they are and how their actions might be perceived, (not to mention their aversion to soap!!)!

I think after a week in Bangkok it was time to move on. Everything is quite a hassle no taxi drivers want to take you anywhere with their meter on, people tell you places are closed and then when tuk tuk drivers do want to take you somewhere they insist on taking you to a tailors enroute……grrrr! However, the massive shopping malls are nice and there is some lovely stuff to buy at the markets. I suppose it is just another big city - once you have seen the sights, then it is time to move somewhere more pleasant. Next on our list was Chiang Mai.

We finally dragged ourselves away from Vincent’s Hostel in KK and got the early flight to Penang. We didn’t really have any plans for Penang, just that it was the most northern destination Air Asia fly to from KK and we knew we had to meet up with Adam in Bangkok. We didn’t venture too far around the island (the beaches aren’t anything special compared to what we have been treated to) and so just explored Georgetown for a couple of days and ate lots of excellent curry; there are loads of Indians in Penang and every other restaurant sells very tasty tandoori and naan.

We had a couple of days to kill before we were due in Bangkok. With not enough time to do Southern Thailand justice, especially as we would want to get out to the islands, we thought we might go to Kanchanaburi to see the bridge over the river Kwai. But then Adam thought that would be cool to see too when he gets here so we just went straight to Bangkok instead (although when it came to it, we did not have time to do it while Adam is here so we might have to fit it in later, anyway). Overnight trains are now our new preferred mode of transport - much more relaxing than the bus; you get loads of room, can wander about, take a pack lunch (chicken rice) and then in the evening a guy comes around and turns you seat into a bed and you can sleep for most of the journey :o). Easiest 20 hours travelling we have ever done - especially when you have season 1 of Heroes loaded onto your Zen…

Our first two nights in Bankgok we stayed in a guesthouse downtown and went to Chatachuk Market with Im (my Thai friend from Newcastle Uni). It was nice to see her again and the market is indescribably enormous and a lot more upmarket than we were expecting - it certainly wasn’t a local craft market. We managed to pick up a few thing and had some excellent food (which we would never have know what it was if it weren’t for Im).

The next couple of days was a little treat we had booked for ourselves a little while ago (when we were feeling a bit tired and homesick). 2 nights in a nice 4* boutique hotel, the Siam heritage. 4* hotels aren’t all that exciting - it is still a bed and bathroom but when you have spent two months camping, then two months in hostels and budget guesthouses, then a nice hotel is absolute luxury (at them moment hot water is a luxury so we are easily pleased). Gem got her hair done, but apart from that, we spent two days relaxing by the pool and hardly left the building (and of course taking full advantage of their excellent buffet breakfast.

It was quite amusing for the taxi driver to take us from here to our hostel in the cheaper part of town… (a little note on Bangkok taxi drivers - it usually takes 4 attempts to catch one, the first guy wanted to charge us 400 baht, the second, a tuk-tuk, wanted 200, the third refused to take us and told us to get a boat; when we finally got a taxi to turn his meter on it only cost us 80 baht including tip - bloody con-merchants the lot of them (and don’t get me started on the official tourist office of Thailand!!))

We spent a couple more days than intended in Kota Kinabalu - we were staying in a nice, relaxed hostel, with some other cool people (a couple of Irish girls and an English lad who had also just arrived in Borneo). It was also a bank holiday weekend so places were pretty full up. We were also a bit lazy and let the guy who ran the hostel sort out all our bookings for us - he was pretty clued in but was enjoying his bank holiday weekend a bit much…

Any way, we spent a few days in KK; relaxing (and drinking) in the hostel; we went to the Harvest festival - traditional costumes, food, rice wine…; and then on Sunday went on a day trip down to the Padas river for some white water rafting. They drove us down to the river and then we did the last leg of the journey on a bizarre train-carriage type contraption; basically a palate on wheels, pushed by a local with a pole (this was a lot of fun). They weren’t the most adrenaline packed rapids, but it was a fun day nonetheless - we spent a suitable amount of time in the water but this was mainly self inflicted (the quieter stretches turned more into games of pirate ships than rafting).

Another day off on Monday and then on Tuesday, we started our trip proper for Borneo. We got the bus over to Sepilok, just outside Sandakan and spent the night at Sepilok Jungle Resort - a pretty basic place but it was right next to the Orang Utan rehabilitation centre. We went into the centre that afternoon for the feeding time - they feed semi-wild orang utans that they are trying to rehabilitate to fend for themselves, it is all very zoo-like but you do get a chance to see these lovely animals close up.

The next morning we went down to the Kinabatangan Nature Lodge for a three day/two night trip in the jungle. We had been booked into Uncle Tan’s, which is in all the guide books, but by all accounts the accommodation is a bit dodgy, so had to cancel that. Any way, while there we were taken on evening and early morning boat cruises to see all the primates in the trees by the river (macaques, probiscus monkeys and even wild orang utans) and even some pretty big crocs. We also went on some walks into the jungle (very muddy with some naughty leeches) which were pretty cool but didn’t see as much wildlife - this was not helped by the fact that our guide for the first night walk was blind drunk, had two flashlights that didn’t work, got lost and nearly lost an eye by walking into a tree!!!!

While there we also went out to the Gomantong caves. While this was quite impressive (apart from the bat poo and cockroaches, all over the floor which was very smelly and slippy) , it also summed up alot of what we have come across so far with Asian tourism (well Malaysia and Philippines anyway). It wasn’t cheap to get in and they had opened up a whole cave system, but the paths and walkways were so badly maintained as to be impassible and we could only get into the first cave. We came away feeling slightly underwhelmed.

From there we went down to Semporna. This was not the nicest bus ride we have taken - the driver was nice enough to stop for us but told us if we wanted to get on, we would have to sit in the isle as there were no seats. It was either this or wait 4 hours for the afternoon bus, with no guarantee of a seat, so we sat, instead for 4 hours on the hard floor of a rather bumpy bus - I say we, but some nice man from Afghanistanm was kind enough to give up his seat for Gemma for a couple of those hours. My arse was literally sore for days…

But it was worth it. Semporna itself is a total dump (sometimes nicknamed Kabul), but it is the launch point for Sipidan, where you find some of the best diving conditions in the world. You are no longer alowed to stay on the island of Sipidan as they have turned it into a conservation site. The only people who stay there are the army coast guards who are there to protect tourists from Filipino pirates!

We only spent one full day there - the diving is pretty expensive but it would have been rude not to do at least some - and it was amazing. We did three dives in the day and lost count of the number of giant turtles we saw. It is a unique place to dive because it is an oceanic island so the coral shelf drops hundreds of metres to the sea-bed. Not only turtles, there are also loads of cool fish and sharks - although we were not keen to get too close to the grey reef shark after our divemaster made a sign signifying biting neck!!!!

Not wanting to hang around Semporna for too long, we have now come back up to KK and plan to relax for a bit before we fly off to Penang on Tuesday. It has been raining quite alot here the past couple of days so I don’t think we are going to do too much more exciting things; think we have done quite enough for one week…

We flew into Manila (the proper airport this time) because we wanted to see a bit of north Luzon. As, usual, we arrived later than expected without any accommodation booked but we managed to get something sorted for a couple of nights (first a bit ropey and a very rude man, second much better). We were staying downtown in an area called Ermita, which is quite lively - constantly you have people coming up to you offering to sell you something or other (usually cigarettes or tricycle rides but also more exotic things) and lots of children begging. The beer was so cheap they might as well have given it away free and we eat at an excellent seafood market - you pick which fish you want and how you want it cooked and then they go and take it to the chef. A couple of days in Manila, however, was more than our senses could take and we glad to get out of the city.

The journey north involved a nine hour overnight bus journey. I’m not a great sleeper at the best of times so overnight bus journeys are not my favourite mode of transport however this one was made slightly worse in that two and a half hours into our journey, I looked out the window and we were exactly where we started. Apparently another bus had broken down and ours was expected to take its passengers on route to our destination!!! Anyway, we arrived in Banaue about 8 o’clock, a bit tired but not too far behind schedule. We jumped into a tricycle (our new favourite mode of transport) to our hotel and, surprise, surprise, the driver was also a tour guide so we signed up to a trek through the rice terraces.

Banaue is famous for its ancient rice terraces - these terraces were constructed about 2,000 years ago and are pretty impressive - I always thought they were cut into the mountain, but they are actually built onto them with clay. Anyway, this was the main reason for us to travel up there. We had wanted to see more of the area but didn’t give ourselves enough time without rushing around and risking missing our flight. So we were quite happy to spend a few days just in this town. It was really lovely and peaceful place - relaxed and with cool, clean mountain air; a world away from Manila.

On monday morning, our guide Charles, picked us up in his tricycle and took us up to the viewpoint, from where we commenced our three hour hike. Charles knew his stuff - his family had their own terrace so he could tell us all about how they work - family ownership, how rice is cultivated etc. It wasn’t too taxing, just lots of steps, and there were lots of lovely views.

We spent just a second night in Banaue and then caught the night bus back down to Manila. This time we arrived at four in the morning and managed to get another bus up to Angeles for Clark airport. Manila was just as busy at that time as it was during the day. Our flight wasn’t until 16:45 but we were too tired to do too much else apart from wait in the airport but you can’t even get into Clark airport until you check in so we resorted to sitting/sleeping on the chairs outside.

We have now arrived in Kota Kinabalu and are very excited about our next two weeks in Borneo - just waiting now for the hostel guy to finish what he is doing so we can organise some tours…

An epic journey began at 4.30 on the 8th May with a taxi to KL (LCCT) Airport. A plane, two busses, taxi, another plane, minibus, ferry and tricycle later we were in a resort on Boracay - 9 different vehicles and we still had time for a couple of happy hour beers before dinner! It wasn’t the most fun day but everything went surprisingly smoothly considering how little we had booked in advance. The flight into Manila (Clark) was all we had arranged. As with low-cost airlines around the world, Air Asia’s concept of Manila is in fact two hours from the city. We arrived too late to catch a connecting flight from Clark airport so we got a bus (or two) into the city and caught a taxi to the main airport in the hope of getting a flight somewhere nice. There was a flight leaving for Caticlan (Boracay) in 45 minutes, so with a mad dash, we got onto the smallest plane we have ever been on, bound for the smallest airport imaginable. Caticlan Airport was only a couple of minutes from the port, where we jumped on a rickety old boat (banca) to the island. It was only five o’clock, so we weren’t too worried about finding somewhere to stay but, as usual, there was somebody at the arrival port offering to take us to a resort that had a “good price”. To be fair, the one she took us to was fine and we happily stayed there the first night - it is often just easier to get a bed for the night and worry about the rest of the week later.

Boracay is an interesting island. It is undoubtedly beautiful and has the most amazing white sand beach. It is little surprise that it is The Philippines most popular tourist resort. I wasn’t expecting too much before we went - I just figured it would be all a bit too touristy but we were happy for somewhere to relax for a week. It was very touristy, there wasn’t a patch on the beach front that had not been developed for something but it wasn’t over-bearing. There was no high-rise buildings, the restaurants were all decent enough and the bars were actually quite nice - nothing too tacky. And the diving was exquisite!! We didn’t do much else for the week apart from sit under palm trees on the beach, drink cheap San Miguel (Pale Pilsen is so much nicer than the stuff they sell in the UK) and eat seafood. When it got cloudy towards the end of the week, we just did a bit of diving. However those clouds turned into a little more as the tail end of a cyclone lashed the island. Luckily, we only had one really bad day of this and even more luckily it had mostly cleared by the time we were due to sail and fly to Cebu.

For our second week in the Philippines (you get to stay three weeks without needing a visa), we particularly wanted to go to Malapascua, a small island on the northern tip of Cebu. It is touted as being the next Boracay because it has an equally beautiful beach and excellent diving, but as yet is fairly undeveloped. Our journey there was not, however, as problem free as our last. The flight and everything were fine (Caticlan Airport may only be little more than a bus shelter but our carrier, Asian Spirit, have their own departure lounge which is a nice little restaurant next door).

At Cebu airport, we realised we would be cutting it a bit fine to get to Malapascua that day (a 4 hour bus ride, about 4 hours before the last ferry) so stopped in Cebu city for the night. At first, we thought this might be a good opportunity to see another city but downtown Cebu is not a particularly nice place. Our hotel was decent enough (basically a travel lodge) but we had a wander around town, going to all the sites in the guide book, which took about 20 minutes… we gave up with that and went to find a bar and somewhere to have dinner but there was nothing so we ended up just eating at the hotel. To make matters worse they were showing GOAL on TV, and all the shots of Newcastle made us a bit homesick

Anyway, a day later than hoped, we got the bus up to Maya, where we were to hop over to Malapascua. I say we got the bus but I very nearly didn’t. I asked one of the ticket men what time our bus left to be told it was going at 8.30. This gave me a good ten minutes to grab a healthy breakfast from Dunkin’ Donuts, leaving Gem looking after the bags on the bus. Of course, the bus driver decided to go when he was good and ready and a frantic Gemma, followed by conductor, ran round the corner telling me that the bus was leaving. Grabbed my coffee and legged it full speed to jump on a moving bus as it pulled away from the terminal. Then to play on Gem’s frayed nerves, the driver, spent the next four hours overtaking everything, playing music at full volume and blaring his horn at every given opportunity.

We did eventually make it to the island and were not disappointed. We stayed the first couple of nights in a fairly basic hut (the island only has electricity for a few hours in the evening) and then moved to Exotic Dive Resort. They gave us a good deal on the room as we promised to do some diving with them. It was clearly the nicest place on the island - the best bit of beach, their own generator and a nice restaurant (they also did a very nice 2-4-1 Caipirina during happy hour).

The diving there is all about thresher sharks. Unfortunately because that dive site was at a depth of 25m, they wouldn’t take us because we were only Open Water certified (up to 18m). This was a bit of a pain because other places have happily taken us to that depth no bother. But we did do a couple of other dives which were pretty nice (although not as good as Tioman or Boracay).

Another lazy week with little exciting things to write about - when you are on a beautiful tropical island what do you do but sunbathe, swim, read, eat and go diving? I did go for a walk around the island one day and everyone I met was insistent that they take me to a cock-fight (even offered me to enter a bird for 100 pesos). Needless to say I politely declined!

Thankfully the drive back was much less stressful, with a suitably calm bus driver. We also met a couple from Bristol who new Anna Jones, which was quite a coincidence.

(and now we are properly up to date with our blog took us a while but we got there. We are in Manila now and are catching a night bus this evening to Banaue to see some rice terraces…)

Having to leave Tioman early gave us a chance to spend a couple of days in Southern Malaysia, so we caught the first ferry off the island with the hope of catching a bus from Mersing to Melaka, where we had booked a couple of nights accommodation.

Unfortunately, the buses were all full till about 5.30 in the evening, which was far from ideal as it was a 6 hour journey. This is where some “helpful” local intervened and stated to tell us to get on another bus bound for Kluang, where we would be able to catch a connecting bus. Not that I am inherently skeptical (cough!) but I was a little cautious about some random telling me to get on a bus bound for a destination I had never heard of. He thought I was stupid and didn’t understand him when I insisted on talking to the driver and another couple about our chances of picking up a connection but it turned out that he was right and just looking for a tip. We did manage to change in Kluang and did manage to get to Melaka in good time. However we then got hopelessly lost looking for our hostel trying to follow a very vague map. After about an hour of walking in totally the wrong direction, we gave up and got a cab that cost us more that our 6 hours on the bus. Oh well, it was still only a couple of quid

The hostel in Melaka was pretty decent - the friendliest manager possible - and it was right next to chinatown, where we immediately headed for a few beers and some food. The beers had to be cut short because they were so damned expensive (over twice the price of tax-free Tioman) but we made up for it in food. The food was so cheap, we ended up ordering far too much because we thought they must be really small plates. Chinatown in Melaka was hilarious! Over the weekend, they close off the streets to cars and set up loads of stalls, selling all kinds of unimaginable things. They also have karaoke stalls everywhere (on the street, in temples and even a big stage in the main square!)

The next day, we went for an explore of the city and god, was it a hot day - we were just about coming to terms with the humidity of Asia but for the last week or so we had a cool sea breeze to help us. Melaka is an interesting city, there is much evidence of Dutch and Portuguese colonialism but it is also very clean and modern (we have a habit of seeking out air-con shopping malls and their food courts at lunch time). We went to a couple of museums - one old historical town house and one on “enduring beauty”, which showed all manner of ways different cultures have adorned and deformed their bodies in the name of cultural allegiance and beauty. It was a bit chaotically organised but interesting nonetheless.

After some fabulous dim sung for breakfast, on Sunday morning we headed up to Kuala Lumpur (and managed to find the hostel without getting lost). Again, we were staying near chinatown, which in KL is an experience in itself - whatever kind of knocked off watches/dvd/sunglasses you could ask for, would be thrust in your face as you walked past. We had four days in KL, which gave us a chance to catch up on things - we spent most of the first day in the internet cafe (much of which was Gemma struggling to convince Air NZ to change our flights). KL is a nice modern city - lots of good shopping and restaurants. It is also visually impressive, with the Petronas Towers and the Golden Triangle mingling pleasantly with ancient mosques and temples and some well kept gardens. One of the days, we did get the bus out of town to visit the Batu Caves - a Hindu Temple carved into the rock. This was fairly underwhelming (and smelly) and we caught the same bus back 45 minutes later. Apart from that, we were happy wandering around and relaxing. We did take in the orchid gardens and the National Islamic museum but mainly we were getting ourselves ready for our trip to the Philippines.