Friday 25th February: Coral Bay, Pulau Perhentian Kecil, Malaysia

This morning we begin our journey from the north of Malaysia using boat, taxi, bus, plane and train to reach our goal; Singapore. We have spent 3 lazy days on the small Perentian island, sunbathing, eating and diving. We did two dives; the Temple of the Sea which is a huge pinnacle with amazing underwater life - including a HUGE 3 legged turtle who winked at us (?!) and Pauh Reef which lies in between the two islands but had poor visibility and a mostly sand bed. The islands are described as paradise and they didn’t disappoint, although there was a lot of construction happening while we were there as the local businesses geared up for the peak season soon to start.

We arrived a day late to the islands after the train from Taman Negara (on the ‘Jungle Railway line’) was later than we thought it was but got to spend the night in Kota Bharu and enjoyed having a stroll around the busy evening streets.

Our stay in Taman Negara was good. We chose to take the road less travelled (pause… Emily??) which meant we were at one with nature… or at least with one lizard, a couple of birds and a handful of monkeys. We were quite under whelmed by the lack of wildlife but the walks were interesting and we spent the night in a hide. It was surprisingly modern although we had to wade across a river to reach it and the ‘jungle noises’ we expected to hear through the night boiled down to a few crickets and the snores of a German couple sharing the hide with us! We used the opportunity to practice some photography (see pictures!) and walk along the longest canopy walkway in the world at 500m in length and 50m high. With deep breaths and nerves of steel we went for it and the views were well worth it.

Friday 18th February 2011: Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

We spent our last few days in Thailand relaxing on the gorgeous beaches of Ko Pha-Ngan, Thong Nai Pan , a beautiful bay on the north-east of the island was our favourite by far and we were pleased we hired a moped (and didn’t kill ourselves) to get there. The drive there from where we were staying passed through the hilly, jungle-y heart of the island and the scenery was amazing.

Our journey to Kuala Lumpur was straightforward but we were met with the most stifling humidity on our arrival and had to endure it for 3 days in order to do everything we wanted to. We visited the Petrona’s Towers but didn’t get up early enough to get a ticket to cross the sky bridge. There are only so many tickets to go up Asia’s tallest towers and we missed out by only a few minutes we think. So, to numb the pain we went shopping! One word: Topshop!

Whilst in Kuala Lumpur we also visited Chinatown and Little India where we ate the best masala dosas and reminisced about our time in India! We soon realised however we weren’t in India and so to make the most of our time in Malaysia we booked tickets to the Cameron Highlands, a mountainous region in the centre of peninsula Malaysia. Here we met up with two American guys, Ben and Tristan, who we trekked with in Chiang Mai and… did some more trekking! We followed one trail halfway up the second highest hill before descending for a cold beer and (another) masala dosa. The following day we began an epic 25km walk from Tanah Rata up to Brinchang, visiting a strawberry farm, various markets and the Boh Tea Plantation. The plantation was a great sight; rolling, fertile hills and friendly faces punctuated our walk there, an experience only seconded by the delicious tea and pasties we ate in the café on the highest hill!

Tomorrow we travel to Taman Negara, the peninsular jungle by bus then boat, where we can sleep in a ‘hide’ for the night and listen out for (and hopefully see) a range of different animals - hopefully we’ll see a wild elephant!

Wednesday 8th February 2011: Ko Tao, Thailand

We have spent 8 days on the beautiful, small island of Ko Tao and are now certified Advanced scuba divers! We finally arrived after a 40 hour journey from the north of Thailand to the south and began the Open Water diving course a few days later.
Our instructor, Andy, was great, very passionate and approachable and our small group with two other girls were lovely. On our second day of the course we went into the pool to practice using the scuba equipment and afterwards felt really excited about our first open water dive the next day. And we weren’t wrong - it was a m a z i n g! We went to the Mango Bay and Twins dive sites and saw moral eels, stingrays, trigger fish, hermit crabs…the list is endless! The 45 minute dives flew by and before we knew it we were excitedly comparing what we’d seen on deck.
We loved it so much that we signed up for the Advanced course (although it was another £150 and a thick manual to carry!) and started the next day. We could choose 5 specialist dives to do so we opted to focus on navigation, buoyancy, multilevel diving, photography and a night dive! Of the 200+ photos we took, there are a few great ones - as you can see - our favourite is the one of the trigger fish up close - they can attack if you approach them but Helen risked it and it’s great! The night dive was awesome but really scary at first as you can barely see 1 metre in front of you when the torches are off. We also picked up a few injuries by bumping into rocks in the dark! We have 4 days left in Thailand before we fly to Malaysia so we’re heading to Ko Pha Ngan, there’s no full moon party at the moment so we’ll manage to avoid the day-glo paint and Thai whiskey buckets, and just chill out instead!

Monday 31st January 2011: Bangkok, Thailand

We spent an amazing weekend on our jungle trek with a group of 10 people plus our guide Johnnie Walker. Firstly we visited a market where we purchased supplies of Thai whiskey and sampled some deep fried maggots, which was much nicer than the blended/fried frog we had in Pattaya. We didn’t have the courage to eat the cockroaches though, I mean you have to draw a line…

On our first day we visited an elephant farm where we got to feed the elephants then rode on them, which was a bit like a ride at Alton Towers with platforms to get on and of the elephants! After lunch we started our trek walking up into the mountains for around 3 hours at a frantic pace being led by the two German iron men in our group. We spent the night in one of the hill-tribe villages in a bamboo hut overlooking a deep valley with forested mountains as the backdrop. The bamboo huts came with a mini bar and a village woman selling various wares, including Burmese cigars - which Martin sampled of course. We watched the local children perform a traditional song and dance for us and were then encouraged to perform back. Helen duly led our international group through renditions of ‘If You’re Happy And You Know It’ and ‘Old Macdonald’ complete with actions and dancing - brilliant!

Day two involved more walking and we both abandoned our Converse trainers due to blisters and risked trekking in flip-flops. We visited two waterfalls during the day - taking lunch at the first. We spent the second night in another bamboo hut in the forest by a river, playing group drinking games into the night and finishing all the beer supplies in the camp!

With slightly fuzzy heads on day three we completed the trek with a short walk, before we took to the river and white water rafted down the river, before changing to bamboo rafts for the final gentle part of the river. When we returned to Chiang Mai we spent the few ours before our night bus exploring the Sunday Night Bazaar, which closed down most of Chiang Mai’s traffic and the streets become full of traders. Our next stop is the southern island Ko Tao and learning to dive!

Thursday 27th January 2011: Chiang Mai, Thailand.

We arrived in Vagator in Goa a few days before New Year and the parties were excellent! Lots of fireworks, new friends and Old Monk rum ensured a great night although Martin did need to be carried home by a 65 year old German man! On the 2nd of January, after eventually rising from our hangovers, we travelled down to Baga and went to the airport to collect the Bull family fresh from the UK winter. We spent a week in Baga and went to Anjuna market and the spice plantation where mother Bull and Martyn had an elephant shower. After Baga we travelled to Palolem where we stayed for another week or so relaxing on the beach. We did arrange a boat trip to do some dolphin spotting and visit Butterfly Island however (which had, ironically, no butterflies!). We then took the train to Mumbai and spent our last days of the Bull holiday exploring the sights, before saying our farewells to both the Bull’s and India.

On the 17th January we flew directly to Bangkok and stayed on Khao San Road, sampling the Thai whiskey buckets on arrival, then spending the next day in bed again with hangovers. Once we recovered we explored the city taking a river ferry, walking through China town and visiting some Buddist temples. We also had a day of shopping in Siam Square and went on the Sky Train. Once we left Bangkok we took the bus to Pattaya where we stayed with Vic and Anan, who are currently living and teaching there. Unfortunately en route we lost our camera and most of our photos from Mumbai and all from Bangkok :o( However, it was good to spend time with Vic and Anan and feel at home whilst in Pattaya and we had an enjoyable night out as VVIP’s at the opening of a new club, which again involved Thai whiskey and a dance off against some crazy Russians (which, sadly, Martin lost).

After a good weekend we took the overnight bus from Pattaya to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. We have spent our last 2 days chilling and exploring the ancient city, which is much more chilled than Bangkok and Pattaya. Tomorrow we begin a 3 day trek into the jungle!