Sep 2007

Hello all

Before I launch into another blog update I'd like to recommend a fantastic book I read recently called 'Tuesday's With Morrie' by Mitch Albom. It is incredibly moving and life affirming.

After that quick plug..........

September 5th - Wednesday
It was a day of travelling - we were up at 6.00am to say goodbye to Gwen before heading for the bus to Clarke airport. Ken waves us off. It was really good to spend some time with Ken and Gwen, I've known them all my life but only now do I feel like I really know them. We had some good chats about love, life, death and the universe and pretty much everything else.

The bus arrived at Clarke airport at 8.30am and we had to hang around until our flight at 11.45am. There wasn't much to do apart from read and listen to music. We flew to Kuala Lumpar and then had some time to kill until our flight to Kota Bharu. We got some food and I bought two books by an author named Mitch Albom. 'Tuesday's With Morrie' is a short book and I demolished it in just over 3 hours, just before we were due to board our flight. If I hadn't been sitting in an airport I would probably have been crying. It is a very moving true story. BUY IT.

We arrived in Kota Bharu at 10.15am and got a taxi to Kota Besut, also booking our boat to the Perhentian Islands for the following morning. We arrive dta our hotel at 11.30am and slept soundly.

September 6th - Thursday
Woke at 10am after a good sleep. Had a quick wander around town and grabbed breakfast before jumping on the boat at 11.30am to head to the islands. The boat was rammed, 30 people were on board despite a sign saying 8 people maximum. It was a choppy ride over and I was amazed that no-one was sea-sick.

We decided to stay on the smaller of the two islands - Kecil, as Long Beach had all the cheap backpacker guest houses. Before we got there we dropped off some people on the larger island - Besar, and the beach resorts there looked gorgeous.

We got dropped off at Long beach. Both islands are basically covered in rainforest apart from small resorts or villages near the beaches, or on the beaches. Long beach was nice, but not as nice as Boracay or Haad Yao. Our guest house was cool, it was 70MYR (10 quid) per night for our own bungalow with a balcony and you got a free meal at night.

We dumped our bags and headed straight to the beach for a spot of sunbathing and swimming. We met our neighbours Frank and Kay from America. They are a really nice couple who are travelling around SE Asia after previously travelling extensively in Central America. We also discover that a cat and her 6 kittens are living on our balcony! We take some pictures for my Mum!

At night the guest house is showing a pirate copy of the Bourne Ultimatum, so we settle down to our one free meal and pay for another and watch the movie with everyone else. It's a cracking film, full of action and well worth a look.

September 7th - Friday
We woke early at 8am as the electricity went off, turning our fan off. Everything on the island is powered by generators, so they need to conserve energy at times. We were on the beach at 10am and hired a beach umbrella for the day as the sun was already out in force. We booked a bus ticket to the Cameron Highlands (very Scottish sounding!) for the next day as we have spent quite a lot of time on beaches lately and fancy some trekking.

All in all it was a very lazy day. We headed back to the balcony at 5pm and chatted to Frank and Kay who had been diving for the 6th day in a row. If we had stayed longer I am sure Lynn would have been out diving but it won't be long until we are in Australia for plenty of diving opportunities.

We had dinner with Frank and Kay and the movie at night was Oceans 13, which we had already seen, but Lynn didn't seem to mind as Brad Pitt and George Clooney are in it!

September 8th - Saturday
We're up at 7am for the 8am boat back to the mainland. We had banana pancakes for breakfast when we arrived at the mainland and then hopped on the 10am minibus to the Cameron Highlands. Frank and Kay were on our bus as well as a nice young Englisg guy called Paul who was travelling alone. He had some good stories about travelling through Russia and Mongolia and supports Nottingham Forest, so we chatted about football to pass the time.

Stopped for lunch at 1pm and Paul and a couple of others, including a nice English woman called Carrie hopped on another bus going to Temara Negura (where we are going after the Cameron's). Arrived in Tanah Rata at 3.30pm and booked into the Hillview Hotel for 88myr/night. Our room is very nice. It's noticeably cooler up in the Highlands and we both where our cagouls out at night! We have dinner and drinks with Kay and Frank and are tucked up in bed for 10.30pm.

September 9th - Sunday
Rather than book a trekking tour we decide to buy a map and go out on our own. We choose route 9 and wander through town to the start. Route 9 was fairly easy, leading to Robinson's Waterfall. We then go on to route 9a, more challenging and overgrown and it involves a little bit of scrambling and climbing over fallen trees - all good fun and nothing too strenuous.

What was I saying? After we finish the route we decide to hike up a hill to a tea plantation and shop. It's a steep climb and halfway up we hitch a lift off a passing pickup truck that drops us at the owners farm. We eventually get to the top, passing some beautiful scenery on the way - like being in Scotland. The tea plantation has 160 hectares of land, mostly with tea plants! They look beautiful, the way they are set out and planted. After tea, scones and cakes we then climb further up to a look-out point. It's worth the extra climb as the views are stunning.

At the top we meet a young French couple, Naomi and Igor that are travelling with their 8 month old daughter Aiko (Japanese for child of love). They are a cool couple and we all get a taxi back to town and arrange to meet for drinks at 7pm in a cool bar called 'Travellers'.

We end up buying 15 Tiger Beers between us (you get 5 bottles in a bucket for happy hour) and spend agood few hours chatting about travelling, love, kids, marriage (don't get your hopes up Mum), America, Canada (where Igor and Naomi live), Scotland and pretty much all over! Naomi and Igor havev travelled in South America, as has Kay, and we are already looking forward to going there.

September 10th - Monday
We decide to tackle the toughest local trek - route 1. We met an American yesterday who had covered thr route on his own. He had said it was tough at times, steep and involved a fair bit of scrambling to get to the top of the hill, but we were well up for it after our warm up hike yesterday.

Today's trek was very enjoyable. It was muddy at times, certainly very steep, it did indeed involve a fair bit of scrambling, climbing over fallen trees, through swampy patches and left the four of us witha tremendous sense of achievment when we reached the top.

At the top (the highest point in the Cameron Highlands at 2,500 metres above sea level) there was an observation tower so we climbed up and watched the clouds roll down the hills and around us. It was like a whiteout at one point!

What goes up must come down and we head down the other side, a road. It's a 10k trek back to the main road and it feels like more. We just about reach the main road when we flag apassing pick-up again and he takes us to the town closest to ours where we then jump a taxi back to the hotel for a well earned shower and nap!

Tomorrow we are heading to Temana Negara where you can walk along the worlds longest jungle canopy walkway. A rope bridge is supended 45 metres high and is 510 metres long, so you can literally walk on top of trees. It should be quite special.

Tomorrow will be another day of travel though, our bus leaves at 10am and gets in around 6pm. Tonight we're meeting with Frank, Kay, Igor, Naomi and Aiko for a few more beers - nothing heavy though as there is nothing worse than travelling with a hangover.

All the best
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Hello to anyone reading this

Well we've had a busy time since I last wrote. Stand by for an update...

August 31st - Friday
We were up early - 6am as we needed to leave at 6.45am to get through the morning Manila madness that is rush hour to get to the airport for our 9.30am flight. We flew with Asian Spirit to an island called Caticlan on a small 48 seater plane. The flight didn't last long and I conked out while Lynn continued to read the latest Harry Potter book. Apparently it is very exciting.

We got out of Caticlan aiport to be met by a rep from the Red Coconut hotel/resort who took us to a ferry port by motorbike and sidecar. The ferry only took 10 minutes and from the boat we had our first glimpse of Boracay - it looked good. White sand, clear blue water, even clearer than the water at Haad Yao beach. The hotel was literally on the beach and we wasted no time in getting down on to it for a walk, ending up at a Mexican for fajitas and enchiladas. After a quick power nap we were down on the beach, basking in the sun and enjoying the odd dip and splash around to cool down.

Towards the end of the day, when it was a little cooler, some locals started playing 6-a-side football and I joined in for the last 15 minutes after one of the players had to leave early. It wasn't a bad game, it was tough to run in the sand.I almost scored with a header from a corner and did well to save a few goals at our end. One of the things I miss from Glasgow is my weekly game of fives on a Wednesday and occasionally on a Monday.

After the game we both went back to the hotel for a sunset dip in the pool. I was pretty shattered after only 15 minutes, so I enjoyed the refreshing pool.

After a shower and change we went to a local pub called the Hobbit House for a beer. All the staff were dwarves - or should I say vertically challenged? It was quite interesting. A local singer was on and she had a beautiful voice, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. Had a relatively early night as we were both tired.

September 1st - Saturday
We got up at 9am for breakfast, included in the price of the room. After that it was straight down to the beach for some swimming, splashing and sunbathing. Lynn also finished the last 50 pages of Harry Potter, declaring it fantastic. We took some photos as the beach was really quiet - I'll update flickr ASAP. Around 12.30pm we decided to head for some shade as it was incredibly hot. We checked our e-mails and wandered round some shops and then headed back to the beach when it was a little cooler.

At night we had a few drinks and a nice meal in a restaurant/bar called the Bamboo Lounge that had sofas on the beach - ideal. The music was chilled house, there was a very Ibizan vibe going on!

We got back before midnight and I stayed up to watch the United 1 v 0 Sunderland game in bed while Lynn went to sleep - we are so romantic!

September 2nd - Sunday
Slept in until 11am, which was nice as we had had quite a few early starts in the last week or so. We went to the Lemon Cafe for lunch for some deeeeelicious sandwiches and fresh lemonade. We bought some nice hand-made soaps for Gwen and then headed back to the hotel, on to the ferry and on to a plane back to Manila.

Ken and Gwen had invited some of their friends and colleagues along for dinnner. It was nice to meet them and as usual the food provided by Gwen was excellent.

September 3rd - Monday
Another early start. We were up at 7am to travel to Subic - a 3 hour drive away. We were heading to a place calledOcean Adventure where you can swim with False Killer Whales and dolphins. We were both quite excited as my Mum had been to this place with Gwen a few years ago and her photos were excellent.

We arrived at 10.30am and booked in for the 3pm swimming session as the 11.20am session was fully booked. We had a bite to eat, watched some sea-lions play in an educational lesson for kids that were at the place, toured round the aquarium, went for a drink in a cool bar called Maggellans and were back for 2.30pm.

After a briefing and a quick change we were down at the beach with a false killer whale called Pounder (a female) and a bottle nosed dolphin called Sita (male). We were both pleased that the 11.30am session had been fully booked as it meant that we were the only two people on the 3pm session.

Lynn was asked to go in with the dolphin and I went in with the whale. Lynn sped off through the water, holding on to the dolphin and I soon followed her on the whale. What a ride! The whale was huge, powerful, yet graceful and gentle. We arrived at a platform with two instructors and were told all kinds of interesting facts and stats about the whale and dolphin. We got to put our hands in their mouths and touch their tongues and teeth, feed them fish and squid and get in the water for a dance with them! We have a cd full of amazing photos but unfortunately I can't upload them to flickr as Ken's laptop won't play the cd.

All I can say is that it was a tremendous experience. One of the highlights of our trip to date. In fact two of our highlights have involved animals - elephants and whales and dolphins.

On the way back we got stuck in horrendous traffic. After a quick change we headed to an area in Manila called the Greenbelt - full of shops, cafes, restaurants and bars. We went toa lovely Thai restaurant and had a nice meal with a few drinks before heading back for a good sleep.

September 4th - Tuesday
A nice chilled day. Long lie, reading the papers, wandering round some shops, going for a swim and packing out bags as we head back to Malaysia tomorrow. We will be getting a bus to Clarke airport at 7am for an 11.45am flight to Kuala Lumpar and we then head to Kota Bharu. It will be a long day travelling so I'm glad we've not done much today.

I'll write again in a few days or so.

Lots of love
Murray and Lynn
xxx