Malaysia

Hey all

Lynn and I are in Singapore, almost at the end of our South East Asia adventures. We have been just a little hungover today after an amazing night out with our great new friends Frank and Kay last night - 25 Tiger Beers and a night on-stage singing with the top band in Melaka! I'll get to that in a bit.....here goes for another update.....

Tuesday September 11th
We wake at 9am as our bus to Kuala Tahan and then Teman Negara national park is at 10.30am. The bus arrived at closer to 11am and the driver somehow managed to cram all our backpacks into the minibus, as well as those of another 6 travellers!

After a lunch stop we transferred to a bigger bus that had air con on full blast and we all had two seats each - nice! We stopped at a travel agency to pick up park permits and a camera pass (2MYR and 5MYR). We then swapped buses again to a smaller minibus and we found the Dorian guesthouse in Tuala Tahan, next to the national park/rainforest/jungle. The room we rented was basic but the setting was worth it. We were 300 metres down a narrow road, literally staying in the jungle. The room was only 40 MYR per night.

We dumped our bags and headed to the floating restaurant area. Tuala Tahan is a small town, very small. It only has a few guest houses and there is an expensive resort that is officially in the national park. We had dinner and then walked back home with our torches on. It was like a jungle safari! We lay in our bed with our Mosquito net on and listened to the sounds of the jungle as we fell asleep.

Wednesday September 12th
This was a great day. It all started early when our alarm went off at 7.15am. It was still pretty dark outside but teh sun soon rose and burned fiercely all day long. Lynn went for a shower and got a shock when an animal that we think was a kind of squirrel ran along the roof!

It was the start of Ramadan (where locals fast during daylight hours) so our guesthouse didn't have any food in! So we headed to the floating restaurant area and had banana pancakes and tea. We then hopped on a boat across the river, only around 30 yards or so and entered the national park.

We headed straight for the trekking trail that led to the canopy walk - it stretches for 510 metres (feels longer) and is 45 metres high above the jungle floor, suspended between trees. I'll upload some photos tomorrow or on Tuesday when we are waiting for our flight, but in the meantime visit www.taman-negara.com for an idea of what we got up to.

The jungle canope walk was a real buzz and a definite highlight of our trip. We were with Frank and Kay and they both enjoyed themselves as well. We all went a little snap happy with our cameras so expect a few pictures on the flickr site!

After the canope walk we decided to trek to the highest point in the park. We climbed up through the forest as the sun shone through the trees and the jungle humidity caused us all to sweat buckets! The view from Bukit Teresek was worth it. We stopped for a good 15 minutes to get our breath and enjoy the views before heading down the other side. It was a challenging hike and great fun. We clambered over massive tree roots, slid down muddy banks with the help of some rope, crossed rivers, got attacked by leeches and as Lynn was leading the way she got the fright of her life when a 3 or 4 foot monitor lizard crossed the path yards in front of her!

The route seemed to be a lot longer than stated, but we may have taken a wrong turn. Eventually we arrived back at the main park entrance where we all checked each other out for leeches. Frank had 5 of the little buggers and Lynn and Kay ahd two each - amazingly I had none! The leeches came off easily with some insect repellant and according to the others didn't hurt a bit. They did leave a bloody mess though - quite literally! They start off tiny and after a bit of blood sucking fun they end up quite big. Have you seen the film Stand By Me? You'll know what I mean if you have!

It was a great 5 hours or so trekking and we were all exhausted and a little dehydrated. We went for lunch and a wander round the small town - didn't take long - and decided to book transport to Kuala Lumpar the next day. After 3 days of jungle trekking in the Cameron Highlands and Taman Negara we were all tired and had no clean clothes! It woudl be easy to spend 4 or 5 days in Taman Negara as there are loads of trekking trails you can do independently or with a guide. We were happy with a day though.

The other night Kay had taught Lynn and I how to play the card game 'Hearts', so at dinner the four of us sat down to play. If you manage to collect all the Hearts and the Queen of Spades you 'run' the game, meaning you get zero points and the others all get 26 - I managed to do this to win the game with the lowest score of 96, sending the others all over 100. I was delighted and the others were all baffled!

Thursday September 13th
The alarm was off at 7.15am again as we were getting a boat down the river and then a bus to Kuala Lumpar. Yet again we were lucky with our decision as it had rained all night meaning that all trekking trails would be slippy. We have been extremely lucky with the weather to date.

The 9am boat to Tembeling took two hours and it was a nice cruise. I listened to my Nano and admired the scenery. The bus from Tembeling to KL was quiet so we all had two seats to spread out on and snooze. We arrived on the outskirts of KL and were impressed with the view of the twin towers and the communciations tower. When Lynn and I had previously been in KL we had arrived late and left early, so we were quite glad to be going back for a day to see a bit more of the city - although it is a small city.

On a previous Air Asia flight I had read about a new hotel concept called Tune Hotels www.tunehotels.com offering 5 star beds at low prices. We got a room for 75MYR (just over a tenner). It was worth it for the power shower alone!

The hotel proved to be a lucky choice, not just because of the comfy beds and the power showers. We met Kay and Frank in the lobby at 6pm and Kay said a market was nearby. She was right and we had the most amazing street food of our trip to date - yummy chicken curry bites, cocunut cakes, BBQ chicken and some great spicy noodles. It was very cheap and we spent a pleasant hour or so just wandering down the streets. We didn't see another westerner in all that time. The Tune Hotel is situated away from the main tourist backpacker area of Chinatown and it was nice to discover a market that I imagine not many people have. For any backpackers reading this, check out the Tune Hotel - great location, good prices and top rooms.

We watched the sunset behind Petronas Towers and took loads of pictures of the towers lit at night. It was lovely. We jumped a can to Chinatown and had 9 large Tiger beers between the 4 of us. We stayed until closing time and the Chinatown market closed around us. At one point there was a great busker that played songs by The Righteous Brothers (with the 4 of us helping with the 'Baby (baby), Baby (baby), I need your love (I need your love)' section, Tracy Chapman, The Beatles and more. We broke our rule of no McDonalds for the second time - both have been in KL - and had cheeseburgers, fries and coke before heading back to our nice comfy Tune Hotel bed.

Friday September 14th
Woke up quite early at 8am, early considering we got in around 1am. We met Frank and Kay in the lobby (yeah Tune Hotels have a lobby) and Frank and I took a pile of dirty clothes to the local laundrette while Lynn and Kay mucked about on the free internet - another tick mark for Tune Hotels.

We walked down to Petronas Towers and went for an O'Briens sandwich and some fresh fruit juice to nurse our hangovers. We then wandered round the superb shopping centre under the towers, basking in teh air conditioning. KL is a cool city and I would recommend it for a short break - you can travel to the Highalands and Islands very easily from KL.

We hopped on the Underground to Chinatown and checked out buses to Melaka for tomorrow - they leave every half hour so no problems there. We then walked through the stalls just as a police raid was starting! Stalls closed faster than you could say 'Police Raid' and within half an hour they were all set up again. I imagine the police get a substantial backhander from all the stall holders dealing in fake designer clobber and pirate dvd's. Also bumped into Carrie who we had met on the Pherantian Islands and arranged to meet later.

We hopped on the monorail back to the hotel, while Kay and Frank got off at the stop before so they could go to the communications tower. I picked up our clothes and then we had a pleasant nap before meeting Carrie, Kay and Frank in the lobby bar at 8pm. Kay and Frank both enjoyed the tower, it is a spectacular view.

Unfortunately the food market was closing by the time we got there around 9pm so after an aimless wander in search of an Irish bar in the area we ended up getting a takeaway Pizza Hut and going back to have beers in the lobby. Everywhere seemed to be dead and as we were quite tired we were not that fussed.

We did polish off another considerable amount of Tiger beer and it was after midnight we got to bed again - rock'n'roll stars that we are - and we proved that the next night!

Saturday September 15th
We were up at 9.30am as we had to check out at 10am. So it was goodbye to the luxury of Tune Hotel. I imagine that in a year or two they will have expanded rapidly throughout SE Asia. We had breakfast first though and used the free internet before getting the monorail to the bus station and getting the 12.30pm bus.

It took 2.5 hours and we all slept for some of the way. At Melaka bus station there was a nice old guy with a guest house leaflet and we decided to head for his place. We hopped on the local bus into town for only 70 cents and he ended up giving us a lift in his jeep, stopping for snacks on the way. He seemed delighted that we were staying with him as the guest hosue was new. It was only 50 MYR per night, so we were quite happy.

Lynn, Frank and Kay wandered around a couple of museums while I sorted out bus tickets for Lynn and I to go to Singapore the next day. We met back up at 6pm and wandered round a backstreet market sampling more delicious street food including duck and rice for a rock bottom price - yummy!

We then found a cool bar called Bar Carabou, decorated with pictures of The Beatles, Stones, The Doors and Hendrix - my kind of place. The owner told us his band were playing at 9.30pm and I resisted the temptation of going to the bar along the street to watch the United V Everton game. Well I did run along in between beers to check the score and ended up watching the last 15 minutes with a beer and a nice chat to a fellow United supporter, just in time for Vidic's headed winner.

The 4 of us played cards, chatted, had a great laugh and proceeded to drink copious amounts of Tiger Beer. We were sitting outside and enjoyed the first hour set by the band consisting of Beatles, Stones and Dylan numbers. At the break the owner asked us if we had any requests and Kay asked for some Bon Jovi songs. The band downloaded some lyrics and chords and launched into 'Bed Of Roses', 'You Give Love A Bad Name' and more. Pretty soon we had moved inside and were dancing along to the band. The band then asked if any of us wanted to get up and sing. Kay said she would if I went first so I joined the band on stage (to a crowd of around 20 people) and sang 'I Saw Her Standing There' by The Beatles. To my amazement (and Lynn's) I was asked to stay for another, so we played 'Eight Days A Week' and it went down well. Next up was 'Ticket To Ride', a hard song to sing, so I pulled Frank up on stage to join me on backing vocals. Kay and Lynn bopped along down the front and then got up to murder, I mean sing beautifully, 'Rock DJ' by Robbie Williams. Kay then surprised us all by singing the Madonna classic 'Like A Virgin' before Frank brought the hosue down with his rendition of the Bon Jovi classic 'Living On A Prayer'.

The band were great and they played more songs including Van Halen's 'Jump' that prompted some locals to join us on the dancefloor. The owner was a great guitarist and loved ot show off his skills, although some time after midnight he announced he was leaving the stage as he was 'a bit stoned'. He joined us on the dancefloor though and it was after 1am and 25 Tiger beers (5 buckets) that the 4 of us got to bed!

We said goodbye to Kay and Frank as they are heading off to do some diving on the coast of Malaysia, while we are heading to Oz. They are a great couple and we both really enjoyed their company. I am sure that we will meet again.

Sunday Spetember 16th
OOOOOHHHHHH we were both more than a little rough when our alarm went off at 7.30am so we could get our 9am bus. We were probably still a little drunk as well!

Not much to say about today other than we are now in Singapore. It is very busy and we had a problem finding budget accomodation. We are paying over the odds for what is not the best hotel room, but we've just booked some budget accomodation on-line for tomorrow so things should balance out.

We've had a Subway and are now in Little India to get some food, then some sleep to get our money's worth out our hotel. Tomorrow we'll wander around and visit the zoo and night zoo. Then it's on to Oz on Tuesday!

Check flickr on Tuesday or Wednesday for some new photos - www.flickr.com/photos/murrayandlynn

Lots of love
Murray and Lynn
xxxx

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