Cameron Highlands

On the bus to the Cameron Highland Debs gave us the activity sheet for the local tours, although they were optional, if you didn't go on a tour there was little else to do.

Half the group opted for the full day hike off into the hills in search of a rare flower, however we opted for a half day local tour of near by attractions. Debs hadn't done this tour before so she decided to join us and also Becci and Michael.





The first stop on the tour was the rose garden which wasn't really that great but it was a good laugh trying to climb the steep hill to the top (Debs was well knackered).

The next stop was the strawberry farm where we expected to get to go round picking the strawberry and eat loads, but it wasn't quite like that so we ended up drinking the most amazing strawberry milkshake (apart from the ones I make). Our group also befriended a pakistani man who insisted on sharing the strawberries he had bought.

The next stop was the highlight, the butterfly farm. It had loads of cool insects and stuff you could hold like three horned rhino beetles, a huge gecko and a giant grasshoper, then loads of snakes and lizards in cages. Only after passing all these things did we get to the butterfly cage. There were loads of different types of butterflies with such colourful wings. We all had a laugh when Debs told some little boy off for trying to grab a butterfly.

The next stop was the tea plantation where we learnt all about tea plant and how they us only the tea dust for teabag. After the tour of the plantation we had a sit down for a cupper.

The pen-ultimate stop of the day was at a honey bee place where we expected to learn about and try honey, however it wasn't at all like that and after asking we got to try a little bit of honey dissolved in water.

Just outside the honey place was a small local market which we had some time to look round and there were loads of fruit we could try. Debs bought some fried banana and she insisted we all try some, it wasn't really that nice.

The last stop was a budist temple which was quite impressive with cool dragon status outside.
We thought that after the tour we would have an easy afternoon but an hour or so after we got back I realised that I had misplaced the camera so we had a mad hour trying to find it before following a phone call from Debs the tour guide found it on the minibus and brought it back (Phew).

We rounded off the day with the most interesting meal that we had had, chinese steam boat. It consisted of a boiling soup pot that we added various meat, fish and veg to, it was quite nice.

A Rat Story

We had a very disturbed first night in KL - things went bump in the night!

We were woken up about 3am by a glass falling off the shelf in the bathroom and smashing on the floor. We thought we might have an inquisative gecko roaming around in the bathroom, especially when 10 minutes later Alans hair gel ended up on the floor as well.

However, everytime we nodded back off something would start rustling. It would mysteriously shut up when I turned the light on and carry on rustling once I turned the light off. I turfed Alan out of bed several times to find out what was going on. He couldn't find anything so we eventually went to sleep with the light on.

We mentioned the strange events to the receptionist before we went out to the Petronas Towers and she promised us she would look into it.

Anyway, when we were having a little rest before going to watch the "sunset" at the KL Towers, a small brown rat ran past me whilst I was sat on the bed watching a bit of TV. We immediately went down to reception complained and changed our room.

Kuala Lumpar - KL

On our free day in KL, our alarm went off at 7am because we were meeting up with Dan, Laura, Becci, Michael and Alex at 7.30am, to go to the Petronas Towers and get free tickets to go up them. The Lonely Planet guide says that tickets are only available at the towers until 9am so get there early - well, that is aload of crap, they were still giving out tickets when we went up the towers at 10.45am.

As our tickets were for 10.45am we decided to go for some brekkie and then wander around the excibition until it was time for us to go up.

Before we were allowed to go up to the sky bridge, we had to sit through a 15 minute Petronas company propaganda video (Petronas are great! - according to them).

The skybridge was good although we were only allowed to stay up there for 5 mins, but the visability was a bit pants due to the horrendous smog.

Me and Alan then had quite an unsuccessful afternoon trying to find the KL lakes, it was made more difficult by the blistering heat. We found out later that Laura and Dan didn't find them either which made us feel a little better - sort of!

We then went for a walk around the KL Tower gardens and even though I was wearing 20% DEET, I got bit again and again and again. I felt like an all you can eat buffet for mozzies!

We went up the KL Tower to watch the sunset, which is an absolute joke because the visability is very very poor. We could barely see more than a few miles because the smog is that thick. Seeing the Petronas Towers all lit up from the tower was pretty spectacular though.

Melaka

After meeting one of the other tour members Alex at the hotel restaurant, we decided to follow his advice and give their breakfast a miss. So, hungry with not much idea of where to go we decided to hit McDonalds for a truely Malaysian breakfast.

Once fuelled up it was time to explore. We started with the shopping centre next door but once you've seen one you've seen them all and there wasn’t anything special in this one, so we decided to climb the hill next to our hotel to see the church at the top.

When we got there the church was more of a ruin but the view from the hilltop was really good and we spotted a pirate ship a few blocks over, which we then made our next stop.

The pirate ship was part of the maritime museum and was a replica tall ship. Just as we reached the ship the heavens opened and a monsoon sent us fleeing into the small market across the road.



After looking around the usual tat, Samantha noticed these small round puck shaped things. She asked what they were so the kind lady opened up a packet to let us try them, they were sweets made with coconut flour. We quite liked them and thought it was so nice of the woman to let us try them, that we bought some.

Once the rain had stopped we had to make a quick stop for Samantha to change shoes then we walked down to Chinatown to take a look at the temple. The temple wasn't really that exciting, but I did get shouted at for taking photo inside the temple so we decided to leave and go get an ice cream.

Then we rounded out the day with a group meal in the hotel restaurant and early to bed after our busy day.

Start of the Tour

Day one off the tour for us was just another day in Singapore for us but at 6.30pm we had our meet and great with our tour leader Debs and the rest of the eleven strong group.

Debs is originally from Argentina which is cool because we can grill her information for December and January.

Our group has a good mix of people with a good range of ages (we're not the oldest or the youngest, so we're happy) and then there's two Americans. They are the oldest and the strangest and have about ten large suitcases (ok it's only four but seems a bit excessive).

Day two started with a nice leisurely start as we did not leave for Melaka until 11.30am. At this time we we're bundled into taxis, three in each and sent to the bus station. Knowing we had to travel on public buses I was a bit concerned they maybe a little uncomfortable, however once we boarded I found it to be the best since the luxury of Mexico with large seats with loads of room and even a leg rest (pure quality).

As we departed Debs told us what would happen at the border and somehow gave the impression it was going to be the worse customs we had even been through, although not meaning to. Once we got to the border it was as easy as getting through an empty airport immigration, no problems at all.

When we arrived in Melaka those who need money went to the ATM whilst everyone else waited for taxi to the hotel. When we got to the ATM the queue was a mile long, it seems Sunday was the day to get your money out. By the time we had our money everyone else had gone including Samantha. When arrived at the hotel we found them all in the bar where they had all got themselves beers.

Later that evening Debs took us all for dinner at the local food hall. Again like Singapore there was loads of choice and having thought that cheap we found Malaysia even cheaper, just £3 for two main meals and two beers.

After dinner we went down to Chinatown to see the night market and there was a stage in the middle of Chinatown, where those that think they could sing were belting out there best karaoke (oh and there was a few strange people who jumped up on stage as backing dancers). Then the group minus the Americans stopped at a nice bar to get to know each other better.

Singapore

We had 5 days in Singapore including the first day of the tour. We had a big sightseeing day on our 2nd day in the city, we bought 1 day passes for the city and heritage bus tours. These were the usual open top bus tours that guided us around Singapore showing us all the sights.

The city bus tour took us north and south of the city. Little India is in the north and China town is in the south. We saw lots of brightly coloured tower block housing with long bamboo canes full of washing sticking out of the flats. Space for housing is very limited in singapore so people tend to live on top of one another rather than side by side.

We hopped off the city bus to take a river cruise. This was a half hour cruise along the river into the marina, in a bumboat. The riverside area and marina were really nice areas with lots of bars and cafes (even a Hooters!).

We found the Raffles Hotel and the long bar very easily. We popped in one evening for the most expensive and morish cocktail I've ever had. The original Singapore Sling was delicious!

Ubud

This was our last day of the tour and it started off badly. Unlike all the other hotels in Bali our last hotel put on a buffet breakfast that was not only poor in variety but also cold not really what we expected.

After we had finished bitching about the poor hotel and t breakfast we walk up to the monkey forest to see the local monkeys. Although we had decided not to buy any more banana for these monkeys when we got to the forest there was a trader outside selling overpriced bananas so I couldn't help bargining her down to a low price. So armed with bananas we entered the forest and to our surprise we found that these monkeys would gently take the bananas and eat them just beside you.

As we walked through the forest we saw load of monkeys from little babies and young ones to fully parents. We also saw a monkeys climb onto some blokes head and another climb on a womans back it was really quite funny.

We walked back passed some shops and Samantha managed to find the sarong she want at the price we were told we should pay. I found some nice linen trouser but unfortunately they wont barter on the price.

In the afternoon Samantha went for a pedicure and to have her toenails painted with little flowers at for a bank breaking £2.50, Bali's so cheap.

Journey to Ubud

Our guide collected from Lovina at 10am (a good time to start unlike other tours) and ran through what we could for day. The two main things we were visiting were monkeys (no jokes please) and a Hindu temple.

However before we could go to see the monkeys we had to stop at the local market to buy banana, now I know what your thinking big banana like you get in tesco but these were really small about the size of fingers but very sweet apparently. With our guide negotiating local price a bunch cost us 1500rp (8p).

On our way to see the monkeys we then stopped to see the largest waterfall in Bali. The waterfall was quite nice but the walk down to it and back in 30 degree heat was a bit of a killer.



A little while later as we were driving along we started to see lots of monkey by the side of the road and just a little way further we pulled in a lay by were a whole family of monkeys lived. Once out of the car with bananas in hand the monkey seemed to take a very quick interest in us. However once the bananas were go it was back to playing a grooming each other. The little one did remind me of two little girls I know (Jess and Ruth), running round causing havoc.

The Hindu temple was the next stop of the day and it was simply amazing, it beats the pants of the plan churches we have back home. While we were there we saw a couple going to have what we thought were wedding pictures but in Bali they have photos taken before the wedding for the invitation dressed in their full wedding outfits.

Then before leaving I went the toilet only to find it would more than a penny to spend a penny, I found it quite strange to have to pay to use toilet.

At the place we stopped for lunch the car park attend had to fruit bat that he kept picking up and waving about asking if we want our picture taken with them however we politely declined. He also had a very strange looking bird which I can only image was related to a toucan.

After lunch we head to the hotel.

Lovina

We decided to take it easy on our free day in Lovina and sunbathe/swim in the resort. We did what the Germans do best and put our beach towels on the sunbeds before going for a little walk to get supplies.

Then armed with books, hats and factor 15 suncream we went to the pool area. We had the pool area pretty much to ourselves as most of the people from yesterday afternoon had either gone out for the day or checked out.

Alan kept amusing himself practicing his underwater handstands and I went for little swims in the shallow area when the heat became to much - IT WAS HOT!!!!

About 2pm we decided to go for a bit of lunch and it was then we noticed that we might have caught a little too much sun. Lunch was gorgeous - a spicy chilli, lime and lemongrass tuna salad. But the bright red lobster impressions we were both doing, wasn't quite so appealing. We then spent the rest of the afternoon slathering ourselves in aloe vera gel.

The moral of this story is don't buy unknown brand suncream from hotel shops.

Candidasa to Lovina

Our first proper travel day with our Intrepid tour. Our guide Suichen (said Sue Chen) met us at the hotel at 9am and we set off for the day in a lovely air-conditioned 4x4.

The first stop of the day was to see handmade cloth being weaved and batik artwork. The cloth could then be used to make a sarong, dress or shirt.

The second stop was to a woodcarving shop. We watched some of the wood being carved into ornaments and then had a good nosey around the shop. There were some amazing pieces and we could have easily bought several, but luckily we couldn't fit them into our backpacks and I'm not sure whether we are allowed to bring ebony wood back to the UK.

The third stop was our favorite stop - a coffe and chocolate plantation. We were able to taste hot chocolate, coffee, ginger tea and a gingseng cappacino. Our favourite was definitely the hot chocolate, they put far too much sugar in the ginger tea. We also tasted a raw cocoa bean which is quite tangy but yummy.

We stopped for lunch in Kintamani, which is a small town in the volcanic national park. The restaurant had magnificant views of Mount Batur, a dormant volcano which last erupted in 1993. We had an awesome 3 course Indonesian buffet lunch, I tried the balinese speciality dessert - black rice pudding with coconut cream, it was nice.

After lunch Suichen took us to our hotel in Lovina, so we could put our feet up for the rest of the afternoon.

Candidasa

For the start of our Bali Getway tour we were told that we had to make our own way to Candidasa as transfers were not included, we later found out this was rubbish and if we'd only contacted the tour operator they would have sorted out for us (thanks STA!).

So we had to sort out the transport ourselves, which didn't seem like too much of a hardship as we were bombard with offers of transport everyday on every street corner. We thought our best bet would be the man that spent much of his day out the front of our hotel with his nice newish car. So we set about negotiations which was quite a long process as he wanted us to pay a lot and we wanted to pay a little. Anyway after some hard negotiations and us walking away a few times to test the waters we settled on a price of 12GBP (I still think we were stung even then). After that the guy then phones his mate to take us in an old 4x4 and not his nice car, at least it was quite comfortable.

Having spent all our time up to this point in the hussle and bussle of Kuta it was a real change to see some townships and rural countryside of Bali as we drove the 2hrs to Candidasa.

When we arrrived at the Puri Bagus hotel it was a really nice resort complex with the deepest swimming pool I ever seen and these really cool chillout four poster bed things on the sea front wall. We had our own little Balinese villa with an open air bathroom, it was amazing (it was about time we had some luxury after 7 months of travelling).

The only thing that was missing was a beautiful sandy beach which had apparently existed once, until greedy local developers decided to blow up the coral reef to use the coral for cement. Consequently the tide then swept the sand of the beach away, oops!

Upon check-in we were given vouchers for a welcome massage which we promptly booked for that evening. It was only fifteen minutes long as it was to entice you to pay for the longer massage but despite that, they still managed to massage our head, neck and back, we both though it was awesome.

When we ventured outside the hotel we found that the main street was littered with bar/restaurants vying for your business. The best part about this was the happy hours 5pm-8pm when you could buy a large beer for 13,500rp or about 70p.

There was only one bad thing about Candidasa, the enjoyment of our second day was interrupted by rain, how bad is that, the only day of rain they had outside the rainy season and we had to be there (still it beats the UK).

Kuta Market

We had been told that you could buy anything at Kuta market and that it was cheap. The only thing is you HAVE to barter/haggle with them. The price is always ridiculously high to begin with when you ask how much something is, so when your counteroffer is ridiculously low they look really hurt, but this is just a ruse. Eventually we agreed on a price or we walked away. It is really good fun!

We first bought 6 beer coolers for 1.50GBP to try out our bartering skills but I think we paid to much. Alan bought some cream trousers for 1.20GBP but he has had to re-enforce the stitching a couple of times so they were a bad buy.

Best buys were; my pale blue crocs (shoes) with flowers printed on them for 1.50GBP, a pink and a pale blue top (to match my shoes) for 1.25GBP each, a dress for 1.50GBP and Alans black linen trousers for 2.50GBP. I also bought a new white and pink sarong to match my bikinis for about a pound.

(don't worry dad I can still fit everything in my rucksack x)

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

I had an awesome birthday in Bali. I spent the day lazing by a pool, sunbathing and reading my book.

The hotel gave me the yummiest chocolate cake complete with candle, so Alan lit the candle and sang me "Happy Birthday". Unfortunately the cake was big enough for 2 so I had to share.

We went out for dinner in the evening and had a few beers whilst watching the most eventful grand prix this year.

Then we wandered back to the hotel and had a couple of margaritas and a couple more beers.

Thanks for all the cards and messages x