Thursday 18 August 2011

Penang


After being recommended Penang by various people we made the journey up there with the main priority of eating. We had heard that the food here is very tasty, so, of course, out palate took charge and led the way to Penang, the city of culinary delights! J (everyone reading this will think all we are doing is eating, although we assure you that this isn’t true. It is a big part of our travelling, but not the whole reason for doing it!)

We had 2 days here. Day 1 was to do all of our domestic chores: washing, visas for Thailand, haircuts and post postcards- CHECK- all apart from the laundry. We spent most of the day looking for a cheapish laundrette with no luck. We walked miles trying to find a laundrette which we had found details of online, but this existed no more-typical! You would have no idea how hard it is to find a laundrette in Penang! After a full days search we gave up and just had to come to terms with having to pay more than expected to get clean clothes- and what a hassle. Don’t take washing machines for granted- they are a very useful invention! Well, that was pretty much day 1 over- not particularly interesting and a bit tedious L

Day 2- a little bit more interesting. We did a walking tour of the city, guided....well.... by us! We saw temples, the City Hall, the Supreme Court and most of the other sights.








The food is good here. We came across a massive indoor night food market which sells as many different cuisines as you can think of, from Western to Japanese! You can go around and chose which cuisine (or cuisines- depending on how hungry- or greedy you are!) They bring the food to your table and waiters come and take your drink orders. They even have a man selling newspapers and there is entertainment (which only stretched to karaoke in this case!) We also found a great Indian place- yummy curry, naans and rotis J As well as finding this amazing contraption which should definitely be brought to England- the wonderful water fill it up yourself thingy me bob! Very cheap J and totally cool and great fun to use!






Next,- across the border into Thailand. More beach action on Ko Lipe.


Friday 12 August 2011

Borneo - Sepilok, Mabul and Sipadan

We've just left Penang for Thailand and tomorrow we're off to Koh Lipe (an island off the South -West of Thailand).

Here are some pictures of our journey through Borneo. We first went to Sepilok to see the Orang Utans and then went on to Mabul and Sipidan to do some diving.



Sepilok


Not so happy to see us!


Swing, swing, swing!


Mr monkey monk!


Hello....yes, we see you waving at us! :)


The tree top canopy in the Rainforest Discovery Centre


The rainforest


Is this leaf big enough to,umm, cover my you know what?!


Even bigger leaves! Amazing!


Absolutely content. Mummy and babies :)




Mabul Island


Mabul Island


Paradise!


Dive kit all ready to go!


A beautiful sunset....


....and a beautiful sunrise




Even purer paradise! :)



Sipidan


Sipidan Island


Jackfish


More Jackfish


Abbyfish!


Just keep swimming, just keep swimming....


Bumphead parrotfish


ehh?! Do I need to see a dentist?!


Green Turtle


He just smiled right back at me!


Reef Shark


Nudibranch


Tuesday 2 August 2011

The Cameron Highlands

When we arrived in the Cameron Highlands it was 20°C - too cold not to wear a hat, scarf and socks ( what!? we hear you say - but this really is pretty cold for us now!). Who knows what will happen when we get to Russia and travel through the Siberian winter!

We spent a few days in the Cameron Highlands where we went on a few treks and enjoyed the cool weather. We felt healthy for a change! We also tried the local scones with jam and cream, so not so healthy after all! They had to be eaten  to see if they were up to my Devon standard! They were pretty good but were missing clotted cream - a bit too much to ask in SE Asia!




Our first tour on our travels took us around the surrounding area. We pretty much saw everything in the day - tea plantations, strawberry farm, museum, markets, mossy forest and the butterfly and insect farm. A whole lot to do in one day and well worth it.










Food was good but nothing on Melaka! Though, we did have a yummy steamboat and afterwards we thought our bellies were going to explode!