One of those days...

Today it has been one of those days. I think it has finally hit that I am starting work on Monday.After almost 5 months off that's enough to stress anyone out! I'm kidding, I am looking forward to it really.I don't know why it has been a funny day, maybe missing mother, maybe the thought of moving to a new town and new job apprehensions. Living with someone new who I don't know, although first impressions are that she seems lovely and she has three cats so anyone with three cats must be good, surely!? I guess just a bit of a 'change' time. Maybe it has finally hit that we are home from Asia and the beauty of it all- gosh I miss it. I made a few things for the shop, but whilst we drum up some more interest sales are a little slow. *Be patient she tells herself*. On a brighter note I have been invited to a charity event to hold a stall in November which should be very exciting if all goes through okay. And on an even brighter note it is Friday night, and we have tasty veggie burgers for dinner that Janet has kindly cooked for us :) So, if you have had a bit of a bleuurggh day like silly old me over here. Here is a lovely view to knock you back into high spirits :) The beautiful Kuta beach, Lombok.

Autumn break in Malta

We got back Wednesday evening from visiting the most wonderful person in the whole world. Mum! And oh gosh, how lovely it was to see her! I always forget just how tiny she is and then when we have a hug she just disappears in my embrace! I know I am rather mini too (1cm taller still ;) ) but Mum is just so tiny and petite. So we got there on Friday afternoon and went to see her at the dive shop. She was rocking her extremely bright yellow buddies work t-shirt and a fabulous tan- she looked very well. It wasn't as hot as I had expected but I think that could be that travelling has made me a little bit of a wimp with temperature! On Saturday, Mum had to work so John and I had a mooch around Buggiba which is where Mum lives. We had an ice cream- an essential to any holiday of course. The Maltese people weren't as interesting as Asians to photograph but we took a few shots all the same. Russell and Elaine (Mums brother and his partner) arrived on Sunday, so we had a good old natter and catch up with them. It is not very often that a few of us are together as we are all so busy and dotted around in our family, so it really was nice to see them both together. We sat at dinner for hours, them telling us youngsters stories of the miners strikes back in the day. Turns out that a guy Mum dated at the time was a photographer and got tons of front page photos around that time. She had many stories of driving his car whilst he tried to steal shots of angry miners. Who'd have thought!
Monday was Mums birthday- she had to work but she was teaching John! He had decided to have a go at diving and who could be a better instructor :) He loved it and Mum said he was a natural. In the evening we went to the usual pub, where people proceeded to buy Mum brandies, gins, cocktails and finally tequila. Oh dear! I was utterly impressed at how much she drank as I would have collapsed way before she did. We got her home about 10pm for a well needed sleep I think! Surprisingly she felt quite fresh on Tuesday and we enjoyed a day out in Valletta- some fantastic subjects for taking snaps. By the time Wednesday came around and we had to leave I had quite gotten used to being around Mum again. We had a rather teary goodbye- I don't know what it is but I am absolutely horrendous at goodbyes. Especially with Mum. I always leak. A lot. My eyes that is!! I leaked most of the way to the airport before getting on the plane. Had to just tell myself it wont be too long til I see her again- November 4th she will fly in for graduation. So yes, a quick stop in Malta to see the mother for her birthday and also top up vitamin D levels. Lovely trip really and the perfect preparation for starting the job on Monday. Eeeeeeek!                            

Gili Meno, Jimbaran and Goodbye

Hello!

I write this as I am waiting to leave our last stop, jimbaran, for the airport to fly home :( and what an amazing three months it has been. I have got a lot to come home to and lots of new and exciting things happening but still a bit emotional about leaving! But before I blabber on let me tell you about our last few days in gili meno and jimbaran.

We left beautiful kuta in Lombok on Wednesday morning nice and early at 6am! One benefit of being up so early was that we caught the sunset which was pretty. Our transport took us to sengiggi which is a town where the speed boats leave from. We arrived here around 7.30am ready for the speedboat at 8. Now when I say speed boat- take that with a pinch of salt. 8 of us squished in, one guy was going to gili trawangan (another island) , us two were off to gili meno, and the other five were doing a snorkelling day around all three islands. We were a little squished in as it was more of a fishing boat with a motor to be honest! It was fine though, quite speedy and got us there in about 90minutes. I had taken my magical travel pills and so had john so we were fine. After all this travel I am getting quite good at spotting the sickly looking folk and wasn't too pleased at one sat opposite me in such a small boat. The boat wasn't even choppy really not compared to some weve been on, yet poor french girl proceeded to be quite sea sick. I waited for a pause in her throwing up before I rummaged for my travel arm bands and tried to explain how she wears them. She seemed quite grateful and wasnt sick afterwards so hopefully they helped. Poor John was right next to her. I was a lot better though because at the start of this trip I would genuinely rather swim to gili meno than be on a small boat with a sickly person but I managed to stay calm just covering my head and listening to music. So anyway, after the drama of sickly french girl we arrived on gili meno where the boat just dropped us at the beach. There is a small population of 300 and no motorised vehicles at all so we took a small pony and cart to the hotel with our bags. I couldnt belive how well trained the ponies are with all the driving done through voice commands. The hotel was lovely, right on the beach and traditional Lombok style a-frame bungalows for bedrooms and outdoor showers. We spent the first day just relaxing on the beach and a stroll around the island in the evening. It took around an hour so really quite a small island! We had been told there are many turtles in the sea around gili meno so we headed out snorkelling the next morning. We unfortunately didn't see any turtles even after a few tries but lots of pretty tropical fish and some more parrot fish which are cool but no turtles. I did get stung by jellyfish which was a bit exciting. Luckily only little ones so just felt like a few nettle stings. The rest of our time on meno was spent mostly relaxing and enjoying our last few days of Indonesian food. They do a delicious thing which is unique to Indonesia called 'tempeh' which is a sort of cake made from soya beans and they fry it. Tastes a bit nutty and really good! So we mostly ate tempeh and swam and relaxed. The sunsets were stunning over the water and just blissful to sit and watch in such a quiet place. We walked around the island a couple more times and visited the turtle sanctuary. It is run by a guy who just loves turtles and doesn't want them to become extinct so he gathers their eggs from beaches and then raises them until they are old enough to release (8months). They had olive ridley turtles as well as hawk bill turtles but they weren't ready for release yet. I hope they manage to survive the changes in climate and rubbish and all the other things that threaten them in the wild. But yes, gili meno was beautiful. Not quite as much character as kuta but definitely a beach goers dream! Not so great for busy folk as not an awful lot to do but for a couple of days relaxing it was lovely.

On saturday it was time for us to move on to our final destination, jimbaran which is back on Bali. My dad had kindly spoken to a friend who has a few hotels in Bali and arranged for us to stay there so we could get to the airport easily and things. The boat from meno to Bali was the one I was dreading the most but it was actually the best! This one was a super speed boat with 5 motors and could take 60 people. It just powered through the waves! There were a few big ones but it was quite fun and the journey flew by. We then took a minibus to jimbaran which should have only take about 2 hours but actually took 4 because the driver decided to drop everyone else off before us (even though our town was on the way!) And then he got quite lost. But never mind we made it here! The hotel is gorgeous but we couldn't help feel a little out of place having stayed in some real basic places and real small homely places to suddenly turn up with our shabby back packs to this swanky hotel! Especially when someone came to the room at 7pm to fold back out duvet! We've been lucky to get a blanket at some hostels! Yesterday we had a full day so thought we should go and see what jimbaran was like. We read in the guidebook it is where all the posh hotels are , four seasons, intercontinental etc. And to be honest its a bit of a shame because that is really all there is. We wandered up the road and there was a small local market which was cool. The beach we thought was quite average but I think we may have been a bit spoilt! There are some great seafood warungs on the beach too but apart from that the place didn't seem to have much. I guess its a small ish local town and and the big hotels set up camp here drawing the tourists in. At dinner an older Aussie guest came and chatted to us and we gathered he and his wife come to this town of Bali each year. They didn't seem to leave the hotel except to go on the hotel arranged day trips. We both agreed why would you come all the way to a beautiful place like bali and sit in a hotel?! I guess its not as far from Australia and that is some peoples idea of a perfect holiday but it made me so glad that our trip has been full of adventures and exploring and not sat by a hotel pool.

So as I sit here waiting to leave for my flight this evening I have been thinking and reflecting on the trip and just how much I will miss Asia and especially Indonesia. Johns flight is 6 hour earlier than mine as we booked flights at different times so he has gone off to the airport. For the first time in three months I'm going to be on my own for more than a couple of hours. How strange. I hope I don't get lost or anything! But yes, as I reflected I thought the trip has been one of many 'firsts' and I have learnt so much. I also have a very many amount of thankyous. The first goes to Chrissie and John who between them have put up with me for a whole three months. I dont know how I haven't been murdered by one of them! They have put up with me dragging them to endless restaurants until I found some thing I like, navigating for me as my navigation is beyond hopeless, helping me get my huge bag on my back, looking after me when I felt unwell, giving hugs and laughs when we missed home, putting up with my wimpy moments mostly sea/ boat/ spider related and just being the most incredible travel partners I could have chosen. We've got some fantastic photos (especially the day Chrissie and I got soaked in Phnom Penh) some even better memories and I love these two to pieces! Second thanks will have to go to the wonderful mother I have. She has listened to my endless stories of what we've been up to as well as made quite a few diagnoses of what has been wrong with me via the internet ha ha! Pretty sure she must be almost a qualified specialist in tropical diseases or something now. On top of that she reassured me when I was a little low and missing home and just made me laugh and smile most days. I owe a big thanks to both my mum and lovely step mum too for encouraging me to go and out and see the world and being supportive in what ever I choose to do in life. Thank you to all of you lot for reading my ramblings and coming on our adventures with us. Thank you to Cambodia for having such yummy food and saving me from three months of fried rice (I was panicking in Vietnam that this would be all I would live on). Thanks to all the crazy Vietnamese drivers who didn't crash the night buses even though you did the best to convince us otherwise. Thanks to Hoi An for providing me with some of the best subjects I have had to photograph to date. Thanks to the Cambodian people for being so friendly and giving us a warm welcome. Thanks to Vietnam and Cambodia for reminding us that although we have some problems in the UK our problems and suffering doesnt even come close to those in some countries. Thanks to Thailand for allowing Me to experience some of the most beautiful walks I have ever been on. Thanks to koh tao for it not being box jellyfish season when we were there. Thanks to Kang, our little beach seller friend in Vietnam for our afternoon of football even if he did mostly just laugh at my poor attempts. Thank you to Cameron highlands for the strawberries and tea and for satisfying my well overdue cake cravings. Thanks to Hindus of Georgetown for the best curries I ever had. Thanks to the smiling homeless guys of kuala Lumpur who reminded me no matter how bad your day is there is always something to smile for and someone much worse off. Thank you to ubud for the immense ceremonies

Thank you to Ketut for showing us how to be silversmiths! Thanks to sidemen for your lush rice paddies. Thank you to padangbai for making us appreciate rat free accommodation (!). Thanks to kuta for being absolutely immense. Thanks to rony for not letting me get eaten by waves and teaching me to stand on a surf board. Thanks to the indonesian people for being the friendliest i have encountered. Thanks to bali for your arts. and thanks to jimbaran for a relaxing send off. And thats not even close to half.

As I said a trip of many firsts; first time in a canoe, first time in Asia, first time away from home for so long, first time eating real Asian food , first time on a proper ferry that's longer than 3 minutes (torpoint ferry doesn't count!) First time speaking Vietnamese, Khmer, Thai, Malay and bahasa Indonesian, first jellyfish sting, first time on a motorbike, first time seeing an Indonesian ceremony, first time surfing, first time eating tempeh, first over night bus.I could go on forever! Doing all these things for the first time and having so many experiences in all of these countries which have been incredible has taught me that even if you are nervous or think you won't like something you might. This brings me to one last thanks. Thanks to Phil who we cycled Angkor wat with. He was cycling Asia for 18 weeks and when I asked him why he replied 'why not?' . That's how I tried to think when there was an opportunity to try something' why not what's the worst that can happen' and it has lead to some of the best things and times I have ever had. Another thing I have learnt is to be truly grateful for what we have. And what we don't have (giant spiders) so next time one is on the carpet I will think of the ones in the trees of Asia and hopefully keep my squeals to a minimum! Asia has been a real beauty and I hope that one day I will be back and maybe even live out here. Its a really special place with every country having its own uniqueness and character all so different from one another. So many great places and great experiences but to finish I will leave you with my top five:

1- surfing on the stunning beaches of kuta with the legend that is Rony.

2- sitting for ages chatting to monks in the spiritual home Ounalom.

3- seeing a proper Balinese ceremony.

4- watching the lanterns of the full moon festival in Hoi An.

5- cycling around Angkor temples on a sunny day.

So thats it from me for a while. I leave here in a few hours to start the 26 hour journey back home. Luckily johns lovely parents will be waiting to collect us and welcome us home :) on to new starts and exciting things. So until the next adventure ..

Terima kasih and selamat tinggal (thank you and goodbye) xxx

Kuta, Lombok

Hello!

Another email from me! Intrepid adventurer. I have been an intrepid adventurer this week! So we left rat infested hotel in padangbai, Bali, on Saturday morning nice and early. We got our batik paintings back which looked fab! Off to the ferry we went. We had opted for the public ferry which takes 4 hours to Lombok but is very big. We could have taken a speedboat but it was three times the price and very small and we were a bit worried about the choppy channel. As it happens the big boat wasn't too bad, took a little longer as we had to wait for a space in the harbour in Lombok but we were back on dry land within 5 hours. And it was only a tiny bit choppy through deep water. No green looking people which made me very pleased! Our transport collected us and drove us on to Kuta where we had decided to stay on Lombok. We had originally planned to go to a place called Sengiggi but when in Malaysia we met a couple who said it was really touristy and full of sleazy old men so we changed plans. Kuta is on the south coast so a bit of a trek to our next destination as that is off the north coast off Lombok but oh it was worth it! Kuta really has been amazing!

Before we got here, I read in the guide book that its a bit of a hidden gem , diamond in the rough type place. A company from Dubai tried to set up a huge resort about 3 years ago here and something went wrong and plans fell through but I'm sure if that had gone through then it wouldn't be such a pleasant place as it is now. So we arrived Saturday around 4 pm. Checked into our hotel or 'homestay' as they call them here. We had a wander up to kuta beach. Almost certainly my favourite beach of the trip so far! A large bay, with hills and cliffs around it, some nice white sand and as the tide was out there were thousands of tiny rock pools filled with bright turquoise water. The tide was out really far, we could only just see some waves on the horizon and many locals were out fishing in the rock pools. The pools of water made a lovely sunset too. John was a little disappointed as the wave break looked so far out which might make it hard to surf but we thought we should check it out in the morning when the tide was in. The next day we headed down to the beach. The main road was filled with scooters whizzing off to nearby beaches with surf boards on the side, as well as ponies pulling carts of locals off to do daily errands. Most of the tiny shops and warungs (restaurant) here are just bamboo shacks really and there is a real authentic feel with women barbecuing freshly caught squid and smoking fish at the side of the road. The tide was in when we reached the beach and the view was just breath taking. The most bright turquoise sea I have ever laid my eyes on! As it was Sunday the beach was full of local kids playing in the sea splashing around and having fun. We wandered along for a while with all the kids running up to us for a chat wanting to practice their English. As we sat for a drink some women asked if we wanted to buy a sarong and as we didn't she sat and chatted to us for a while. More of her friends came and then some young girls selling bracelets. I said I didn't want tp buy one but could they show me how to make one of the braids (I can do a few but this one had me baffled). Turns out the women were quite baffled too but one of the young girls showed us and we all sat there having a go! One thing which I found odd here is they all had fairly western names like sandra and julie. Made it easier for us though! After lunch we walked further around the beach and found a few little coves and private beaches where we sat and watched the tide go out. There were some trees right by the edge of the sea and we could see when the tide was out that the roots had grown along the floor and back up vertically out of the ground in search of the water! Looked very strange! John was again a but disappointed as the decent waves were miles away from the shore meaning he might struggle to get out to them without a boat. As we walked home we passed a few surf shops so I suggested we ask if there is another beach we could try or maybe he should have a lesson as that way we might get the board and transport all thrown in together. The first shop was expensive but the second one was reasonable and he said we could go the next day. John was a bit unsure but we said what the hell we cant come to Indonesia and him not surf so we booked it.

So Monday morning we headed off early to the surf shop. I went on the back of the instructors (Ronny) moped as john was a bit wobbly and quite frankly I didn't trust his moped driving skills! No offense ;) Ronny was a little bit speedy but we had a nice chat which took my mind off the speedometer. By the time we go to the beach I knew that Ronny had had a girlfriend but she married another man, that he was 20 (turns out he is actually 18 but they don't follow their age here) , that he is lomboks number two surfer and that he only crashed the bike when racing. It took us about 40 minutes to get to the beach but we rode through the countryside where Ronny pointed out tobacco farms and herds of cows with their bells on. We went up through some hills where you could see most of the south coast and it really was beautiful. We reached the beach and it was even more stunning than kuta beach. And not a soul there except us (it was 9am I guess) a few fishermen and their wives cooking up the daily catch. The tide was out so we had to sit and wait a while for a wave. After around 55 minutes the waves started to roll in and john got in the water. I got to use his big fancy camera to zoom in and get some photos so I was happy! It took him a few goes but he was stood up and surfing in no time having loads of fun. Ronny got another board from the rental shack and he started showing off his moves too. After a couple of hours and many photos the beach had started to fill (maximum around 30 people so still v quiet!). Ronny kept asking if I wanted to try but I said oh no no I'm fine. As time went on a noticed quite a few girls giving it a go. And then Ronny started helping a couple of british girls as they were struggling to get going and I thought 'I quite want to see what all the fuss is about' so I said id try. John got behind the camera (shame we didn't have video as definitely a few you've been framed moments) and I waded into meet ronny. As I was scrabbling aboard said surf board I thought what am I thinking but NY this point it was too late! He showed me how to stand up and pushed me along a wave shouting 'up up' - my queue to stand. I just laid there as it was quite pleasant! But yes apparently you're supposed to stand not just lay there. So Ronny continued to push me into waves. I managed a lot of kneeling as well as a crouch but couldnt quite stand. Also managed a lot of face plants into waves and learnt the first rule of surfing - when you feel yourself fall - shut your mouth! That I learnt very quickly! Ronny and john had a good old chuckle at me swallowing sea water. So although it was very fun, I hadn't quite managed to stand and the waves got bigger so i left it to the boys. We rode back through the beautiful scenery of south Lombok and decided we had enjoyed it so much that we had better have another go tomorrow.

So this morning, same story, down to the surf shop, jumped on mopeds , rode through lomboks south to the beach. Again the beach was empty. The tide was coming in so there were some nice small waves for me to start. Again, quite a lot of face planting into waves- although no swallowing sea water today. But I managed to stand up! Wooooooo! Quite a few times actually. I think Ronny got a little miffed when I couldn't do it and said 'here let me show you again' and proceeded to demo and explain how to stand up on the board. I replied with 'I can see how you want me to do it but my body doesnt physically do that!' But I managed a standing surf in a sort of fashion! No where near as nimble and athletic looking as Ronny or john but never mind! And it was a lot of fun. I also think being plunged head first into many waves has diminished my phobia of the sea. Another bonus! We saw the girls who Ronny helped yesterday again and john and Ronny surfed with them for a bit and we chatted to them turns out they live quite near john at home! Ronny demonstrated his party trick of surfing on his head (I kid you not!) Of which I have photographic evidence!!! On the way home ronny asked if we wanted to see another beach called Mawi. We had heard that mawi had proper waves and was where the big boys surfed so we said yes of course. Bloody hell! These waves were ginormous. A lot of surfers sat on the beach watching who ever was out on the water and attempting to surf the 8foot monsters that kept rolling in. These guys were immense! The power of the waves as the charged in was scary. Its terrifying really to think as john noted yesterday that that wave probably started near the arctic and hasn't stopped til it hits you- that's a lot of power! We sat at mawi for an hour or so admiring the talent and taking photos. I asked ronny if the waves I had surfed were that big to which he chuckled and said ' no no yours was only 2foot' ha ha! So we rode back all salty and sandy and left Ronny with his surf shop. I never thought I would enjoy it but it was so much fun and I'm so glad we went back again today. Tell you what though I can see how surfers get such tremendous bodies as i ache everywhere now!

So tomorrow we leave kuta. This makes me a little sad as I feel it is definitely a place that grows on you. On Saturday when we arrived I loved the beach but apart from that I thought 'oh there's nothing here not much to do' and was expecting to be bored really. But as you stay and observe you see the locals immersed in their daily lives and the culture shows through. The people here have all been so welcoming and friendly and it has a perfect balance between being friendly to foreigners but without being too touristy. perfect really. We will definitely come back to see more of Indonesia it has been my favourite country so far and kind of blows the socks off the others really! But for now, I am glad that we chose kuta as our stop in Lombok as it has been fantastic. Next stop is Gili Meno to hopefully see some turtles. The hotel we managed to book apparently has the best views on the island so we are looking forward to that! Although it is our last week I think we saved the best til last :-)

Off for dinner now as a bit peckish after my adventurous day! But hope all is good at home and see you all soon, lots of love XXX PS photographic proof of the surfing attached. Its q photo of the camera screen so bad quality but you get the idea! And one of Ronny party trick ;)

More Bali- Sidemen and Padangbai

Aloha!

Sorry about not being In touch this week we ended up having no internet in Sidemen. We arrived there on Monday afternoon after a nice last morning in Ubud. I caught news of a bead shop and we had an hour to kill so we decided to try and find it. It ended up being right at the other side of Ubud but not wanting to be defeated we rushed there and bought loads and loads of beads and hurried back just in time for our transport! I had a little pavement accident in the process. I blame the uneven Bali pavements but probably partially my clumsiness but we made it! With only a couple of cuts! Now I can make some lovely jewellery when we get home!

So from Ubud we went to Sidemen, it was beautiful. Agoda had messed up our booking so we had a lovely hotel they had upgraded us to. There weren't many guests and only 5 rooms so nice and quiet. The staff were friendly, the girl who was there most of the time was just singing all day and in her own little world! She couldn't believe we thought the rice paddies were beautiful, I guess she is used to it although I'm not sure I could ever tire of that view. The first full day we thought we would wander into the village and see what was there. Not much was the answer! There was a weaving factory which was really interesting where you can see local people weaving Balinese fabric which is called 'itak'. It looks slightly south american we thought. And they weave so fast! We didn't see much else, a couple of schools where we got laughed at a lot walking by! I don't think they see many white people out in the countryside. And a few mechanics and local shops but that was it really. So after discovering the lack of things in sidemen and deciding we weren't brave enough to get up at 2am for the four hour hike up the volcano (mount agung) for sunrise we decided we had better just relax for a couple of days! The views around the area were beautiful and we had some good books so that was what we did. We happened to be there for a full moon festival (we didn't watch thank god) but we saw lots of women walking up the road carrying baskets of all sorts on their heads when we were eating dinner one night. The restaurant owner explained that on a full moon they all have dinner in a field and watch the cock fights. Glad we didn't see that as they don't stop until one is dead. Apparently the meat of the loser is very sought after and expensive. We have read that gambling on cock fights is illegal and a big problem here but it doesn't seem to stop them and you do notice cockerels every where! They are kept in small dome cages made from palm leaves and are so so noisy! But they are beautiful so a bit of a shame its a sport to watch them kill each other!

Being the busy people we are, as lovely as relaxing was, we were going a bit mental after a day and half of relaxing! So yesterday we set off for Padangbai. Padangbai is the small port town on the east coast where all the boats leave for Lombok and the Gili islands (eeeeeeeeek- if that doesn't make sense just Google gili islands ;) ). We went to book our ferries for the rest of the trip and got that all sorted thanks to the lovely man at the ferry office. Three ferries in one week *gulps* it doesn't help my confidence when we we're walking back to the hotel and I see a sinking ship in the harbour. I went over to the nearest local (shop owner) and said 'umm I think that boat might be sinking should we do something? ' He just replied with 'ahh yes yes its sinking ' and chuckled at my panic! And this morning we've seen two more! We enjoyed lunch at our hostel- they have REAL bread and REAL cheddar. This was such a luxury and I have never enjoyed a cheese sandwich so much! All the bread we have had so far is plasticky white sliced and it tastes sweet like brioche which is OK but not great for a good buttie. And the cheese they have is a bit like solid dairylea. Not a nice Davidstow Cheddar or anything like that! So you can imagine the joy at a real cheese sandwich! After the excitement subsided we headed around the corner to the local bay. A nice rocky little bay with black volcanic sand. We did a bit of crab hunting and watched the sun go down before heading back for dinner. Our hostel had live music last night so that was a good change. I think the hostel is owned by Europeans as they also have proper cakes! Brownies, lemon cake, nougat and apple crumble! So we sat listening to some live music, eating apple crumble! Heaven!

So all was going swimmingly right?! I forgot to mention how quaint and quirky backpacker like the hostel is. They have a downstairs with restaurant all brightly coloured with lots of hanging boats - very beachy and cool. Mosaic chairs and cake. What more could you want! I booked the wrong room so we had bunk beds like kids again which was funny. But room was nice and again brightly coloured with a little outside bathroom and a rainfall type shower thingy. All sounds lovely doesn't it? And that's what we thought. Until the lights were out. OH MY GOD. RATS. RATS. OH MY GOD. I'm not even kidding you! Firstly the walls were pretty thin so took us a while to get to sleep but when everyone turned in around 11 it was OK. We drifted off and were rudely awakened by a nice loud squeak. At first I thought it was the girls next door but no there it was again. We had the room on the end of the building and a roof ran right by the edge of our window. Its a bamboo shack so not exactly rat proof. And I had bottom bunk so tucked my feet in. We heard lots of squeaking, lots of scurrying around and at one point I think it / they were right by my head! So lots of waking up with 'what the f*** was that!' . At first i thought 'meh just a little fluffy rat' and then i remembered those memories of sitting with mum a few years back when she got a job with Rentokil and helpinh her learn all her facts and figures. Rats have big ears and long tails i remembered. Along with all the diseases they carry- not to mention a large proportion of animals on bali have rabies. Great! So yes i definitely tucked my toes in after that. Along with the horns from the 5am ferries and a distant mosque call, and crazy dreams from the malaria tablets we didn't get much sleep! To be fair the hostel manager was very helpful explained he was fully booked but we could have a bed in the 'dorm'. By dorm he means they put beds on the floor in the seating area upstairs. Ha! He gave us a refund and assured us there are no critters in the 'dorm'. Hopefully tonight will be better! We used our refund money to do a course In batik painting though which was really fun! Every cloud has a silver lining and all that! I did some fishes and john did a turtle . We get them back tomorrow morning when the dye has been processed so watch this space!

So after one more night in the *fingers crossed* less rat infested part of the hostel we head tomorrow to Lombok! We are going to Kuta in the south which sounds gorgeous and unspoiled. John is excited as all there is to do is surf. I might actually have to brave it and get on a surf board. We are in Kuta for three days before we journey up to Gili Meno! On Gili meno the population is just 300 people! Here we are hoping to see some turtles and swim with fishes in the sea lots! A nice way to end the trip before heading back to Bali for our flight home. Just over a week left of this trip and I'm amazed at how quickly the time has flown! I have really enjoyed writing these emails and sharing our experiences and I hope you have all enjoyed reading them just as much. It has made me want to send off to lonely planet and ask for a job writing so I can travel permanently :P I think I can dream on! So there should be another email or two to come before I start the 26 hour journey home (7 hours in Doha airport helpppp). Just an incredible trip which I have loved every minute, the ups and the downs, and still lots to look forward to on coming home.

Hope everyone at home is well, looking forward to being in the same time zone and seeing you all to catch up! Lots and lots of love PS we will try and bring some sunshine back home :-)

Beautiful Bali: Seminyak and Ubud

Hello!

Hope you are all having a cheery Monday morning! Sorry I haven't been in touch for a week or so we have been a bit busy. But before I update you, Abby has had her baby! A beautiful baby girl named Florence Eva! I have heard from Abby that she's a diddy little one but doing well so that's brilliant news. Looking forward to getting down to st just when we are home for cuddles!  We flew to Bali last Monday morning (12th) and by the time our heads hit the pillow that evening we were so in love! I think it almost knocks Cornwall off the top spot of being my favourite place ever. Note to my Cornish friends I said almost ;) during the flight we had some wonderful views of Indonesia's volcanoes and mountains poking through the clouds which made the flight much more interesting! We started off in seminyak near the airport. We stayed here for two nights in a friends hotel which was lovely. Seminyak is known for being touristy so we hadn't planned on staying long. We had visions of it being a bit like the Balinese Tenerife ; full of chavvy tourists and tower blocks. We were quite wrong. The government have put a height restriction on buildings to protect the coastline so even though the main street is full of hotels and restaurants there isn't a tower block in sight! What's more is that they are all unique little boutiques rather than the chains you see on the British high streets and all had beautiful architecture or quirky shop designs. It really is a shopping paradise although we noticed most of it didn't look local which was a shame. I bought some gorgeous batik fabric to make cushions when I am home though! we visited a temple here too which I believe is quite an important one and in a series of temples along thw coast. Unfortunately the weather wasnt right for John to go surfing. This made me secretly happy as it meant i could resist going on a surf board for another day :-) ha! After a day and a half in seminyak we were ready to move on to ubud. There aren't really buses or public transport here so you need to get private taxis from town to town but it wasn't expensive and very much appreciated having your own private car after so many journeys with sick looking people.

We arrived in ubud on Wednesday afternoon. The drive in was interesting as we passed a lot of areas that are unique for making certain things. One area for kites (spectacular huge kites here) , one for traditional stonework, one for wood carving and so on. We arrived at the hotel and we were blown away. The entrance was all traditional Balinese architecture and stone work which is beautiful. The hotel was like a little maze of alley ways down a hill to a secluded type lagoon pool set at the back of the local rice paddies. Agoda didn't disappoint us once again!! The staff were lovely too and our room had a balcony with views of the rice paddies over the back of the hotel. After a little explore of Ubud it was obvious that the guide books don't do it justice. It is full of tiny shops with local crafted goodies such as batik sarongs and scarves, Balinese puppets and giant kites. There are a lot of restaurants too but all lovely looking and reasonably priced. Thursday was my birthday and John had arranged a surprise- I had been pestering for weeks to know what it was but he wouldn't tell me. It turned out he had organised for us to go and make jewellery! As I said Ubud has a lot of crafty things which I love and there are many jewellers specialising in silver. The one we went to had a friendly silver smith called Ketut who spent three hours with us teaching us to make our own silver jewellery! It was so much fun. I got to use the blow torch and everything! I made a ring and John made a necklace (photo of my ring attached) which both started out as sheets of plain silver so I hope youre impressed! We ended the day with a delicious dinner at a place called nomad. Definitely a must go for anyone visiting Ubud anytime soon the food was fantastic. I think Bali is the cheapest place we have been so far and for the quality of things too. We had a meal which you would struggle to find in Europe for less than £40 for the both and it was £9! 

Friday and Saturday we sort of mooched around Ubud looking at art galleries and in shops. We visited a museum that show cases traditional Balinese art a really unique style - have a Google its quite interesting . Turns out a couple of European artists one German and one dutch came to Bali in the early 20th century and loved it so much they didn't leave and they built the museum. Its called the puri lukisan. A stunning set of buildings with quaint little gardens and a Balinese man playing a bamboo xylophone. Quite idyllic! One of the things that has really stood out in Bali so far is the culture and architecture. Some houses are in the traditional architecture as are the temples. They have the large temples but also small temples inside courtyards for each family and small community and also even smaller ones on the street. Everyone puts out offerings to the gods. These consist of trays (some square, some very ornate and delicate) made from palm leaves and filled with flowers, crackers or rice and fruits. They are only small about a 3" x 3" square and placed outside every building. They also place flowers and bigger offerings at the temples. You also see a lot of people in traditional dress which is nice. For the men this is a white shirt and a sarong. A lot of the men wear black and white checked. We found out that white represents good spirits and black is to represent the bad ones. Men also wear a small turban type headdress. For women it is a lacy blouse with a cloth belt around the waist and a sarong too. Most temples require visitors to wear traditional dress too so we invested in some sarongs which was quite good fun! 

Sunday was our last day in Ubud which we were quite sad about. We had both said we could happily live there and may possibly do so one day. The people are so friendly and the atmosphere is chilled out and just heavenly really. Anyone who has read the book or seen the film of eat pray love then I can completely understand why she fell in love with the place now! So yes, Sunday, our final day. We had found out that there was a cremation ceremony. This doesn't happen very often only once every couple of years so we were lucky to catch one. It happened to be the ceremony for the death of the king of Ubud as they still have a sort of small royal family there. What a ceremony it was! We got to the palace around 1130am and there were already a lot of locals and tourists gathering. We had seen some very large bamboo stairs the other day and baffled as to what they were for. Now there was a giant (around 15meters high) pagoda type thing next to the stairs. It was on top of a bamboo frame and so brightly coloured just exquisite. A lot of locals in matching traditional dress and matching t-shirts were waiting around it. We guessed that they were men from the community who had volunteered to help. The crowd got larger and larger and in the opposite street we spotted more of these giant things. There was a bull and a horse too. I guess the best way to describe them is a sort of very very large, much fancier and solid piñata. Sort of! Anyway, as the crowd got larger, a local band started playing Balinese ceremonial music and these men lifted the giant pagoda and turned it around. They then took turns in climbing the stairs and putting small offerings in the top of it. It wasn't a sad ceremony, there werent any tears like we would see at home. The Balinese are Hindu and believe in reincarnation so I guess it is more of a life celebration. The crowds got even bigger and the band louder. eventually the men lifted the pagoda thing and started carrying it to the crematorium. There was a boy riding the horse and the bull too. The large pagoda and horse and bull went one way and there was a smaller set went the other way. We followed the smaller set as there were smaller crowds. The crematorium was just a temple courtyard really. They set the bull in the middle and cut him open to let people put in offerings. A local man told us that this smaller ceremony was for local people who had died in the last two years. Don't worry turns out they cremate the body straight away but they cant afford a fancy funeral so they wait and do a big one. The offerings were things belonging to or representing the dead people to go to be cremated inside the bull. So its a representation really rather than a bull full of burning bodies. They eventuallg set him and the horse as well as a small bonfire on fire. Again, a few people looked a little sad as I guess some could have been recent deaths but the majority didn't have sad faces. It was such an interesting experience. And you can see why they are not frequent as very extravagant so must cost a lot of money. We spent our last afternoon relaxing and chatting to a guy at the hotel. He was a funny guy only 21 and seemed to work ever so hard. He had a good old laugh at my attempt to speak indonesian and he also asked me if it was true that we had fires in our houses in the UK just to stay warm as he had seen them on the television but couldnt believe it could be that cold! 

We left Ubud at lunch time today to move onto the next stop, Sidemen. We had been told by many Balinese that Sidemen is stunning so we were looking forward to it. They didn't lie! Agoda had messed up our booking and didn't realise the hotel was overbooked so we got offered an alternative at no extra price. We are now quite glad as this hotel is probably the most beautiful place I have ever seen! I've stayed in my fair share of fancy five star places all over the world but there is just something about these hotels in Bali. They are small, around 4-6 bedrooms and such a personal feel. And obviously the architecture, delicious food and beautiful weather helps too. This one has an infinity pool looking over across a valley of rice paddies and mountains- photo attached! (sorry for those sat at your desk right now ;) ). We can see there isn't much for miles except rice paddies and various farms. This also means it is lovely and quiet! I think tomorrow we will rent bikes and explore. We are here for three nights before heading to padang bai to get the ferry to Lombok. So yes, that's about all for now from Bali, oh except one last thing. The only bad thing I have identified so far. The spiders are HUGE. There was one where we ate breakfast every day in ubud and I couldn't see it too well as didn't have my glasses (luckily) but it had built a web in the tree and John reckoned it was bigger than his hand stretched out. I have just seen another of these beasts opposite our balcony here in sidemen! Pesky things! But yes, if you are looking for the most idyllic and beautiful holiday destination with still plenty to do and you dont mind paying a bit more for flights then here should be your destination. The Balinese make a cracking rice pudding too! 

Hope you are all well at home too, is the sun still there or do we need to bring some home with us? Lots and lots of love XXX PS just realised after writing this that we don't have internet here so hopefully can find somewhere when we explore tomorrow. But so you know I wrote this on Monday afternoon and if   I'm not back in touch for a while its due to lack of WiFi not because the spider has eaten me ;)

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Hello!

Big cheery wave from KL! Blimey its hot again! The heat hit us as we got off the air conned bus from the Cameron Highlands. The journey was a bit of a nightmare to say the least. The roads coming away from Cameron Highlands were ridiculously treacherous. Very very windy mountain lanes with sheer rock face on one side and huge drops on the other and no crash barriers. Silly old me forgot to take my travel pills until we just got onto the bus so they didn't really have enough time to work before the twisty turns. What's more, the driver thought he was lewis Hamilton or someone of sorts. I think possibly as it was the start of Eid he was a bit keen to finish for the day and go to celebrate. As if the nail biting journey wasn't bad enough, he then let on some hitch hikers who proceeded to sit and vomit right in front of us. The bones in johns hand were a little crushed by the time we hit the motorway. I have really never understood why my mum and Nana get nervous when someone else is driving but now I see it! I think they would have genuinely passed out through fear on that journey- they even get a little stressed when Russell (mums brother) drives. I would rather get in a car with Russell with his eyes shut and hands tied behind his back than be back on that bus! But somehow, we did make it to KL! The  guesthouse was easy to find and we were greeted by another odd guesthouse manager. My mother would have been absolutely horrified at the state of his fingernails. I think he may be some hippy type but I don't know why that is an excuse not to wash? Even if he wants to save the planet and not use much water he could still have a decent wash in a small amount of water surely? I am not usually a snob and as friendly and helpful as he was I dont want to complain but I have never seen someone so filthy! I dread to think what his long hair under the hat was like *gulps*.

So after a decent if a little mozi bitten sleep we headed off to explore KL on Friday morning. We had invested in a jar of nutella to have on our toast- great decision. We had a free map that had some walking tours on it so we decided to do one of these as it all looked quite accessible. First thoughts of KL were that it was much more open, spacious and airy than bangkok. Much less grey and oppressive than bangkok. As we walked we saw more of the colonial style buildings we had seen in Georgetown and the mish mash of cultures was quite present still, with Chinese, Indians and Malays all milling around going about their day to day errands. The first stop on our DIY walking tour was the old courthouses. This was very interesting as it was mogul style architecture, like something you'd expect to see in morocco. There we're palm trees too, so quite surreal when we looked up and right behind were the tower block and sky scrapers of the financial city. There were a few buildings like this Arabic one and very beautiful. We then headed across the road where we went to the KL gallery. Here was quite a cool model of KL and a wood carving company who make anything from tiny pieces of wood. Sounds a bit rubbish when I describe it but they were spectacular. Things like the empire state building and the KL towers and you can see into the workshop. All of the pieces seem to be cut with lasers and then they assemble them - the company is called 'arch' if you fancy a google it really Is amazing. After the gallery we had some lunch and on our way to china town saw some very Tudor looking architecture- white buildings with the black beams and a British looking church! We had a mooch around china town before heading home.

Yesterday we decided to get the train to one of KL's main attractions- the Batu caves. The train was dead clean and nice and easy. The batu caves are a spiritual place for Hindus. There is a huge (biggest in Malaysia) golden statue of a Hindu god and many temples, some in the cave and some around. There's also monkeys. Lots and lots of monkeys. As we walked up to the caves there were tons of stalls selling Indian sweets, how could we say no! We got some orange ones that looked like mini pretzels and had a sugary liquid inside. Johns favourites were some bright pink coconut things. Similar to coconut ice we have at home but so sugary! We had to eat them quick so as not to get mobbed my monkeys. The cave itself wasn't over whelming but the temples were quite cool and I'm glad we went. We also witnessed a Hindu family having their car blessed! We sat watching a Hindu man throwing paint on the car and placing limes under the wheels. I went over and asked the lady and she explained they had just bought a new car and its tradition to have someone bless it before you take it home! We headed home on the train. As we were walking over the bridge we saw a few homeless people. Over the past two months I have seen a handful of heart wrenching views and situations which have brought me close to tears. So what's another homeless man? I don't know whether it was the way he looked at me or the dirt on his feet indicting that he probably hadn't appreciated a warm bath in a while but seeing him was one of the hardest. It was like all the others staring at me all at once. The overwhelming emotion hit me walking home and had a bit of a break down! I have been reading up on many things while I've been away but one thing I read which was very thought provoking was a blog called ' a girl called jack' by a girl called jack Monroe. She's not much older than me (25) and writes about food and the struggles some people in Britain have with it- more finding it. Give it a read it really is good. She's actually just got herself a book deal which is brilliant. One of her latest posts was trending on twitter . She wrote about how people could not buy a latte and use the £3 to buy a needy person 22 meals. As I walked home with the sadness from this mans eyes in my heart I promised to myself that when i am home (now I'll be on a grown up salary!!!) I will do this each week ad take it to the local food bank. I love a good earl grey from starbucks but im sure I can spare a few of those a week. Then as we headed past 7/11 we bought some brioche rolls so over then next day or so we had something to give the hungry looking homeless. Since then we've only seen two so looks like the parking attendent down the road has a lot of brioche to eat!!

On returning home we headed out to the main street near us where there are many street food come restaurant type places. Very basic type restaurants. We walked up the street and went into one at the top as john remembered it being busy before (we have been told busy=good food/no food poisoning). As we were flicking through the menu we came across something that made me fly off the handle a little and absolutely horrified. Shark fin soup. We were so shocked. Malaysia has appeared so modern and sophisticated so far. Maybe we were being naive but to find this barbaric and disgusting food in a modern city such as KL was just beyond us. I said to the waitress ' is this real shark?' To which she answered 'yes'. In hindsight I should have not said anymore but my mouth took over a little. The hot headed streak in me took charge and I asked her does she realise that sharks suffer and die because of this practice? She answered me with 'oh no the shark is alive In the ocean' which is really the exact problem with this practice. After that we were a bit put off our food and managed a bit of rice. On returning home john did some research into shark finning and in some countries it is legal (NZ) but you need to remove the fin once the shark is dead and must provide the carcass too. Although I still don't like it, this isn't really much different from us killing a cow so long as all the shark meat is used. But in some and many countries the fin is cut off and the shark put back into the ocean where it can't swim properly and sinks to the bottom where it drowns or gets eaten by a larger predator. Disgraceful. What's more is that some species of shark (whale shark and bull shark) fetch prices such as $20,000 per kilo for traditional medicines in China. Let's hope people come to their senses before its too late.

Today was a bit cheerier you'll be pleased to know! We went shopping! We had planned to go to some botanical gardens and a park but the weather wasn't playing. We went to check out central market instead. They had some wonderful little alley ways full of shops selling all sorts of Asian delights. Lots of batik clothing but we thought we would wait for Bali for that. We got a really cool orange and red Malaysian lantern though for around a tenner and some souvenirs for family at home. On the way home we walked past the hindu temple by our hostel and there was some sort of celebration going on. Every morning we have seen lots of hindus there painting their heads and going to pray. They also go to a sort of pit next door and angrily smash coconuts. Im not kidding! Looks like great fun! They have sacks and sack of coconuts waiting to be smashed and a little guy sweeping up the smashed ones. As there were a lot of people around tonight i asked one why they do this. He udnerstood from my actions what i was asking but he didnt speak english to answer me. He managed to find a kind old man who spoke a bit of english who explained to us that when your mind is busy and full of unpleasant thoughts, the smashing of the coconut represents the smashing and release of these bad thoughts! We thought that was brilliant! I hope the guy from this morning is feeling better as he was there a while! Probably much cheaper than anger management and i imagine a lot more satisfying! After lasts nights debacle with the shark fin soup we thought it was best to steer clear of that street tonight! There's a nandos down the road can you believe it so we had a look there and its still quite cheap so we will go there for some dinner soon.

So tomorrow the next leg of the adventure begins. We fly to Indonesia! Bali is our first stop, seminyak to be precise. We spend around 10 days on Bali and then to Lombok and the Gili islands. Three weeks and then we are home! It is a bitter sweet feeling as I am excited to be coming home for many reasons; seeing friends and family, enjoying home comforts again, and moving to Crawley to start the new job. But at the same time I will be so sad that this amazing trip is over! Time has flown by. But still three more weeks to enjoy in one of the most idyllic parts of the world! We have been told the food is incredible and the culture is strong so we are looking forward to eating, taking photos and johns looking forward to attempting to get me on a surf board! Its my birthday while we are in Bali and there have been hints that something has been arranged so I'm intrigued and trying to get hints about what that is!! ;) we might try and do a batik or cooking course while we are there too. Malaysia has been wonderful, very different to how I imagined and very unique. Definitely a place for those wanting a trip with cultural variety, some great architecture and historical sights, wonderful Indian foods and the comfort of English speakers. Definitely a little love for each of the countries I have been to so far, each special in their own unique way. So very excited to see what Indonesia has to offer.

I hope you are all doing well at home, hope the weather is still being nice! Those of you with holidays and time off coming up I hope you enjoy the break and relax :) lots of love and speak soon xxx

Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Yoo hooooo!

Time for another update from our travels! Quick one before I ramble on- one of my lovely friends Abby (who taught me many of my cooking skills but that's another story) is currently in hospital with complications with her pregnancy so please everyone pray she and bump get out soon and well! Thinking of you Abbs.

So at the moment we are in a quiet little mountain town called Tanah Rata in an area of Malaysia called the Cameron Highlands. Beautiful does not even come close! We arrived here Saturday evening on a bus from Penang. The bus took about 6 hours but really only took so long because of the extremely windy mountain roads! We drove for about 4 hours on the highway which was boring really but the last two hours through the mountains were just incredible! Just mountains and jungle as far as the eye can see- definitely comes in my top ten of spectacular views I have seen so far. We were pretty tired so headed out for food and got some shut eye. The next day we had a little mooch around the small town and booked our onward transport to Kuala Lumpur. The town is so very surreal. There are Indian, chinese, Japanese and pizza restaurants on the main street but as you turn to face away there are chalet type wooden houses and pine trees making you feel like you're in some European alpine resort! Very odd feeling - Asian alpine! But then this mix of cultures is Malaysia down to a tee. There was a guy at our hostel who said he walks the dogs daily and we could go if we liked. As most of the activities in Cameron highlands require you to have a guide and we hadn't booked anything yet we went along. He was a rather funny guy who was a chef in Adelaide although originally from Manchester - what an odd accent! He was very friendly though and took us with another couple and an Austrian girl on a good walk up through some foresty jungle area. As I said most of the activities and things to see here require a guide so when we got back we booked onto a couple of tours (tour hatred but had to be done).

So yesterdays tour was quite good actually. We went to see rafflesia which is the species of plant that produces the worlds largest flower. It supposedly smells of rotting meat but we couldn't smell anything. We walked just under two hours there and back and the walk through the jungle was nice. Similar to the walking we did around Chiang Mai. Our guide showed us how we can get water from the middle of bamboo so if we ever get stranded in the jungle we should be ok for water at least! They then showed us how to use blow darts. I didn't have a go as didn't want to take someones eye out! There are lots of tea plantations and strawberry farms in the Cameron Highlands as the climate is much cooler , quite similar to the UK. This also means that there are cafes that do cream teas! In Asia! I couldn't believe it. I was a little sceptical and expecting them to be rubbish. We went to a small cafe called 'Lords cafe' run by some Christians. We sort of didn't realise until we got inside and there was a lot of prayers on the walls. But the scones were incredible! Its a bold statement but I would go as far to say that it was even comparable to a Cornish cream tea! I also sampled their lemon cheesecake too . Thought that while I had access to good cake I would make the most of it!

Today's tour was not as good. Although for £5 you can't complain too much and better than walking up these millions of mountains. We went to a rose farm as well as a strawberry farm. Then we visited the Boh tea plantations. This was pretty cool especially as I am such a lover of tea. The plantations were so picturesque and today was quite misty making it even more mystical. They showed us how they grind and dry tea before it gets sent to KL to be packaged. The Boh tea estate has been owned by a Scottish family for the past couple of centuries and produces enough tea for 5.5 million cups per day. That's a lot of tea. We then went home via a temple and butterfly garden where unfortunately the butterflies looked rather sickly :(

Tomorrow we have to move to another hotel for our last night and they have scrabble so I'm rather excited to play that (home comforts). We will also go for a walk in the forest too I think, oh and we might be able to squeeze In another cream tea before we leave ;) Thursday we head to Kuala Lumpur. It is Ramadan at the moment and Thursday marks the end of Ramadan and therefore is the celebration of Eid. Malaysia is apparently very busy at this time with many travelling to see family and also the start of school holidays. We are hoping we can see some Eid celebrations in Kuala Lumpur. Also today I have been away eight whole weeks/ 57 days! Can't believe how quickly it is going. We have four weeks left, another week in Malaysia and then three weeks in Bali/Lombok/gili islands. Although having an amazing time still I am missing everyone lots so looking forward to seeing some friendly faces when I'm home and also being able to cook some yummy foods, I have started a list already!

Hope you are all well back home, and for those who aren't so well wishing you a speedy recovery and get well soon :-) lots and lots of love and waves from Malaysia! Xxx

Penang, Malaysia

Hello everyone!

A cheery wave from a new country- Malaysia! The last week since I emailed has been relatively busy! We left koh tao very early Friday morning. We were a bit sad to be leaving :( I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting a relaxing break and although flights are expensive, things are so cheap when you get there that it wouldn't turn out much more cost wise than a couple of weeks in Europe somewhere. So we had had a bit of a mare trying to book travel to langkawi which is where we originally intended to go after koh tao. So instead we decided to come straight to Penang. We didn't really fancy the slow over night bus as the seas are a bit choppy and these Asians don't seem so comfortable on a boat! So Friday morning we got the fast (3 hours) catamaran to the main land and stayed in a hotel in Surat thani for a night. Not much to report as its not a tourist town so was a bit boring really. They had a good market in the evening so we had a wander there but mostly rested. Saturday morning we got collected at 6am for the bus to Malaysia. What a bloody palava! We were on one bus then on another bus then got to hat yai (south Thailand) then onto a new bus. The border crossing was smooth, I didn't get another fancy visa page which was disappointing but did get a stamp! John was exciting as his first over land border crossing here. Not much to get excited about! We finally arrived in Penang at a rather late 730pm. Almost 13 hours. We were weary to say the least. The hostel owners gave us a warm welcome and told us where we could go for food. We had read on the reviews for this hostel that it is behind a mosque and the prayer calls at 5am can be loud. Yes, yes they were! We both managed to sort of sleep through it. They have prayer calls all through the day too but they are actually quite soothing and relaxing oddly. The hostel is quite basic but i think we are the only guests and the family who run it are so friendly. We are also only about 10m from batu ferringhi beach which is beautiful! At night (in between prayer calls) all you can hear are the waves lapping the shore.

Sunday we had a day on the beach as we were pretty shattered from the journey. We found a place for breakfast which did my usual breakfast item of pancakes. This always gives a place a gold star in my eyes. The water wasn't very clear but lovely and warm and some nice foamy waves. It was a much needed chill out. We went back to the cafe we had eaten at the night before. Its a courtyard type place with small stalls around the edge selling all different cuisine; Italian, Japanese, Indian, Chinese and a few more. The food was really good we had some Japanese. For those of you up north its a bit like an Asian / street version of meadow halls food court! But fresher and tastier food!

Monday we decided we would go and explore Georgetown. We had struggled to find accommodation in Georgetown and are hence staying a 40 min bus ride away in Batu ferringhi. The bus was nice and air conditioned but after 40 mins I was a bit green :( I get pretty badly travel sick and the long journeys are OK as I take tablets but always reluctant to take them for the short journeys as I get extremely drowsy. Once on solid land for a few minutes again I felt a bit better. Georgetown was definitely an experience! The best way I can describe it is a cultural melting pot. We wandered around little India and china town absorbing the atmosphere and differences. We visited a couple of Chinese temples as well as exploring fort Cornwallis which was where british explorer Francis Light set up base. Around fort Cornwallis was surreal as many of the buildings look British! And the street names are named after his men. We also visited Penang museum where we learnt why Penang is so culturally diverse. It seems there are not really 'native' Malaysians as such. Many people have come to Malaysia over the past centuries from all over Asia and the world bringing bits of their homeland culture with them. It seems today that the main groups left are Chinese, Indian and Malay Muslims. What we found quite strange was we spoke to a few people and they would say 'oh I'm Chinese Malay - my great grandpa came here from china' - they look very Chinese and are clearly proud and want to maintain their heritage which is lovely. This just seemed different to us at home for example my Nana has Italian heritage- her grandparents came over from Italy but she wouldn't describe herself as Italian British it would just be British. And so it seems the different cultures have stayed in tact and stayed very seperate whilst all sharing this land. This was really interesting and made exploring quite exciting. We had some great lunch in Georgetown- a little Indian vegetarian restaurant from the lonely planet. All the Indians in there ate with their hands but they gave us knives and forks! It was quite different to the local Indian at home! You could taste the individual spices much more. Highlight of the day was possibly a chocolate museum where i discovered i eat much more than the average brit each year! As much as georgetown was interesting we both agreed that not being able to find accommodation there was a blessing in disguise as it was such luxury coming home to a quiet beach side hotel after the hustle and bustle of the city!

So after exploring Georgetown, yesterday we set off to see the Kek Lok Si temple. It took us a while to get there! The buses are good here but the routes are a bit weird. This meant we had to go all the way into Georgetown and get another bus out to the temple. We contemplated hiring a moped but we didn't think our travel insurance covered us as neither of us have motorcycle licenses so we went with the bus. I had invested in some travel sickness wristbands which surprisingly worked! Possibly placebo affect but they worked all the same! So after a rather long bus journey and a lunch stop we made it. It is set in the hillside and there are several temple buildings and a huge pagoda. It was stunning. Very Chinese in the architecture and quite similar to a lot of temples we saw in Vietnam. They had a pond with lots of turtles in it but we thought it was a bit over crowded and a bit cruel. Poor turtles. In the main hall they had some really nice wishing ribbons which you could hang onto a wishing tree. They all said different things such as 'health for the family' 'success in education' 'wealth and happiness' so we donated some money and hung a couple on the wishing tree- hope they come true! After a bit of a wander around we decided to head home. It is crazy hot here, a bit less humidity as were near the coast but the sun is out all day every day which makes it scorching. To prove just how strong the sun is - I have actually bought and worn sunglasses. I hate sunglasses! I didn't even need to wear them in the sahara desert! I have lasted until day 49 in Asia and not needed sunglasses but the Malaysia sun has beaten me!

Today we have had another beach day as john has a bit of a cold so needs a rest. He has been taking medicine so hopefully feeling better tomorrow. Tomorrow I think we are going to a near by spice garden which is rather intriguing. And Friday we are going to try and find some bays and secluded beaches further around the coast which we have been told about. One thing which we have been pleasantly surprised about both in koh tao and here is just how empty the beaches are. I guess Asians aren't sun worshippers like us Europeans but that means we get the whole beach to ourselves! Bliss. What makes this beach even better is the watersports guy right by our hotel has the most adorable two month old kitten. He is ginger, mioaws a lot and is called 'my my' I might have to steal him!

So, as we have cut out langkawi from our trip we now have 9 days to kill after Penang before we need to be in Kuala Lumpur for our flight to Bali. After searching the guide books and asking around we have decided to stay for three days in Kuala Lumpur (not big city people) and on the way we are stopping in a town called Tanah Rata which is in the Cameron highlands. Its up in the mountains, looking forward to seeing some countryside. We have been told there are lots of walks to go on and tea plantations as well as strawberry farms- what could be any better?! I am hoping it will be as beautiful as the countryside around Chiang mai was. So after Tanah Rata we head to Kuala Lumpur then fly to Bali. We are both super excited about Bali (john especially because of the great surfing) but really enjoying Malaysia on the way :)

Hope every one at home is doing well and all enjoying your summer. I saw the royal baby has arrived ! Doesn't seem like we are missing much else though?! Missing you all of course and looking forward to catching up soon. Take care and lots of love xxxx

Bangkok Round Two and Koh Tao

Helloooooo (shouts and waves from Thailand!)

Sorry its been a while we have been awfully busy! I hear the weather at home has been a bit stormy :( I hope the sun comes back soon! We are currently in Koh Tao a small island in the south of Thailand. So from Chiang mai we headed back to Bangkok on Thursday evening. We had booked to go on the train as we heard it was a little easier to sleep as they had beds. We arrived at the station ready to get on the 530pm train. Chrissie went to ask about the train to be told it was late and wouldn't arrive until 730pm. We had been told by many travellers along our way that the trains in Thailand are notorious for being late! But we thought oh well two hours isn't too bad. We then heard an announcement that it was delayed some more until 9pm and if we wanted we could get a refund which was rather good. As this meant we wouldn't get to bangkok until 12noon the next day we opted for the refund and jumped in a cab to the bus station. Luckily we got on a bus just about to leave. I had a bit of a to-do with a grumpy french man sat behind me as every time I reclined my seat he was tapping me saying he didn't have enough leg room. I did feel a little bad for him but he shouldn't take the bus if its really an issue! I explained I needed to recline the seat to sleep and he got super stroppy and moved seats! The bus was nice and quick (only 10 hours :-) ) and we arrived in bangkok at 5am. We got to the hotel around 6am to be told we couldn't have a room until 1130am. I have now become quite a pro at falling asleep in hotel lobbys so I did just that. Our hotel was just off the famous area in bangkok for back packers which is koh San road. Lots of party's going on! We had some drunk dutch guys offering us beers at 730am! After we politely refused they finished them with their morning toast ha! At around 8am I woke up thinking I wonder when John will arrive from the airport to hear his voice attempting to check in! We surprised him, don't think he realised it was us asleep on the chairs. He was a bit jet lagged and dazed but we all went for a nice breakfast to try and kill some time before check in. As we were all quite tired we spent the day seeing a couple of temples but mainly just recovering. Having John there and seeing him after 6 weeks of being away was so lovely but at the same time I was a bit sad knowing it was only a couple of days before Chrissie had to leave . We spent the next day exploring Wat Pho (big temple) and also went to a famous restaurant called cabbages and condoms. It was pretty cool and quirky- lots of statues made of condoms. It was set up by a charity to educate people and raise awareness about pregnancy and how to reduce unwanted pregnancy. Sunday was a sad morning as Chrissie headed to the airport to go to Kuala Lumpur for her flight home. Was very strange her leaving after spending 24/7 for the last 6 weeks with her I felt a bit like i had lost an arm! John and I had to get a bus at 6pm to Koh Tao so weren't too sure what to do for the day. We ended up wandering into an art center which turned out to be so interesting! There were a few small art exhibitions but lots of quaint arty shops selling all sorts from lamps made of absolute vodka bottles to a cats autobiography (I kid you not!) . We spent ages just absorbing the atmosphere and even got a drawing done by a local artist which turned out quite funny! As we were leaving there was a big protest going on against the government which was quite interesting. Lots of people in freaky white masks and a lot of police with riot shields!

So on Monday morning we finally made it to Koh Tao- bit of a manic journey! The bus took us from bangkok to chumphon where we arrived at 3am. We waited about an hour for a local taxi type thing to take us to the harbour. We then had to wait til 6am for the boat. There was nothing to do and we were both shattered. I'm quite lucky as can sleep pretty much anywhere (great skill on this trip) so I slept on my rucksack but poor John hadn't slept much on the bus and now had to wait and couldn't sleep either. The boat finally came and it was a bit full so we had to sit on the floor. This turned out better really as I was able to set up a little bed with bags (felt like a child falling asleep on the coats at a wedding!) And went back to sleep. The boat got quite choppy and a lot of people vacated seats to go to the deck. We were fine thanks to magic travel sickness pills! Hoorah for those on this trip!! I think we were still glad to be on dry land though. I had left John in charge of booking the hotel for Koh Tao and when we arrived I was seriously impressed! Its on the east side of the island near a few snorkelling bays. Its on a hill and made up of a few bungalows all with sea views! We've got a balcony with a hammock and waking up to the sea view and falling asleep to the croaking of the resident frogs is just heaven! Its run by a Scottish guy who was really helpful too. Monday and yesterday we explored, went down to the main beach- sairee beach. We ate some food and just relaxed really. We had a bit of a spider drama (more like tarantula drama) but luckily John was brave enough to remove it. Today we went down to Aow Luek bay near the hotel to snorkel. I was much less wimpy than last time (apart from a brief moment when I thought a scuba diver was a giant squid) and we went pretty deep. The coral was beautiful and there was soooo many fish! My favourite was a big parrot fish who swam towards us looking like he was smiling- this made me chuckle quite a lot! There were small black and white fish too who were very curious and kept swimming up to our masks! After snorkeling and lunch we headed down to sairee to watch the sunset. Tomorrow we are going to another bay to do some more snorkeling. We keep having to blink and remind ourselves that we are actually here as its such a little paradise. We were told the whole island is almost full with respect to the hotels yet this morning we were saying how surprised we were at how empty the island seems so definitely a destination for anyone who wants a chilled break away from the crowds!

Tomorrow is our last day here before Friday we start our journey to Malaysia. We didn't want to get a night boat with the choppy seas so we have to stop at a port town for a night before getting the bus to Penang on Saturday morning. We have decided to alter the plans a little and miss out langkawi. This is a bit sad as it looked lovely but we just couldn't figure out a guaranteed way of getting there and most of the travel agents here said it was difficult. The last thing we wanted was to end up stranded in a port town in southern Thailand what with all the recent trouble and clashes down there. So the next leg of the journey awaits. I will be really sad to leave thailand. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I did actually love it here especially after loving Cambodia so much. We only managed to fit in a couple of places so will definitely be back to see more of this country. I hope everyone at home is doing well. We are missing you all lots and lots and looking forward to being back to catch up. Lots of love to all xxxxxx PS attached is photo of view from our bungalow and guilty creature of tarantula drama, oh and our resident cat she hasn't left our bungalow since we arrived!

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Hello from Chiang mai!!

So we have had lots going on since my last email! We arrived in Chiang mai on Saturday morning. We took a night bus which wasn't quite as comfortable as the ones in Vietnam as this one didn't have beds. The chairs reclined quite a lot so we did get a little sleep and the driving wasn't anywhere near as mental as Vietnam which was nice! When we arrived our room wasn't ready yet as it was 6am so we had a little snooze in the lobby on the sofa! Then when the room was ready we went back to sleep up there for a while. The hotel is nice and does food so we got a decent breakfast before going out to explore. They had pancakes which made me happy as I hadn't had one since Vietnam! On exploring Chiang mai even just a little we really liked it. There's a very hippie bohemian atmosphere and its surrounded by stunning mountains. We walked down some side streets and saw lots of quirky cafes and restaurants. We stopped for a drink in one called little angels and chatted to the owner she was a Thai lady married to an american. She was lovely and explained that she closed at four each day so she had time to do baking which I thought was amazing! She was telling us to be careful of the mosquitoes as its rainy season and there are a lot with dengue fever. Her husband had been in hospital with it and when she explained the symptoms it sounds a lot like what I was poorly with which is a bit scary. On returning to the hotel I looked it up and think I probably did have it. Luckily even if you do go to hospital they can't do much for it they just keep an eye on you so I should be OK and now feeling so much better. On Sunday we decided to go and explore all the temples in the town center. There are a lot in Chiang mai! We wandered around them just absorbing the culture . As it was Sunday the whole town is taken over by the Sunday market so many of the temples had food stalls set up in the courtyards. There were some spectacular BBQs going on! The main street in the town is where the main market is and they were selling all sorts of goodies. I bought some really pretty cushion covers made by Thai hill tribe people so they should brighten up my new place when I get home! We managed to find the most amazing restaurant for lunch where I had a big plate of vegetable tempura so delicious! Already we were both feeling so much happier and more relaxed than Bangkok. We have also noticed that here in Thailand and also Cambodia the people are very friendly and cant do enough to help you. I think this was something we found hard in Vietnam as people there were quite the opposite!

Monday brought a whole new adventure! We had booked to go on a two day trip into the mountains doing trekking and other activities. We got collected at 9am and there were 12 of us in total. It was a really nice bunch of people all around our age, 4 Spaniards, 1 Israeli, 1 Argentinian and 6 Brits! So off we set. We had a windy journey into the mountains but got there after about 90 minutes. We stopped at a spot on the way where you could ride elephants. I didn't want to ride one which I had decided before going away. I just think they are wild animals and don't really agree with using them for a luxury purpose. I know some hill tribes will still be using them for logging or other working purposes but to use them for pure luxury I didn't like. These ones also didn't look too happy. The babies had been separated from the mums and were quite distressed and some were chained up with no shade or water. Quite a few of the keepers had to drag the elephants to make them walk. So while the others had a ride I sat quietly and fed sugar cane to one cheeky little elephant while she had her break. The guide did his best to convince me the elephants were happy and at 3pm went back to the jungle to eat but I'm glad I didn't partake. After the elephant stop we set off walking and the views were just indescribably stunning. We were in the jungle so mostly all you could see was bamboo and trees but every so often we would see a clearing and views of mountains and valleys with no one for miles. Some of the paths were quite treacherous and we had to navigate through rice paddies and over some difficult bamboo bridges but our guide (named himself 'jungle man') kept reassuring us it was just in the name of adventure! He was a quirky man and was part of the karen hillside tribe himself and seemed to know these jungle paths inside out. Part of me did stop and think if one of us fell and hurt ourselves or did get bitten by a snake we would be rather screwed as no way to get help or even land a helicopter. I asked jungle man about this and he said this had happened to him before and he just had to keep walking with a broken bone and never went to hospital! He also reassured me that the snakes in this jungle were king cobras and if one bit you then you only live for another 30 seconds so a hospital is a bit irrelevant! I'd kind of wished i hadn't asked! He said there were monkeys and tigers here too but they tend to be active at night.

We walked for about two hours just enjoying being out of town before we got to a secluded water fall. We all had a little swim which was so refreshing before we set off for camp. We reached camp around 2 hours later all a bit tired and hot. Basic doesn't even cover it! We had three huts. One to sleep in, one for the loo and one for jungle man to cook in. We were on the edge of a hillside village and I have huge amounts of admiration for their way of life. They have no electricity or running water and live so simply just living on what they can grow or gather from the jungle. The only noise all night was the frogs and cicadas. It was so refreshing to have a night of simple living. We all sat around by candle light eating a Thai curry that jungle man cooked for us over the fire and he came to sit with us and we played silly games. It was just wonderful. Sleeping was a bit tricky as there were a lot of insects! We had mosquito nets which kept most of them out but there were termites in the wood of the hut so we all fell asleep listening to the chomping of termite jaws. The second day we had some more walking to do. It had rained in the morning so it was a bit slippy. We had more beautiful views and saw a couple of disgustingly large scary spiders! We stopped for lunch which was a bit more civilised than yesterday (a banana leaf parcel with fried rice inside!) As there was a camping restaurant type place. After a quick lunch we drove to a river where we were doing bamboo rafting. The rafts were made of long bamboo canes tied together. I was with two of the Spanish guys who found it hilarious to stand up and rock the raft making me squeal a bit! It was really fun though and started pouring with rain which was quite cool. Our raft only capsized once and the guide reassured me by saying there were only small snakes in the river ha ha! We went down a few small rapids and the boys had a go at being on charge of the raft too. After rafting we headed back to town all very soggy, tired but overjoyed. We all went out for dinner together last night which was lovely too. It was probably the best time I've had so far since being away and anyone coming to Thailand I would say you must go to the north and see the countryside. Today we are relaxing by the pool for a bit to recover and let our feet rest! We were very grateful of a proper bed last night!

Tomorrow we will see a few more temples before getting the night train in the evening to arrive in bangkok again on Friday morning. Johns flight gets in Friday morning so we will meet him and have two days all together In bangkok before sadly on Sunday Chrissie heads home and we will head to the islands. I have now been away for 5 weeks so starting to miss a few home comforts (lasagne cravings are massive! As well as chocolate orange and beans on toast). I will be sad for Chrissie to go home as this is probably the longest I have spent non stop with anyone! But still really excited for john to arrive and for the next 7 weeks of the trip. We still have to see the south of Thailand and what Malaysia and Indonesia have to offer. A little apprehensive about going back to bangkok but we spoke to a couple who stayed on koh San road which is the backpacker area we will be staying in and they said it was easy to find food and things. Hopefully as we are both recovered from illness it will be easier too.

I hear the weather is really hot at home! I hope you are all making the most of it and managing to enjoy it around work etc. Hope you are all keeping well and missing you all loads!!! Lots and lots of love to all of you and speak again soon :-) xxxx