Thailand and beyond

My little Milly

Petronas towers

After a great week with my family in a luxury boutique hotel at Bophut Village, Koh Samui, it was time to leave them all behind again, very reluctantly, and it's certainly no easier leaving them than it was the first time.  Especially my little bambino Milly who has become a bit of livewire in my absence.  With a combination of the Parry and Standley families she's never going to be dull!!  I caught up with Maggs on the ferry and we used a variety of transport to eventually meet up with the rest of the group at Khao Sok national park.  Just a quick night stop at the park for us but I managed a quick run in the jungle, always exciting when you're watching out for snakes, and a glimpse of the monkeys playing on our roof.  Khao Sok lays claim be the oldest to pre historic rainforest in the world, which sounds impressive if only we were not going to the  Taman Negra park in Malaysia that also claims the same. I struggled to tell the difference.


The easiest border crossing of the trip between Thailand and Malaysia came next, although if we had listened to advice from the foreign office we would maybe have been more wary. What do they know!  The scariest thing was the aggresive lady selling pineapple.  Immediately as at most of the borders the scenery and atmosphere changed.  Malaysia has a very British feel to it, disregarding the tropical weather!  It still seems recent that Malysia gained it's independance from Britain although it was more than 50 years ago.  The style of architecture retains the colonnial look and everyone speaks English.  The people are also again very friendly and welcoming.  Our first stop in Malaysia was Georgetown on the island of Penang.  Penang is reached via one of the longest bridges in the world, very impressive.  Georgetown was a mixture of old and new with large indian and chinese communities.  As I hadn't cycled for at least two days I felt the urge to hire a bike and explore the streets.  This I managed most successfully visiting each street at least 8 times after getting hopelessly lost!  I did take a handy map with me which would have been useful if only the torrential rain had held off.  Not my easiest day cycling. 
I finally got back to the hotelin the early evening only to find Maggs and Roberta in the lobby supping beer like it was going out of fashion!  Not a care in the world.  I reminded them of the error of the ways which cheered me up a bit! 
 
A long trip the next day bought us to Kuala Basut, on the west coast of Malaysia. Just really a stop off point for the next days speedboat ride to the Phehentian Islands.  We mooched out and got a quick bite to eat, no alcohol to be found though.  Malaysia is predominately a muslim country and as such unless you're in a city alcohol is either not available or extremely expensive.  Simon is overjoyed by this!  An early boat ride saw us arrive at the Islands before breakfast and everyone was impressed by the views in front of them.  With clear blue water and great scenery it was definately a fantastic place to spend a few days.  Snorkelling, swimming,sunbathing, it’s a very hard life!  James led a group of us on a jungle trek which some enjoyed more than others.  I was more amazed that James actually knew the way which is a first for him in the last 6 months.  Lots of wildlife was spotted including Kay who was pretty wild at James for making her go trekking!  The islands are very beautiful, relatively unspoilt and quiet.  Lets hope they stay that way.


Unfortunately we had to leave and travelled down to Taman Negara national park. A long winded and complicated journey ensured our time at the park was limited but we all managed the canopy walk in the rainforest. Suspended 50 meters in the air on a swing bridge was a great way to spend the morning. Simon squealed, Maggs nearly had a heart attack and Neil has only just stopped shaking. But for those of us not scared of heights, good fun. I didn’t help Maggs by bouncing on the walk behind her, but if she doesn’t read this she’ll never know!


We’re currently in Kuala Lumpur (KL) and much to my suprise I’m loving it. Not being much of a city person I haven’t enjoyed them all but this one is great. The Petronas towers are beautiful, if a building can be, and the whole city is alive and has a good feel to it. The only downside is that we are reaching the end of our trip with Odyssey and as such people are disappearing off on their next adventures. A rowdy leaving do was held in one of the local bars and everyone had a great night. My room mate forgot where her bed was, misjudged it and fell straight onto the floor where she got stuck between the bed and the window.  Apparently it was my fault!  Can’t work that one out but anyway it’s been a great 6 months and myself and my roomie have had some great laughs along the way.  It’s a shame it has to end.  The next day myself, Roberta and Heather viisted the sky tower, the 4^th highest in the world.  Maggs declined from some reason stating that her bed needed her.  We had a great view from the observation deck as base jumpers parachuted from the top of the tower.  All a bit surreal when you look out the window and a body hurtles past.  KL is also a shopping paradise for electronic items if that’s your thing, but it left me a bit bewildered.  There are also T shirts galore which pleased Dennis immensly as he could add to his vast collection.  Tonight saw a group of us visit the towers at night which was an amazing sight.  All lit up they really are magnificent buildings.  As an added bonus there is a running track around the perimeter so that’s my plan for the morning!!  Or maybe not.