Mixing it up in Malayasia

Selamat Pagi or in reality, given the wide mix of cultures, everyone just says "Hello". For our brief excursion into Malaysia, we focused on Peninsular Malaysia, spending time in Kuala Lumpur, the Pulau Perhentian Islands and the Cameron Highlands.



SHARK BAIT: We spent four well earned days relaxing on the white sand beaches and in the warm turquoise blue water of the Perhentian Islands. Without doubt, the highlight (perhaps for Rodney with the exception of the many topless Swedish sunbathers) was snorkeling around the islands. There are many snorkeling operators to choose from, see the picture below for the one which caught our eye. The large number of technicoloured fish and coral gardens were great but no match for the giant turtles, or our encounters with Jaws. OK, the black sharks were only about 1.5 metres long but they were still sharks!





CUPPA TEA AND A LAY DOWN: After spending so much time laying down on a beach, we returned to our active ways with two full days trekking in the jungle of the Cameron Highlands. Our mission? To search for the tea plantation with the best cup of tea and scones. After trekking over 40km by early afternoon on the second day, a major rain storm had us searching for an alternative way home. We gave hitchhiking a go and eventually found refuge on the back of a small truck which took us to the main road; within a minute we had waved down our ride home with a friendly concrete truck driver. We were laughing all the way home.



SUGARY GOODNESS: After four months eating predominately the local food of the country we were visiting, the first major crack in our armour appeared in Malaysia. Most of you know that we are both big fans of ice cream and after a few minutes reliving the traditional end of the mountain bike season 2 litre ice cream eating competition, we were off to the nearest minimart for a container of ice cream each. Now we can't call it a race as Kirsty, not renowned for her eating speed, forfeited before we even began. Nevertheless, in a short period of time, we had destroyed two containers of Kings chocolate ice cream. Not quite Tip Top Goody Goody Gum Drops or Hokey Pokey but good all the same.



We are in Kuala Lumpur until tomorrow, when we venture back into Thailand through Phuket (not Bangkok, don't worry) for sometime on the famous southern islands of Ko Tou, Ko Pha-Ngan, Ko Samui and Ko Phi Phi.

Hope you are all well,

Love Kirsty and Rodney.