Australia - Week Two

The overnight bus to Sydney was brilliant! Lots of legroom, a movie to watch and the friendliest, funniest driver ever - it was a far cry from Vietnam (shudder)!!! I arrived in Sydney just after 7am on Monday morning and was dropped off right outside my hostel. Luckily, they have reasonably-priced lockers here, so I was able to dump my bags here, rather than carry them around the city until check-in at midday.

So, what does one do when one has time to kill in Sydney? Well, I walked all the way from the city centre to Mrs. Macquarie's Chair to take in the most famous of all urban Australian sights - the Opera House and Harbour Bridge! Impressive to say the least...

Sydney Harbour

After that, I strolled back towards the city centre via the Botanical Gardens and was amazed by its collection of grey-headed flying foxes (or bloody huge bats in simple terms!) They're like pterodactyls, hanging in the trees upside down, fanning themselves with their huge, leathery wings!!! By midday, I was back at the youth hostel and had checked in. The dorm is very spacious and looked fine, although I didn't hang round for long as I was off out again exploring! I walked the the GPO to collect some post, proving that the Post Restante system does indeed work, and then back to Circular Quay to pick the brains of the Tourist Info people - after all, with over a month in Australia, what does one do? In fact, what does one do in Sydney for 12 days? Why is one calling oneself one all through this blog entry??? Moving on...

I returned to the hostel that evening, having covered at least 5 miles (if not more) on foot. I also had a huge pile of pamphlets and brochures to go through. Time for a nap! On Tuesday, it was surprisingly grey and overcast, so it was high time I did some laundry. No longer 50p per load I'm afraid... I spent most of the afternoon poring over the info I had collected and making detailed notes and planners. After the initial shock in Melbourne at the cost of Australia, I've been well under budget this week, so feeling much better about that. So, I've basically decided the total amount I can spare for Australia and then I've started to deduct the cost of the essential things I want to do: learn to surf in Byron Bay, visit Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo, tour Fraser Island, take a scuba live-aboard on the Great Barrier Reef and camp out at Ayers Rock... I think it's all possible - I'll just have to keep eating peanut butter sandwiches!!!

I finally ventured out in the afternoon to Woolworths! Well, I can't at home anymore, can I? They are big supermarkets over here, so I went in for a loaf and some milk. Well, I spotted some beef mince on offer, at just £1.50!! So then I bought all the bits and pieces to go with it for bolognese, my arms nearly fell off after carrying it all back to the hostel! It felt quite weird cooking for the first time after over 3 months of always eating out. But it was delicious, and I got 3 meals out of it, all for about a fiver!!!

On Wednesday - Christmas Eve - it was still grey and miserable. I didn't get much done as for some reason, I felt stupidly tired with no real reason why. That evening, Chris (from Germany), who I had met in the kitchens the previous night, had offered to make us faijitas for dinner, which were extremely delicious, and then after we walked over to Darling Harbour to hear a performance of Christmas Carols, armed with some mince pies! It was good fun, and when the jazz group that were performing got a load of kids to join in, we laughed so hard at Angus, a perky little chap who stole the show with his HORRENDOUS rendition of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer!!!

On Christmas Day, it was STILL overcast, so we were at a loss as to what to do with ourselves. Nothing was planned in the hostel for Christmas Day, and we hadn't had the foresight to cook our own Christmas dinner, so our only alternative was to do it like the locals - head down to Bondi Beach! Except the weather was rubbish! Not good, I've been boasting for weeks how I'm in the Southern Hemisphere summer and Sydney lets me down on Christmas Day! We eventually headed over there in the afternoon, and by some miracle, the clouds started to clear just as we arrived. I spent a short time walking along the golden sand, but by this point, I'd lost my friends and was feeling pretty dodgy... I was coming down with something, and for the first time, I actually felt festive because I was ill!!!

Christmas Day on Bondi Beach

So, I hopped back on a bus home and spent the rest of the day in bed! What a damp squib, I will just have to make up for it next week for the NYE Harbour fireworks! Yesterday - Boxing Day - I was still feeling a little peaky, but luckily much better. So in the afternoon, I took a ferry across the Harbour and then I walked back along the Bridge. On the way, I bumped into Katie and so I had a hand to hold climbing up one of the Bridge pylons - as much as I would love to say I walked over the top of the Bridge, I DO NOT want to pay $200 for the privelege of being absolutely terrified. The Pylon Lookout gave me the chance to say that I've been at the top (sort of) and I could take some great photos, all for only $9.50!!! Clever Emma... In the evening, I headed back to Macquarie Point for sunset, where I got to see all the flying foxes out and about, and maybe a possum scuttling up a palm tree, although it was dark by this point, and I can't be 100% sure!!!

So, today I'm off to Glebe as there's supposed to be excellent Saturday markets and perhaps I go to Sydney Aquarium as well... we'll see. I'm heading to Coogee tomorrow to meet with Nicole from Vietnam, and then over to Manly on Monday to meet Emma and Theresa from our dorm, who are moving there tomorrow. Must phone Qantas at some point, still got a few flights to move...

Merry Christmas Melbourne!

Here I am again, back at the library, enjoying free internet access! Well, it's quiet here at the moment, so yesterday I actually spent way over an hour online, so I thought I'd best make the most of it while I can!

I had a very leisurely day yesterday, sorted out some bits and pieces with Qantas - they will charge me $40 to change my flights in person, but it is free over the phone. Thanks for making that clear when I spoke to you last week. Idiots! So, I think I am going to shave 2 weeks off Australia and 4 off New Zealand. That'll mean I hit Chile in mid-March, not the start of May. That'll be 6 months in South America and hopefully I'll be able to organise a way to zip up to Central America as well, funds permitting of course!

I then spent the afternoon geocaching, and found 6 in a few hours, which was good going, it's been a while since I had such a good run. I bet the summer sunbathers in Flagstaff park thought I was a nutjob though, walking from sculpture to flagpole to sundial, taking notes and then rummaging around in a hole at the base of a huge tree!!! Got to keep the locals amused I guess.

Today, it's a glorious summer's day, quite fitting as it's the longest day of the year. Weird - that coupled with Christmas music and decorations in all the department stores. I forgot to mention in my last post my thoughts thus far on Oz. It's expensive (oh yeah, I did mention that). It is also extremely similar to home, which was quite jarring at first. Melbourne is supposed to be the most European of all Australia's cities and the central area where I am staying is very like Manchester. Without the rain. There are big stores and churches and ornate buildings and trams and Christmas trees...

Well, not a Manchester sky...

There are also a high proportion of nutters as well; I thought Australia would bring a little bit of normality back after the madness of Asia, but I've witnessed drunken fights, tramps telling people they have no manners when people don't acknowledge their hellos, schizophrenics having arguments with themselves as they walk down the street, and drunks tripping over themselves as they leave the "bottle shops" - I'd forgotten how bonkers big cities could be!

So, I'd best make the most of my last few hours here - before the 12 hour bus journey to Sydney. It would only take an hour to fly, and would only cost $25 more than the bus. She must be mad, I hear you say... yes, but clever Emma has saved at least $25 on accommodation for tonight, $20 on a transfer bus to Melbourne Airport and probably $20 on the transfer from Sydney Airport. So that's actually a saving of $90, go figure!

There's a few more caches to find today and I am meeting a new Korean friend for dinner - and we are going to eat Korean food, yippee! Anyway, once again, Merry Christmas and don't get too cold over in the Northern Hemisphere!

Australia - Week One

There is likely to be a change in blog entries from this point forward: the length and frequency of posts is probably going to reduce considerably, as Australia is BLOODY EXPENSIVE!!!

I got up early today, to queue outside the State Library of Victoria, just so I can use the internet for free for 60 minutes. Otherwise, we are talking £2 an hour minimum, not 15-50p like in Asia! Anyway, I'm waffling, but from now on, things are going to be a little less detailed!

The flight from Bali went well - Katie had met a Qantas engineer in McDonalds in Kuta earlier in the day, so when we saw him just prior to boarding the flight, he took our names. Imagine how chuffed we were to receive free blanket packs (which on a budget flight, were not complimentary), a free breakfast AND free movies on our own little portable screens! We arrived on time, but it was a hell of a shock to be greeted with British winter weather as we disembarked. Seriously, isn't it supposed to be summer over here now??? Apparently, it hasn't rained like it did at the weekend for years and years... I swear, they knew I was coming.

We checked into the Flinders Station Backpackers hostel and had a nap. Later that afternoon, I wandered around the city, bought a guidebook to the East Coast and booked tickets to go on the Neighbours Tour! It quickly became apparent that this place IS as expensive as I had heard, and I was feeling sick by the time I had spent my weekly budget in 24 hours! And that wasn't my Asia weekly budget, but a new one I thought would be ample for here. Guess not. So I made it a priority to find a Qantas office, so I can cut my time here and in New Zealand by half. Otherwise, I may never make it to South America!!! I'm so pleased that it will cost me $40 to reorganise my flights, when I was assured by Austravel that there would be no charge involved. Not.

On Monday, I did a spot of shopping - tights, jumper, pyjamas, peanut butter and bread. So I had a little bit of warmth and something to eat for a few days!!! It's like being a student again. We also booked tickets to Philip Island and a hire car to take us along the Great Ocean Road. Well, when in Rome... Off we set on Tuesday morning at 8.30am. We filled up the tank and then just on the outskirts of Melbourne, the car began to judder and the engine maintenance light came on.

We had definitely used the correct fuel, as we'd phoned to check just moments before. So we pulled over, luckily just next to a junction on the motorway. Here's the next few hours in brief:

- Waited by side of road for tow truck to arrive.
- Truck arrives, waited for taxi to collect us to take us back to Melbourne.
- Unload all bags from car to side of road. That's 3 people's worldly goods.
- Taxi no show, load up car with bags.
- Climb into tow truck cab, taxi arrives!
- Unload car, load up taxi, back to Melbourne.
- Taxi driver not told by truck driver where to go, so drive round a bit.
- Get to hire car depot, no cars left and paperwork still in towed car!
- Lift to another depot, bags have been in 3 different vehicles by now.
- Get new car, reload bags, off we set, 3 hours later!!!

So, that was interesting! Anyway, off we set again and soon we were on the Great Ocean Road, passing through places called Peterborough and Torquay, stopping for fish and chips is Anglesea! We took loads of photos at every scenic lookout spot and saw wild koalas sleeping in the trees. It was late when we arrived at Warnambool, and found a friendly little backpackers place with just 3 beds to spare! On Wednesday, we went back down the Ocean Road to a lighthouse we had missed the previous day. So there's even more photos to sort through when I can get to a computer that will let me upload them (the library's services don't stretch that far!)

The Great Ocean Road

Thursday was an early start, up at 6.30, off by 7, in Melbourne just after 10, eventually found accommodation and unloaded the car by 11, returned the car by 12, set off on the trip to Philip Island at 12.30!!! We stopped at a winery for wine tasting (just the whites for me, thanks!), Maru Animal Sanctuary where I got to feed the emus and kangaroos and had the nicest piece of carrot cake EVER, Woolamai Beach on Philip Island, which is absolutely stunning, a great little pizza place for dinner, the Nobbies to see the nesting seagulls and then finally, the Penguin Parade.

Here, hundreds of Little Penguins emerge from the sea at sunset and walk for up to a kilometre, to reach their young who have been waiting patiently for food since daybreak. It was hilarious to see the tiny things come out of the sea and then decide it was too risky and waddle back in again! It was a shame, but it started to rain just as they were coming out of the sea, and we didn't relish the thought of being soaked through all the way back to Melbourne on the bus! At least we saw a few of them, boxed ticked!!!

I needed a lie in yesterday, seeing as it was half past midnight when we got back from Philip Island, but I had to be up early for the Neighbours Tour! It had to be done, but I must admit it was a little disappointing - we drove passed Erinsborough High, took a few photos at the set of the garage (but didn't go inside the studios) and then went to Ramsay Street (or Pine Oak Court as it is really known) itself. It is TINY. Like about the size of my road at home, I swear things look so much bigger on the telly. It was good fun being there though! Then it was back into St Kilda to meet a "star" of the show...

Everybody Needs Good Neighbours...

So we waited outside a closed theatre for a car to arrive and out jumps a girl I do not recognise. Not Karl Kennedy then!!! It turns out it is Michelle Scully, who I do remember after all, even though she actually left the show 4 years ago! She was really nice and chatted to us and gave autographs. Still, it all felt a little bit amateurish, another boxed that just had to be ticked, but another $50 gone...

I then spent the afternoon searching for a doctor's and signing up for Medicare - I've somehow picked up an infection that is manifesting itself in any open wound at all. So all my mosquito bites have gone green. Nice. I got some antibiotics in the end, so I now need to take them all the way up to New Year's Eve. Hope they work or I will look like a leper in my New Year's outfit!!! Best put the tights on, although Sydney is SUPPOSED to be boiling at this time of year. I'll believe it when I see it.

So here I am online. I've half spent next week's budget as well, and it didn't help having to spend $20.50 on a doctor's appointment and $22.50 for the prescription. I'll need to fork out another $22.50 in Sydney for another set of tablets. Damn it. Oh well. So today, I am going to hop on the free tram and tour around the city and maybe visit the Old Melbourne Gaol where you can try on Ned Kelly's armour. Tomorrow, I'll set off geocaching as that's free and will kill the hours until I board the night bus to Sydney. Goodness knows what I'll be doing on Christmas Day, maybe eating peanut butter sandwiches???

It may be another week before I post again, so have a Very Merry Christmas and a drink or two in my honour - I'm on antibiotics!!!

Bye Bye Bali; Adios Asia!

I did indeed take in a dance performance on Tuesday night; I saw the Ramayana Ballet at Ubud Palace. Well, it had moved to a shelter next door because of the rain, but that doesn't sound quite as impressive! It was excellent, I arrived early to get a front row seat, for photos of course, and felt a bit daft sandwiched between two of the biggest zoom lenses I've ever seen. You get yourself a spanking PowerShot G9 and some pillock always has to go one better!!! Anyway, moving on... the dancers, costumes and music were fantastic, I'm sure I had my mouth open all throughout the show in awe! I was amazed by the hand and eye movements of the dancers, I have no idea how they manage to bend one finger backwards, whilst wiggling another side to side on the same hand! I wished I'd have seen a traditional dance show in all the countries I've visited in Asia, but at least I won't be leaving without seeing any at all!

Sita of the Ramayana

On Wednesday, I attended a Balinese cooking class, and as it turned out, I was the only student so I had the instructor's full attention! It was great fun, we headed off to the market to check out the local produce, before returning to the restaurant to begin cooking. It was a little different to the class I took in Chiang Mai - I didn't have as much hands-on experience in one sense (as I shared the preparations with the instructor rather than cooking each dish myself), but I did in another respect as I actually got to chop and grand and mash the ingredients, rather than having everything pre-prepared.

It was great fun and I couldn't wait to sample the dishes by the end of it - Balinese soup with chicken meatballs, pepes (tuna in Balinese sauce, steamed in a banana leaf), chicken satay, saffron (well, turmeric) rice and green vegetables, all finished off with a delicious pancake with palm sugar caramel and coconut! It was delicious and it was a great way to spend a rainy morning in Ubud.

Balinese Cooking at Cafe Bali!

That afternoon, I headed out to the market with Emily (Australia), my next-door neighbour from Donald's. She's been to Bali many times before and so knows what genuinely good prices should be! I only went to get another (cheap) sarong, but I returned with one and a pashmina, dress and two rings, all for less than £10. At last, I actually had excellent bargains and without Emily, I'm sure I'd never secured such good deals. That evening, we saw another dance performance, Kecak and Fire Dance, which was, again, amazing. It involved a large group of Balinese men in traditional garb chanting, swaying, hollering and making sounds like frogs, around a fire. Mesmerising... A little scary when a guy came out and started kicking coconut-husk embers out towards the audience, accompanied with plumes of golden sparks, but it was safe and obviously had been done hundreds of times before. I don't think Health & Safety would have approved though!

On Thursday, I boarded the shuttle bus back to Kuta, and by 11.30am, I was checked back in at Puri Agung and was eating yet more coconut pancakes. Love them, the best thing I've had in Bali so far! Since then, I've not done much to be honest. I'm a little "Asia-ed out" - don't get me wrong, I love Asia, it's like a second home in many ways, but 12 weeks of constantly being on the go here is hard work. I will miss the friendly people, the temples, the scenery, the (sunny) weather, rice, cheap food and accommodation, the culture...

I won't miss the taxi/tuktuk/transport touts, the rats, the drains, the (monsoon) weather, the constant hassle as you walk down the street, the mosquitoes... But all that is a small price to pay as a backpacker, you have to take every day as it comes and make the most of it. I will always have a huge fondness for Asia, it is fantastic and I'm sure there will be times where I miss the craziness of it all. But for now, I'm looking forward to Australia and I'll be in Melbourne tomorrow, which by all accounts sounds great! It will be good to get back to a little "Western" culture. But there's always a downside; I am not looking forward to the costs as I've heard the stories! As long as it isn't more expensive than the U.K., I will cope. I don't imagine I'll find any rooms for 50p a night though! Hope the budget lasts until South America...

I'll be in touch again from Down Under!

Bali Bound!

I've done it again, left a big gap between blog entries! So I'm sketchy on some details, but here's the story in Indonesia so far...

The trip to KLIA LCCT was straightforward - up at 5am, out at 5.30, on metro to KL Sentral station at 6, on bus to LCCT at 6.30, arrived at airport at 7.15, checked in, boarded and took off at 9.40, arrived Bali 12.40pm! Phew!

I was expecting there to be a bit of hassle and waiting at Ngurah Rai International Airport, as you have to organise visas etc, but it was very straightforward, I just handed over $25 and I got yet another nice sticker in my passport! I was soon through baggage and customs and getting heckled by taxi drivers! In short, I went to Tourist Information and found out exactly how much it should cost to get to Kuta and where to get the good taxis. It paid off as I was able to avoid the original tout who thought that $19 for a single room was the best deal in town!

Once in Kuta, I quickly found Puri Agung Homestay and there was a room spare - cheap and friendly, with rooms set around a shady courtyard. I washed some laundry, including my daysack which I decided really needed a wash, given that it was still impregnated with the fish 'juice' from Chiang Mai! However, that odour had been masked by 11 weeks of sweat instead, pooooh!

Then I wandered off to Kuta beach, to do a spot of geocaching and to part with 150,000 rupiahs, on two bracelets and a sarong, all at stupidly high prices as the ladies there were such good businesswomen, they had me hook, line and sinker! Damn, I'm so close to leaving Asia and had thus far escaped the scams! I thought 100,000 rupiahs (down from 350,000) for the sarong was a good deal - it was only later that I heard that you should be able to get the best quality batik ones for no more than 50,000! Oh well, it's only £5 after all!

Beware of Balinese Ladies on the Beach

I met up with KT and Fiona at long last at 11pm that night - they made it to Puri Agung after their flight in from Singapore, and my, did we all have some tales to tell! On Wednesday, we organised transport to the Gili Islands and spent an hour or two on the beach and wandering around the shops. On Thursday morning, it was an early start to take a minibus to Padang Bai, where we then boarded the Gili Cat to Gili Trawangan. It was a quick crossing and once there we met Rupert and his partner (whose name still escapes me!) from New Zealand, who were heading straight off to Gili Air, our island of choice. We soon chartered our own boat there and at
Rupert's recommendation, we had walked across the island in the midday sun to Lombok Indah, cheap beachside bungalows including breakfast with the most hospitable host ever, Anto!!!

That afternoon, we chilled on the beach, and on Friday, more of the same followed! Gili Air is absolutely beautiful and it is incredibly easy just to relax there and do nothing at all! On Saturday, we took a day trip snorkelling on a glass bottomed boat around the Gilis, and saw lots of cool fish and three turtles! All for less than £5!!! Lunch was delicious urap-urap (mixed veg and coconut) on a stretch of white sand on Gili Meno, the smallest and quietest of the islands.

Paradise Found?

The girls decided that they wanted to stay on Gili Air until Tuesday, but I had things to do back on Bali. Admittedly, it was a bit of a wrench to leave paradise, but I knew I would kick myself if I didn't make it to Amed for diving and Ubud for culture! So, off I set alone once more back to Bali on Sunday morning. I met Sandra from Melbourne on the water taxi back to Trawangan, and soon she was giving me loads of great tips for travelling in Oz and I had someone to share the cost of transport to Amed with!

We hit Padang Bai around lunchtime and I needed cash! There were no ATMs on the Gilis, and luckily, I'd had the foresight to get some money in Kuta before we left, but it wasn't enough to get me to Amed and to organise some diving. I knew that there was one cash machine in Padang Bai as the girls had used it on Thursday morning. Could I find a single honest local to tell me where it was? Not really - "No, no ATM here, I change money for you!", "What card you use? WHAT CARD YOU USE??? NO, not accept Visa, I change money for you!" Eventually, I found a nice lady who pointed me in the direction of the bank that I full well knew existed. Indeed, it didn't accept Visa, but...

...for everything else, there's MasterCard! LOL!!!

So, with a little extra money, Sandra and I took a car to Amed and a few hours later, after traipsing the poor driver around a variety of hotels and guesthouses, I settled at Eco-Dive Resort. It had been recommended to me by people at Buddha View and I was pleased that the accommodation was cheap. However, they seemed to be the most expensive for diving! But it was late in the day, hot and sticky, and the area was so remote, I simply didn't have enough energy to shop around. I managed to negotiate a deal for 2 dives for the next day - not as cheap as the competition, but at least I got a discount! And the guy let me use a snorkel and fins that afternoon for free, while I waited for my room to be vacated!

On Monday morning, I was up early and off to Tulamben to dive at the wreck of USAT Liberty Glo with Made, my divemaster, and Benjamin from France who had logged more than 30 dives. All went well, and I was excited about doing my first shore dive, as well as my first wreck! I couldn't remember how many weights I needed though - I'd used four on Ko Tao, but I didn't actually know what size they were. The ones there were round, but on Bali, they were square, so they must have been different... I just took two.

Well, it was obvious I'd got it wrong as I couldn't even descend a metre I was so buoyant! It was quite hilarious, there I was bobbing at the surface while Benjamin and Made were disappearing into the depths below! Made shoved a spare weight into my BCD, and at last I began to sink! The wreck appeared below very rapidly, as it is situated only 40m from the beach. It was a huge hunk of rusty metal, covered with corals and fish of all shaped and sizes.

At one point, we actually swam into the wreck, which had me a little concerned at first until I could see that it was till very open and just like swimming between rocks as I had done on Ko Tao. I spotted a giant barracuda before the others and soon we noticed that a huge grouper was hanging around with it! It was very surreal and at the deepest point, we had descended to 27m, so I wouldn't have been able to dive there, had I not taken the Advanced Open Water course. As we began our ascent, I found it hard to keep level for the safety stop - my buoyancy was still out of whack and Made had to hang on to me and fill my jacket with rocks! I was worried that I had spoiled the dive for Benjamin, with my amateurishness, but when we surfaced, he said how amazing it had been and we had been down there for 50 minutes before I was low on air, which was a pretty decent bottom time!

Later on, it was time for my second dive, this time just me and Made, a little further along the beach at Tulamben Drop Off Wall. I made sure I had 4 weights this time, and after the correct surface interval, we were back in the water! This was another fantastic dive and I saw a huge variety of marine life - batfish, parrotfish, snapper, pufferfish, triggerfish, trumpetfish, moorish idols, emperor fish... at one point, I was convinced I'd spotted a turtle in the depths below. I signalled to Made, who excitedly swam over to look... but alas, it was just a large pufferfish!!! Oh well!

This time around, I had much better buoyancy control, and at one point I was suspended, motionless, with nothing but blue below, blue above and a sheer wall of rock and coral to the side. It was quite incredible and there I was, no fear, just in awe at it all. On our return swim to the beach, we saw a large shoal of yellow snapper, and it was great to see such a large group for the first time since I had learned how to scuba dive. (I'd seen large groups before, but only when snorkelling). When we surfaced, I asked how long we had been down and Made confirmed it - ONE HOUR!!! Woohoo, my record on my birthday was 58 minutes, so I was so pleased to have lasted for the full 60!

After arriving back at the resort and filling in my logbook, I was so exhausted that I spent the rest of the day reading, relaxing and reorganising my rucksack. I also ate only bread as I had run out of money again and had to mind the pennies so I could afford the taxi to Ubud for the following morning, that I had pre-arranged with Sandra. There were no ATMs in Amed either!!!

Anyway, our taxi driver arrived early this morning and Sandra was ready and waiting at her hotel, so we were soon on our way to Ubud. I'm glad I met Sandra as transport in Bali is not particularly cheap, especially when food and accommodation is! It was good to be able to spread the cost! At 11.30, we had arrived and I found Donald's Homestay, right where the Rough Guide said it should be and exactly as described. It is such a quaint little place, I have my own patio overlooking a tiny garden, the shower in the bathroom is set into a rocky wall and breakfast of fruit, pancake and tea is included! Bargain!

A Room With A (Garden) View

There seems to be plenty to do in the area, so I think that I will stay for 2 nights, rather than just the one as I had originally planned. I'm quite tired from all the travelling I've done over the past few days, so I think I'll just relax this afternoon and maybe take in a dance performance this evening. I also need to buy a good sarong, but hopefully I'll not get ripped off again... I'm sure there'll be a tale to tell about it in the next installment!

Hanging High in Malaysia!

The trip to the Cameron Highlands was relatively smooth. Of course, I had left Georgetown in good time to make it to the bus station in Butterworth - which was an hour early! Then I was told the bus would be leaving half an hour later than I'd expected, so indeed I had 90 minutes to kill!

I arrived in Tanah Rata by mid-afternoon and soon met up with Sarah, Lucy and Rachel from the UK. We were soon all ponchoed up and braving the rain to Twin Pines (or Twin Peaks as I kept calling it), a cute little guesthouse with a cheap room for 4! Bonus! There we met Suresh and Wan, the friendly staff who helped us settle in in no time and kindly advised us not to book a pricey tour around the area, but to hike up Mount Brinchang ourselves! Out came a map, and soon we had details of which local bus to catch, where to get off, how long the route should take, and where to get tea and scones on the way down! Wan also recommended we hitchhike back - or even flag down a police car, as they'd be happy to give us a lift!

So, on Wednesday morning, off we set to the bus station and were soon dropped off at the base of the mountain, ready to ascend. Now readers, you may remember that I wasn't overly keen on the trekking I did in Chiang Mai, but we all thought that as a small group of 5 (including Courtney from Australia) that we'd be able to go at our own pace, and not have a mad guide up at the front, with no patience for the slow ones (i.e. me!) The climb was steep in parts and we did take plenty of rest stops, but it was good fun. I'd elected to keep on my sandals, rather than my hiking trainers, as I had only just got the mould out of them from Chiang Mai! So, my feet got very muddy, very quickly. Indeed, after a short time, I stopped bothering to work out the cleanest route, I just stomped right through the mud!

All the girls thought this was hilarious, and especially so when I was knee deep in "quickmud" and asking how Bear Grylls recommended you extract yourself from said situation! The last 100m stretch was incredibly tricky and involved using tree roots as a ladder up to the top, with a particularly muddy stretch through a tunnel of branches. We did take our time, but 2 hours 20 minutes was a pretty respectable ascent. At the top, I braved the observation tower, as not to miss the spectacular views, even though much was shrouded by the clouds...

View from Gunang Brinchang

Then it was a simple task of walking along a paved road, all the way down again. This was actually more strenuous than the upward climb as there was nowhere to clean my muddy feet, which were sliding around in my sandals! It took a fair while to make it to the glorious tea plantations below, spectacular swathes of green, stretching out over the hills. So, by 1pm, we decided we more than deserved a scone, slab of chocolate melt and a hot cuppa each!

We did indeed hitchhike back with a kindly Malaysian guy in a pickup truck - 2 in the cab, 3 in the back, the latter (including myself) thought it would be more fun, until the rain became torrential and we nearly froze! Rachel and Lucy were in hysterics throughout - I was not and it took several hours back at Twin Pines for me to dry out, clean off and warm up. Not impressed! That evening, we just chilled out at the guesthouse, Wan gave me lots of advice about Kuala Lumpur and how to travel around all the bits of S.E. Asia I've missed this time.

On Thursday, we were off to Kuala Lumpur, home of the Petronas Towers, tallest buildings in the world... until 2004!!! It was another lengthy (i.e. lengthier than we had be told) bus trip, but pretty painless. Pretty painful was the walk to the guesthouse Wan had recommended, especially as Indiemma Jones took the group on a wild goose chase all around the city... well, the map wasn't to scale!!! Eventually, we made it to Pondok Lodge, which was more than double the price of Twin Pines, but after the heat and heavy loads on our back, no one had the energy to find an alternative. However, after only one night of thumping bass from a bar below, everyone decided to join me when I said I'd be moving quarters!

On Saturday, we were too tired to get to the Towers early enough to secure a ticket up to the Skybridge, so after moving to the Green Hut Lodge around the corner, (same price, quieter but smelling of sewage and durians...), we headed out for the day on the Hop-On Hop-Off open tour bus. It was very pleasant and we stopped off for lunch and a nosey at the Towers anyway. It was less pleasant by the end of the day as the traffic was horrendous and it took 90 mins to make it but a few miles, but luckily we made it back home before the afternoon monsoon kicked in. That evening, we splashed out on a rather expensive meal at a rather expensive Korean restaurant! We had bimimbap and it was excellent and really authentic - and at £6 each, still a bargain, just 4 times more expensive than our usual Asian dinners! Plus, I got to speak lots of Korean to the owner, showoff!!!

Sunday was the day - our alarms went off at 6am and we were in the queue for the Skybridge by 7am, and even then there were still a fair few people in front of us. It was a long wait, but we made it into the first group to ascend at 9am. The lift was incredibly fast - 41 floors in seconds - and then we got only 10 minutes on the bridge, but it was a box that just needed to be ticked and was worth the wait! It was then time for breakfast, which I got Josh and Ben (would I'd last seen in Nha Trang) to buy for me - well, when they bumped into us in the queue at 8.30 and asked my to get tickets for them, it was only fair payment for not having to get up at the crack of dawn like we did!!!

Josh, Ben and I headed off to the KL Tower that afternoon, which afforded better views of the city and a great chance to look back upon the Petronas Towers from high up. After grabbing dinner in Chinatown, we walked back to them that evening to see them lit up at night...

88 Floors of Magic!

Yesterday, Ben and I took a bus out to Batu Caves (and went back to the Towers AGAIN last night, but that was so he could buy a travel guide for Oz!) and today I dragged the poor chap around the city looking for geocaches! We had a 66% success rate, so I can't complain, although it took hours longer than anticipated and it was soooo hot!!! Anyway, I've repacked my bag for the flight to Bali tomorrow (i.e. crammed all the heavy stuff and books into my daysack) and I'll be up at 5.30am in order to make it to the airport by 7.45! Kuala Lumpur International - 70km outside Kuala Lumpur! How does that one work??? Oh well, I'll let you know from Bali...