The Beaten Track

We were met in the Singapore airport by Joon - our Couchsurfer. We already know two Couchsurfers (JD and Pak) who stayed with us in Edinburgh but they, like many Singaporeans (and Japanese!) live in apartments too small to have visitors. In fact, later on we heard the the rental market in Singapore is really odd and it's common for landlords to stipulate "no Chinese or Indians" and "no cooking". Anyhow, JD had put us in contact with Joon who turned out to be one of the most polite and helpful people we'd ever met. He'd just had laser eye surgery so was seeing everything slightly blurry and sporting a rather smashing pair of 3D-spec style shades. He suggested getting a taxi back to his place as the metro would take an hour and a half. We'd only just arrived so took his advice - it's always better to trust the locals! Little did we (or Joon) think that due to the Singapore rush hour, the taxi ride would take even longer than the metro would have taken. The taxi driver had the radio on so we could hear the traffic reports telling us how bad the traffic jams that we were stuck in actually were. We eventually arrived at Joon's place where he made us a fantastic pizza and we grilled him on all of Singapore's rules to make sure we didn't get fined. Singapore is famous for it's rules and hefty fines, in particular on the metro system which include eating/drinking ($500/£250), smoking ($1000/£500) and no flammable goods ($5000/£2500). There's also a "no durians" rule which doesn't seem to carry any fine - more of those later. We also chewed the fat on how and where to get the visas we need for our South East Asian leg - he'd printed out all the forms for us. What a man!

We woke the next day and after breakfast Joon took us on a tour round Singapore including the Chinatown and Orchard Street with its crazy modern architecture - Singapore is a really interesting mix of buildings, most of which are actually pretty cool. At lunch we got our first taste of Singapore's greatest obsession - food! There are three main cultures in Singapore: Chinese (who came as traders), Indians (who the Brits brought in as workers) and Malaysians (who were kinda there in the first place). There's also a hotch-potch of just about every other nation you'd care to name including many Phillipinos (like Joon himself). This mix of cultures has led to an amazing mix of cuisines being readily and cheaply available. The best place to get them is in gigantic hawker markets which are like massive covered areas filled with wee stalls where you can get your noodles/curry/unidentified fishy objects/tastebud's desire. There's so much of a choice that I thought Charlotte was going to run screaming into the hills but luckily Joon was able to point us in the right direction. The Singaporean way is to join the longest queue as that's the best indication of where the good food is.

Joon had to head off in the afternoon and we were due to meet up with JD and a whole load of Couchsurfers that evening so Charlotte and I decided to take it easy and go see a movie. We ended up watching the latest Danny Boyle movie "127 Hours" about the guy who gets his arm trapped under a rock in a gorge. Like most Danny Boyle movies it was horrible but exceptionally good - it was nominated for several Oscars. Afterwards (felling a bit queasy but hoping it would ease enough for us to eat) we found JD who took us to an upstairs bar where there were already a load of Couchsurfers from Singapore and the rest of the world. We had a bite to eat and a couple of beers (which were stupidly expensive due to the high taxes) and headed off to another bar. I don't think that anyone had planned for the extreme numbers that we ended up with- the guy who ran the bar was very confused and told us (once we'd ordered and got our drinks) in no uncertain terms that there would have to be one person in charge who'd be given one bill and expected to pay for it in some way or another. We all looked blank enough to make him change his mind so eventually he ended up going along the line taking bill payments from small groups. He didn't look very pleased...

The next morning we met with JD who took us to a Thai shopping centre which turned out also to be the place to buy our bus tickets to Melaka, where we were to head in a couple of days. He also took us to Little India which, as the name suggests is where a large chunk of the Indian population live. It was quite a different world from the modern Singapore we'd seen so far with loads of open fronted shops and a number of gorgeous temples and mosques. We also had a very exciting jaunt around a supermarket (always fun for us but other people often seem dismayed as how the local supermarket can fill us with so much joy) and a massive department store called "Mustafa's" - the Jenners of Singapore if you like. Charlotte was in the market for an mp3 player so we took a look at the massive electronics shopping centre and decided that the iPod knock-offs were a false economy. Joon met us as JD had an appointment that afternoon and we went mp3 player shopping in earnest. We settled on a wee 4 GB "Creative Zen" which was about £35 - very cheap by UK standards and appropriate as Creative is a Singaporean company. We then managed to get to the 70th floor of a very tall building with a restaurant/bar at the top so we could get a view over the city. We got a particularly good view of a building which the top floor is a ship - weird!

After meeting up with JD and munching some more hawker food, it came time for one of these tests that folk often put you through to see how well you're adapting to the culture. The Singapore test is the "durian" test - it's a spiky fruit which is banned from the metro many indoor places as it smells so bad. Inside it are large seeds covered with a yellow much which tastes like creamy fatty rotten raw onions. We ploughed our way through it but didn't like it so we probably failed the test. Joon wasn't too keen on it either so we didn't feel to bad.Luckily the antidote was a fruit called a "mangosteen" which was lovely and got rid of the horrid durian taste. After the test it was party time - the birthday of Miname who is originally Japanese. It was great for us to meet other Couchsurfers who could furnish us with plenty advice for S.E. Asia and we even got the chance to play a couple of tunes for Miname's birthday. Incidently, the party was in Singapore's red light district - Geylang but luckily for us, it seemed to be in the classy bit.

For our final day in Singapore JD took us for some more hawker food and this time dictated the menu so we could have a try of some local dishes. At one point, a most interesting and revealing question arose...

JD: Do you like cockles?
PRM: Oh yeah, definitely!
JD: Have you had your Hepatitis B vaccination?

We didn't have the cockles in the end but we could have done as we've both been vaccinated. After lunch JD had managed to get us along with Miname and her boyfriend Jerome free tickets on the "Singapore Flyer". It's pretty much a replica of the London Eye and gave us a smashing view over the city. We usually avoid purpose-built tourist attractions but this was actually really nice. That afternoon was the weekly Couchsurfer's game of "Ultimate Frisbee" which is a bit like a cross between Frisbee and Football. We decided just to watch as the heat and humidity were killing us but it was lovely just to chill out as the game was held in the gorgeous Botanic Gardens. It was also significant as although Singapore has a load of ethnic communities, they're not too good at mixing with each other (sound familiar?) but this game was like a united nations with Singapore, Germany, France, India, China and even the UK to name but a few. Truly integrated and I hope the shape of things to come. It was really interesting to catch a glimpse of the Singapore ex-pat culture. Back at Joon's place we drank mojitos and chatted into the night. Joon was a great Couchsurfer for us not only for his helpfulness and welcoming nature but also for his interest in cooking. A couple of days before we'd had his caramel flan for breakfast which was one of the best we've tasted (and we've had a few now!).

Melaka (in Malaysia) was our next destination which was quite a contrast to Singapore. It was much lower and flatter and at first glance seemed pretty down-at-heel but actually had some quite nice bits. Our box-bedroom was quite bizarre with a sofa underneath then a stair up to a platform where our bed was. It was pretty cosy but stupidly hot. We did have A/C mind which made things more bearable but it seemed a toss up between tropical humidity and Arctic cold. We had a look round before settling on a place to eat by the river - again the food seemed to be amazing wherever we went. For the previous couple of weeks we'd had a pretty mad time so we made a decision to take thing easier for a bit to avoid destroying ourselves. This idea kind of went to the wall when it came to buy our bus tickets to Kuala Lumpur. We'd arrived at the but station "Melaka Sentral" the day before and taken a taxi but this time we wanted to try our hands at the bus. We'd been told that there was a bus stop up the road where there were buses every 10 mins but this turned out to be a lie - something we figured out after half an hour or so. We decided to wander for a bit to see if we could spot another bus stop and found a shelter round the corner with a couple of people in it. We then spotted the bus we were supposed to catch but it just went hurtling past without so much as a "how's your father?". We walked around for about half an hour more (felt like an eternity in the heat), getting a bit frustrated. Mystery bus! We then asked in a shop who pointed us to another bus stop rather similar to the first one we'd tried. Another half an hour's wait later we were about to walk away when we spotted another bus...joy....but it went hurtling past as well. We decided to wait at the sheltered stop for a normal bus that the real people take and one eventually showed us and took us to where we wanted to go. Getting back was much easier and after our crazy bus-hunting we decided to shelter from the heat by chilling (literally) in our A/C room (fridge). Later we took a look around the historical bit of Melaka which was really nice and had a lovely former-governer's mansion (another former UK colony here of course, although the architecture is originally Dutch) and a great church. It was funny the contrast to a historic building in the UK which would be well looked after and preserved. This church was tumbling down and had graffiti all over it, hawkers outside and a guy busking inside (he wasn't too bad actually).

We had a lucky break for dinner as the hostel owner had invited us to join him and his (girl?)friend to go to the "local" market for some street food (as opposed to the one that the tourists go to). This was great and he was very good at explaining what things were. We eventually had an egg/meat pancake thing, some dim sum, some offal-on-a-stick, and a kebab sandwich - all of which were fab. We also had some really odd drinks which folk in Malaysia sell from enormous ice-cooled buckets. One of them had some kind of jelly and possibly rice at the bottom! There was also a guy skinning a snake - in a good way as snakes shed their skin anyway. I think he was some kind of medicine guy. We even had some durian flavour ice-cream which I have to admit was a great improvement on the fruit itself. In fact it would actually have been nice if we didn't have the original durian taste lodged firmly in our minds.

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur the next day which, according to everyone we've met I must call "KL" to remain cool. It was our first bus in South East Asia and didn't have a toilet despite the 4 h journey - that seems to be the way here so much bladder tightening will be in order! We had an interesting arrival at our hostel - no sooner were we in the door when we saw a large ginger cat chasing a large brown rat across the floor. Much fun ensued as the hostel owner and various other staff members attempted to trap it in the corner with brooms and shoe-racks. Every so often it would go belting past and I would have to point out to the chasers where it was. I think they eventually caught it or chased it away but it brought back memories of our friend Scott Gardiner singing "Alexander's Mill"...

Fur we hadnae got right yokit' when a dirty twelve inch rat
Cam jinkin' ower the hay-ricks and it killed the big fat cat
Well Alexander rubbed his hands an tae ma faither said
"It's of these little incedents a thrashin' day is made"
But it crawled up his trooser leg, he manovered wi great speed
He catched it at the kneecap an he crushed its bloody heid.

Luckily no-one's trouser leg was scaled but true enough, "It's of these little incidents a world tour is made". The hostel turned out to be in a great location for a local market with loads of open cafes so we frequented one and had some chicken and beef satay sticks and a kebab. All were fab.

We were now in a stage of the tour when we needed to address a necessary evil - visas (we'd given up the idea of getting them in Singapore). We can get into most countries gratis with our trusty UK passports but we do need visas for Vietnam, China, Mongolia and Russia. We also thought we should try for Thai visas as if we get one crossing the border we only get 15 days in the country (it's 30 if we go in via an airport). We took ourselves down to the Thai embassy, filled in the form the form and sat down to wait. It looked to be a long wait so I read some of the notices on the wall which said folk from the UK get 30 days on entry. We decided then to give up and take our chances in Thailand either with 15 days and then an extension in Bangkok or maybe even just staying for 15 days and heading on. Instead we went over to the Chinese embassy which was much more modern and organised. They had us fill in the forms, photocopy our passports and hand them over to be returned in 4 working days. It was a funny feeling being separated from my passport. I always think that whatever happens, I have a passport and I can get on the next flight out of the country but now I had a weekend where that wasn't an option. I'll admit that it took me a while to get used to the idea. We took a wander and some lunch in Little India before heading back to the hostel to research our next move. It was lucky we did as the most impressive monsoon started outside with some crazy thunder and lightning. The street started to fill up with water and we spotted rats being flushed out the drains.

We met up with Adida that evening - she's a Couchsurfer from just outside KL who had volunteered to give us a cookery lesson. Charlotte had put a message on a KL foodlover's couchsurfing group, cheekily asking if anyone wanted to teach us how to cook, and Adida had enthusiastically replied. In fact she went and organised a little dinner party with her own couchsurfers and some friends of hers! But no sooner had we met her and we'd got to her car when we discovered that it had a flat tyre. Much wondering about the next plan of action ensued when the second discovery was made - Adida had lost her keys. Luck definitely didn't seem to be with her! There was a certain amount of handbag searching and mild panic before we tried the door of the car which turned out to be open with the keys still in the ignition! Much surprise and relief that the car hadn't been broken into followed. Adida 'phoned a couple of people and eventually her friend turned up who helped us take off the wheel and drove Adida to the pump station to get it pumped up (we reckoned it had been let down rather that punctured which was made it all the more surprising that the car hadn't been broken into). After a bit they came back, we re-fitted the wheel and we were late-but-off to the grocery store. (Later still because the traffic was insane, and Adida treated us to some very frightening Malaysian driving. A lot of it involved finding new motorway lanes in between the lines.) Adida bought some chicken ribs (which you don't usually see in the UK), cucumbers, a pineapple and some chillis and showed us how to select the best of the fruit and vegetables. Back in her apartment (and several crazy KL traffic jams later) we met with her Couchurfers Andy (German but just returned from Indonesia) and his girlfriend Fi Fi (Indonesia), and Sylvia (a local CSer). Charlotte, Sylvia and Fi Fi helped with the cooking and I wrote notes as an amazing chicken dish with coconut milk, tatties and some local spices was prepared. It was accompanied by a cucumber/chilli/carrot pickle which Adida spent a long time adjusting the salt/sweet taste of the vinegar. That was particularly interesting for me as I love pickles of all types - one to remember. We had some yellow sticky rice with it and to follow a bit of pineapple dipped in a surgery powder - what a feast and what a great lesson for us! You can find Adida's recipe on the recipes page of course! As we were so late Adida was in full-speed panic mode so we could get back to our hostel without too much bother (we were in a town outside of KL). She is about half the size of Charlotte and very scary and determined - it was a sight to see! I was a bit concerned about how to get back to our hostel but Sylvia was good enough to drive us to a place where we could get a taxi. We told the driver where we wanted to go and he gave us a price. At this point I forgot two things: a) you need to negotiate and b) it's illegal for a taxi driver in KL not to use his meter. That means we were undoubtedly overcharged. Oh well, lesson learnt.

We took another wander about KL the next day and took a look at some of the really touristy areas. Although we usually try to avoid them they can be interesting in terms of showing you how a country presents itself. They were so much cleaner and better-kept than the rest of KL but also (and predictably) much more expensive. The rain started again that afternoon just as we were due to take our fiddles to a park to play (outdoors) for some Couchsurfers! This was an event organised by our next host, Rica, who had taken it upon herself to set us up as an evening's entertainment act and invite a whole load of KL's couchsurfing community. So, we dutifully wrapped the fiddles and our bags in plastic bags and set off hoping things would calm down a bit so the event could still go ahead. Luckily for us the rain had eased off a bit by the time we reached the station, but when we got out of the station there was no park to be seen. We wandered around blankly for a bit (carrying all the bags and fiddles) until we ran into Andy from the night before. He showed us to the car where Adida was, who pointed out the lake to us. We got to it but couldn't find the people we were supposed to be finding until eventually, two wee kids came running up to us and beckoned to follow. We did and right enough, there was Rica and her partner Stefan and these were her two kids. After a bit Adida, Andy and Fi Fi showed up before a whole load of other people and more kids (who seemed to take delight in mucking about with the fiddles when we weren't looking). Songs, tunes and dancing ensued including another rendition of "Tatties and Herring" which always seems to go down well (folk love the actions). We even had a go at a song we'd learnt together although I kinda ended up making up the words that I'd forgotten. The local Malaysians gave us a rendition of their national anthem in return. They insisted that they all needed to stand, and needed a flag. So, armed with one of the stickers we'd bought for our fiddle cases, they slowly raised the flag as they solemnly sang the anthem. Good stuff! Definitely one of our most bizarre gig scenarios. Afterwards, Rica took us to another hawker centre for some food but the kids were beginning to expire so we headed home and crashed out.

Rica drove us to the bus station the next morning to catch our bus to the Cameron Highlands. It turned out to be the craziest bus station yet. The usual bus station in KL is under re-furbishment so instead they've put up a semi-permanent marquee in the car park of the stadium that was used in the Commonwealth Games. It was an insane place. You could hardly get at the makeshift counters for people shouting at you on the way in (where you go? where you go?) trying to sell you tickets for a commission. We were adopted by one unbearably persistent woman but we eventually shook her off and found the desk with the company we'd seen named on the hostel notice board. We managed to buy our tickets but not without the rep from another desk trying to make us go with her company and slagging off the one we were buying from all the while.

When the bus came it was old but seemed OK. The journey was pretty uneventful until just after the toilet stop, when the driver drove into what can only be described as a bus graveyard with bits of buses and old buses with chickens living in them all over the place. Without any explanation to the passengers, a bloke came on and started dismantling the gearbox, pulling and fixing for something like an hour and a half. We eventually got going again and all seemed fine until the bus stopped again and what seemed like the entire population of Malaysia got on. It turned out that as it got closer to it's destination it became a kind of local bus (there was even a woman who got on to collect fares). An odd guy tried to make me budge along so he could get a seat but he was given short shrift as I was in no mood to be messed around with by this point. He then tried to say stuff in broken English - he may have just been practising, I don't know. Thankfully, over time people got off so the place cleared but when we got to Tanah Rata we vowed not to go with that company again. Thankfully, the hostel we'd booked (on Rica's suggestion) turned out to be pretty nice so we went for a bit of food in one of the local food centres and crashed out.

I should mention here that the Cameron Highlands holds a special resonance for me. Glynis' dad (my grandfather) was there during the war - I mentioned him before in the Japanland post as he was in charge of Japanese POWs. He'd always said he would take my grandmother there one day (and to Singapore as well) but unfortunately never did. It was great for me to be there as I could try and imagine him as a young man trailing around behind a mischievous group of Japanese POWs who were trying to avoid working!

After breakfast the next day (pancakes and curry sauce - we just followed what the locals were having!) we got to see how lovely the area was by going on one of the marked hikes. Because it's higher it's a lot cooler than the rest of Malaysia and so is really good for growing the things that can't be grown at sea level. There's loads of farms growing cabbages, strawberries and asparagus but the speciality is tea, of which there's loads of on sale in the town and served up with scones in various eating establishments. In fact, the town was seriously obsessed with strawberries. Every other turn there was strawberry merchandise, but weirdly no actual strawberries. That walk became a sort of embodiment for the 'on the beaten track' metaphor. The walk was the easy one everyone went on, in the place everyone goes to in the country everyone on our sort of trip visits. Plus is was pretty beaten. We saw a giant millipede at one point and, as you may have already read on Facebook (thanks Charlotte) I managed to kick an iguana in the head. It was an ACCIDENT I hasten to add (before anyone 'phones the RSPCA) and the iguana didn't seem to fussed - I apologised and moved on. That evening we had scheduled to deal with some internet-type stuff but when we plugged our laptop in horror-of-horrors, the worst had happened and it wouldn't charge. It had actually had an issue since Cuba in that the power connection seemed a bit dodgy but a wee wiggle would soon set it right. This time it just flashed charging/battery on and off constantly to the extent that it wasn't charging at all. It stayed alive long enough for me to get the address of the repair centre in KL before the battery went. I thought I coped pretty well given how attached I get to laptops and how important this particular one has become and there was only a certain amount of gnashing-of-teeth before I settled down with my book instead.

We bought breakfast in the grocery the next morning and headed off on a wee trip tp the tea plantation down the road. It was about a 4 km walk but the person in the tourist office had said that it was OK to walk there. It was along the main road mind which was pretty hairy but eventually we got there and took a wee wander around the plantation. We'd been hoping to see a factory and get an idea of the tea-making (fermenting) process but it seemed that that was somewhere else so instead we opted to have a cuppa in the shop - a bit of a touristy thing I guess but it seemed appropriate to drink tea while overlooking the plantation. Very British colonial. We got back to the town and went on another hike. It was a loop route but when we got half-way-round the path seemed to peter out. We decided not to be deterred (but were also mindful of our Hawaiian adventure and didn't want to get lost in the jungle) so we headed to the start of the trail and followed it the other way, hoping to find where the two ends met. It turned out that if we'd kept on the first way we would have been fine but we're getting much more careful as we progress in this trip. It was a nice walk though and we got a good view from a wee summit and at one point found ourselves in quite a cool ruined hut.

It was time to head back to the big city next morning so after an uneventful (thankfully!) bus ride we went straight to the Chinese embassy to pick up our visas. Rather surprisingly, they'd given us exactly what we asked for which was double entry (ooh er) visas valid for 6 months from the date of issue and 60 days once you enter the country. Perfect! The next task was to fix the laptop so we found the repair centre at the top of a shopping mall. The guy there plugged the laptop in with the charger he had and lo-and-behold-no problem! This was a bit of a relief as it meant that all we had to do was replace the charger rather than take the laptop to bits. The repair place didn't have one so we went searching round the IT centre at the bottom of the mall. We tried a few places but it seemed than no-one would repair the charger - we'd have to buy a new one. At one point a particularly interesting conversation ensued when I tried to persuade a bloke to solder on a new jack rather than replacing the whole charger. I was told that that would be illegal as the electrical supply in Malaysia is quite unstable (his example being that his lights flash when he turns on the hoover). This I understood but I couldn't see the connection between this and him not being allowed to solder a new jack on our charger. I told him I couldn't see the connection between the two to be told that "you do not understand because you do not study". I showed a lot of restraint by not wheeling out the list of my qualifications and instead thanked him and told him I would go and study. Interestingly enough, he didn't seem to notice the "University of Edinburgh" T-shirt I was wearing. After a bit more searching we found a nice chap who sold us a new charger. We decided to celebrate by going to Pizza Hut for a bit of food-that-we're-used-to. Our celebration was a bit premature as when we got back to the hostel the power would still go occasionally but we realised that it was just the charger overheating due to the hot climate. For the moment, the problem seems to be solved (huzzah!).

Our bus to our next destination wasn't until late the next evening and by this point we felt we'd had enough of exploring KL. Therefore we did our usual standby activity and went to the cinema. "The King's Speech" had been out for ages and we were both keen to see it so we found a cinema showing it and totally loved it. In fact, I reckon it's the best movie I've seen in a year if not two and well deserved of the Oscars it won.

We had another overnight bus which was pretty uneventful and we were cornered when we got to the bus station by a guy selling ferry tickets to where we were going. It seemed like the proper thing to do so we bought our tickets and after breakfast and a slightly tricky manouver to get our stuff into the wee boat, off we went - destination: The Perhentian Islands. It was probably the most terrifying boat journey I've ever been on - the sea was pretty rough and consequently the boat would lurch up at the front before coming crashing down with a thud. Water is like concrete when you hit it at speed. We had to rescue my fiddle case from being soaked by the spray. There were a number of other backpackery types on the boat and also a Swedish family with some young kids who looked pretty terrified. Some Swiss girls we'd met in Tanah Rata had told us that everyone in the Perhentians is Swedish. This is the Truth. Eventually we arrived at our destination and fell on our knees to thank the Lord that we were still alive. We were on the wrong side of the island for accomodation as the sea was still too rough for the boat to dock on the right side. It was a short but none the less hot and sticky walk to the other side though (with a couple of GIANT lizards on the way) and after a bit of too-ing and fro-ing we found a place with chalets that we liked, booked in and at this point for three days, life just stopped.

This brings me to the title of this post. For most of our trip thus far we've avoided other backpackers but for a lot of the South East Asia leg we've been in the thick of them and no place more so than here, Perhentian Kecil. We've been agonising as to whether this matters or not as so far on this trip we've had so many unusual cultural experiences that other backpackers don't get- largely as a result of our friends and Couchsurfers. We've been getting used to the idea now and decided that it didn't matter as it's all experience anyhow. On Perhentian Kecil it really didn't matter it wasn't a place to come to to experience people and culture (as most places we look for), it was a place just to hang out and take a rest for a few days, something we were really needing to do. I can't get into beaches and seas and the resulting culture in a big way but I have to admit after all the mad travelling of the last month, being in a situation where there wasn't much to do (and no internet) was actually really great. It was particularly nice as the next day (4th March) was my 31st birthday so we decided to treat ourselves to a snorkelling trip. There were loads of people with boats and gear offering to do it so we found a guy we liked and off we went on another crazy wee boat ride. He wasn't really a snorkeller, just a guy with a boat and some gear so it was just as well we'd already had a go in Hawai'i. The first place we went was "Shark Point", we didn't see any sharks but we did see some gorgeous fish and some amazing coral. It was a lot more wavey than the trip we'd done in Hawai'i and by the time we'd finished at "Fish Point" (even more amazing fish in shoals that would swim at your mask), our second destination, Charlotte was felling pretty seasick. She couldn't get off at "Turtle Point" so as she puked over the side, the guy searched for a turtle to stalk and I jumped in when he found one. I followed it for a bit and then crashed into a load of people who hadn't been there before. Charlotte told me afterwards that the folk in the other boats had seen me get in, assumed that I'd seen a turtle and all descended on me at once to disturb my peace. The turtle didn't seem too bothered though and just basked on the bottom . It didn't seem to be doing much so I went back to the boat and when I was there, I saw everone else swimming along behind my turtle. I went back and joined them and followed it for a bit, a big beautiful, graceful animal which just moseyed along minding it's own business while we all flippered along behind it. Back on land (and despite Charlotte's seasickness) we decided that snorkling was amazing and were really glad we'd had the chance to do it. We did a lot more lounging around, had some of the BBQs on the island and generally chilled out for the rest of our time on Kecil. A wee bit of a holiday from the holiday and I decided that sometimes beaches and seas were OK, but I still didn't like the feeling of sand in my toes.

We were to head west next as we'd decided not to cross the Malaysian/Thai border on the east side (Foreign Office says No). By crossing on the west side we could get a train all the way to Bangkok and skip over the dodgier bits. To this end we stopped off for a night in Kota Bharu which really has very little to offer other than a place to stop before crossing the border. We managed to get a taxi from where the boat (which wasn't so crazy this time, or maybe we were just more prepared...) with a German/Russian couple who were going the same direction. I'd been taking more care over my stuff and I had to lock and unlock my bag a few times in the taxi to get money. Becuase of this, I managed to leave my key lanyard in the taxi. My reaction was very odd. It's not really important or expensive but it is something I'm rather fond and proud of as it has "First Aider, Trained by the University of Edinburgh" on it and also has a resuscitation mask. I was pretty upset to lose it - I tend to get more homesick than Charlotte, largely because I've lived either with or very close to my family and the place I grew up (Penicuik/Edinburgh) for a long time. There's a number of little things I have that remind me of home and this was one of them so I was pretty upset. I felt daft later as it was such a wee thing but I guess to an extent I'm finding stuff out about my own thoughts and attitudes. It's a journey of discovery man! I've also found that I hate sharing laptops (even with Charlotte) and I like to know where my next internet connection is going to be. Sad but true. We didn't do much else in Kota Bharu other than admire the hostel's litter of very new kittens but we did get the chance to take in another night market where there was a guy making pancake/omelette things at high speed - pretty impressive!

The hostel owner drove us to the bus station the next day where we caught the bus to Georgetown. We met our Couchsurfer, Rick at the bus station there and he took us back to his apartment. It's funny how it's called "Couchsurfing" but we've never slept on a couch yet. Rick had a lovely double room for us with Air Conditioning! We took in yet another night market with him (we never tire of them) and he made sure to order us the local food that we should try - probably the best we'd had yet in Malaysia. On the way back to Rick's place we spotted a Tesco - we'd actually seen quite a few of them in Malaysia and Singapore and there was even the odd branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland - looks like the Malay peninsula still maintains a wee connection to the UK!

Georgetown was a lovely city. This was where the British had first landed in Malaysia and as a result it was full of gorgeous colonial buildings. There was a great selection of Buddhist and Hindu Temples and Mosques as well. We were admiring one of the Mosques when a couple of nervous looking girls asked to interview Charlotte on camera - we reckoned they were studying tourism. We made sure we had the local "Laksa" for lunch. It's a noodle dish you find all over Singapore and Malaysia but it has a number of regional variations. Here it's a sort of fishy soup and with it we had a very odd drink which the lady said was "olive juice" but Rick told us afterwards that it was a kind of plum. We met Rick that afternoon and he took us round another temple and showed us the secret passages which the locals had used to escape from the Japanese during the war. We also stopped for coffee as Penang has a unique way of making coffee by frying the beans in margarine. I decided to have an iced coffee for a change and decided that it was good and I should experiment more with iced coffee and tea at home. We then visited a giant Buddhist temple - the largest in SE Asia in fact. It was stunning and massively elaborate. In true tourist style I was clicking away with the camera and everywhere I pointed it there was a fantastic photo to be taken. We saw a pond full of turtles which people bring as offerings - they didn't look like they were well cared for or in particularly good condition. Rick also drove us to the top bit of the temple where there was a massive statue of the Goddess of Mercy who looks over the city - rather like the Jesus statue in Rio. We had a look at the reservoir which was close by and got a great view. I was able to bombard Rick with all the questions I'd been dying to ask about Malaysia.

That evening back at Rick's place he made us a great nonya curry (Malay/Chinese fusion) which as with all of our food experiences you can find on the recipes page.

The nest day was our last in Malaysia and it started with a lie-in before some curry for breakfast/lunch and then temple-tastic times. We started with Hainan temple and then took in the Thai and Burmese temples close to Rick's home. The Thai one had one of the largest reclining Buddhas in the world which was pretty impressive but it was all a bit glitzy for us. We much preferred the Burmese temple which was slightly more understated but none the less impressive and had some stunning carving. We have noticed a big difference between the Japanese temples and the ones we're seeing here. The Japanese ones were all pretty old and traditional but the more Chinese-style temples are red and gold to the max. They have no qualms about bringing in the modern and putting fairy lights all over the statues as well!

In the evening we met up with two of Rick's former colleagues from when he worked for Intel. Kevin was from Devon but now lives in Amsterdam and Gerry was from Dublin. We went to a Chinese restaurant and had their speciality fish dish (with deep fried fish bones that were a bit like pork scratchings) and loads of other great food. They were lovely chaps and we had a great evening chatting away. They'd been on a two-week business trip around Asia taking in China and Vietnam so there were a great source of advice for us. Back at Rick's place after we educated him in the ways of UK traditional dance (Morris!!). Rick was a brilliant host - we had a fantastic time with him and are very pleased we re-routed ourselves to cross the border on the west. Thanks Foreign Office!

Rick was good enough to drive us to the station the next day where we caught the train heading to Bangkok. This was a kind-of-sleeper train when the seats turned into beds with a pulldown bed above. We were sitting next to two folk from Portland, Oregon. The guy was trainspotter and seemed to know about the trains and lines in Malaysia and was very concerned as he was convinced that the train was heading south (towards KL) rather than north. He kept looking at his map, asking the guards (who didn't really understand what and why he was asking!) and generally pacing around. His wife seemed lot less worried and I wasn't really worried at all as we already knew a good hostel in KL if we ended up there and anyway, the train was clearly Thai and the setting sun was on the left hand side so we were definitely going north. Right enough, eventually they handed out the immigration cards and we arrived at the border where it was an easy crossing into the "Land of Smiles"!

Finally - I'm typing this sitting in the lobby of our hostel in Bangkok watching the live footage from Japan. That's two countries we've visited (along with new Zealand) that have been hit by devastating earthquakes. Luckily, most of our Japanese friends are in the south and therefore little affected by it but they will certainly have friends and relatives in the north that they'll be concerned about. Our thoughts go out to both the people of Japan and New Zealand - a horrible thing to happen to such nice places and such nice people.