Nov 2008

Both myself and Niamh were really looking forward to the beaches of Langkawi. We'd been in South East Asia for just about a week and for all that time we had been in built up areas so the opportunity flake out on a beach appealed to both of us.

Langkawi itself turned out to be a bit of a double edged sword. On the positive side the beach beach where we were staying was stunning and consisted of 2km of white sand with clear blue water on one side and palm trees on the other. The sunsets here were beautiful. Panti Cheng, the area where we were staying was slightly less aesthetic. The main strip, which ran adjacent to the beach, looked like it had been stated over a year ago and was never finished. To be honest, it was a bit of a dump but you take the good with the bad and ultimately the beauty of the beach far outweighed any other down sides.

Beautiful sunsets here though...

Our next stop after Kuala Lumpur was an island along the straights of Melaka called Penang. Our destination on this Island was an old colonial city called Georgetown.

Despite the fact that it was raining when we arrived, both myself an Niamh instantly liked Georgetown. Our only problem at this point was the fact that we had nowhere to stay! This problem was solved - or so we hoped - when the Taxi driver that picked us up from the ferry offered to bring us to a "Vey ni pla", he promptly dropped us at a hotel in the bowels of Chinatown called the Waldorf. We checked into the Waldorf and then promptly checked out again fifteen minutes later. The best description I have for this place is that it looked like one of the hotel rooms that the beginning of the film the Beach was shot in. You know the part where Leonardo DiCaprio's character meets the looper Bunny and he first finds out about the Beach, well it was the exact same as that, complete with flickering fluorescent lights, grimy walls and bed cloths and a big TV that harked back to 1982. D.U.M.P

After leaving the Waldorf we walked around Chinatown for a while until we stumbled across a nice little hostel called Jims Place. This place was a cool little Rasta orientated hostel which was heavily decorated with Jamaican flags and pictures of Bob Marley. Jim (the owner) was an old hippy Indian dude who came bedecked with the mandatory dreadlocks, dilated pupils and bloodshot eyes. This was the first taste of the backpacking vibe we had been looking forward to since we left South Africa over a year ago.

Over the next two days we spent our time walking around old colonial Georgetown taking in the lovely laidback feel to the town. The two highlights of this leg of our journey was the Penang Museum where we got to see the evolution of the island in relation to the British, Chinese, Indian and Malay settlers. Going up Penang Hill was the second highlight. Essentially this is a cable car ride up the mountain/hill that sits in the centre of Penang island. The views form up here were incredible and the high altitude offered a welcome respite to the humidity of Georgetown.

After two days in Georgetown we bid farewell to the very friendly Jim, lumbered into our backpacks and jumped onto a boat bound for the beaches of Langkawi

On the the morning we departed Singapore both myself and Niamh woke up grainy-eyed and tired after a fitful nights sleep due to jet lag. Thankfully the five-and-half hour bus journey from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur provided ample opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Our first experience of Kuala Lumpur was a lot like I had expected a large prosperous South East Asian city to be like i.e. traffic choked streets framed by buildings sporting all manner of neon signs and walls with cracked and peeling paintwork everywhere. In comparison to the almost clinical cleanliness of Singapore, the unashamed dirt of Kuala Lumpur left us both uneasy and questioning whether we wanted to be there (classic case of culture shock I know).

After we had checked into our guesthouse (its called No 88 and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to go to Kuala Lumpur) we dropped our bags and and headed straight into down town Kuala Lumpur.

Our first evening was spent happily lost, ambling through the China Town and the Little India districts of the city. One of the most striking aspects of Kuala Lumpur up this point has been seeing many different ethnic groups that make up Malaysian society. Due to this ethnic diversity, Kuala Lumpur sports everything from huge Muslim Mosques to Buddist and Chinese Hoi Shin Temples. This eclectic mix of people and cultures can best be seen by the fact that at one stage you can be walking down a street bedecked with fairylights in Chinatown before stumbling over a gold encrusted Mosque in Little India. The sheer diversity of the different streets and cultures on offer is definitely one of the citys' most interesting facets. We finished the evening with a few quiet beers in a nice bar near our hostel.

On the morning of our second day we decided to head out to the BATU Caves for some sight seeing. The BATU Caves are huge limestone caves that are about 14 kilometers outside Kuala Lumpur. The caves themselves are an incredible sight to look at and their sheer size was quiet humbling. After climbing the 274 steps up to the caves we spent about half an hour walking around looking at the caves and the Hindu alters that are dotted around them.

That evening we went up the Petronas Towers and got to walk along the Sky bridge between both buildings. The views from this vantage point over the whole of Kuala Lumpur were incredible. The Sky bridge itself is only on the 42nd floor of these two giant towers but even so you could look down on every high rise building in the city. We both loved it!!

After Kuala Lumpur our next destination was Georgetown

Darragh and I arrived safe and sound in Singapore after a farely easy flight and were bright as buttons since we had caught so much sleep on the flight. So on our first night we walked around Little India in search of food and Darragh was delighted with the firery chicken that he got!! Since then we have explored alot more about Singapore (colonial district, chinatown, the huge shopping malls, the museums and the night safari) and we both really like it... a real mix of cultures. Today we walked all day in the sun in the Botanic Gardens, which were beautiful and we finished the day with a lovely meal in Little India.

Tomorrow we head to Kuala Lumpur and are looking forward to that... Will fill you in again soon...