Penang - Georgetown

If we're honest we haven't been over whelmed by Malaysia. We may have been unlucky with people we have met and places we've stayed but the country is pretty dirty, and the people can be really rude, money grabbing and deceitful. They dont seem proud of their environment and I've never seen so many rats in my life.

Visiting Georgetown on Penang turned things around for us a bit. UNESCO have just declared it a World Heritage Site and I can see why. There is some beautiful colonial architecture and a rich and diverse mix of cultures and peoples. We had a great time strolling around and sweating and eating alot. Last chance to get a decent curry for a while.

Crazy umbrella hat lady in China town

Rickshaws with sound systems and bunches of flowers

Amazing Mosque

Ridiculously ornate Chinese Clan House

Strange cards

Overdosing on curry

Hello Kecil

Next stop The Perhentian Islands in the north east of Malaysia. We got a little mini bus through the guesthouse in Tanah Rata and felt like we were on a school trip as we sped our way through the country.

From the main land you get a speedboat out to the islands. This is our mental driver who obviously thought he was a power boat driver, and sung the whole way there whilst various members of the boat screamed or quietly wept.

We were met by a beautiful little island with loads of snorkeling opportunities (best fish and coral I've ever seen) but very little accommodation. On the 1st night we had to bunk up in a "family room" with 2 couples we'd met on the boat. Poor old Sophie and Sam got the floor. It was all a bit pointless in the end given that we went out and got wasted till 7am drinking cheap vodka and then got just 2 hrs kip before having to check out. Should've just slept on the beach and saved a few quid.... Paul and Kelly and Sophie and Sam.I would like to congratulate Sophie and Sam on helping to give us the worst hangover of our trip.

Thankfully we did manage to find a nice little bungalow to stay in for next few days. Nice but invaded nightly by mice. They actually broke into my bag and dragged out a bar of Dairymilk I'd been saving since NZ. Gutted. There were also loads of bats flying about at night too. One flew into our hut when I opened the window and I shat myself, images of vampire bats and that horrific rabies video you were shown as a kid in my head flooded my mind as I tried to shoo it back out before Nic got back.

A mention also needs to be made of Nadine and Monique, the craziest Dutch people we have ever met. It was a lot of fun hanging out with them, and I don't think I will ever forget their quite passable attempts at English accents whilst saying, "i pooped everywhere.... literally!" in homage to some annoying posh girls in the bungalow next to them.

Nadine was insistent that I reminded her of Dutch shock jock Giel Beelen. I'm not sure if this is better or worse than the constant Chuck Norris comparisons I got from the locals in South America.

More tea vicar? Boh Boh Boh !!!

A long sweaty bus journey got us to the relative cool of the Cameron Highlands. After spending days and days on buses we had the first crash of our trip, with a car behind shunting the bus. It wasn't all bad though as it meant that i could actually get out and have a piss. They must have cast iron bladders out here because 4 hrs without a stop is pretty standard.

The area was initially established as a tea growing region, and then became a hill retreat for the old colonialists who needed a break from the heat and humidity of the rest of the country. We certainly welcomed a break from it too, but weren't expecting so much rain or to be staying in a bunker straight out of the war.

Its a beautiful little place, rolling hills covered in a green blanket of tea bushes. Great Indian restaurants too. Had a lot of curry and spent time drinking masala tea and playing chess.

We spent a day trekking to and from the first and biggest plantation in the area, called Boh. The tea and scones were overpriced but tasty

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, or KL as they are keen on calling it, is like Singapore's evil twin. Very similar in that its a busy succesful modern asian metropolis with a rich history and diverse culture, but crazy and dirty, more bladerunner than disneyworld.

We got a bit more cultured here than in Singapore where we just celebrated capitalism. There is some amazing architecture here, in particular the Petronas Towers that are fairly mundane by day but become very glamourous by night, some amazing old colonial architecture, modern skyscrapers (good and bad) and some incredible mosques.

Once again alot of our time has been spent eating incredible food, at bargain prices.

We took all these photos in Chinatown, there's a message in there somewhere....

and how funny is this?

Stopover in Singapore

We were in the fortunate position of having somewhere to stay in Singapore, thanks to the hospitality of the legend that is Justin J Price. His apartment and swimming pool were a welcome reprise from life in hostels

As is often the case with this backpacking lark, we liked the place we visited more than we thought we would and stayed longer than we should.

Singapore is a strange but wonderful place. Stupidly modern, clean, tidy and efficient. Strangely bland but not soulless. At times it feels like some weird theme park, or as Justin noted, the film The Truman Show. Despite or maybe because of this, we really fell in love with the place, there's plenty to like and of interest in what appears at first to be quite a bland conservative place. The diverse mix of cultures is really interesting and the shopping possibilities, cuisine and architiecture are all amazing.

Nic with a massive Sri lankan crab, and a strangely happy Pete Doherty. He must've been hitting his pipe just before we met him

Front of a Chinatown street

Rubbish laden, air con unit clad of rear of a street in Chinatown

This procession of school children was part of a massive congregation of kids being brought together at a river side stadium to watch some type of formation aircraft display. It was surpervised by the army, and done with an order and precision that would be unimaginable at home. Even more bizarre was that it was just the practise for the forthcoming national day celebrations, not even the real deal.

This is Nicky enjoying the world's most expensive fruit juice. We visited the famous Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar. It cost us a budget busting 10 pound each for this fruity, seemingly alcohol free delight, in what was admittedly very nice bar. I made sure I ate my own bosy weight in free monkey nuts to make up for the expense.

Singapore is all about rules and regulations. You can get fines for just about anything. Any minor indescretion is dealt with harshly, and people are encouraged to toe the line

The markets and foodhalls were incredible. Amazing food at amazing prices. The first pic is of Nic next to the Durian Fruit stall. Famously the world's stinkiest fruit. She was replused by the the smell, but I dont think its too bad.The Little India district was mobbed on Sunday night, and delivered a wonderful insight into how our time in India will be and one of the best curries I have ever had.