Getting to the Phuket hostel by taxi was easy enough. As was finding our way around, the hostel is in a fantastic location right in the heart of the most touristy area, Patong. I would normally have thought of that as a bad thing but it was just so easy finding excellent bars, restaurants and clubs that none of us cared. Another bonus was that we were less than a 10 minute walk from the beach. After getting our bearings on the first day and negotiating a great deal for our tours (one of them was for a day of whitewater rafting then elephant trekking in the jungle and the other was for a day of island hopping), we headed to a pub for a drink. After unwinding a little we walked to the beach for sunset. We had a good view but missed the actual sunset, it was still very nice though.

The next day for the first tour, almost everyone else in our group did not speak English. It was ok though because we still had a great time. The weather was fantastic (one of the only days during our stay that it wasn’t rained out), and we were off to a good start with the monkey cave, well more of a monkey playground really, the cave looked too shit to warrant paying the entry fee. The monkeys were entertaining though.

Next up was a half an hour drive to the river for whitewater rafting. The guys were really excited when we got there and started gearing up but I was a bit sceptical about how good it would be because of the handful of photos I’d seen. I was right to be sceptical. It was a fun experience because I was with the guys and everything and they absolutely loved it but it was nothing compared to last year when Jill and I whitewater rafted in Zambia on one of the best rafting rivers in the world. This river was almost still in comparison, it was much slower, narrower, shorter and less exciting. The rapids were weak sauce.

There were some close calls where we almost fell out of the raft but the foot straps in there near enough guaranteed that we wouldn’t (the raft in Zambia didn’t have them). If we had fallen in it would not have been fun though. Since the river was significantly narrower than the Zambezi in Zambia (I’d estimate it was less than 20% of the width), if one of us did actually fall out, it was much more likely that we’d go head first into one of the many rocks there. On the plus side, at least there were no crocodiles in the river like there were in Zambia!

The group split into two for the next part. The first group stayed for lunch and the second (of which we were a part) left to do the elephant trekking. It was a very strange feeling setting foot on an elephant. At first the ride was very sedate and relaxing (possibly even a little boring) but it quickly picked up when we started going up some of the steeper gradients in the jungle. We (Sundip and I on one, Rocky and Raj were on another one), were sitting in a seat for two but after short while, the elephant handler hopped off to take pictures of us and offered one of us a chance to “drive”. Sundip didn’t seem keen so I said yes almost straight away. It was so strange sitting on that elephant’s neck as it was walking. With every step it took I could feel its huge shoulder blades moving underneath me and as I had my hands on its head to steady myself, I could feel how rough its hair was, it was like moving your hands over the bristles of a tough, outdoor broom. I’m very glad I made every effort to steady myself up there, I was a long way from the ground and it felt like I was going to fall off with almost every step. It was especially nerve racking on the steep climbs and descents. There was a point during the trek where the elephant (with both me and Sundip still on his back) went into the river for a brief walk, it didn’t seem like it at the time but he was supposed to go that way. I was also reminded of a story my friend Avtar once told me. He was on elephant back in India when the elephant decided to go cool off in some water. Shortly after entering the water, the elephant took a huge gulp of water and sprayed it backwards (directly at Avtar) with its trunk. It sent Avtar flying and left him with a massive bruise all the way across his chest. Nothing like that happened to me but the thought was not a pleasant one! I knew elephants are huge having seen them up close but each footprint this elephant was leaving in the jungle mud was just massive, there was so much water in the elephant prints that had been left there previously, it was ridiculous.

After the trek, we had the chance to feed the elephants bananas. Rocky decided to do it and the elephants ate those bananas like there was no tomorrow! I could tell that the elephants were being well treated, otherwise I might have thought they were underfed. They must just really love bananas. Who knew?

It wasn’t just the elephant lunch that was (apparently) tasty, the one they provided for us was too.

After that we were nicely energised for our on-foot jungle trek. In the end, it wasn’t really much of a trek, in this case it was all about the destination, not the journey. At the end of the trail we reached an amazing waterfall. The waterfall itself was very nice but it was the pool of water it fed that was really interesting. The pool was quite deep near the waterfall itself but got shallow very quickly as you moved away from it. There were some rocks and trees to the right that could be climbed relatively easily and since the pool was so deep, the only logical (and clearly sane) thing to do was to climb said rocks, the high point of which was maybe 4 metres, and then jump into the pool. We climbed and we jumped. It was brilliant, I went back for another go.

The 2 hour journey back to the hostel went quickly and so did the time we spent at the hostel before heading out. It was going to be another big night but one of us wouldn’t be coming. Sundip wasn’t feeling well so told us fairly early on in the night that he couldn’t make it out. We made sure he was ok then set off.

There are SO MANY bars and clubs on the main road in Patong, with everywhere I’ve been I haven’t seen a higher concentration of them on a single street anywhere. The road isn’t very long, it takes maybe 5 minutes to walk down it but it must have had at least 200 different places to drink on it, and loads of clubs, restaurants, dodgy massage parlours and tourist booths as well. Our first stop for the night was one of the many bars with Thai women dancing on the bar itself. After a couple of drinks, some of the women that are up there dancing step down to play games like Yahtzee and Connect4 with the people drinking there. It was a little weird, we didn’t stay long. The next bar was a little more interesting. There was torrential rain outside by this point of the night; everyone had taken cover inside the bars and clubs. Our bar was cool though because it was on the second story but it was still open so we could see outside without getting wet. There were a bunch of (obviously drunk) people outside dancing in the rain. After we got bored we went to what would be our final stop for the night. It was only maybe 1 or 2 so we were thinking we’d move on after a little while but it was just so much fun that we stayed the whole night.

The whole next day was more or less wasted and pretty much the only thing we did before dinner was go to Sweet Lemongrass Massage. It came highly recommended on Trip Advisor so we knew there wouldn’t be any funny business going on. Trip Advisor was right, the massage was excellent and it was Rocky’s favourite of all of Thailand, though his experience was probably a little soured because of the fact that he lost his phone on the way back to the hostel. I really liked my massage too but I still rate the two hour one I had in Bangkok as possibly the best one I’ve ever had. Raj enjoyed his too but he wasn’t particularly vocal about it. Sundip didn’t come and it was during dinner that he told us he didn’t want to go on the island hopping tour we’d booked for the next day either, this was despite the fact that he’d already paid his share.

I’ve written too much already so I have to wrap this up but Sundip can probably be glad he didn’t come, he definitely would have thrown up on that boat or worse (use your imagination) but I will say despite the seriously heavy rain we had that day, the beaches were incredible, probably the nicest I’ve seen. The towering rock structures in the water were close enough to make the view amazing but not so close that they made swimming in the sea unsafe. They were covered with lush, green vegetation and surrounded by some of the bluest water I’d ever seen. On the beach itself, the sand underfoot was the softest I’d ever felt, it almost didn’t feel like sand, it was more like I was walking on mashed potatoes or something. (I realise that doesn’t sound particularly pleasant but it felt great). Snorkeling was very cool too, much better than Langkawi because the water was so much deeper. I think that experience has convinced me to do some scuba dives here too. I might write a separate post if I end up doing that.

Phuket had a few more big nights and a lot more wasted time, what can I say, 26 year olds don’t recover as quickly as university students, but what it really gave me was a lesson about myself. I was sad to see my best friends go but not as sad as I should have been. I couldn’t have changed so much on this trip that I’m not even upset to say goodbye to the only piece of home I’ve had in a month, right? I must have. It seems that even at 26, nothing is set and a catalyst for personality change can be something as small as a few weeks away from home.

Top: Waterfall Jump!; Above: Bangla Road, main street in Patong

I haven’t actually been travelling for very long so far. 5 weeks is not a huge length of time (and one of those weeks doesn’t even count because I was just with Jill in Detroit, not exactly the most difficult or exotic of circumstances to find myself in). Nevertheless, because of the type of travelling I’ve been doing, moving from place to place, living out of my backpack, eating, drinking and travelling with people that I knew I’d only be with for a few days at a time, it feels like it’s been a lot longer than 5 weeks. Home is becoming a more and more distant memory with every passing week.

I knew that this would be set right in a big way on this leg of my trip; I knew that my 3 best friends would be joining me for Bangkok and Phuket and that we’d have as legendary a time as we do on all of our other trips, but it taught me something I wasn’t expecting about myself too.

From Bangkok airport I took a taxi to the hotel the guys had booked (and generously paid my share for as well). I called on the way there to let them know I was almost there (and to ask where the hotel was because the non-English speaking taxi driver had no bloody idea). Eventually, with the help of the Google Translate iPhone app (big thanks to Steve Jobs and Google!), I managed to get relatively close to the hotel but still had to walk for about 20 minutes in the Bangkok heat, with my two backpacks on before I got there. It was a massive relief when I finally did though, even more than it normally is when I get to my accommodation. After I got up to the room I was stunned by how nice it was. The hostels I’d been staying in so far were good but this was on another level, it’s possibly the nicest hotel room I’ve ever stayed in and it was only £40 per night. Everything was immaculate and ultra-modern. It had every convenience you could possibly want and the rooftop pool and view of Bangkok were amazing. We had some really cool Hangover 2 style moments up there :) It was great seeing the guys again when they got back to the hotel, we all gave each other big hugs and I had a great time filling them in on the trip so far (I guess my best friends are too busy to read this website!) They looked pretty fresh (it was maybe 4:30 in the afternoon at this point) but it turned out that they’d only woken up a couple of hours earlier. I probably could have guessed it would happen but this fact set the tone for large sections of the rest of the trip, their previous night, their first in Bangkok, had been a big one, it sounded pretty cool. Though it wasn’t as cool as my first night in Bangkok ended up being!

Once I’d finished admiring the room and had left my stuff in the room safe (it was funny seeing Rocky’s face when he first got in and saw me standing in the room with the safe door open – his choice of lock combinations is far too predictable), we headed out and the guys introduced me to the surrounding area. We’d all comment on it at various points of our 2 night stay in Bangkok but the streets bloody stink. Now I’m not an ignorant xenophobe, I know that different countries have different cultures and cuisines but this smell wasn’t just the food, it was everything. We quickly learned not to breathe in when we were near a manhole and everywhere else, the aromas of the exotic cooking ingredients were combining to leave an unpleasant feel to the air every which way we went. That first day, we all wanted a massage so we found a nice looking place and each went for the two hour Thai oil option. I felt fantastic afterwards, my massage was outstanding. (I wouldn’t feel so hot later that night, the fact that we all got smashed negated any positive effects the massages might have had. Oh well, live and learn!) Anyway we felt great after our massages and headed out in search of a bar, the first decent one we found was, surprise surprise, an Irish one. We ordered a few pints and before we knew it this American guy came up to us and asked if we’d like to take part in the pub quiz. This really was turning into a little piece of home! There were a lot of cool people in the pub that night but some creepy ones too, like the old English guy that kept telling me about his 30 year old Thai wife and the fact that he had skin cancer. He told me some pretty messed up stuff, luckily the pub quiz was at hand to help me forget about it. Our team picked English Language and recent technology news for our double points round, most of the questions fell to me since the guys weren’t up to the challenge but unfortunately, my lack of recent Internet access meant that I wasn’t either. We got 24 points for that first round, which for a short while put us on top. Our egos were inflated but that didn’t last long either, at the end of the game we were dead last. We headed back to the hotel after that for pre-game round 2. As they always do, the guys had bought two bottles of vodka and two of Captain Morgan for the trip. We poured a few drinks and kept the night going. Rocky was (also as usual) more drunk than the rest of us and so was causing some trouble but it was all good fun. We headed up to the roof pool next. The view was amazing up there, it was a 360 degree panorama of the Bangkok skyline, the pool lighting was really cool (I almost got a much closer look than I would have liked when Raj and Rocky almost threw me in), and the company was fantastic. It was perfect up there.

The next stop was the backpacker nirvana, Khao San road. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a street filled with bars, clubs, shit restaurants, hostels and street hawkers selling cockroaches, assorted bags full of nasty deep fried bugs and various other disgusting foods that you’d only ever eat if you were really drunk. It’s wild, it’s hedonistic, it’s way, way over the top, or in other words, it’s exactly the thing you’d want in a city as seedy and disgusting as Bangkok. We met a couple of Australians soon after our taxi dropped us off. Eli was cool but Rory was already a mess. They were obviously drunk and since we were too, we (I) kindly obliged when they dared us to eat a horrible looking and smelling dried squid. It tasted horrible and I gagged constantly as I chewed and tried swallowing it but I got it down eventually and the dudes were suitably impressed. As we were walking down this street packed with young tourists looking for a big night and locals with rolling metal carts filled with assorted nasties, we were running into all sorts of interesting sights and sounds, everyone there was on it and there were all sorts of random shit like break dancing going down. As we passed the various bug carts, Eli and Rory were daring us to eat more and more stuff. One of the next ones was a cockroach, I put it in my mouth and started chewing while trying to think about anything else, but it was just too disgusting and I had to spit it out. Rocky later succeeded in eating one but he didn’t look happy about it. We all hand handfuls of the lucky dip mixed bug bags though, I think they had things like grasshoppers and maggots in them, we also ate these deep fried frogs but they were horrible too. It was a relief to finally sit down at a bar and carry on drinking when the guys were done with that stuff. The famous Thai buckets we ordered each had six shots of vodka and Red Bull in them; they did not go down well. I have no idea what the place we ended up in was called but there were a lot of cool people inside. I lost track of the guys pretty quick after getting in but I had a great time in there. The only problem was that the clubs close so early. Everything was done by 2am but what we didn’t know is that the party continues on the street itself afterwards. Everyone came out and the break dancers and food and stuff were still there but now there was much louder music playing in the street. It was like a massive rave and people were going crazy.

We all slept well that night.

The following day was a late start at maybe 12pm but we decided to do something productive. After “breakfast” (Sundip and Raj didn’t get out of bed until 2:30 so we had to wait for them), we headed towards the temples of Bangkok, unfortunately when we left we didn’t know that we were inappropriately dressed and would not be granted entry to any of them. Even worse, by the time we got there the temples were all closing so we couldn’t even change clothes and come back. Instead of going to the temples, we settled on a boat tour on the main river. There wasn’t really much to see but the flimsy, make-shift houses by the sides of the river were kind of cool. The ride was definitely more interesting because of all the rain and the choppy waves too. After wandering around for a few hours and re-charging at the hotel for a bit we found our next activity for the day, an evening of Muay Thai fighting.

It was a pain finding the stadium but was well worth it when we did. Well, for a while at least. The fights were really cool and everything, they did the ceremonial dancing at the start of each one and there were some brutal knock-outs where dudes had to be stretchered away (one of them wasn’t even moving at the end of the fight) but the whole thing was 4 and a half hours long and towards the end it was definitely starting to drag. We had great seats because we paid for ring-side (there was rampant betting going on in the cheaper seating areas) but even with the great view some of the fights were a bit boring.

It wasn’t a particularly late night for us but Phuket was calling.

Top: Good times now!; Above: Bad times coming!

The Cameron Highlands tour finished just in time for me collect my stuff from the hostel and walk to the bus terminal. Surprisingly, this one left on time and even more surprisingly, arrived in Kuala Lumpur an hour and a half early. This left me with more time than I thought I’d have on my first night. Luckily, help was at hand from my fellow Europeans! I met Chloe (from France) almost straight away and though she was a little frazzled (her only credit card had been damaged and she was frantically trying to arrange for a replacement), she was delightful. It could have been worse for her as she was nearing the end of her 6 month trip (she later told me she’d spent over 5 months in Australia and was going to see out the last few weeks of her trip in Asia), but she was still visibly upset as she was trying to sort this out. German Chris showed up shortly afterwards and was excellent company too. After the three of us had our bearings and had unwound a bit following our respective journeys into KL, we headed out to a big nearby night market. It was actually just on the adjacent road, Petaling Street, so we didn’t have to go very far. Street markets in Asia are always lively and this one was no exception. Chris, having been in Asia for 6 weeks and nearing the end of his trip was well into the flow of things and was very game when it came to trying strange foods from the street vendors. I took his lead and tried some of the weird stuff on offer. It included: dried meats, (tasty) coconut pancakes and the next day, some red bananas (it turns out that they taste almost exactly like the yellow ones). The only thing that looked too horrible to even entertain the idea of trying (not even Chris tried them), were these black ovals that looked like coal (we were told they were “salted eggs”). After a quick dinner (we weren’t too adventurous as we went for the claypot chicken and rice but it tasted very different to anything I’d ever eaten before), and a 640ml bottle of local beer each (strangely, it was called Myanmar), we headed back to our hostel and the bar that was directly below it. We had a good night just chilling in that bar over the next few hours, having a few beers and swapping travelling stories. Chris and Chloe are the types of people I love to meet because we have so much in common and it’s just so easy to get on with them and chill over a few drinks. It was even better because our hostel’s affiliation with that bar meant that we got 20% off all drinks and food there.

During the previous night, the three of us had made some plans for Tuesday and they included more or less everything Kuala Lumpur had to offer. Even though I had a great time in KL because of Chloe and Chris, the city itself is not so good and probably my least favourite of the ones I’ve ever been to. There’s nothing wrong that with it, it’s no hotter, dirtier, noisier or more polluted than any number of other Asian cities but it’s got almost nothing to offer. I was only there for 3 nights and I saw everything, I definitely would not recommend that any of my friends visit this city. So anyway, the three of us had made a plan, and it involved going to the Petronas towers, Kuala Lumpur city centre, little India, Merdaka Square (the main square) and after I’d convinced Chris we should go, the Batu caves.

Our journey was off to a slow start because of Chris’ insistence on only taking taxis that would use the meter but fair play to him, because it did turn out ridiculously cheap for us that way. After being split 3 ways, the most I ever paid for a taxi was about 50 pence, it would have been maybe 4 or 5 times that otherwise. Our first stop, the Petronas towers, was cool but unfortunately the sky bridge (the bridge connecting the two towers and the main reason we wanted to go) was closed for maintenance until December. It was a disappointment but the bridge wasn’t as high as we’d thought it would be so we got over it quickly. I still tried blagging us a way into the building on a “special visitors pass” but some of my best lines tanked so I took what dignity I had left and headed back to Chris and Chloe to deliver the news. Like I said though, it wasn’t a big deal and we quickly jumped into a taxi to little India. Little India was indeed very little but there was still some good stuff there, this was where we found the red bananas and Chloe tried her first Thai coconut there (they’re delicious). Chris was trying to find an Indian suit for his niece but didn’t want to pay the extortionate prices so instead settled for some Indian bangles. I introduced both Chloe and Chris to some Indian sweets too. They liked them but I think they’d have been more impressed if the sweets had tasted like I know they were supposed to.

Since it was (supposedly) close by, we decided to walk to Merdaka Square. I wouldn’t say it was a mistake doing it but it certainly became a much longer (and more dangerous) walk than we had intended. Longer because we apparently had very little idea where we were and dangerous because we had to run across a few motorways to get to where we were going (there was no other way across, our only other option was to walk back the way we’d come and spend another hour walking through the baking Malaysian heat, while probably dehydrated, in a direction we already knew would be a much longer walk). We also had to take an (ill advised) detour through a construction site but we all got to Merdaka Square in one piece so it was no problem. The Square itself was pretty shit when we got there (apart from a massive Malaysian flag there wasn’t much there) but like they say, it’s the journey, not the destination. We headed back to the hostel to chill for a bit after that. When we were ready to head out, we had some lunch at the bar downstairs (not very adventurously, we each went for the burger and fries but Chloe made a very persuasive argument) and then got on a bus to the Batu Caves. The caves are a site of religious importance to Hindus as there is a temple inside (and a Giant 43 metre statue of a Hindu deity outside). The statue is just to the right of a long set of 272 steps that must be climbed to gain entry to the caves. The other obstacle that must be overcome is the various monkeys that hang around on the steps and on the nearby trees and rock face. They were (thankfully) very well behaved when we were there but I’ve heard at least one unpleasant story about those monkeys. With all the steps and the massive statue, the cave entrance was very impressive but it’s spectacular (and absolutely huge) when you get inside. Definitely the best thing I saw in Kuala Lumpur, I’m glad I managed to convince Chris to join Chloe and I at the caves. The bus ride back was much quicker than the one out there and we were all in good spirits because we’d seen everything we’d wanted to and with my help, Chloe had sorted her card problem out earlier in the day. We headed back to the hostel bar for some drinks (my god, that first cold pint tasted amazing after an entire day outside in Kuala Lumpur!) and to get some dinner. We weren’t very adventurous again (pizza this time) but what can I say, Chloe makes a persuasive argument! Since it was both Chris’ and Chloe’s last night (Chris was flying out to Bangkok for one last night before heading home and Chloe would be back in KL but after I’d gone, after hearing about how good it was, Chloe wanted to spend a couple of nights in the Cameron Highlands), we decided to stay at the bar and get merry :) It was a pretty good time there with all the other backpackers and everything, and after the ridiculous prices of Singapore, the cheap drinks didn’t hurt either.

Even though I was only with them for a short time, both Chris and Chloe made a big impression on me and it was sad saying bye to them the next day.

After they’d gone, I decided to do the only two worthwhile things that I thought Kuala Lumpur had left. I went to the Kuala Lumpur bird park (the world’s largest free-flight walk-in aviary) and the Kuala Lumpur orchid garden. The bird park was very cool, just like the butterfly garden in the Cameron Highlands, you could walk up to everything, and most of the birds were just flying free. Also, it was funny seeing people run for cover when a parrot would try to land on their head. There were a lot of cool species there (check some of the pictures) but I was almost as impressed with how clean it was and how nice they managed to keep it smelling. If you ever find yourself in KL for some reason, the bird park is definitely something you should go to. At the other end of the enjoyment spectrum was the orchid garden. There were some nice flowers there but nothing else and the only reason I even went was to kill time.

So there it is, Ipoh and the Cameron Highlands were excellent but Kuala Lumpur, not so much. I still had a great time at both but for a very different type of holiday, I’m really excited to be seeing my best buds again when I get to Bangkok!

When I was planning this trip, I considered almost every aspect of it in detail so I wouldn’t feel like I’d missed out when I looked back on it. Something I paid particular attention to was international transfers. I’ve heard many stories about trouble at border crossings when travelling overland so I made every effort to avoid similar problems, so far so good I say. Although I realised today that perhaps I should have paid similar attention to domestic transfers as well… Langkawi to Ipoh was not supposed to be a stressful journey, it wasn’t supposed to be a lot of things but it ended up being them anyway.

Some general details about the trip: I left my Langkawi hotel at 6:30am with a 25 minute walk to the ferry terminal and a 7:30am ferry to catch. The ferry took about an hour to get to Kuala Perlis (as expected). Then also as expected, there was a 5 minute walk to the bus terminal and a 1 and a half hour wait for the first bus at 10:00am. 1 and a half hours didn’t seem like a long wait on paper but sitting on a seat at an outdoor bus terminal, while in the baking Malaysian heat and surrounded by mosquitoes did not help pass the time. The bus arrived at 10 and left 15 minutes late. The journey to Ipoh was 5 and a half hours (again, as expected). What was not expected was the 1 hour wait for the bus from Ipoh to the Cameron Highlands and the following 1 hour delay in its departure. The reason I said earlier that I should have researched domestic transfers too is that I had no idea I’d be getting to Ipoh at nearly 4 in the afternoon. This left me with no way to see the Cameron Highlands (my only reason for stopping in Ipoh) and to get back to my hostel on the same day, problematic because I was only supposed to be there for 1 night anyway. Uncharacteristically, this led to my decision to abandon my plans and instead book a one way ticket to the Cameron Highlands (one way because by the time I’d get there, there would be no buses going back the other way and I’d have to spend an unplanned night at a Cameron Highlands hostel). So I bailed on my Ipoh hostel without telling them (sorry Shanghai hostel, I couldn’t find any internet access!) and made spontaneous plans for somewhere else.

Anyway, back to the Ipoh to Cameron Highlands bus, so instead of leaving at 5, it left at 5:50 and instead of arriving at 7, it arrived at 8:30. When I actually got on, I noticed that it was seriously old, and I mean 20 or 30 years old, I also noticed that the top speed when going uphill (incidentally, most of the journey was uphill), was around 25mph. When it wasn’t moving at top speed, it was hovering somewhere around the area of 10-15mph. I couldn’t be sure though, the speed gauge was broken. Also by-the-by, it didn’t have any seat belts and the headlights didn’t work properly, something that made me fear for my safety later because it started getting dark at around 7 but we were rolling until 8:30. Since mountainous regions create their own weather systems, there was a lot of cloud and mist up there too, causing visibility to drop to only a few metres as it started getting darker. I was not comforted by this or the fact that there were thousand metre sheer drops only a few feet from the edge of the road. Even though the views were incredible (being surrounded by numerous, vegetation rich mountains on every side is never a bad thing), the whole experience has soured me on some of my plans for the rest of the trip. In particular a 24 hour bus ride through similar (but apparently much more poorly maintained) terrain between Vietnam and Laos. Yeah, I don’t think there’s any need to be a hero with that one, I’m going to book a flight instead! That said though, I very much enjoyed parts of the bus ride up the mountain, the parts where I wasn’t thinking death was imminent that is. There were at the very least, literally millions of trees on those mountains and such thick, richly varied vegetation too. I can only imagine how many different kinds of animals were living up there. There was even a cool little village at the top of the mountain, it was small, and it was clear that the main reason it existed was for tourists but it was still very cool. As were all the tea plantations, fruit orchards and flower gardens. In fact, minus the last three things I mentioned, the whole area, with its mountains of varying sizes and thick, lush jungles was very reminiscent of Peru. I wasn’t expecting that and didn’t know Malaysia had this sort of thing to offer.

Also on the plus side, the amusingly hobbit sized hostel I found only set me back £3 for the night and I managed to find a great 5 hour tour of the Cameron Highlands (including a 4×4 ride, a visit to a tea plantation and a lot of jungle trekking) for only £10.

My bus from the Cameron Highlands to Kuala Lumpur the next day was at 2pm so it was an earlyish start for the highlands tour at 8:45. While I was waiting for the start of the tour, breakfast at the cheap hostel was surprisingly delicious; as well as tea plantations, strawberry farms and various other fruit and vegetable orchards in the highlands, there are also a number of honey farms. I don’t normally like honey but thought I’d try some (probably the freshest honey I’ll ever eat) on my French toast and it was fantastic.

I was the third person to be picked up for the tour but there were 9 of us in total, an older English couple and 6 Dutch girls around my age. As always, everyone was a pleasure to spend time with. Our tour guide/driver took the 4*4 to a butterfly sanctuary at first. It was cool as you could walk through and go right up to them; none of them were in cages. What was even cooler were the things like the pit vipers, the 3 horned rhinoceros beetle, the horned tree lizards and the banded geckos, thankfully, all of those were in cages. Next it was a rose garden, it was kind of boring but at least there was a nice view at the top. We headed to the peak of the mountain we were on after that, at 2,000 metres it was the second highest in the area. Sadly, it was misty when we got up there so there was no point in climbing the viewing tower but as we’d all had a great view of the area from the rose garden, nobody was too upset. At the top there were several routes through the jungle and forest too and when I say routes through the jungle, I don’t mean routes paved with cement or artificial steps or anything like that, it was just gaps in the trees wide enough for us to squeeze through, it was pretty rough. The ground was soaked because it had been raining earlier and at some points I thought I was going to literally sink into the mud. There was a lot of thick vegetation, cool types of trees that I hadn’t seen the likes of since Peru and a few small animals but nothing too impressive. Apparently, there were a bunch of deadly pit vipers around (the kind that blend in very well with their native environment) so everyone was slightly on edge as we trekked through because we were told they could be anywhere. It was something that needed to be said but I didn’t appreciate it at the time. I was more concerned about the snakes than the sheer drops that were around practically every corner. Obviously I’m fine but in hindsight, I probably should have paid a little more attention to those. It was really cool being in that jungle though, weaving between the trees and hanging branches, navigating the very muddy, uneven and at times, very vertical terrain was good fun and definitely the part of the tour I thought was most worthwhile. Nearly at the end of the tour, we went to the star of the Cameron Highlands, the tea plantations. Another of the postcard perfect sights I’d seen in Malaysia, the plantations stretched as far as the eye could see and because of the mountains, were very vertical as well as horizontal in nature. We saw a few workers collecting the tea that was being grown there (boh tea) and I commented that they must have calves of steel because it can’t be an easy job. The final stop of the tour was a strawberry farm. It was nothing impressive and the Dutch were even less excited to be there, a few of them sarcastically sounded surprised when we were told that the strawberry seeds were imported from Holland. The fresh strawberry milkshakes were good though!