We began by flying down to Melbourne in the evening. If you know your geography you'd ask why on earth did we do that, it's very far out of the way. Well the flights were a lot cheaper if we did, so that pretty much made the decision. Once in Melbourne we boarded our Air Emirates flight to Kuala Lumpur. Maybe it's just been awhile since I've been on an international flight, but Air Emirates impressed us. Complementary drinks, an actual menu, metal cutlery and Arabic on the announcements. Corin and Ryan were scheduled to arrive at KL one hour after us, so we had a plan meet at the airport. If this plan didn't work we'd meet at the Burger King and if that plan didn't work we'd meet at the hostel. Nothing worked. Corin and Ryan never showed up and they weren't at the Burger King. We should have just gone to the hostel but we were worried where they were because they could not have gotten through the airport without us seeing them. Turns out they landed at another airport. Long story short it took the whole day to find out way to each other.
The first two nights we spent at a hostel called Palmers Guest House. It was sort of crappy, but not the worst. We were stuck between the Central Markets and China Town. We roamed through lots of markets and saw a good bit of the immediate area. The first morning me and Corin went down to the Petronas Towers to buy tickets to the sky walk, but it turns out everything is closed on Mondays. So I got to see the towers, but not go up. Next time.
For the rest of the day the four of us went for a nice long walk through a bird sanctuary and a Muslim history museum. Both were very interesting. It's fair to say that none of us really loved the city. Simply enough it's just another big city. After the second night we jumped on the bus and took off for our next destination.
After a 6 hour bus ride we ended up in the Cameron Highlands at a town called Tanah Rata. It's incredible how quickly the city turned to rainforest and little shanteys, then into the fancy English architecture of the highlands. This area is known for tea and strawberries. Needless to say we got to try both.
Here we stayed at a place called the Fathers Guest House. This hostel was amazing. We had our own rooms and toilets. The restaurant made such good food, the people running the place were so friendly, the weather was perfect and entire hostel was just the greatest place. We had ourselves scheduled to stay for three nights. The first day we went on a tour. It included a visit to the rose gardens, the butterfly sanctuary, a bee farm, a tea plantation and a strawberry farm. The strawberry farm left a little to be desired, the bee farm was miniature and the butterfly sanctuary was alright. The rose garden was amazing and the tea plantation was a highlight.
The rose garden was an endlessly huge garden up the side of a hill filled with beautiful flowers. We only had half an hour to walk around but we could have stayed longer. There was just so much to see. The tea plantation was incredible. Turns out this plantation was started about 80 years ago I think, by a Scottish man. He came over with a few tea trees from the UK and started a farm. The hills were just covered by tea trees. We learn that although they look like a little shrub, a tea tree will grow into a full sized tree if left to grow. They said since Asian and Indian people and short they have to keep the trees well pruned (in actuality the leaves get to spread out when it's left as a tree). Once we finished walking around the plants we went to the factory and saw the equipment they used. We sat down and sipped some tea overlooking the plantation. Very beautiful.
The rest of the day we spend relaxing and hanging around the hostel playing cards, chess and drinking Tigers (beer). This is what we did with most of our time.
The following day we went for a jungle walk. There was a nice trail that winds up on the hills to a nice little peak looking back at town. It then wanders back down to a "traditional" village. We all geared up for a nice little walk but found the hill to be reasonable steep. Eventually we made it up and saw a nice view of the town. I forgot my camera so I can't post a picture till I get the pictures from Corin and Ryan. You can also look at their blog for pictures as well (www.corinandryaninasia.blogspot.com).
Again we spend the rest of the day relaxing, playing cards, chess and drinking Tigers.
The next morning we got on a mini bus to head for the east coast. The bus ended in a city called Kuala Besut where we boarded a ferry boat that took us to the Perhentian Islands. We stayed on the small island at Long Beach. Since it's a backpacker style island, it's difficult to book rooms unless you're staying at a fancy place. We were able to book one night a place in the rainforest so we did. One we got there we realized it was not ideal. The room was just a hut with a mattress on the floor and a mosquito net. I don't think I mentioned it yet, but it's summer there and close to the equator (aka it's about 35 and humid as all get out). We had some supper and chilled out before going to bed. This was difficult considering the geckos, spiders and ants that were crawling around (plus the stinky heat). After a rough night we all woke up with the intention of finding a new place to sleep.
The night before Corin and Tara had gone for a walk to see if there was any more accommodation open. There was nothing in the evening but they said to check in the morning because things often open up when people decide to leave. There is no such thing as telling them how long you're going to stay. Once you get in a place you stay until you leave and you pay each morning for that day.
But luckily when Corin and Ryan walked down the beach they found a place with two rooms (with a proper bed and an air con). We took the rooms and moved our stuff down the beach to the new place. It was 5 star compared to the huts.
While on the island we did some snorkeling off the beach which was really good. Then we we went on a morning snorkeling trip to three spots. The first stop we got to snorkel with a bunch of black tipped reef sharks, then with a ton of little fish and lastly with a giant sea turtle. All were amazing. That evening we relaxed on the beach and drank some monkey juice.
Then it came time for me and Tara to head back to civilization. Corin and Ryan stayed on the island as we took the ferry, bus, train and plane back to Cairns. A wonderful trip all around and so nice to visit Corin and Ryan. It's difficult to return to work, but we need to pay for this travel somehow.
Nick
