Christmas and New years eve.

Hey folks

Been a while since the last post (i think) seems like we've done a bit since Penang also. Christmas in the Cameron Highlands was very different from what we're used to but awesome. Christmas eve was spent drinking and playing cards with some dutch people, a BBQ and a cringe-worthy count down to 12 midnight by the guesthouse owner (someone please tell him this bit is for new years not xmas eve!) Christmas day we carried on boozing but with a bottle of red (bought tax free in langkawi and saved for xmas) a half hearted trek into some strawberry farms followed by a classic tandoori chicken and naan ....followed by more booze!
Whilst in the highlands we did some amazing treks, our walking boots finally coming into use. The treks are mostly through jungle and really quite dodgy! Quite a few people have actually gotten lost for days in the highlands, so as you can imagine this worried me slightly and i did my best to remember certain tree's and areas of jungle as we went along, Adam was more interested in playing a Rambo type figure. Due to the high rain fall, a lot of the treks were slippery with shear drops over waterfalls! There were many times where i got myself stuck and didn't dare move, as family knows - i'm massively clumsy and it's not uncommon for me to trip over my own foot so this was a real trial for me but i LOVED it and would recommend it to anyone. The highlands are much cooler than the rest of Malaysia so it was a really refreshing break from the heat. We met a lovely couple called Tom and Claire and trekked with them, also visiting a tea plantation which was beautiful, the tea was so tasty. We spent a couple of days hanging out with these guys, drinking and conspiring against the mad cat lady that lived next door - this woman has been traveling alone since the 50's, she has been everywhere, which is cool but i couldn't get past the cat pee smell (and i'm allergic) so talking to her wasn't on my highest of priorities.
After the highlands, we traveled to an island off the west coast called Pangkor, for some sun and chill time before the beast of Kuala Lumpur. A lot of the malays holiday in Pangkor so it wasn't particulary touristic with westerners but it still had a holiday vibe going on. It wasn't my favourite island but we did see some interesting animals there including a commodo dragon and exotic birds (took pictures) we did a small walk into the jungle with two morrocan guys, i was really into the walk and then monkeys started screaming at us, i've never seen two men run so fast in my life!
We arrived in KL a couple of days ago, i really love it. I havn't heard many good things about it but it was the same with Penang and i loved it there too. Its like london but with no rules. Its too hot, too over populated but its amazing. New years eve was epic, we saw the new year in on our guesthouse roof top which overlooks the city. A guy named chris (half aussie half malay) runs the bar up there, he provided a free BBQ and good music for us all, we played drinking games etc. We spent a lot of the evening with a group of aussies dressed up as steve irwin (original) but they were really nice guys and they know how to drink! We then saw fireworks which looked spectacular from the rooftop. After the roof top party, Chris lead us all out onto the streets where we were attacked with shaving foam and talcum powder by screaming locals shouting "merry new year!" it was crazy seeing Malays, Indian and chinese people all coming together and celebrating (thats what i love about malaysia) involving us also in everything. We then went into a club playing reeeeeally loud indian music, the dancing was phenonomal and everyone was so happy. Being poor travelers, we didn't stay drinking in the club (6 quid for a redbull) we got back onto the streets and bought beer from the shops and dodged the foam sprayers until about 3am.
I don't think i've missed any main parts out, will be sure to add some new photos soon, we always have an absolute 'mare when we do because we are both technologic retards.
I hope all my friends and family had a great new years eve, missed you all. On the 5th Jan we fly to Cambodia into Phnon Phen, so until then - love to everyone xxxxxxxx amy 

Penang :-)

we boarded the ferry in Langkawi over to Penang a place that has had mixed reviews.On the ferry me and Amy sat next to the Chinesse WI  they wrote there own rules and sat where they liked to the annoyance of a american guy "get out of my seat......please" they just laughed at him it was excellent.

on arrival Amy showed a true British stiff upper lip and we trudged in the rain looking for a guesthouse. after 7 refusals and still no room at the inn we would of settle for the stable( see what ive done). but we luckily found salvation at the Travellers lodge which works out at 8 pound a night good times. So the travellers lodge in George town is a clean basic place with lost of interesting charectors there was a lovely guy who knew everything about Penang, joking Jimmy  a grumpy tennager and a political man. Now as for the other travellers there seems to be a over 50s mans single club. which included a drunken Aussie, a groupie for REM who is dealing with the break up. And an american who was a cross between a fat moby and a monk, each to there own.
So Penang is a cosmopiltan place which was colonised by the British back in the day.  its an amazing mix of Maylas Chinesse and India with old Georgian houses. In George town you could be walking down a street and its chinesse architecture and food then the next turn you could be in Little India music playing lots of colours great vibes. For 3 days we walked round taking a sample of all the cultures truly fantastic considering there are 3 religions primarily in Penang, History tells the story of all these people living in Harmony and its still visible to this day  truly remarkable and a real advert for how a cosmopolitan community can function.

halfway through our stay we went to .... drum roll please...... the CHINGAY championship 2011!!!! ......you i know we were excited too, What you aint heard of it.... ok il tell you. Chingay is a 10 metre pole and er well you kinda kick it up in the air and a team mate trys to balance on head or mouth  and then er hangon il copy and paste the rules:-
Among the regulations, Law said were that each Chingay team should comprise of 15 members, the teams should finish their three basic and dangerous acts within eight minutes, participants must wear uniforms, the bamboo pole must be 9.8m to 10.7m and the shape of the flag must be triangular with a length of 7.6m and a width of 5.5m.

LOOK IT UP ON YOUTUBE its better than the xfactor

on our last day we got the cable car up Penang hill which was very steep and a tad expensive. But the view was immense and the best view of a place we admire so much.on the way back down everyone was in fits of laughter at Mr bean on TV. On route we met a nice English couple and shared experiences of our travels so far, we were lucky to bump into the couple again that eve  in the red garden food court were we had some good chat and enjoyed the Maylasian daniel o donnell. there stories of North india were incredible my personal fav was the one about a "dildo hand"

So today we said goodbye to Penang and with it comes a recomendation to everyone "its fookin rioght gud"
one of our favourite places so far. But cant stay for long just turn around and were gone again this time high   up to the Cameron Highlands. Ed if your reading it was like the road to Cairns, and for everyone else a winding road which kept climbing with lots of trees and mountains.

we got to the top and was greeted by some tudor houses, and OMG the cold it was freezing first my hoodie came back into my life then i had to wear jeans and everything honestly it was so cold it must have been at least 20 degrees...

so Cameron highlands is the place we will spend christmas we shall be opening up our bottle of red wine to toast it, we will be at Daniels lodge for 6 days. the owners seem nice he is doing a free bbq on christmas eve for guests and we got a tour around Daniels by his his little girl she speaks better English than me. There is tea, strawberry, apples starbucks and with the cold weather we are having its just like being at home. But the main reason we are here is to finally do some proper trekking and use our boots. Kelvin and Sue you would be in your element. it looks amazing we cant wait to go into the jungle   tomorrow.

so all that is left to say is Merry Christmas to all and to all a .... sorry just enjoy getting in a warm pub have fun spending time with loved ones and try not to fall out.

have a good one Adam and Amy

Langkawi, Malaysia

Greetings loved ones

We are coming to an end of our stay in Langkawi, heading off to Penang (georgetown) next. For those of you not familiar with Langkawi, it's a tax duty free island off the north of Malaysia, our first stay since crossing the border from Thailand. First impressions = excellent, actual pavements to walk on! Staying in the backpacker budget section of the island at a guesthouse called "Gecko" run by a no nonsense Brit, Rebecca. This place is great for meeting fellow backpackers, and taking advantage of the duty free alcohol. We have met some really cool people here, and some really not so cool people. One night in the week, after some drinking at the guesthouse, we all headed down to this place on the beach called Babylon. We chilled out chatting to people, sitting on bamboo mats and drinking beer at around 25p! We had some great conversations with people and whilst watching some fire throwers, the strange thing was that at exactly the same time, Adam and I turned to each other and said how amazing it would be if our some of our friends from home were there to share it with us.
The travellers at the guesthouse have mostly been great, including a northern lad, some french girls and a couple Americans. I must say GENERALLY i have found the Americans i have met along the way, exasperating. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt every time, and every time they fail to impress me. Including these two guys from Connecticut who must not own t-shirts because they never wear any, getting wasted every night and doing that thing where you stick your little finger and index finger up and shout "Whoooooa, yeah!" a lot. It was a funny coincidence that Adam had started playing Morrisey's "America is not the world" when they decided to come over and start a conversation. I think the lyrics "America your head's too big, Because America, Your belly is too big" sang out, they didn't seem to notice...
Anyways, i have totally loved this island, the beach is good and the sun gets very hot, it's been around 35 degrees here. So far i have found the malay people really friendly, it's just a bit bizarre being on an island where people are knocking back duty free booze and the majority of the population practice Islam.
So tomorrow afternoon we are leaving for Penang, and after that the Cameron Highlands - which i am really looking forward to some jungle trekking and cooler climate for a while.
Missing all you guys,
Stay black. xx

Just a quick one

Hi

Uploaded more pics from Thailand, hope you enjoy them. Collection over the places we have been. No in Langkawi, island off malaysia, west coast. Will be staying here for a few days before heading to Penang aka Georgetown. Maybe here for christmas but not sure.
Hope you are all well, missing you all.

P.s nanny & grandad, did you get your postcard?!?!

Love amy x

Trang and the Thai Massage

Well we had to have a massage and today was the day. We looked around for the best priced massage and walked boldly into the room. Where we were promptly ushered into a room curtains closed behind us unsure of what our next move was, Amy started to strip and i observed the curtains after a few moments there was movement. and in stepped two middle aged Thai ladies one had a reassuring warmth to her the other had her game face on  slightly stockier than the other. she eye balled me we exchanged broken English and before i knew i was face down to the Mat. In desperation i glanced over at Amy who seemed very relaxed oh how the other half live. I was brought back to my new found reality with the sound of my toes cracking and a knee to the back This lady had brought her A game. She continued to go to work folding my body into positions that i never thought posssible. i slipped a look in Amys direction and i again it was the picture of pleasure. As my own personal battle continued it was clear that this was no holds barred wandering hands came close to also taking my pride. But in fairness it went through moments of pleasure and pain through out the rest of the massage. With my eyes closed i anticapted the finishing move the sharp elbow into my bad shoulder was absolutley crippling i reached for the towel but to no avail.
But then just as i was about to tap out it was all over, i walked out feeling so light and relaxed it was clear they had done an amazing job. Amy also explained that her experience was similar to mine, but its how you feel after wards that truly makes you appreciate how good they are.

The weekend just gone had been the kings birthday a very noisy and spirtual affair we tried to embrace as much as you can but due to not knowing anything the buddist monks were saying found it difficult.The next day we went to the beach, Which was ok once we got there(the mini bus was very cramped again,poor Amy) there was no one on the beach at all which made it extra special i lost my head completley and went for a small run, before we knew it we had to get back on the mini bus. The driver was quite a character smashing food when he could even pulled to get a deep fried burger whilst the bus full waited( i was jealous of him) after a gruelling day of beach and mini bus we ate some food and hit the sack. We were just about to nod of when BANG! . then another one we look out of our window and right infront of us was a spectacular firework display for the kings Birthday it lit up out the whole window we felt like it was just for us.

So we are heading into Maylasia on Friday we are getting on this red bus thing that has no air con we are hoping it isnt as hot as today.

finally we will be putting the rest of our pics from Thailand up very soon, so you can check out my beard and look at Amys tan

keep on rockin in a free world

Adam

Heading down south

Hey folks

Since leaving Ko Phangnan, we have been making our way further down south. We rocked up in Surat Thani on Monday and we were promptly introduced to an array of funky smells, including the restaurant below our hotel....after Adam's recent recovery, this was a real test - so pizza hut it was for tea. The place was very built up and commercial to asian standards but we found salvation in a park where a market was booming.
Moving on from here by bus to Nakon Si Thammarat - the local bus was suprisingly decent, 80 baht for a 2hour journey not bad. In Nakon we were the only westerners in the whole place, we were welcomed very well and strangers offering to be our tour guides. Here we checked out 'the souths most important temple' pretty impressive with a museam attatched, also the remains of the old city wall. Every place we walked, local school kids were shouting 'hello! hello!' and we felt like posh and becks. On this mammoth day of touring we lastly checked out an old shadow puppet theatre - met the grand master himself and watched how the puppets are made.
Our journey from Nakon onwards was ....... difficult. Nobody seemed to be able to explain how to leave Nakon, where the bus station was......a bit like Royston Vasey. So at 8am we made our way, blindly, to find a bus station with our packs on, randomly a mini bus appeared from no where, offering cheap travel to Trang, we accepted. The bus was absolutley rammed full and the two seats were at the very back. I almost hyperventilated before getting on, being claustrophobic and all, but the opportunity was to good to miss. On this bus ride i invented a good way to pass the time, a game i like to call temple bashing. It really just involves having your head repeatedly bashed against the window. Personal space is non exsistant, as adam found out from the lady next to him, using his body as a rest for herself and small child. We were booted out in Trang, found a really cool guest house and thats where we are currently laying our heads. Earlier today we walked around the locals celebrating an important buddhist icon coming to town, we felt like celebrities again as all the people in the procession cheered at us as they marched past, great stuff. Got our photo taken by the newspaper and met some really cute little kids dressed up as all the countries in S.E.A, got a picture with them too.
Shall be heading down to Satun n next few days and entering Malaysia by next week.
Amy : feat-Adam x