Malaysia

The Malaysian Peninsula is not cool. It is very HOT. But having said that there is always some aircon nearby to refresh yourself in before venturing back outside. Kuala Lumpur is very Westernised with it's monorail, Petronas Towers and endless shopping malls. But outside of the city are jungles, hilltop retreats, some of the best beaches in Asia and friendly people all too willing to help. Our first visit to Malaysia was along the west coast as the east coast was virtually closed due to the monsoon. Georgetown, Penang was the first port of call. This was our first encounter with the Malaysian cultural melting pot as Chinese temples stood next to Hindu temples, Buddhist temples and Christian churches. Every kind of food imaginable was on offer, the difficulty was in deciding what to eat. A very relaxed and laid back city and banana leaf curries (all you can eat) for RM4.

From the island of Penang we headed inland to the coolness of the Cameron Highlands. This former colonial hill station was a cool retreat for the white upper classes to remind them of Blighty. The Highlands provides a welcome break from the sweating of the lowlands, and the opportunity to take a hot shower, which really aren't necessary at lower altitudes. Break out the fleece and long trousers, it can get really cold up there at night. There are plenty of jungle treks and tea houses but otherwise theres not alot to do other than relax and enjoy the cool mountain air.

Pulau Pangkor on the west coast, another relaxing beach retreat. The activities include laying on the beach, eating, jungle trekking and watching TV. This place is the ultimate place to do the big F.A. because there is no distraction. Despite the lack of tourism activities we managed to stay for 3 weeks, making good friends with a Malaysian jungle man from KL who kindly prepared a beack bar-b-que for our joint birthday party. He even took the crap from the island authorities afterwards not letting anyone else get involved.One word of warning, if you do visit Pangkor watch for the incoming tide if you decide to walk across to the island in the bay. There are very strong currents when the tide changes with several deaths each year. Unfortunately this occurred while we were on the island so it is not just a travellers tale.

TRANSPORT: Without question travel on the privately run coaches. THEY ROCK. You get aircon, leg room, movies (mainly Jean Claude van Dame) and sometimes even water. They are fast and cheap. DO IT.

In August 2001 we visited Malaysia again but this time on the east coast. On our first night in Cherating we were woken by a loud crash in the middle of the night. We both sat straight up in bed and then decided it was just a storm blowing the ever-present plastic chairs around outside. The next morning we found that our room was blocked by this huge tree that had been knocked down by the storm. So we climbed over and went for Roti Canai, as you do...

We were very fortunate to have seen a green turtle covering her eggs and then returning to the sea. We received the call at about midnightfrom a Malaysian bloke we'd been talking to earlier that one had been spotted about 10 kms up the coast.

He whisked us there at lightening speed and then we all tramped through the bush and onto the beach to find her flinging sand over the eggs with amazing strength. After she was back in the water a man dug up the eggs to protect them from poachers, 100 exactly. He also had a carrier bag of just hatched little wrigglers which we released into the sea and had to guide with a torch. When a baby is hatched it instinctively goes toward a light source. Unfortunately there is an oil refinery off shore here and the babies head toward the enormous flame. Someone had to stand in the water with a powerful torch for them to follow. Success!