City trekking in Kuala Lumpur.....

Arriving in KL after escaping unharmed from pyschoville we wondered off the bus (as luxury as we have had so far we reckon) and into another chaotic bus terminal where groups of Indian men started eyeing us up suspiciously. What was instantly noticeable was the extreme difference in temperature, it felt almost as if you had been draped in a large, hot, wet blanket. It must have been fifteen degrees hotter. After some initial confusion and disorientation that comes with being in a new, large city we got our act together and found the metro system and the stop we would have to get off at, Masjid Jemak, right in the heart of Little India. According to the directions on the website our hotel was a matter of metres away from the metro station, should be a doddle we thought. Our first mistake was turning right when we should have turned left. Our second mistake was to keep walking in 35 degree heat with backpacks on in a huge circle, only to return once more to the same metro station where we had been 30 minutes previously. We then saw the hotel, next to the metro station. Idiots.

After our Cameron highlands lunatic asylum experience we were hopeful that the hotel room we had booked turned out to be as good as the increase in budget would suggest. Thankfully it was, it was beautiful. The bed was the biggest I have ever seen and the huge flat screen tv was a nice touch (not that we'd get to watch it!), we even got a selection of free biscuits, chocolate bourbons! We felt like royalty!

Anyway, after a much needed shower (we started to smell like soil), we were off into KL central to seek out cheap eats and to try to get some bearings. We found another cheap food court in another huge mall and gorged, despite the crowds, on two chicken claypot dishes. They are basically incredibly hot (as in ouch to touch) clay pots with various vegetables, rice and tender chicken. Really tasty.

The only problem, and we were pretty sick of it by that point, were the crowds, there were people everywhere. We were just fed up, Penang and the Cameron highlands were good but due to the national holidays it was just hard work. Fortunately today was the last day of the holidays so we were hoping that as we progressed through the next three days the crowds would start to ease a little, we hoped!

After an incredible nights sleep we both started the day with bundles of energy, so good! Nothing will beat the feeling you get in your first full day in a new and exciting city on a long trip. As we walked out of the hotel the sudden rush of heat, noise and aromas hit us, you've gotta love it. Our first call was a small southern Indian cafe where we munched on fresh roti and daal dip, apple juice and ginger tea. The guys in there were great and showed us an authentic Indian breakfast, we liked a lot and would be back.

From there we hit Merdeka square, a large cricket field flanked by impressive Tudor and Georgian colonial architecture. This was the site of Malaysian independence from Britian in 1957 but still maintains all the pomp and pageantry that you would expect from a city and a country with a big colonial past. We got some great photos from this area so you should take a look. Only thing at this point was the heat, it was just so hot!

From there we stopped at Masjid Jamek mosque, a huge and highly significant mosque in this conservatively Muslim country. We picked up some literature to try to understand this highly misunderstood religion before walking round to take in the surroundings. To do this though we both had to cover up so were thankful for the free hajib and headscarf (see photos-I look like a choirboy, Shell would make a good Muslim).

From there we joined the lonely planet guides walking tour of Chinatown, even though by this point, it was probably 1pm, we were beginning to melt. the tour was excellent. We stopped at a fantastic Taoist temple where a Chinese woman told us all about the Chinese new year, she literally popped out of nowhere bless her! This year is the year of the dragon and people born in a dragon year have to spend hours praying and generally work hard to appease the spirits compared to someone born in a rat or a pig year (mine and shells). She said the pig and the rat go well together, I'd agree, and if the last hotel is anything to go by then we also, much like our symbolic counterparts, like lying in filth. For lunch we stopped for delicious noodles and Chinese tea at a cafe that has apparently been open for 200 years. It was beautiful. It also occurred to me that Shell probably likes tea and coffee just as much as I do now, my mission is complete.

Back in the centre we headed towards the mammoth Petronas towers, KL's most famous landmark, and for good reason. As far as skyscrapers go it really is the dogs testicles. At one point they were the tallest buildings in the world, now they have the elevated default position of the worlds tallest twin towers, since 2001 of course. To look at they look as if they are going to be propelled skywards at any moment, they are magnificent and and a true feat of engineering. We got the obligatory photos before heading into the adjoining mall, KLCC, to check out yet more rampant Asian consumerism.

Out in the park we were stunned when two friends, a man and a woman, who looked as though they had just met for the first time in years were reprimanded by not one but two policeman, all for a short embrace. Its hard to understand when touring a strictly Muslim country and even though you have to accept it, these two people simply hugged for a matter of seconds. Did they really deserve the whistles and subsequent embarrassment?

From there we ate once more in the cheap delight of another shopping mall before returning back to the hotel shattered and sweaty ready to hit the sack.

The next morning we visited our friends at the local Indian cafe once more before following the guidebooks walking tour once again, this time of Little India. The tour wasn't as impressive as the previous days and took us to some strange and irrelevant sights, like a solicitors and an Indian clothes shop. I think they wanted us to admire the arty deco architecture, it just looked like Fratton to me.

From there we went by foot once more in search of Menara tower, the sixth largest tower in the world, can't really miss it then can you. We paid the entrance fee and took a lift to the viewing deck, 220 metres above the ground. It was an awe-inspiring sight, the 360 views were simply staggering and the position of the tower, in the middle of KL, meant that the views of the Petronas and surrounding buildings were even better than we thought. We even had an audio tour via one of those headphone sets at the top though every set they gave me seemed to break on entering my orbit. They gave me five sets that seemed to explode on impact, they were perplexed and the look on their faces were ones of pure disgust.

Also, as part of the ticket, we were given the opportunity to take part in a formula 1 simulator. Turns out Shell, as it happens, seemed to be a bit of a natural (grrrrr) and I seem to have the ability to make the car face the opposite way, even if it seems impossible to do so. I even had the indignity of the two members of staff snigger at me as we left due to being lapped by my girlfriend....there was nothing I could say.

From there we again walked (walking would be a prominent feature here) through the city to a mall that promised an indoor theme park, an indoor theme park! Even saying those two things together conjures up disbelief. We arrived expecting a trampoline, maybe even one of those rides you get in gypsy fairs that seem to want to dismantle every time they pick up speed. Instead the three floors of this mall had been turned into a mini Alton Towers, complete with rollercoasters and gravity defying contraptions. Impressive stuff.

If KL looked impressive by day then by night it looked almost surreal. The Petronas towers took on an almost otherworldly glow and surrounding it were other less tall but nonetheless impressive buildings. I guess Hong Kong or Guangzhou would be it's immediate equal out of the megacities we have visited but KL, unlike it's heavyweight Asian counterparts, seemed to gleam with the freshness of a country with a a very prosperous future.

Our last day in KL will probably go down as the day in which we walked the most of anywhere we have been so far on this trip. I did a 100km trek before we left the UK and my legs had that knowing feeling that we'd at done least a quarter of that distance during the day. Our first port of call was Batu Caves, a huge cave system 13km out of the city. After numerous wrong turns and at one point actually walking down a motorway (seriously), we finally found the correct metro station to take us there. Already the temperature was hovering around 33 degrees and we still had to contend with the 272 steps to gain access to the caves. Apart from many more potential monkey attacks from the vicious macaques on the way up, we managed the ascent pretty well. I think we're both feeling pretty fit at the moment.

The caves were huge and were guarded at the entrance by a 120m golden statue of a Hindu god. Unfortunately I think we had missed the areas most famous annual celebration, Thaipusam, where Hindu men tie very heavy items to parts of their bodies, including the genitalia, in a sort of masochistic show of religious devoteeism. Damn.

We then, maybe foolishly, decided to walk for the rest of the day. First up were the KL lake gardens, a huge, British designed and built, area of lakes, gardens, deer parks and tea houses. The fact that this was in the middle of a city was quite simply astonishing. Maybe on a par with NYC's Central Park for grandeur. After deciding that we didn't want to spend any more money on entrance fees we then decided to work back to Bukit Bintang, the unofficial centre, to eat at one of the delicious Arab stalls. We had been walking, in the heat of the day, for around five hours non stop at this point so made the 'mirage esque' food court and collapsed in a sweaty mess onto some chairs. KL, over four days, had finished us. After chomping down the last pieces of amazing chicken Shwarma's, (a Lebanese wrap-truly amazing) we dropped into to a coffee house and didn't move for hours. We did manage to book our tickets to Borneo though, Orang-utans here we come!

KL has been fantastic. We weren't too sure what to expect from a city that we had been told was just too sterile, too modern. Don't listen to them. It is a fantastic place filled with a heady mix of cracking food, a hundred different cultural influences and bags to see. We had a blast. Next stop, a bus further south to the historic colonial city of Melaka. Onwards!

Much love, Tommo and Shellface xxxx

Tea and strawberries in the Cameron Highlands......

After a few cultural days in Penang, we decided to escape the heat and almost overwhelming humidity for the cooler climes of the Cameron Highlands. A huge relief as my hair was starting to take on a frizzy life of its own (the joys of 90% humidity)!!

So we, in all our wisdom, decided to book a minibus transfer to the highlands during one of the busiest public holidays in Malaysia - Chinese New Year. As we waited for (our very late) minibus, we noticed the front page of the local newspaper showing HUGE traffic jams both in and out of Penang. This did not bode well. Thankfully, once out of Georgetown and off the island of Penang, the journey was relatively painfree. We travelled along a very British type of motorway, stopping at a very civilised rest stop for some lunch - perfect! For me, it all went wrong when we left behind the lovely straight flat roads for twisting and winding roads that corkscrewed their way up mountains to the highlands. God I hate roads like this, especially when the safety barriers disappear and a sheer cliff face takes its place! To make matters worse, the heavens opened and the rain began and did not stop for the rest of the journey. It was very easy to imagine that we were back in England, as the higher we climbed, the more the temperature dropped. To the positively freezing (for us anyway) 10 degrees!!

Having checked into the weirdest of weird guesthouses (our room has a hat stand of all things!), we headed out into the town of Tanah Rata in search of food. After such a long time in the sun, it felt very strange to be wearing layers, a waterproof jacket and we still felt cold! We found some yummy naan and tandori chicken to eat then set off in search of a tour guide to show us around the sights of the highlands. A crazily loud and chatty guy caught our attention and he gave us the low down on a jungle trekking/tea and strawberry tasting combination package - perfect. The only problem being that we would need some sturdier shoes that flip flops and Converse!! Luckily, we both managed to find some pretty decent (and cheap more importantly) walking shoes in one of those typically SE Asian shops that seems to sell absolutely everything that you could ever want in the smallest possible amount of space! So we were set and ready for some jungle trekking action but would we both have the energy?!

After several snoozes of the alarm and hot showers to try and revive our tired bodies, we climbed into our ride for the day, an old school 4x4 jeep. First stop a butterfly centre, where we were both amazed at how HUGE the butterflies were. They posed perfectly for pictures and were so pretty, I think I love them! The centre also included local plants and insects that you could find in the highlands. The low point for me was seeing huge hairy tarantulas, scorpians and snakes - I hoped that we wouldn't find any of these up close and personal during our jungle trek! From there, we headed to the Boh Tea Factory to sample tea and admire the fantastic view of the neverending, perfectly manicured plantations. As it was a public holiday, the place was absolutely rammed with visitors drinking and buying tea by the truckload. It was absolute chaos. We did manage to drink some tea and in a very British way, ate some shortbread with it!

Bundling back into the jeep again, we drove to the summit of Gunnang Brinchang to take in the 'specatacular views of the countryside'. Sadly when reaching the top, the mist had descended and well and truly surrounded us. There was not a chance of us seeing anything. Still we climbed to the top of the lookout tower and took photos of us surounded by mist, clouds but no view - rubbish. Next up was an hour long jungle trek through the 'mossy forest'. It was a bit like a scene from Avatar, the trees completely covered with thick green moss and packed closely together. This alone made it pretty difficult to walk through but throw in what was essentially a muddy bog at the base of the trees and you can get some idea. Thank god for the new boots! We came out covered in mud but fared an awful lot better than some of the others that had come wearing sandals!

A bizarre trip to a honeybee farm followed, where due to the rain, there were no bees to be seen. Only strange looking cartoon esque bumble bees carrying spades, which of course every honey bee does! Our last stop for the day was at a strawberry farm, to sample any kind of strawberry product you could hope for - cakes, muffins, ice cream, milkshakes......... heaven. We made it back to the hotel exhausted but content that we had seen most that the highland had to offer.

The following morning, we awoke to a very nasty surprise - bed bugs crawling on us and over our sheets, aaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhh! Our worst fears were realised as we inspected the rest of the bed frame to find both dead and alive bugs, absolutely disgusting. Tom became a man on a mission and collected up some of the bugs to take down to show the guys at reception. They didn't seem overly surprised (which should have triggered warning bells) and promised to fumigate the room before our return later that afternoon. After a walk through the town and a short trek through the jungle, we returned to find a clean-ish, supposdly bug free room. Yet we instantly saw that there were bugs crawling up the walls and along the side of the bed. Honestly, we were so tired and just wanted to get into a bed. Tom saw red and demanded that the reception guy come up and see the evidence. He was insistent that he had fumigated the room but that 'they always have trouble with bed bugs in this room and can't seem to ever get rid of them'. Seriously! They did however have another room that we could move into for the night that was bug free. Thankful for a clean bed to sleep in, we trudged downstairs to yet another delight of a room. Yes, it was bug free but they had been replaced by huge brown stains and long black hairs on the bedsheets. Now this really is the best part of the story, the reasoning by the guesthouse staff. The reason for the brown stains - the locals buy curries and tea, bring them into the room to eat, spill them and the stains don't wash out sorry. Reason for the black hairs - women with long hair sleep in these beds, their hair falls out and it gets interwoven into the sheets so we can't get them out. No word of a lie, this is exactly what this guy said. By this point, we had both had enough, as I think had this poor reception dude so he got his manager on the phone to sort the situation. Sadly (and weirdly), she didn't seem to think that there was any problem whatsoever and appeared quite cross that we were troubling her. What would we like for her to do about it she asked? We demanded a discount which she was horrified by but eventually agreed before slamming the phone down. You can't make this stuff up!

We had a pretty terrible, cold nights sleep but my god were we pleased to leave the next morning! We are headed to Kuala Lumpur next and have booked ourselves into somewhere a bit more pricey for our time there so fingers crossed we won't have to fight off any more bugs.

Much love, Shell & Tommo xxxxxxxxx

PS. Here's a picture of our lovely 'clean' sheets, enjoy!

Hanging in Penang...

For the past few months as we have zig-sagged our way around Asia, Malaysia has been in some respects a bit of an afterthought. Not that it deserves to be so, as the more we read, the more we learn that there us so much to see. Its just that it's never been a country that stands out like the big hitters of Thailand or Vietnam. Now we're here though, we realise we are probably in one of the most culturally diverse places we have ever been to.

As we said before, we were truly sad to leave Bangkok behind after a fun filled six days and an incredibly two months in Thailand. Our flight down to Penang went by without much fuss, despite mild turbulence, and we managed to hire a taxi with ease to take us up to georgetown, Penang's UNESCO listed city. As we drove, two things became apparent. Firstly, there were many more cars on the road, very expensive cars at that, replacing the hum of battered old motor bikes. Secondly, the traffic moved in an orderly fashion, they had rules!

Driving through the old town towards our hotel we instantly got the impression that this was a curious mix, we'd never really seen anything like this before. You'd have to say if your being totally honest, that it wasn't the prettiest place. Only first impressions though!

After dumping our bags we quickly went in search of some of Penang's famous hawker food, essentially street food of various varieties spanning a number of cuisines. Our first stop was a place called Kapitan, a Muslim-south Indian restaurant famous for it's roti chanai's and tandoori chicken. the roti channai's were amazing, really light, almost pastry based breads cooked in the tandoori oven. We also had some amazing turka daal to go with it, a tasty lentil dish that everyone seemed to be eating.

The next day we woke absolutely shattered, the past few days had been really busy-almost non-stop but we both wanted to get out and explore the city of Georgetown. The town itself had some very attractive parts, the British colonial buildings were very impressive, they had been meticulously maintained to make sure they retained their former glories and looked as good as new.

After a good old tour around the unesco heritage buildings we walked on into little India, were we stood and sniffed up all of those delicious smells! The place was very loud, almost every shop pumping out vicious Indian pop music to try and shift a few of their Now; Bollywood compilations. It was a great sight though and so very different to the sight of Asia we have had elsewhere on the continent.

By this point, and we're not expecting sympathy here, we were so tired. The last couple of weeks had definitely caught up with us so we headed back to try and chill out, you know, listen to some decent music and set curry puffs, but found it increasingly difficult due to being in one of the noisiest hostels we have been in. Basically, most of the accommodation in Georgetown is within extremely old buildings that have absolutely no soundproofing whatsoever. That meant the Chinese people above us actually sounded like Robocop wearing corrective walking shoes. We also had a locked door in our room that after closer inspection opened to the adjacent room! It was locked ofcourse but meant that we heard all sorts of noises from that room and whenever they put their light on it lit our room up. Oh well, at least we didn't hear the guys upstairs taking a dump, oh yeah, scrap that, we did.

The next day we waited patiently for a bus that would take us to the centre of the island to a lookout. We did indeed wait patiently, for an hour! In the end we gave up and caught another bus to a small national park, the smallest in Malaysia in fact. We went because it sounded cool but in the end spent four hours on a long jungle trek. You see the guy at the park headquarters told us it would take 2 hours there and back. He lied. After two hours we didn't even make our destination, a beach at the other end of the jungle. Instead we walked through steamy jungle, all in flip-flops, for 10kms! We had a great time though and even though the flip flop combination wasn't a great idea, it made us hungry for more treks! Need to buy footwear first I suppose.

Being tired anyway probably wasn't helped by a 10km jungle trek but that night we were so shattered that we hopped out for more food, this time an indian-Malaysian combination called nasi kandar before heading back to the hotel to rest up before tomorrows four hour drive up into the Cameron highlands.

Penang was an interesting place, it has some very attractive buildings and the food, even though we didn't do it justice, was fantastic. It does feel strange to be in Malaysia though, it is so very different to Thailand. The mixture of Indian, Chinese, British and Malay cultures is fascinating, if not a little strange but the biggest thing is the fact that order, or something resembling it, had now been resumed. Give me chaos!

Anyway, onwards! To tea, hill walks and scones!

Much love, Tommo and shellface xx

Route update

more...

We're both waking up feeling confused about where we are, so for everyones sake, this is where we have been...

Bangkok, round two!

After three full days in Bangkok already the prospect of another two could, to some I guess, be a little overwhelming. We couldn't wait to get back out there!

After sitting down and planning our assault for the next few days we ventured outside once again into the intense heat of inner city Bangkok and headed for Bangkok's very own Chinatown. Arriving into the thick of it you instantly got the feeling that if you didn't like crowds, dirt or suffered even slightly from claustrophobia then this wouldn't be the place for you. It was, in every sense of the word, insane. We have experienced madness in hong kong, several places in china, Hanoi and Saigon but this was as if someone had turned the notch up to full blast. At one point, after almost army-crawling down a sidestreet, we found ourselves trapped by delivery trucks on either side. We got out by climbing over several stacked boxes...

After buying a wicked teapot and cups for our imaginary home we made our way out of the chaos and headed towards the metro so we could make for the air-conditioned sanctity of another mall, we had many choices! In the end we made our way back to terminal 21 where we ate the most amazing food I think we have had in Thailand. Yet again, the food court proved irresistible. It's almost as if every small food station is trying to outdo each other. The food was out of this world! We ate crab, shrimp and pork dim sum and the most tender stewed pork you can imagine. I hate to bang on yet again about food but it was astonishing.

From there we took in another film at the cinema, how could you not for two pounds! It's like nineties prices! This time we watched a film called five days of war about war reporters in Georgia after the Russians invaded three years ago. Great film about such a recent subject, go see. Once out we took a walk down Sukhamvit road, quite possibly the busiest road in the world where we passed through 'cowboy street', a brightly neon lit street that catered for the mostly fat, old western men with a fondness for young Thai girls. We have seen it now for two months, more than that if you count Saigon too, but it still turns my stomach. It is both sad and depressing that the only way they can get their intimate gratification is by paying some young girl who's only interest in you is when you will next give her some baht.

Anyway, after walking for another hour we eventually found a place doing 40 baht draught beers so decided to pull up some chairs! Leaving a couple of hours later, slightly worse for wear, we made our way back to the hotel where we once again paid a visit to the pizzeria!

For our last day in Bangkok we decided to concentrate on the old town area. After sipping green tea in a great little tea room we walked around the tightly packed streets until we came across koh San once again. As we walked down the street a small guy essentially grabbed me by the arm and shoved me into a barbers chair. Although I needed a haircut the site of the big Thai guy plugging in his giant razor was enough for me so in a flash threw off my towel and cloak and dashed down the road! Shell was in stitches. I was happy I'd escaped the demon barber of Bangkok.

We did manage to haggle a bloke down for two lonely planet books (Malaysia and new zealand) to a reasonable price before we headed for a coffee. After booking our flights and next hotel for malaysia we made our way back towards our hotel for a well earned rest, we were shattered!

The time has finally come to not only leave a city we have completely taken to but a country that has been our hone for nearly two months now. When we look back, hopefully in years to come, about our time here, we can have nothing but broad smiles. We know this isn't the hardest place to travel in the world and we certainly aren't breaking down barriers here but Thailand represents a culture and a people that are crucially unique. I guess one of the big reasons people keep coming back here is for it's natural beauty, the beaches, the mountains, that sort of thing. You can't really blame them. For me though it will eternally be the smiles. The feeling that even though everyone is trying to get on, no one takes life too seriously. A smile really does go a long way. And I suppose that is Bangkok, a city with an international reputation, not always for the better. It's huge, dirty in places, wildly chaotic and suffers from choking pollution but ask us to go back and both shell and I would bite your hand off for the ticket. I think you could compare it to smoking, ultimately dangerous and bad for your lungs but highly addictive.

Next up, Malaysia and a country we know next to nothing about. We are in the process of frantically searching through the lonely planet for inspiration. We can't wait though, a whole month until we fly to Perth. Asia, in this instance anyway, is definitely our oyster.

Peace and love, Tommo and 'face 'xxx

So Bangkok then.....

So Bangkok, city of utter and absolute mayhem. If you were to conjure up an image in your head of the hectic Asian metropolis, made up of snippets of movies and documentaries, then this would be it. We have been here for three days now and have tried as much as possible to live, breathe (try to!) and ultimately let the city make its mark upon us.

After the nightmare boat journey to get us here I think we were even more excited to be in Bangkok than we otherwise would have been. Waking relatively late after not arriving till 3am the night before we headed downstairs for the sanctity of a fantastic buffet breakfast, the first one of our trip (possibly the last!). The food was excellent and for a couple of budget travellers like ourselves it was incredibly cheap to be in a position not to have to pay extra for breakfast and if we ate enough, which we did, we could keep going right through till dinner, saving even more money!

I guess the great thing about travelling with our own means of Internet has been the ability to research and book ahead for our next destination, this has meant on most occasions, we have managed to get somewhere that ticks most of the relevant boxes- good location, clean rooms etc. This we got in Bangkok. Our place was called Wendy guesthouse which, despite the immaculate rooms and breakfast, it was it's location which was it's biggest advantage. Right next to the skytrain it was also adjacent to the shopping behemoth that is MBK. Our first day then consisted of perusing the many many malls, MBK being one of them, replacing clothes that have literally been worn and washed to death. I'm not a great shopper, I have zero patience, so when faced with maniacal Pompey shoppers and/or happy slapping chavvies I tend to stay at home but I have to say, despite the crowds, shopping in Bangkok has been a pleasure. You see everything is cheap, this is to be expected, but it is in quality though which surprises you. The fact that Thai guys are small, in this instance anyway, definitely swings in my favour-everything fits! For poor Shell though, department stores aside, her slender size was too big for most of what the Thai stores had to offer. Even so, in the truly momentous MBK, Shell managed to buy two more dresses added to the one bought in Koh Phangan, I even offered opinion! Shell also managed to get some cheap converse, for 14 quid! I managed to buy two pairs of quality shorts and even a t-shirt with Ziggy Stardust era Bowie on the front!

After almost four hours perusing MBK's almost infinite stores and buying lots of cheap goods we headed for the top floor and their equally impressive food court. Now food courts can sometimes conjure up images of school canteens and lumpy mashed potato but here in Bangkok the food court has taken on it's own art form. Every food station prepares food from fresh right in front of you and the quality and price are unspeakably good. We paid just over three pounds to chomp on chicken pad Thai, hong kong pork omelette, a delicious rice and egg dish with melt in the mouth roast pork and a clear broth-like gravy, you could seriously feast breakfast, lunch and dinner in these places and still leave change from a tenner!

From the MBK we headed four stops down, in quite possibly the coldest train carriage you could possibly imagine. In fact as I sit here in Penang some days later the memory of being able to see your breath as you are covered in sweat is a strange old feeling. From there we went to mall number two, a brand new building called terminal 21. Now if MBK was only fools and horses then Terminal 21 was keeping up appearances. The place was eight floors high with each level imitating a different city. This alone would be enough to make you want to pop on over for a browse but as you scale the escalators from the ornate statues of Rome to London you are faced with an exact replica of a London bus and low and behold, a full replica of a London tube train...as the toilets! It's not until you get to level seven though, and San Francisco that the sight of a mini golden gate bridge truly makes you stop slightly slack jawed. We ended up on the top floor buying cinema tickets where as we sat waiting for our film to start we were told to stand for their national anthem coupled with moving pictures of their beloved king. They adore him over here, and in a way you can see why. The Thai people are a proud bunch and have a national unity that can only be marvelled at. The king is the epitome of this spirit. It is, quite literally, moving stuff. Arriving back at the hotel I think we were both a little taken aback by the sheer size of the city, we have never seen anything like it, even Hong Kong pales in comparison!

Up early the next morning we had our usual breakfast fix (this time with cornflakes!) before heading for the eponymous grand palace, essentially Thailand's Buckingham palace but on an even grander and ornate level. Despite the sun and heat doing it's very best to melt us we walked on after catching a river boat upstream to the nearest pier. After arriving at the entrance we were then told we had to completely cover up. For Shell, who was wearing a dress, this meant donning a cardigan and wrapping a large scarf around her legs, for me this meant queuing up with all the other boyfriends and husbands so we could hire, seemingly, Jackie Chan's cast-off trousers. Despite looking like a couple of those kids who are allergic to sunlight we marched on and into the delights of the palace.

As palaces go it was phenomenal. Everything was either solid gold, brightly coloured tile mosaics or stone carvings that showed a staggering array of intricacy. The kings face was again everywhere and the difference to somewhere like buckingham palace or Edinburgh castle was that 90% of the people in their were Thai not foreign tourists. We read that these people may have been here many times already but cone to pay their respects to the king and his residence whenever they can. From there we hopped over the river to visit an equally stunning temple called Wat Arun which had steps so steep, a man popped underneath us to take an upskirt shot of shell as she scaled back down. The big perv.

After the cultural heights of temples and palaces we decided to walk to Koh San road, probably the most famous backpacker enclave in Asia, maybe the world. Truth is, it's just as seedy and grubby as any other inner city busy street. We stopped for a beer and spied some cheapish lonely planets but apart from some predictably horrible types of tourist there just wasn't a lot there, unless you like burger kings and cheap flip-flops. We then decided to walk back to the hotel as on the map it was just one straight road all the way. Thing is, in Bangkok a centimetre on the map corresponds to about a mile so we ended up walking for about two hours down half hacked pavements besides one of Bangkok's busiest roads, at the height of rush hour, the exhaust fumes were choking. Bangkok, is just not made for pedestrians...

The next morning we travelled up the metro line to Chatuchak Market, a weekend Market so colossal that it even has it's own map in the guidebook. The size, intensity and heat are insane, kind of like Bangkok in a microcosm. We wondered around for most of the day, and you know what, we could of stayed longer. We bought some absolute bargains from stalls that you so desperately want to see back in the UK. For example, a stall just selling UK indie CD's and t-shirts. The bloke was amazing, I would peruse through a section, pick up a CD to take a look at the track listing and before I knew it he would have the best track of the album blaring out of the speaker. Even crazier still was when I and another bloke picked up a Joy Division t-shirt to look at the same time. Turns out he was called Sam and he was from Uzbekistan and had a huge love for the smiths and joy division. Insane. Quality bloke who even let me buy the t-shirt. Uzbekistan!!

From there we headed back into the centre in search of lonely planet guidebooks but failed miserably after learning they cost about as much as a small African country. As we had probably walked about 20km throughout the day (in flip-flops) we headed back to the hotel where we dumped the bags before heading back out to a pizzeria at the bottom of the road which was always full. Turns out the pizzas were some of the best we have eaten, all done in a homemade wood fired oven outside. Stunning.

We have decided to leave on Wednesday so three more days to take in this urban Goliath!

Much love, Tommo and the face. Xxx

And the island hopping continues......

Having left behind the now familiar island of Ko Lanta, we headed off in search of more paradise beaches. A search that would take us across the heart of mainland Thailand and onto yet another boat, to reach the island of Ko Samui. The journey was typically long, crammed into a small mini van with bags stacked high so that there was barely enough room to breathe! The driver drove the van as if his life depended on it and we arrived in record time to the ferry port - the highway code is obviously not a requirement in Thailand!

Once on the boat, we munched on Pad Thai and consulted the guide book to give us the low down on Samui. A fantastic island teeming with tourists was the general consensus from the Lonely Planet, especially the beach where we had prebooked our accommodation - Chaweng Beach. The beach itself was beautiful, lined with swanky hotels and beach bars. However, venture onto the main road and we were surrounded by Starbucks, McDonalds, a host of Irish bars and hundreds of market stalls, which all interestingly sell exactly the same products metres from each other! So it really is your typical tourist destination. Having dumped the bags, we headed out in search of food and found a tiny Thai restaurant selling cheap curries and noodles - delicious! I'm not sure that we will ever get sick of this food.

The following day, we decided to check out the pristine white sandy beach lurking behind the walls of our guesthouse. We walked the entire length of the beach during the course of the day and believe me, that's a long way!! We stopped at several beach bars to relax and soak up the sun with a beer or two. Whilst we did this, we were approached by several Thai men carrying a variety of weird and wonderful animals such as monkeys and giant lizards. They were basically carrying these poor animals around in the thirty degree heat and charging people to photograph them. They did not look happy, especially the lizard with his mouth sellotaped shut and the monkey on a chain.

After soaking up the last of the suns rays with a few cheeky happy hour cocktails (by far my favourite so far!), we stumbled across a beachside restaurant serving the cheap Thai food. We were starving and ordered far too much food, including a delicious papaya salad. I learnt how to make this on our cooking course in Chiang Mai so prepare to be amazed when we return!

So after a brief few days in Ko Samui we decided to brave the seas again and take a ferry to the island of Ko Phangan. We were picked up a midday by our pick up truck taxi transfer, which was already jam packed full of people (mostly Russians) and their bags. The driver threw our bags up onto the 'roof rack' and told us that we would have to stand on the flip down part at the back of the truck until we reached the ferry. Luckily, the passangers inside managed to budge along and we were able to squeeze our bodies onto the very ends of the bench seats. However, this was not to last long, as we picked up even more people from their hotels. The end result was a truck packed full of people and bags, bags slung precariously on the roof and two poor English guys (Tom and a guy from Newcastle) clinging onto the back of an open truck driving very quickly towards the ferry port! Grateful to be in one piece, we climbed aboard the ferry only to discover that this too was packed full, so we sat outside along the side of the boat with our bags. Luckily the crossing was mostly calm so we made it in one piece to the port in Ko Phangan. Phew!

Once on dry land, we found a taxi to take us to our accommodation for the next few days. The drive was an eye opening if not terrifying experience, as the taxi navigated the steepest, smallest, windy roads I have ever seen in my life. All this whilst driving at the speed of light! Not a wonder there are so many accidents on the roads. Yet all was well when we arrived at our resort and checked into a cute little bungalow. We had all the essentials on our doorstep, beach, pool, bar, restaurant and ping pong table. Ah the ping pong - Tom and I actually became obsessed with the game as sad as it is! Staying at the resort was almost like staying at some sort of Hi-de-Hi summer camp but we loved it for that. Yet we could only manage one day of hanging around the pool before we had to get out and explore the island.

We hired yet another scooter and had high hopes for an exciting day exploring. Sadly, it quickly became apparent that we had hired quite possibly the worst scooter in the whole of Thailand. It wouldn't start properly, it stuttered its way along the road and struggled up the big hills - brilliant! It got us around the island just about and I think Tom enjoyed navigating the twisting roads. On our way back to the resort we made a stop at Haad Rin beach, the home of the 'Full Moon Party'. We arrived at the beach just a few days after the party and the rubbish collectors were still out in force doing the big clean up. I still can't believe that they fit 30,000 people onto that tiny strip of beach!

All too soon for my liking (and I think Toms too), our island hopping had to come to end. We had to embark on the mammoth journey North to metopolis of Bangkok. So we bought a boat/bus combination ticket and had a whole 12 hour journey to look forward to, 3 of which would be on a high speed catamaran. This all sounded great in principle, until we woke to grey skies and wind which could only mean one thing - waves and lots of them! Our worst fears were realised once we had found seats on the catamaran and were each presented with what was essentially a small plastic bin bag. Seeing our confused faces, the guys mimed a bumpy sea with his hands and laughed. I tried hard to convince myself that all would be fine but all of 10 minutes into the journey the first person threw up just 2 rows in front of us (the poor guy did not actually stop throwing up for the whole journey and had to be stretchered off at the other end!) Lots of the children on board found crashing into the waves hilarious but the laughs quickly stopped and many of them threw up into their tiny plastic bags too. In fact at one point, most people on the boat were either beeing sick or looking decidedly green, with a poor few souls with strong stomachs trying to dodge the sick. When even the crew members sat down dabbing their forheads and looking concerned, you begin to worry. Honestly, I'm not sure how to convey the sounds and the smells from those 3 hours but I think it is a miracle that neither one of us were sick. We did not speak to each other for the whole time in fear of being sick! Tom clung on to his seat whilst I held onto the seat in front and shut my eyes in an attempt to make it all stop but it didn't, not for another two and a half hours!

After what felt like an eternity, we eventually made it to Chumphon harbour and clambered off the boat and onto a bus to take us the rest of the way. It was another 8 hours of cramped uncomfortable travel before we arrived feeling very tired and irritable. Luckily, we found a friendly taxi driver who whisked us away to our guesthouse, where we could prepare ourselves for the chaos and mayhem that is Bangkok.

Much love, Shell & Tommo xx

PS. I will try and write more blogs I promise!!

Camping on a Koh Rok paradise...

Back on lanta, we returned the motorbike after a 14 day loan (I will miss my baby) and then went in search of accommodation in readiness for our return from our camping trip, which we would be leaving for the next day. We managed to book a rickety old beach bungalow down by Klong kong beach which would be much cheaper than our current digs, we would later find out why.

The next morning we were picked up and driven down to Kantiang bay where we boarded a good sized, private boat that would take us over to Koh Rok, a very small, uninhabited island to camp for the night. After wondering around phi phi yesterday slightly open-jawed at the lack of space, the prospect of a night on an island with only seven other people got us excited. The rest of the group was made up of fantastic people. An english couple from Gloucester, an Italian couple who run an ice-cream parlour and a finish couple who had been reunited via Facebook after being apart for 30 years, great story.

After a very choppy two hour crossing over to the island (dad, you may have acted like a dog who refuses to go for a walk and steadfastly sat on the sand), we arrived at an island you could only dream about, it was truly truly stunning. The most amazing beach we have ever seen, all with virtually no one around, bliss.

The day was spent, after a seafood lunch onboard, snorkelling amongst the crystal clear waters, each time better than the last. It was truly astonishing, due simply to the amount and variety of fish and coral. We did some good snorkelling on the Gili Islands, months ago, but this would top it, tenfold.

After a day in the water it was time to set up camp. Our tent, which was miraculously set up before we got there was, metaphorically speaking, the runt of the tent litter. Nevermind we thought, it's just one night! If lack of sleep wouldn't kill us the monitor lizards may! They were truly huge, about as long as a bicycle and as wide as a large tree trunk. Lets just hope the plastic tent material saves us from the dinosaur!

After throwing our bags inside we made a beeline for the hammocks that were next to the gently lapping sea. It was, in every way, like a scene from Robinson Crusoe. The hammocks meanwhile had both the look and feel of cheese wire, just to make sure you are snapped right back to reality if you dare to become immersed in your surroundings too much. Still, the seafood barbecue was truly immense. Freshly caught tuna and chicken massaman, enough for twenty people, meant that we were suitably nourished after a long day snorkelling! After dinner, we all sat around drinking Changs and sharing Thai rum before heading to the beach to light a fire and look at the stars, before making our way, in the dark, to our tents to try to sleep, even though it was around 30 degrees!

Although the island, in fact the whole trip was one of our trip highlights, this would be, quite possibly, our worst ever nights sleep. You hear a lot of people talk about bad nights sleep but I want to put this forward as our vote. It was so hot it made our bodies stick to the roll mat which meant that to counter the sweat we would have to don at least a t-shirt, which meant becoming even hotter. Added to this was invading ants the size of micro-machines, which, as we inspect a day later, seemed to have loved the taste of shells legs. Who wouldn't.

Still, the sight at 6am as we unzipped the tent will stay with us forever. Being only a few feet from the sea meant that we had an unobstructed view of the most amazing, clear sunrise over the emerald sea in front of us. I read these things back sometimes in fear of it sounding either like I am exaggerating or being too gushy. I can safely say that I am doing neither, it was that good.

After eating breakfast at 7am we were soon back on the boat and heading towards three more sites for more snorkelling adventures. Like yesterday's before it, as time progressed the sites got even better. Although, as we were the first boat on the island, we caught a very rare glimpse of a sea turtle, such a great sight. For around five hours we dived down into subtropical underworlds, underlining the fact that beneath the sea their is indeed a completely different world, just waiting to be explored. You can see why people who have recently gained their diving certificates, go on about it so much. You can see why it would become addictive.

So there we are then, after yet more fresh seafood cooked onboard by a Thai bloke with both the biggest, wildest hair and the widest smile, we were on our way back to the relative civilisation of Koh Lanta. The journey back went by quick enough, people scattered in a tired heep all around the boat. Some inside, some on the roof and some, like me, hanging off the side, trying to dangle feet in the water. Although wearing suncream, nothing could fight away both the heat and the strong sun, meaning a night spent in increasingly dizzy stages after way too much UV exposure!

For our last night on this amazing island we sorted our tickets for tomorrows all-day trip over to the east coast and Koh Samui. We actually sorted both travel and accommodation out in record time so decided to reward ourselves with a drink underneath arguably the most stunning sunset yet, due to the clear skies above. What a way to spend our last night not only on Lanta but our last night on Thailands andaman coast, we have been here a month!

So next up, the east and the triumvirate of Koh Samui, Phangan and Tao. We have eleven days now till our current visa runs out so will tour the east then make our way up to Bangkok for a final Thai hurrah amongst the chaos of another Asian metropolis.

We've (I've), banged on about koh lanta now for weeks but I cannot think of a place in the world that has had such a pull on me. Shell and I completely fell for the island and I encourage any of you who are thinking of taking a Thai holiday to give Phuket and Phi Phi a miss and stay on the boat for another couple of hours. You will not regret it...

Much love my lovelies, Tommo and shellface xxx

The 'Phi-Phi' experience...

Two and a half weeks we have been on Koh Lanta and although we are now in the process of leaving, we are leaving with a very heavy heart indeed. The few days we have had since New Years Day have been some of the most packed and in a way, best days we have had yet on our trip. I really don't want to sound repetitive, banging on about all of these incredible places so I will, for the purposes of giving you a true reflection, try to write a true representation.

After arriving back our hotel at 6am after NY eve, we woke up at midday and instantly thought we had miraculously been transported back to the UK. we had squinted, bleary-eyed, through the curtains to find Koh Lanta covered in a thick, wet blanket of cloud and drizzle, interspersed with rain of biblical proportions. Added to this was the fact that we were now in the salubrious surroundings of a proper hotel room, with hot water and air conditioning! We could have been back home on a wet Sunday afternoon, recovering from the usual Saturday night antics. If we closed our eyes we could just imagine it, the smell of bacon, the impossible-to-remove taste of dead badger in the mouth and the constantly nagging feeling of work in the morning. If it wasn't for the fact that every channel on the tv was taken over by the most irritating collection of Thai voices, we could of been home.

After slouching around in the worlds most comfortable bed, we managed eventually to meet up with Klara and Andreas as this was their last night on koh Lanta. We had a fantastic meal, amazing food given the location and cuisine we had selected. There we were, me and shell, a British couple, meeting a Swedish couple for dinner, in a Greek restaurant, in Thailand. You really can't get more international than that. Globalisation you can be proud of.

After saying our goodbyes to the both of them and promising to take advantage of their offer of a place to stay in Stockholm, we slipped, yet again, back into the comfort and security of our little slice of home to eat crisps and watch Thai soaps.

The next morning we were up at 6am in readiness to be taken to the harbour for our day trip to Kho Phi Phi. Although we had been told many times already about it's beauty, and ofcourse seeing it in the film 'The Beach', you kind of expect it to be striking. It was of course stunning, but stunning at a price.

As we boarded the boat, you almost expect to see hoards of Brits in these situations, or that's what you prepare yourself for. In reality, the boat is crammed full of every nationality you could think of. American, Canadian, French, german, polish, Romanian, Chinese. The list goes on. It's a strange one, that even beyond the usual tourist suspects, Ko Phi Phi's draw is simply irresistible, which I guess, kind of makes it a victim of it's own success. Like anything in this world, something can be truly beautiful, but only beautiful for a limited time before the crowds find it.

First up, we were transferred from the relative comfort of the ferry to the small, rickety longtail boat (a small, wooden, very rocky, traditional boat) that would take us from phi phi don over to phi phi Ley. On phi phi ley, we were taken to a couple of spots for swimming and snorkelling before winding up at the entrance to Maya Bay, the setting for the secluded beach scene in the film. As we took in the scene we were instantly drawn towards what could of been seals on a remote south Atlantic island in a David Attenborough documentary. There were hundreds of people, all drawn by the beauty of the island but crammed into a piece of beach the size of a tennis court. We actually only had about an hour to explore the island and eat lunch so after quickly posing for the obligatory paradise shots we were then whisked of to phi phi don, to wait a couple of hours for our ferry back to Koh Lanta.

You have to be honest with yourself at this point, as i know there are far worse places in the world, but being on phi phi don in peak season was truly awful. The place was so busy that to walk down the street would be an exercise in spacial awareness all in itself. Not only that, and I'm not a judgemental traveller either, the place was full of the kind of people you try your best to avoid. The blokes who treat this like a tropical Magaluf and the girls, who think that they have travelled the world if they go to Phuket and Phi Phi.

Needless to say we didn't have an amazing time on phi phi but that doesn't mean to say it isn't beautiful, because it is, it's stunning. The problem lies with the insistence in cramming as many people on the island as possible, rendering waste disposal and environmental awareness, pretty useless, given the stretched tourist infrastructure. I guess it could be a condensed version of Bali, in a way.

A very Thai New Year...

After nine days in the relaxing and homely surroundings of Baan rao. We were once again packing our bags in preparation to move on. Only difference being that this time we would only be moving to the next bay along, Klong kong, rather than hundreds of miles. We would have stayed at the truly special Baan Rao but unfortunately they were fully booked for the new year period but in the end it all worked out beautifully.

The previous days had been spent, in large parts due to the great weather, sat firmly on the beach. We decided a few days ago to try out Klong Nin, another beach further south, we would not be disappointed. Although we've been travelling for nearly four months it has taken up until now, in the ethereal surroundings of koh lanta, to truly feel at ease with our surroundings. For sure, we've had an incredible time so far on our trip wherever we have been, but being here for nearly two weeks now has cemented some firm friendships not to mention the mental reinvigoration that I think we were so looking forward to. It's a strange burden really, to personally feel as though you are carrying the weight of say, a toolbox, around in your head, it just gets so tiresome. For Shell, the stresses of modern teaching now seem a world away aand we can really start to relax.

Ofcourse, we both have to put this in a little context, we are on a Thai island afterall, but it feels in a lot of ways that our lives have been pretty much on hold for the past few years, creatively blocked by the need to save and sacrifice. I understand, in fact its pretty much guaranteed isn't it, that we will have to spend a large part of our lives saving in the future, but surely never to the extent as what we did to earn this. I'm not moaning here, as every sacrifice has been rewarded tenfold by the experience of this trip but the two years we spent saving, was a tad mentally draining.

So it is here, amongst new friends, new favourite bars and cafes and a profound new sense of optimism that we have felt that mental rejuvenation start to take shape. What were once hopes, ambitions and plans tinged with negativity now become tinged with positivity. For example, for years you have seen life and all it has to offer travelling in one straight, narrow line, everything linear in reality and ambition. This will happen at this point, then this will happen here because we are at this age now and so on and so forth...

Now, for the time being anyway, that narrow path has become a broad spectrum of possibility, a refreshing feeling that despite societal pressure and personal expectation, you can do anything and be anything you want to be. Now I know this is our blog, our travel blog, and your probably reading through this thinking 'what the hell does this have to do with koh lanta?', but I think this is important to understand as we worked hard to make this trip happen. For both of us, this trip is making our brains think and do good things, I hope you are pleased.

Anyway, after a few days putting the world and our lives into perspective, we glided into new years eve. Now for shell, bless her, Christmas was hard, it was always going to be. For me, new years eve was going to be my big test. After spending the past five years in European cities with our best friends, the fact we weren't going to be there made me sad, I hate missing out. I know we can't really complain but NYE has always and will continue to be my favourite night of the year and spending it with your best friends is phenomenal. This year though, would come a very close second.

After reading reports of a big storm heading our way right for NYE night, we were expecting a bit of a washout. Like everything we've experienced in Asia so far though, it turned up late.

We started the evening back at Baan Rao, eating some amazing homecooked Thai food and barbecued chicken cooked by the seriously impressive Chai. After a few hours and a few beers later, myself, shell, Klara and Andreas, our Swedish friends, went down to the beach to join in the beach parties. The sight of hundreds of fireworks and literally thousands of lanterns over the sea was a perfect spectacle to bring 2011 to a close. Shell's lantern, which was still in her hand as we approached midnight, slowly made it's way skyward, somehow, and I mean somehow, missing the fireworks by a matter of inches. It was like watching missiles being launched against a blimp, on the Gaza strip. We also, after spending around £8, managed to purchase quite possibly the worlds worst sparkling wine. Wine that tasted as if it had been produced using dead rats.

It was a great night and even better that we could spend it with Andreas and Klara, a truly fantastic couple that I am certain we will be visiting in Stockholm in the not too distant future.

So there you have it, 2011 was a great year, one that couldn't come soon enough. We saved like madmen, quit jobs, moved out of a great flat, got engaged and flew to the otherside of the world in search of great experiences. 2012 has a lot to live up to.....

Peace and love for 2012, Tommo and shellface xxx