Thai-Highlights

Greetings to all,

I hope you are all well and looking after each other, not long now till I will return to English shores really aswell - am getting really excited about seeing alot of you again.

Anywho, enough of that for the moment, so whats been going on of late. Well, when last we spoke I was in Bangkok. I have to say that this would have to be my least favourite city so far on the travels. I mean, don't get me wrong the sightseeing is pretty good there. The Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha are both majestic, as is the Wat Pho where a 40 foot golden reclining Buddha is housed and the Bangkok nightlife is excellent. There are other fantastic sights too, its just that in the tourist areas there is a deception everywhere - complete strangers lying to you about different temples being open so they can take you somewhere to sell you something, cab drivers upping the price or refusing to use the meter or when they do use the meter, take you the 'scenic route' - this sort of thing is especially wearing, and its such a shame that that will be one of the residing memories of this otherwise excellent city.

So now that the rant is over: following Bangkok we travelled south to Kanchanaburia to see the actual Bridge over the River Kwai and learn a bit more of the history about it which was good. Following this we spent four nights on the island of Koh Pha Ngan which was absolute bliss! Days were spent just lazing about on the beach, snorkelling, walking and swimming at waterfalls and I developed quite a taste for fishing - managing to catch four of the blighters during fishing excursions. Theres something satisfying about catching your own dinner, and having it served in front of your very eyes all with in the space of about 2 hours - now thats what I call fresh!

After tearing ourselves away from Koh Pha Ngan we travelled down through the remainder of Thailand and, after a brief overnight karaoke stop in Satun, into Penang in Malaysia. Penang was a wonderful place, so much to see and do there. After a look around the historic old Fort Cornwallis we set about wandering around Penang's numerous temples of varying religions. In the afternoon we went to the largest temple in Malaysia in the hills overlooking Penang; Kek Lok Si - the amount of colour and just the sheer grand scale was amazing (photos to follow eventually). After that we watched the sun set on Penang hill some 800m above sea level, and directly above the whole city - wonderful!

Next, we travelled to the Cameron Highlands which is where I am at the moment actually. The scenery here is absolutely breathtaking, stunning greenery and mountains everywhere! Earlier today we took a trip to a tea plantation and saw how the tips in the field get into your brew back home, so that was good. Following a swift cuppa at the tea factory and some strawberries at a roadside pick-your-own strawbs place we went to a butterfly garden and saw huge, beautiful butterflies - it was at this point that I had several other creatures placed about my person and had my photo taken - including; kissing a butterfly; tentatively clutching a millipede, a scorpion dangling above my mouth and a giant stick insect on my torso - all in the name of fun!

Well, as I say I am in the Cameron Highlands at the moment, so thats all to report really. Tomorrow its off to Kuala Lumpur which I am looking forward to immensely.

So, until the next time, take care and keep it real. Will speak to you soon.