Magical Malaysia

Time has sped up, we're suddenly hurtling towards the finish line stamping our feet and shouting no, no no! Slow down, stop, go back! Surely it can't be time for us to return to our lives and responsibilities? Well not quite, we have a few days remaining of our journey together and are making sure that every day still counts. There are certainly things we look forward to and are now thinking and talking about more, catching up with family and friends, sleeping in the same bed for more than a few nights, even the thought of wandering the aisles of Morrisons is appealing to some.

We've spent the last ten days enjoying Malaysia, firstly in the historic town of George Town, named after Britain's King George III and voted Malaysia's most liveable city. The colonial style 1926 Heritage Hotel had a central swimming pool which we didn't find necessary as it barely stopped raining during our time there. George Town was founded in 1786 by Captain Francis Light, a trader for the British East India Company. On land rented from the Sultan of Kedah he built Fort Cornwallis on the north-eastern corner of the island, first out of bamboo and later stone. Despite the rain it afforded great views of the bay. Another lovely place to wander and look up at the colonial shuttered buildings, some of which had seen better days and others under repair or turned into boutique hotels, shops or art galleries. Covered walkways protected us from the rain as we wandered to the nearby Little India where we enjoyed some tasty tandoori.

Georgetown

Cher & Jody

City hall

Covered walkways

Georgetown seafront

Ornate and colourful buildings

Crossing Malaysia from West to East we spent a brief night in the small fishing town of Kuala Besut before hopping on a speedboat the next day for the Perhentian Islands. Pulau Perhentian Besar, which simply means The Big Island, was our home for our last four beach nights. We had a comprehensive welcome from host Rashidah and her team at the blissfully calm and quiet Reef Chalets, a collection of wooden chalets set around a small garden, with pet chickens, spectacle rimmed monkeys, squirrels and the occasional monitor lizard creeping through. We had a wonderfully relaxed time there and gathered for a fresh fish BBQ on the beach one evening.

Arriving at the island

Gill, Rogs & Hels enroute to the island

Overlooking the beach

Beach volleyball

Cher looking exceedingly glamorous

Crystal clear waters

Shelagh, Jim and Julia setting off for a jungle walk

Spectacle rimmed monkey

Sunset in paradise

Rogs has a go

Pip

John has a go under the watchful eye and instruction of Awe Sr

Coconut success for John

Fish BBQ on the beach

Jeff

Julia & Jim

Mikkel being sociable

Jody having a bit of fun

Pet chicken in reception sitting on ten eggs

More chickens at reception

Which came first?

Reef chalets

Rogs clinging on

Rogs persuading Ryan to try climbing the palm tree

Rogs showing how it's done

We lucked out with the weather on the island having been warned it was pretty grotty. Clearly the skies had rained themselves out in Georgetown and we had barely a drop until the last day. With no monuments, museums, or above-ground sights whatsoever (or even roads) on the island we stuck to the beaches, played volleyball, wandered the jungle trails and explored the magnificent marine life. The Perhentians offer some great diving and excellent snorkelling. Our day trip stopping at various bays and beaches where we could jump off and go in search of stingrays, sea snakes, all sorts of fish from zebra to parrot fish whilst dodging a fair few jelly fish along the way. The harmless black tip reef shark was most elusive but persistence paid off and a few of us spotted babies and adults, growing only to about 1.5m in length but menacing looking enough. Probably most memorable were the huge green sea turtles, cruising along on the sea bed feeding on tasty sea grass and every five minutes or so surfacing for air, gliding through the water, their little faces breaking the surface for a snuffly breath, then diving back down, cutting through the water and moving as gracefully as a bird. Betsy was able to capture some great underwater moments with her special camera housing, getting shots from deeper still on a scuba dive the next day.

Snorkelling

Magnificent turtle

Poisonous sea snake

Rogs with a turtle

Blue spotted ray

Coming up for air

Fish hanging out under the turtle

One lovely touch to our stay was breakfast. Not your usual Western fayre, but a pick of various curry type dishes, tuna, chicken or anchovies and egg with rice. We stepped out on to our balconies in the morning to find little parcels of food, delivered quietly in the early hours by a lady from the village, a bit like waking up on Christmas day to find that Father Christmas had visited. Best not to leave it too late to retrieve your parcels or the cheeky squirrels helped themselves.

We waved the Perhentians goodbye from our super speedy boat and were met at the other side by a super VIP pink double decker bus! Luxury for our last lengthy journey on the road to Kuala Lumpur. Arriving in the evening we immediately got a feel for the City, tree lined avenues, shining, modern office towers and a very clean, cosmopolitan feel. Many took the lift up the iconic Petronas Towers, the tallest twin buildings in the world, standing at 1,453 ft, and previously the tallest buildings in the world. Since 2010 the Burj Khalifa in Dubai has been the tallest manmade structure in the world at a staggering 2,723 ft, nearly twice the height of the Petronas Towers.

Farewell to the Perhentians

A speedy return to the mainland

Travelling to KL in style with our own pink super VIP bus

Rogs takes the wheel?

Nick, what's that you are reading?

KL skyline - looking from the Petronas Towers to the KL Tower

A glimpse of the Petronas Towers

Brave window-washers

Shopping central

Group meal on the streets of Chinatown

Rowan's supper came served in a pineapple

Ryan being entertained by a magician and street seller

A fun afternoon was spent at the Berjaya Times Square Mall, Malaysia's biggest shopping centre and also housing their largest indoor theme park. We were drawn not so much by the thousand shops (which included Marks & Spencers, Debenhams etc.) but the irresistibly named Supersonic Odyssey Roller Coaster, a multiple-inverted 800 metre long indoor roller coaster, if that means anything to you. Translated as bloody fast (top speed 80kph), lots of upside down, loop the loop and twisty turns, snaking in and around the top floors of the shopping centre. The crew proved themselves to be the most loyal and ride it no less than 7 times, it is no joke that paracetamol was bought on the way home to relieve their headaches.

Heading up to ride the Odyssey

Theme Park screamers

The Odyssey (well, the rollercoaster version anyway)

Chris showing you are never too old!

Rowan, Betsy, G Rod and Chris enjoying themselves

We've now arrived in Melaka (or Malacca), our penultimate stop and yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Strait of Malacca connects the Pacific Ocean to the east with the Indian Ocean on the west making it one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. Our beautiful Hotel Puri, and many other buildings on the street, are old Peranakan style town houses. The Peranakans were descendants of immigrant Chinese who had integrated and adopted the local Malay custom. At one time or another Melaka has been occupied by the British, Dutch & Portuguese as well as the Chinese settlers making it a real blending pot of architecture, style and cultures.

Our hotel in Melaka

With just a couple of nights here before our final short journey into Singapore, it's time to begin the end of trip celebrations. We'll need a few days to prepare saying goodbye to each other and six months of our lives. More reflections will follow in our next and final blog, so until then...