I knew there was a reason why I kept my llama socks...

I am still in the Cameroon highlands at the moment where things are pretty cold. I thought it would be nice to have a break from the heat, but now that I am here I am not so sure. I guess I am a typical Brit - there is no pleasing me. I just wish it were dry but nope!

There was a dry spell this morning where I went on a walk with three others. My roomie (English), a couch surfer (German) and his roomie (Australian Dive Instructor). We bought a map for 3.50 RM and set off on our grand adventure from Tanah Rata to Brinchang. The map however was horrible and we got terribly terribly terribly lost. We did end up in Brinchang, but had to walk on the main road a bit more than we wated to.

I think I will stay a few more days here before heading back to KL. The plan is to rent motorbikes tomorrow and somehow not kill ourselves. There is a strawberry farm, butterfly house and I hope to get to the top of the highest point in Malaysia!

James arrives in Thailand pretty soon, so we will somehow coordinate meeting up before my diving course.

The England - Germany match is definitely in the plans for tonight and hopefully some nice hot tea to get into the spirit.

Moving Onwards

I think I have definitely neglected writing in my blog lately, but I guess that just shows I have been having a lot of fun in Kuala Lumpur. I have however moved on. Mun left for Europe early this morning (which meant a 430am wake up for me to see him off) and I didn't want to overstay my welcome at my host's. So I thought it was finally time to move on and see a bit more of Malaysia.

So here I am now in Cameron Highlands. Think I will be here for a few days. It is much cooler here, but also raining. I have managed to find a fairly nice hostel with hot water, so may be a place to hang for a few days to do some walking and relaxing. My lack of sleep has finally caught up with me, so I think I need several long nights to recover.

Am trying to make some more plans for what I want to do. I think Penang and Lankawi are next and by then will have a couple more weeks till my dive course starts so don't know if I want to spend some more time in Malaysia or head to a couple of places in Thailand. Probably will stick with Malaysia for now to save money as I will be meeting up with James somewhere in Cambodia, Laos, or Vietnam...

*Sigh* I guess it's time for another update...

It's been a while, but not a lot has happened. I am still in KL and not moving very fast, but am enjoying everything here. I have a couple of really good hosts and feel like I am seeing EVERYTHING. Will probably head off on Friday to travel around a bit, starting with Cameroon Highlands. We'll see where things take me afterwards. I have until the 17th which is when I start my dive course in Perhentian.

Kuala Lumpur

I arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday afternoon. I met an Australian guy on the bus who had been to KL before. He was staying at a hostel in an Area called Chow Kit. It was a really nice hostel, but the area not so much. So on Sunday I met up with Mun, a Couch Surfing member who took me to a nicer and much more central area Bukit Bitang. He then took me or a Malaysian breakfast where I had Canai Roti and showed me around Kuala Lumpur. It was definitely a whirlwind tour. I saw all of the main sites - petronas towers, museums, oldest mosque...etc Mun took me to an indian restaurant where I had some awesome food served on banana leaves.

On Monday Mun took me to Batu caves which is a temple in a cave. Very very cool. We also went to see the national monument which was pretty cool. I will hopefully be putting up some pictures soon.

I have done so much the last few days that it is all beginning to run together. Mun showed me around some more and yesterday took me to Putra Jaya where there are all the governmental buildings. I am now couch surfing with a friend of his. There is tons to do here. I am eating well and last night went to a bar to see my host perform with his band. They were very good!

I think I will stay in KL for a few days longer. I am enjoying the rest, eventhough I have been up late every night. THings seem to be running here 24/7 especially with the world cup going on. I have my DM course organised and should start that on the 14th of JUly. So I am very excited about that!

Melaka, Malacca - Potato, Potahto

I ended up spending three nights and two days in Singapore. I couchsurfed with a Filipino guy named Alex, who has been living in Singapore for a few years and is currently sharing a three bedroom flat with five other people from the Philippines. He was working during the day so I was free to roam around. I arrived quite late Monday night. I decided to get a bus from the airport instead of a taxi to save money, it ended up taking about an hour and a half, but I managed to see a lot of the country. I didn't realise how small it was. Alex said something about how his house wasn't too from Malaysia.

My first day it was pouring, as it seems to have done in every major city I have been in recently. I went to the Asian Civilizations museum and walked around part of down town. I headed over to China Town and had a bite to eat and bought some new headphones, since mine mysteriously stopped working on the flight to Singapore from Cairns. Oh dear! I wondered around for quite a bit that day actually and took some pictures. I then went back to Alex's and took a quick nap. He came home with Vaughn, another couch surfer from California who was passing through on his way to Indonesia.

The next day was much better weather-wise. Vaughn and I went to the American embassy since he needed new passport photos. Afterwards we went to Reservoir Mcritchie (or the name was something along those lines...) It was really pretty. We went for a walk and saw loads of monkeys. We didn't get to go on the tree walk though, because it was already closed. We then met Alex who had organized a couch surfing meet up. There were 8 of us in total. A mixture of locals, new arrivals and travellers. We ate at Lau Pa Sat, a GIANT food court in raffles. There was every type of Asian food imaginable - yummy! Afterwards we went to a bar where there were even more couch surfers!

The next day I left fairly early to get to Malaysia. It was by far the easiest border I have ever done. I arrived in Malacca (or Melaka), early afternoon. It's about two hours south of Kuala Lumpur (KL). I took a bus into the centre and walked around forever trying to find a certain hostel. I finally found A hostel, just not the one i was looking for. It was small and really run down, but it was pretty much myself and a canadian guy, Brent.

Melaka was a pretty cool town. Very historic and nice to walk around. It has changed hands a lots (England, Holland, Portugal, China, then England again and now Malaysians). So there are a lot of different areas. The first night Brent gave me the grand tour and we ate a really good meal at the marina.

The next day (yesterday) Brent left and I went to Mini Malaysia about 14km north of Melaka. It's a touristy thing, but there are thirty something houses from the different Malay states as well as Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines...etc. It was really interesting for the first ten houses or so and then by the eleventh I just though "oh wow, another house..." they were all just variations on the same thing. I was supposed to go to the yoga class of a couchsurfer that Alex knows but I got a bit stranded. Of course the bus dropped me off at the stop, but there wasn't one to pick me up. I found that out after about two hours of raining when it started POURING. So I broke my rule *tear* and took a cab.

Last night I went on a walk through China town where there is a weekend night market it was PACKED. I grabbed little bits and pieces for dinner. I still have no idea what I ate, but I was assured it was vegetarian and I am pretty sure it was different variations of Tofu. I then started walking back to my hostel or so I thought and got so LOST. I ended up on the North side of the city while I was staying in the south. I went into a 5 * hotel and asked for directions. On my way back I walked by the restaurant that Brent and I ate at and saw that the Mexico - South Africa match was on so I watched the first twenty minutes of that. Everyone was going CRAZY for Mexico, although I still have no idea why (I was told by someone it was because nobody like South Africa... okay). I then walked back to my hostel and passed two mcdonalds that were PACKED with people since they were showing the game. Hopefully tonight I will be able to catch the UK/USA game.

This morning I left for KL. I met an Australian guy on the bus who is making his way to Europe. I have settled in a hostel, but it is a bit out of the way, so I may find another one tomorrow closer to the hub bub of everything. I am meeting up with some people tonight, and a norwegian girl I was stuck with at the border in Bolivia is here as well. Tomorrow I will be meeting up with some more couch surfers as well as in the beginning of next week. It's nice to have a full social calendar for the first time in the year. I even got a sim card!! I did however, lose the number. I will call someone later and have them give it to me. I don't know if I will be able to accept international calls though.

In L-O-V-E

Que?? You might be saying. Just thought I needed to practice a bit of spanish, but it is pretty appalling. Anyways the more thorough understandable blog entry for today:

I spent about four days in Cairns at a really nice hostel on the outskirts of the city, just a short walk from the centre. My first night was a pretty early one and I managed to catch up with my sleep.

The next day, I woke up late and had a fairly day lazing around the hostel. I went for a run and explored the city. I went out to a bar that is popular with the backpackers in the area that night. I met a couple of swiss guys who are at the end of their six week Australia trip and ended up hanging out with them most of that night.

Saturday I went on 3 dives on the great barrier reef. It was absolutely amazing! It was breathtaking. Not quite as amazing at the Galapagos, but not too far off. There was all sorts of wildlife, but the coral is what was really spectacular. I am still absolutely blown away by it all. I really wanted to do one the next day, but unfortunately didn't have hte money or the time. I saw turtles and 3 metre sharks! As well as sorts of fish. I saw a cuttle fish for the first time which was pretty interesting.

When I booked my dive, I got a free trip to Green Island the next day. It's a little island 50 minutes from Cairns. It was definitely beautiful and I got to do some snorkeling. It was pretty good as well and I saw a turtle.

On sunday night, I went out to dinner with the two Swiss guys. Christian caught a 3kg coral trout which was apparently worth over $100. They took it to a local restaurant along with another fish and the chef cooked it up four different ways. They were all pretty pleased - it was definitely quite amazing. The chef then got to keep the rest. I almost broke my vegetarianism for it, since I knew who caught it, but in the end didn't. The smell was enough to satisfy me though :).

I am on the flight now to Singapore. Am thinking of a change in plans. I am supposed to fly to Bangkok on wednesday but with everything that is going on there now, I am thinking of just making my way through Malaysia into Thailand and then onwards, possibly getting my divemaster in Malaysia. There is a place called Palau Perhentian which is well known for diving. Elvira gave me the name of her exboyfriend who is a free diving instrucor there so I have sent him an email seeing if he can recommend anyone there. If not there is a well known dive school that has been recommended to me.

As for some other news - I managed to apply for a job kind of on a whim. I was with Marco (the other swiss guy), we were chatting and he asked me what my dream was. I said that it was to visit every continent by the time I am 20. That just leaves Antarctica. Not exactly easy to get to, adn I don't know how much time I would really want to spend there. I am neither good with the cold nor any use to anything going on there, but he gave me the idea to find a job on a cruise ship that goes there. I did alittle research and asked around a bit. Somebody put me in touch with a company running out of the southern most point in Argentina. I sent in my CV and an application and have an interview next week. It's in spanish though, which makes it even more nerve wracking. They need people who speak spanish and english. I figure it's a long shot, but still worth one. I would be doing pretty menial tasks, but it would be a fantastic oppurtunity plus a great way to save money. Earning almost a couple grand a month while having no expenses. Am very excited about this idea, and will see what happens. But it never hurts to give it a shot, right?

Estoy Enamorada.

Pase cuatro dias en Cairns en un hostal muy bueno cerca de la "ciudad". Esta un camino corto del centro de la ciudad. Cairns esta muy pequeno, tiene alrededor 150,000 habitantes. La primera noche, dormi mucho porque tuve noches muy tardes en Sydney.

La manana proxima, me levante tarde y pase el dia en la hostal. Hay muchas hamacas y empece un libro nuevo de chuck pal...pala?? El escritor de "fight club". Se llama "Pygmy". Fui al centro y correo en el barrio del hostal. Esta noche fui a un bar con amigos y encontre dos caballeros suizas. Ellos estan en el final de su seis semana vacion en Australia. Pase mucho tiempo con ellos.

Sabado, fui al "great barrier reef" con un barco con 80 gente y hice tres dives. Huve mucho snorkelers y solo dos mas en my grupo. El diving estaba muy precioso, con mucho animales. Vi tres o cuatro tortugas, un "great whaler" de tres metros y un cuttlefish. Huve muchos pescados y plantos tambien. Los galapagos son un poco mejor pero no como mucho.

Cuando pague por el dives, recibi un viaje gratis a la isla verde. Es una isla pequena 50 minutos de Cairns. Es muy bella y hice snorkelling. Vi una tortuga y un o tres pescados pero nada mas.

Ayer noche (sabado) fui a cena con los caballeros suizas (christian y marco). Christian fue a un barco y tomo un pescado muy grande con el valor de $100 o mas. Lleva el pescado a un restaurante y ellos cocineron el pescado en 4 varidades. Pero no come porque soy vegetariana!

Estoy en el avion a Singapore ahora. Estoy pensando sobre cambiando mis planos. Tengo un vuelto a Bangkok a miercoles pero hay muchas problemas alli y no me gustaria ir un ciudad peligrosa en mi primer vez en Asia. Entonces quizas voy a Malaysia despues Singapore en autobus. Hay un lugar en el norte de Malaysia que se llama Palau Perhentian que es famosa para las escuelas de diving. El exnovio de Elvira esta alli pero el es profesor de "free diving". Pero se envie un correo pediendo si el conoce un profesor en Malaysia uo cerca de alli que el puede recomendarme.

Hace dos noches, marco me pido que es mi sueno... no se, pero me dije que me gustara ir al todo siete continentes despues tengo veinte anos. Visitaba seis, pero no fui a antarctica. Tengo un idea y applique de un trabago en un barco que va hasta el sud de argentina al antarctica. Tengo un interview la semana proxima pero es en espanol y necesito practicar, practicar, practicar.

CiaO!

Sydney

So exciting, I can now write my blog entries offline, and just copy and past them when I am online next. Saves a lot of time! I am on the flight from Sydney to Cairns. Had mixed feeling about leaving. Part of me was super happy to move on - one step closer to South East Asia. At the same time, I was leaving Elvira! It was actually quite a sad parting - but we shall hopefully be meeting up at somepoint in the next few months.

The weather in Sydney has been horrible! Rain rain rain! Not good for my already short/frizzy hair. What was i thinking? At least it'll grow back. Very flexible, not like the tattoo or marriage I just got....

...Joking?

I think I last wrote about monday. Or something around there. I have mostly been hanging out with Elvira. Doing CVs, and helping her job search. We did a tad bit more of walking aorund, but not too much with the rain. We did go to the aquarium. Just saw the outside never managed to actually by the ticket and walk in. Maybe it was the $35 entrance fee or laziness or something esle entirely, but I am sure James will be disappointed. He told me that while I am in Sydney I MUST go to the Aquarium and the chocolate. Neither of which I did.

We went to Bondi beach tuesday afternoon with her roomie Jenny. It was actually quite pretty. There is a walk that you can do to Cogee beach which is supposed to be lovely. We only did part of it because I didn't have enough time to do all of it. I met up with someone from Couch surfing. He had said I could stay with him, but I had already paid upfront for accomodation, so we just met up at a Thai restaurant in the city and then grabbed a coffee tueday evening. We met up again on wednesday and he gave me a little tour of sydney.

All in all it was a good stop and am now lookig forward to doing a dive in Cairns. I keep hearing really mixed things about the diving here. A lot of people say it's not worth paying all the money, that it's better to just snorkel, but I am dying to do a dive again, so I hope i am able to organize it quickly. Because of flying there is only a short window where I can organize it.

Not a lot else is going on right now. I am hoping the hostel I booked in Cairns is a little nicer than the one in Sydney. It's a little one just outside of the town. I think there will be more travellers then the one in Sydney. Most people were staying there while working in Sydney for a few months. However there were also a lot of permanant residents - someone had been staying in a 10 bed dorm for almost two years. I know GOOD GOLLY! I really can't think of anything more horrible, but he said he really liked the social aspect of a hostel and never got around to finding an apartment or anything.

We are about to land, so hopefully this will get posted soon.