Today we went for a drive and many stop-offs at The Cameron-Highlands. Although it was really cloudy so the views weren't fantastic but still a great day. We saw many hill stations and although they weren't as great as in India they were still impressive and it was the first time Neil and Haze had seen them so it was well worth it.

We then we to a tea factory that was unfortunately partly closed before going to a strawberry farm to eat some tasty strawberry treats.

At the Strawberry farm

Then in the evening we stayed at our guest House and had some beers whilst chatting the night away.

written by  chrischarly on May 3, 2011 from Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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This morning we woke up, it was still cloudy and raining, and we had breakfast before hitting the twisty turny roads.

Hazel enjoying the scenic drive

There were many landslides on the way, which made life difficult for Chris driving. Especially as he hilariously pointed out that every stream of water was a Waterfall, however we did find an awesome Waterfall mid journey where we saw.

Waterfall in Cameron Highlands

On the way, we saw many monkeys playing on the side of the road so we decided to stop to take some photos. However as soon as we stopped a massive one came jumping on our car and looking through our window and Reggie even opened the window but soon closed it again when we started yelling at her to close it quickly!

The journey ended in a really roller coaster in a single-track road whilst everyone else tried their hardest not to vomit. Upon arriving in Fraser’s Hill, we started the traditional dance of flitting in between many different types of expensive and disgustingly run-down accommodation ending up back at the first bungalows we first looked at, which frequently happens.

Our apartment in Frasers

We then had a few relaxing beers brought from some seriously miserable staff overlooking the clock Tower roundabout.

Bukit Fraser aka Frasers Hill

written by  chrischarly on May 4, 2011 from Bukit Fraser, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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The Wild Ginger

Nice flowers by Haze

Nice flowers by Haze

Millepede, we think !

Centipedes doing it !

Neil in the Jungle

On the trek in Frasers Hill

They had a great time and poor Chris even found a leech eating his ankle having made it through his socks!

The smallest Leech in the world on Chris' ankle

We then gathered up our things and left Fraser’s Hill heading to our second home, KL.

It was a nice drive and it was amazing at how the temperature slowly creeps up the closer you get to the city. The hottest we saw it was at 43 degrees when we arrived and it was stifling, but stupidly we forgot to take a photo of the temperature gage, remembering only later when it had dropped to 42.

42 degrees, after just dropping from 43

Looking down the mall

We were checked in before going to the Petronas Tower to grab something quick to eat before going to the Aquarium.

Stingrays

A turtle

Jelly fish

Underneath a shark

A scary shark

My leg was hurting and as it was a huge place they gave me a wheelchair to go around which was nice. Everyone seemed to love the Aquarium and unfortunately, we were quite late entering so we missed all the feeding times, but it was still worth the visit. We then headed back to the hotel before going to a night market similar to the one we went to before but in a different location and this time, Chris was tour guide.

Food

The food court where I had to scramble through to get to the bathroom

At the breakfast food court

Chris and Christina

The food court where I had to scramble through to get to the bathroom

Christina took us for breakfast this morning at a Chinese wet market not too far away. We ate like locals trying new things but unfortunately some of it was really spicy and I somehow got some on my finger and then rubbed my eye. Chilli in the eye is painful and trying to navigate my way through the full street with tables and chairs everywhere and into a bathroom to wash, it out when I couldn’t see or walk properly was a mission. After, we went to a place that sells loads of local chocolate with many free samples, yummy before Christina took me to her local doctor to get my stitches out. Unfortunately, only 3 of the stitches were ready to come out and the other 4 had to stay for an extra 4 days. The doctor also had to pick all the scabs off to get to them and he wasn’t as gentle and the other in the first clinic. My knee was then tender for the rest of the day and bleeding.

An explanation into Pewter

Things made out of pewter

Me

We then went back to our guestHouse for a while before going to Royal Selangor where they make Pewter, which was really interesting before the others climbed the Batu Caves and I sat and waited at the bottom.

The furthest I got to seeing Batu Caves

Looking up

Looking down at the hundreds of steps

A temple

Haze taking over the job as receptionist

We then went on a lovely drive through the forest and saw some huge waterfalls and some fantastic scenery before heading to Christina’s House before all going out to dinner at an Indonesian restaurant.

A waterfall

Everyone and the Indonesian Restaurant

Haze enjoying some Indonesian food... pasta

We then went to one last stop, which was at a lookout point not too far away where you could see the whole of KL lit up including the Petronas and Sky Towers before the lights went off at midnight.

KL at night

Kuala lumpur at night

Chris and I

Me and my oober gorgeous sister

Neil and Reggie looking cute!

written by  chrischarly on May 6, 2011 from Kuala Selangor, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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All dressed up and looking good

Neil and Daise

One of the stops on the Heriatge Walk

A mosque

A tortoise

Lizard

Today was our last full day in KL for a while and everyone except me went to the Heritage Walk, which was about 2 hours long before Chris came back to meet me and the others went up the KL Sky Tower.

The view from the sky tower

We decided not to go as we had been already and we met them at the Pavilion for something to eat before heading back and meeting Christina and some of their friends to continue exploring. As we had a hire car, it made sense to explore some other places instead of just staying in the centre.

Reggie looking like she's loving the durian

The beloved durian

Durian

Eating durian

Our first stop was to get some durian for the others to try and Neil seemed to quite like it, whilst Reggie hated it and Haze slept in the car.

Neil and his new friend

Monkey with a HUGE tail

On the train to see the monkeys

A monkey with it's baby, a different colour when under 2 weeks old

Neil

Reggie

Haze petrified at the monkeys trying to grab food

We then went to Kuala Selangor to see some tame monkeys to play with and feed before going to a tasty seafood restaurant for dinner and to watch the sunset over a pretty river.

A lovely sunset over the river

A cute boat

At the breakfast food court

Houses on stilts

A man and cute child

We then took a further drive to go and see thousands of fireflies.

Chris squeezing into a life-jacket!

The best photo we could get of the fireflies... aka nothing

Apparently, there are only 2 places in the world to see fireflies in huge groups and we went to one of them at about 10pm at night taking a rowing boat along the river to see them in groups on trees. It was pretty incredible to see them all together and flashing in unison 3 times a second. Then after the fireflies, we took the long drive back, exhausted, and then packed to leave tomorrow before finally going to sleep at around 2am. Another long day.

written by  chrischarly on May 7, 2011 from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Mount Kinabalu

Today was a really sad day as Haze left… We woke up at 6, were showered and then drove to KLIA. Chris and Neil then dropped Haze, Reggie and myself off to get Haze checked in whilst they took back the hire car. Checking in was pretty easy and then we sat and waited for the guys to show back up so Haze could say goodbye to them before she went. I walked Haze as far as I could before security and guided her as best as I could in what I thought to be the right direction hanging over the balcony waving for as long as I could until she eventually disappeared. As soon as she was gone, I missed her loads. It would be so quiet without her and a long time until I saw her again. We then took a bus to LCC terminal in preparation for our flight to Kota Kinabalu, which took 2 ½ hours.

The market with lots of lovely fresh fish but too much blood

Once there we took a short taxi, ride to our hotel, and instantly fell in love with the place and the town. This side of Malaysia is so different; you would think you were in a different country if you didn’t know any better. It is nowhere near as built up as the Peninsula and seems a lot poorer but in spite of this, we love it even more. We once again feel like we are travelling again!

Bloody vigin shots!!! Yummy!!!

In the evening, we walked around a huge night market full of locals selling fresh fish, vegetables, and cooked foods. We decided to eat there for dinner and then went to a cheesy locals bar called ‘BED’ afterwards.

written by  chrischarly on May 8, 2011 from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Outside our lodge

Neil and Reggie woke up early to head to an island just off from Kota Kinabalu making a brief stopover at the dentist as poor Neil’s Wisdom tooth is coming through whilst me and Chris enjoyed a relaxing lie-in! The reason why we didn’t go with them was because I had to once again go back to the clinic and it’s pointless us all going. The clinic was nice and the doctor was friendly and spoke amazing English so it was pretty easy. I finally got the remaining 4 stitches out of my knee and it wasn’t as painful as I expected it to be, luckily. I do however have 2 holes in my knee where the stitches have moved which isn’t good. The doctor also wasn’t too pleased about it and considered putting in more stitches, which thankfully he decided against. He then contemplated gluing my knee back together, but it wasn’t clean enough to do so, so I now have to keep it covered again and rest it as much as possible as well as keeping it straight. Exactly the opposite to what we all thought would be best, which is probably why the stiches have moved. Not exactly ideal with Neil and Reggie here and trekking that we’ve planned to do this coming week, but never mind.

The food court where I had to scramble through to get to the bathroom

We then went back, chilled at our hotel, and got chatting to some other travellers especially a NZ girl called Justine who is a crazy ass traveller who is now planning to meet us in Sepilok once the others have left.

written by  chrischarly on May 9, 2011 from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Neil pointing at a flying squirrel

On the bus to Sepilok

Our dormitory

Chairs we dare not sit in

Once there we spent the evening sat in the bar, relaxing before retiring to our 12 bunk bedded dormitory.

written by  chrischarly on May 10, 2011 from Sepilok, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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About to go on the boat

Where we stayed

After a surprisingly perfect night’s sleep we awoke to the sun blaring down on us as our wake up-call before having breakfast and waiting for our pick up to take us to Sukau at 11:30am. It was quite a long drive about 2 ½ hours over a bumpy road. However, when we arrived, it was gorgeous to be in the jungle by the side of the river. We had booked a package which included 2 river cruises, 3 meals, tea, and coffee all day and accommodation for £30pp. So we settled into our rooms before having lunch and then we went on a 2-hour river cruise along the river hoping that we would see orang-utans, elephants, proboscis monkeys and so much more.

A probiscus monkey

The lovely river

Our place we stayed

Excited about our trip

Moi

2 probiscus monkeys

A croc

A crocodile's head

A very shocked expression!

A white-crested hornbill we think

2 pig-tailed monekys at it and looking straight at us!

We weren’t so lucky with the elephants and orang-utans but did manage to see loads of monkeys, proboscis, long and pig-tailed masques, kingfishers, a water monitor Lizard and loads of pretty birds. It was really nice and peaceful out there it was great. In the evening, there was an optional night cruise as well, but we decided to give that a miss figuring there wouldn’t be much to see in the pitch black, so we just relaxed and drank the night away!

written by  chrischarly on May 11, 2011 from Sukau, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Way to foggy to see anything decent!

The foggy morning cruise

We had to get up this morning at 5:30am to be in the restaurant ready to leave on our early morning cruise at 5:50. However, when we got into the bar, over the river was thick with fog, so pointless to leave. So we waited an extra half hour when the fog began to disperse praying we could have spent that extra time in bed instead of waiting.

Us on the boat

A big bird

Another hornbill

One of the many kingfishers we saw

A hornbill

This river cruise was really nice as well but mostly the animals awake were birds and considering we are not ‘twitchers’ we can’t say it was as enjoyable! But still well worth it. Then we came back and showered quickly before our transfer back to Sepilok.

Another ginger photo!

We then had lunch before taking a free shuttle to the Rainforest Discovery Centre, which we walked around for 2 hours. There is an opportunity to see lots of wildlife there but to be fair we saw virtually nothing except a few pretty birds, a black squirrel, and a bright green Lizard.

On the canopy walkway

A lizard

A Black Squirrel

In the rainforest, it was so humid it was literally unbearable, it was actually a relief when the minibus came and picked us up at 4pm!.. In the evening, we all just relaxed and played cards before going back to our dormitory. This time before checking into our dorm, Chris picked the one furthest away and luckily we were the only occupants!

written by  chrischarly on May 12, 2011 from Sukau, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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