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True to his word our taxi arrived and we set off for the Highlands. The roads are very good with the first 200 kilometres on motorway which was a little busier than normal as the Country had been given an extra day off because of Malaysia's victory last night.  Something us Scotland fans are unlikely to experience unless we can enter the Suzuki Cup.

We turned on to very winding mountain roads for the final 80 km – the roads are like B roads with tight bends, fantastic views and little room for manoeuvre. As we climbed higher and higher we could see the cloud washed valleys below and we got our first sight of the tea plantations - which were spectacular. The dense jungle has been hacked out and tea bushes of every shade of green carpet the valleys and hillsides.  

We negotiate the tight hairpin bends praying no-one is coming the other way although our driver seems blissfully unaware that such an event will happen as he cuts the corners.  He told us that lorries fill the road first thing in the morning  rattling down the roads taking fresh fruit and veg to markets – there’s barely room for one car let alone lorries so I’m pleased it’s past 12.

We arrive at the Bates Motel, sorry the Century Pines hotel which is cold and musty – so are the staff, particularly the desk clerk who disconcertingly has one brown and one blue eye – did Bowie ever gig up here? The room is ok and as it’s significantly cooler we have a quick change into warmer gear and head into Tanah Rata to explore.  30 minutes later we’re done – Ardrossan eat your heart out.

We consider our options, particularly where we might take our first repast.  There are quite a lot of ‘restaurants’ but the German Beerhall catches our eye. We head up the stairs to investigate and are met by a small, thin Indian gentleman who is tipsy but promises tantalising food.  He prevails upon us to stay in his empty gaff but we decline. He told us how good his restaurant was and we said we would be back later and bid him farewell but even the promise of a full refund is unlikely to lure us back.

We had a beer in a little bar then got a taxi to Ye Olde Smoke House up the road which was like a little English pub built in 1937 by a Scot.  The taxi we got probably dated from the same time as neither the dials nor the door handles worked.  The Smoke House is a haunt favoured by expats and is between Tanah Rata and Brinchang - an open log fire and brasses on the walls seems out of place but was welcome as there was a chill.  We checked out the menu and decided that after robbing a bank we would return on New Year’s day to treat ourselves to some English grub.  Roast dinners, Yorkshire Puds, Scotch Broth and pies – and chalky Tetley beer too.

When we got back into TanaRata we found a great restaurant, the Sri Brinchamp serving tasty Southern Indian food.  The tandoors were glowing brightly and we enjoyed tandoori chicken, Biriyani and fluffy nan bread washed down with bottled Guinness – look out plumbing! The place is popular with locals and tourists and the waiters were great as I walked around the kitchen area tasting food and choosing our dinner. 

Up early on New Year’s eve to start our morning trip. We needlessly set our alarm unaware that the mosque next door does an extremely effective job by starting its call to prayers at 6 am – and no room for returning to the arm’s of Morpheus as the broadcast then continues for at least an hour.

Our transport was in a battered Toyota 4WD, and on the way to our first call we passed many battered landrovers and dented cars.  After an hour I began to understand why cars were like this.  The roads are narrower, often single track, pot holed and steep with no obvious room for vehicles to pass.  Our driver demonstrated considerable skill as we twisted and turned up the road to Mount Brinchang – but I couldn’t look out of the window as we passed cars on the way down as the drops were terrifying with no barriers between ourselves and the jungle below.

We started at Mount Brinchang, 6,666 feet above sea level and promising spectacular views of the Highlands. Unfortunately, the summit was surrounded by mist and all we could see from the observation tower was…..mist.  We took the guide’s word for it that the views were lovely.

Did you really expect us to photograph mist?

About 100 feet down the mountain we went on a short trek into the mossy forest.  The mossy, muddy forest as it turned out - all the fallen leaves and mud made for a difficult but rewarding walk where we photographed monkey cups which look like venus fly traps which collect insects and water – monkeys love the content which is said to be sweet.

Back to our little bus we continue down the mountain always meeting other vehicles on the bends of this single track road with steep drops into the jungle. As the mist lifts we see spectacular views of the tea plantations.  At the Boh tea plantation founded and planted by Scots who must have been drawn to the mist and rain we see the tea making process before having tea and scones on the veranda.  The views from the tea room which overlooks the plantations are lovely and do some justice to our cream tea.

Our last stop was a butterfly farm.  Housing all sorts of exotic insects and reptiles, as well butterflies the ‘farm’ was quite surprising.  Our guide opened cages and picked out an assortment of insects for us (John) to handle – a rhino beetle which looked like it could do some damage and a gravity defying gecko.  The most impressive insect was the leaf insect – even at close quarters its camouflage was amazing. I breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed the cages with scorpion, hairy spiders and snakes were padlocked shut although our guide suggested we could handle the scorpions if we liked.

The colours of the plants and butterflies were vibrant and we walked through an enclosure surrounded by a myriad of butterflies some bigger than your hand displaying all colours of the rainbow. 

Arriving back at our hotel we dodged a couple of rain showers and relaxed before heading for Starbucks where we can get free wifi.  We had no plans for New Year’s Eve which was just as well as neither did the residents of Tanah Rata.  So we had another good meal at Sri Brinchang and an early night.  After all, we’ve got our unscheduled early morning call arranged for New Year’s day.

Last Train to Titiwangsa

Malaysia is a smutty schoolboy’s dream – so John is in his element.  There’s a wealth of amusing name places – Dang Wangi and Titiwangsa send John into uncontrollable outbursts – so much so that we felt we had to visit Titiwangsa on the KL Monorail just to get a feel for the place together with a picture!

It’s not just the place names, for example the shops are also a source of amusement

Business improved dramatically after the slight name change from 'Off' to 'On'

but by far the most intriguing sign is

We don’t know what sort of equipment is involved, nor its purpose but it conjures up all sorts of possibilities.

John is a little grouchy this morning as he sat up till 4am to see Everton draw with West Ham.  Breakfast in the hotel was interesting watching people make sandwiches and sneak them into bags was fascinating? The people are so brazen, plates of muffins and Danish pastries, Yoghurts and fresh fruit are all removed from the dining room presumably to provide picnic lunches.

We decided to follow the Lonely Planet walk of Chinatown  so after visiting titiwangsa we took the KL Monorail to Chinatown. We started at a Chinese temple before the walk took us past a model shop where John got very excited looking at the miniature cars and aeroplanes.  We then went up Petaling Street which is the equivalent of knock-off alley full of fake gear. The walk was quiet and enjoyable as we nosed around small shops and temples and we stopped for a bite to eat in the Central Market – Chinatown is quite low key during the day but must be fun in the evening - we will see. 

Toward the end of our walk the day became overcast and a storm threatened.  Our attention was drawn to a pet shop with all sorts of dogs housed in smallish glass fronted cages.  We came out of the shop to a deluge of rain of biblical proportions. The rain drops were the size of quails’ eggs and everyone took shelter in the shop fronts.  We had nowhere to go but a Chinese lantern shop and whilst rooting at the back found some old umbrellas.  We bought one but found it would have little effect in the monsoon as the rain was bouncing up.  The weather forecaster called this a shower.  

We managed to stop a cab and in the 6 feet between shop and cab we were soaked. The cab driver charged an exorbitant fee but I’d have happily paid double.  Heading back to the hotel we seemed to be driving in a river rather than a road.  A motorcycle disappeared into a hidden hole like the log flume at Alton Towers. Eventually, we got back to the hotel and not too wet by comparison to the poor sods we observed who were caught in the open.

Malaysia played Indonesia tonight in the final of the Suzuki Cup and all the bars were full of people watching their team.  Malaysia were 3-0 up from the first leg so were hot favourites to win the cup for the first time. There was a crowd approaching 100,000 in Jakarta for the return leg but when Malaysia took the league with a good goal against the run of play it was all over.  Indonesia won 2-1 with a couple of late goals but Malaysia won on aggregate and KL erupted.  Fans spilt out onto the streets and many on motorbikes began circling the roads flying the Malaysian flag and tooting their horns in good natured celebration.

We leave KL tomorrow for the Cameron Highlands in a taxi organised by Isarria a very friendly bell boy who guaranteed the driver as a good friend.

Still FWC - Have a good night on New Year's Eve - we'll catch up in 2011...

The Road to Kuala Lumpur

We left the hotel at 9.30 this morning in our hired car although nobody thought to tell us that our driver, the Thai version of Lewis Hamilton would set a new lap record for the journey to Bangkok airport. Clearly in a great hurry to get to Bangkok he shaved  an hour off the three and a half hour journey setting a world record in the process.  He’d have been even quicker if he hadn’t spent half the time on the phone whilst scribbling notes and reading his book!  We drove so close to the car in front I felt at times as if we should be introduced. 

Check in at the airport was reasonably simple however the queues at passport control took about an hour to clear.  The plane was on time for boarding but late leaving as they had to put luggage on board!  Very unusual how does the luggage normally get to the destination?  The flight with Air Asia was definitely ‘no frills’ – the equivalent of Easy Jet, it was full of strange people who wandered around with no regard to seat belt signs and turbulence.  Legroom was also at a premium – with John’s knees tucked neatly under his chin.  I thought that John was going to flip when the guy in front decided to recline his chair but he bore the imposition with a stoic’s patience.

Arriving in Malaysia, we took ages to get through immigration which again highlighted the Asian approach to queuing – push for the front and everyman for himself.  We've also added another hour to GMT and are now 8 hours ahead of the UK.  We collected our luggage and bought a prepaid taxi voucher to take us the 50 miles to Kuala Lumpur for about £15.

Our drive took about an hour during which time a spectacular thunderstorm raged.  The rain belted down and the lightening was impressive as it lit up the night sky.  As we neared KL, all seasoned travellers call Kuala Lumpur KL, we got our first glimpse of the Petronas Towers – 88 storeys of chrome and glass which gleamed in the distance. Our hotel is only a block away and up close the towers are fantastic structures. 

We’ve got a day to explore KL tomorrow before we head off up country – first impressions suggest a day won’t be enough.

Sing Choirs of Angels

Christmas Day was a quiet affair spent reading books and swimming in the pool and sea.  We enjoyed cocktails by the pool and in the evening we had a big Christmas meal sitting looking out over the sea.   

Dressed for dinner.

The meal was fantastic with about 10 gourmet courses including lamb chops and lobster – no not on the same plate.  Ice cold wine complemented the meal but the high spot was the surprise Christmas choir.  About 20 of the hotel staff walked into the restaurant and sang Christmas carols - it was done really well and brought a tear to the eye.  The staff had been practicing for two weeks and their singing was lovely and sincere. 

When we returned to our room John phoned housekeeping for some tea lights and bath crystals however, something got lost in translation and we ended up with mosquito burners and tea bags – John will need to brush up on his Thai.

The Editor burns the midnight oil

It was lovely to talk briefly with our families – it made us both feel a bit homesick as you all sounded like you were having a good time despite the cold.

We spent Boxing Day being very lazy.  We went into town in the evening where we booked a car to take us to Bangkok airport on the 28^th when our few days of luxury will be over.  We had a lovely meal sitting next to a couple of Belgian lorry drivers the husband and wife where friendly although we found Mrs lorry driver to be rather scary. We got back early so that John could watch Everton but when we got back we found the game wasn’t on so we opened a bottle of wine and spent time sitting outside enjoying the sound of the crickets (Not the cricket which was rubbish) and making plans for the next phase of our travels. 

Almost time to leave Thailand for now and head off to pastures new - next post from Kuala Lumpur - catch you later.

Happy Christmas Mr Lobster

Lazy Christmas Eve

We awoke to the birds singing and the sun shining. Breakfast was quite a regal affair being seated in chairs the size of sofas, I enjoyed a breakfast of smoked salmon scrambled eggs and bacon. Jjohn gave the salmon a swerve but still ate well, all the breads are made fresh and the home made jams are superb - too much variety here to maintain a trim figure.

We spent a lazy day in the sea and the pool before stopping for afternoon tea and home-made biscuits and delicacies which tasted good but we haven’t got a clue what they contained. 

Out to town about 8pm for massive tiger prawns ummmmm and a few beers. The latest way to sell time share is for Thai boys and girls to walk up and down the road with Christmas hats on playing Christmas tunes, tacky but entertaining.

We found a little bar where Ami, the waitress spoke amazing English and told us of a man who could provide us with transport back to Bangkok at a very reasonable price, so we will visit again to make arrangements and share a few more beers.

After having such a relaxing day we felt shattered so headed back to the villa and by 10.30 we were in bed ready for Christmas Day.

Tomorrow, we will be doing little or nothing except soaking up the sun and looking forward to our gala Christmas dinner – we’ll tell you all about it on Boxing Day. Until then, Merry Christmas to everyone – we miss you but not the weather – lots of love and have a good one wherever you are.

Lucy and John xxxx

PS Thanks Nic for the picture of Izzy with her missing tooth -have you noticed they always come out the eve of when she is going to be photographed?

PPS Neither Zulu nor the Great Escape are on tv here - :-(