Pantai Timur Inn Kota Bharu

I open my eyes, leap out of bed, check my ipod which reads 4.39 am UK time and I pull back the mosi net on Carolyns bed to tell Dom it's 9.39am here and he is late for diving!! Hang on a minute Domiic isn't there...just a startled Carolyn who is obviously a little shocked at her rude awakening!! It's half 11 she exclaims...no way I just checked my Ipod and it said...oh yeah my maths always was ****!! 11.39am and Dominic has been gone for hours ...

So after little sleep we hop on our mini bus, collect a bunch of others heading for the Perhentians also and off we go!! The roads in Malaysia are remarkably better than those in Indonesia but it doesn't mean the drivers are...!! Our driver swerved his way in and out of the on coming traffic whilst driving so quickly over bumps that I bounced so high off my seat I could feel the roof of the car against my hairband!! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!!<br> <br> Anyway we make it to Kuala ...

... table.... looking a little shady. Well.... I didn't have too many options so I stripped down to my bikini and hoped for the best! When we first sat down I was in close range for the guys to ogle.... so Luc and I switched places so that he was in the way of them staring (which they blatantly were). No sooner had we switched that the guys all stripped down to there underwear (Does anyone wear a real bathing suit in Malaysia?) and jumped in the pool.... all making there way to a spot in the ...

... mum coming round the corner and about to be 'found out'. It's a lizard, a large gecko really, and we had 2 of them living in our hut, so we became quite well acquainted over the few days we were there. Tomorrow it's up early and away to Tenah Merah, or, if we can make it in one day, Jeli. From Jeli the road climbs up, so that will be a hard day, but we think it should only take us 2 days from there. Laters

... apparently the only jetty is private!). That was quite something. We stayed in the same guest house as the last time, catching up on emails and doing more research about the trip. We also did our eVisitor visa to Australia which was immediately granted. Quite painless! We went to the town later on, checking on the night market "same same" as the Thai would say! <br><br><br>Tomorrow, we head to Taman Negara on the jungle train...stay tuned!

... worth mentioning here is that Malaysia is a muslim country. We arrived on Friday 5th Sept and unfortunately for us Ramadan had started on the previous Wednesday. As muslims are not allowed to eat after sunrise and before sunset amongst other things, it meant a lot of shops and restaurants would only open late in the evening and be closed all day. This didn't really affect us on the islands as they are so touristy but it did when we got onto the ...

... etc etc. Needless to say it was pretty much near impossible to get any kind of real sleep. 6.00am we arrived into the Thai boarder town of Sungai Kolok. Jumped on the back of a motorbike and drove the 5 or so min to the boarder crossing which was quick and painless.

Day 20 (Saturday) - KOTA BHARU Flew to Kota Bharu. Prof Zulmi awaited us at the airport which was a pleasant surpise. Our drivers were Adi and Razmi, staff of Prof Zulmi, pleasant and easy-going. Lunch - Nasi ulam restaurant under the traditional wooden museum. Everyone ate with gusto. I felt horrible and sick. Then we visited Istana Jahar. Hau felt sick and asked to go back to hotel. I wanted badly but felt obliged to bring the rest to visit ...

... no longer fit me anyhow!), I cleaned the mold off my passport, dug out my China Airlines ticket, picked up the phone and called their office in Kuala Lumpur to reschedule my flight home in the end of August. I was worried that I might have problems rescheduling the flight, as the travel agent I changed it through in Cambodia was a bit ...

... again, although the fact that he had been travelling for 36hrs and did not smell the sweetest was not ideal. Within 30 seconds of arriving on the island I has already decided that this place beat any of the Thai islands by a country mile. I have never seen water like it. Malaysia in general seems to be far more relaxed and friendly. The locals not quite so money grabbing. I fear that I am beginning to get a little dull so I will not write much ...