Royal Princess, Narathiwat

... get a cold beer?' because I had asked the very same question. According to the Lonely Planet book we consulted there is no alcohol on the islands, but they are probably towing the Muslim party line. There is alcohol but no licenses to sell it. Two nights ago the police raided the island and shut down The Bamboo Bar, confiscated a load of alcohol and took all their music and equipment. but the very next day the bars were open again for business. It's a game they ...

... on Long Beach. Two doors down from the Matahari is the very run down Symphony Village, overpriced for what they are (just little A frame huts) with shared dilapidated shower and toilet block, but with arguably the best location on the beach. The free hut they had is at the front and is less than 20 metres from the sea. Problem sorted. I'm sat typing this, overlooking the sea which is a beautiful turquoise colour, lapping against perfectly white sand. Last night there was ...

We made a unplanned decision to catch the jungle train through central Malaysia to Kota Bharu. It was a very long days travelling, we caught the local bus from Kuala Tahan, to Jerantut (1 hr 45 mins) at 7:30am, and then waited for the train, which left at 12:38, and took about 9 hours to get to Wakaf Bharu, where we then had to catch a taxi to Kota Bharu. This was all based on the idea that Kota Bharu might be a bit different and less touristy than other places we are going ...

... blasted the AC the whole way. I think it was about 10C in the bus. Even Sean was cold ...we were very happy to come back in the heat when we got out of the bus. Now we are in Melaka in the SW of Malaysia and tomorrow is our last day in this country. WE are heading to Singapore on Thursday morning. I will write the blog for Melaka after tomorrow so there is only one entry for that city. Only one week to go before the return!

... day and our boat went flying up and down and I did not enjoy the trip one single bit !! There are many resorts around the island of Perhentian and it is divided into 2 islands The Big ("Besar") and Small ("Kecil"). We have booked to stay at the Watercolours Resort at the Small Island. They also have one at the Big Island, which is more on the budget side. Will write more when we reach there!

... AS we sat there gazing into the distance and taking all the beauty in....Hels said that she thought the wet clothes would dry quicker up here than at our hut and away she went........ Had breakfast and sat around as our last day and we had asked for some abseiling down the waterfall. They said they would arrange, so breakfast at 8.30 ( we had it at 9.40 ) but had superb pancakes and coconut jam cooked by Yat. We were also told to be ready for abseiling at 9.30 ...

... are a lot more western than anywhere else we've been on our trip. I got very excited by the A&W and we had our lunch there one day. Of course being in a strict Muslim area, there is no pork served anywhere, so sadly no Teen Burger for me. And they were out of onion rings. So it was a bit disappointing, but I did have Root Beer and Malx a Root Beer Float, so that was good. Next we are off to Kuala Lumpur on the Jungle Train. Sounds intriguing! Lots of love, K & M

... We had drinks at a stall and ate keropok lekor and kacang rebus. This was better I thought than that long drive to Pantai Tok Bali the day before. We had a good, simple but fulfilling dinner at the nearby mamak stall. No protocol, just us. It was good by KL standards. The maggi mee goreng was well cooked and so was the other stuff. My appetite finally came back and I was so hungry and wolfed down one roti canai with the minimal amount of dhall.

Friday is a Muslim holy day, so almost everything in Kotu Bharu was closed today. The only thing that was open was the market, so after breakfast at the hotel we all headed over there. The market was really fantastic though. It was kind of like a farmers market; there were tons of fruits and veggies everywhere. I used to go to farmers markets with my grandfather ...

Ce matin dernier petit dejeuner au Tuna Bay. Pour Killian, c'est devenu bien roder. Il va se servir lui meme. Ca commence par deux tartines grilles, dans la super machine a tapis roulant. On mets les tartines d'un cote, deux l'une a cote de l'autres. Elles transitent sur un tapis roulant au-dessus des resistances chauffantes et elles sortent de l'autre cote grillees! Fascinant pour Killian. Avec ca, un peu de beurre. Ensuite le bol de cereale Nestle au chocolat ...