Day 19 - Bangkok

At about three o clock this morning i woke up and went to the loo - slide out of bed, tiptoe across room, sneak into bathroom, complete return journey - mission accomplished in top Secret Squirrel silence. Decided to have a drink before returning to the land of nod; reached for bottle of water, smashed it off the bottom of the bedside table, lost hold of the botle which fell on the wooden floor emptying its contents in the process and making enough noise to raise, even if not the dead, definitely Maz. Now nice and wide awake I thought back tp the evening just gone and the journey back to the room from the bar. I could remember Maz having the i-Pad but the camera bag? Rather than wake Maz up and ask i opted for a surreptitious rummage in the various piles of cases - and started to panic when i couldn't find said bag. I was all ready to dive into emergency camera retireval mode when Maz woke up and told me to get back into bed, shut up and stop arsing around! the camera bag was at her bedside all along. 

Eventually i got back to sleep after angsting about more nonsense and finally awoke before the alarm chirrupped into life at eight o clock. Kids were awake, morning routine completed easily and breakfast was squared off leaving us ready to start anaother day of exploration. we took the shuttle bus to the train station and then caught a train into town to our first stop of the day - the home of Jim Thompson. I am not sure if we mentioned JT when we visited Cameron Highlands but he was an American who was posted too and fell in love with Thailand, rejuvenated the Thai silk industry, designed the costumes for the King and I, assembled four traditional Thai houses in the middle of Bangkok for his home and then filled them with all sorts of Siamese artefacts he collected from around the region and then went and disappeared without a trace when he visited Malaysia on holiday. most mysterious. Anyway, fanatastic house and a worthwhile trip. 

(silk weaving at Jim Thompson's house)

next we caught a tuk tuk to the Golden Buddha - what a story that is. Large - tons large - solid gold Buddha hidden by covering it in clay to disguise it from the marauding Burmese infidels - revered in its own right until the 70's when somebody chipped off a bit of plaster and , lo and behold its a special Buddha - twenty five million pounds sterling of special! As with the Royal Palace yesterday, one quickly becomes inured to the decoration, value, intricacy of design and overall goldeness of the whole thing - these temples and artefacts are all on such an unimaginable scale that after a short period of time it simply no longer computes. 

Another thing that has been evident as we have toured and especially here in Thailand is the different attitude people have to religion - it seems to be more of a part of peoples every day lives and also there is a greater acceptance of praying, worshipping, respecting - the whole theatre of the religious event. Also, there is a very strong link between religion and money - no surrptitious passing of the collection plate at the end of the Sunday service. Coming to the temple and putting note after note into the boxes in front of your favourite gods. Also, it is just more interesting - colourful, vibrant, living even. It puts the never ending navel gazing, internecine feuding and hand wringing of the English church into perspective. 

We decided that the Golden Buddha was to be our last idol of the holiday so we waved goodbye to that temple and headed off to a market. we had to get back onto a river ferry but, now old pros, we found the right pier, worked out the direction and bought tickets on board - no wet tourist passes for us! Lily picked kthe first and it was a fashion market which sprawled over hundreds of stalls in countless alleyways, halls and streets. not a lot of fashion was bought but we did stop for some of the most delicious fresh pineapple - yum! Retraced our steps to the pier successfully and headed off to the next stop. 

more markets - the same market as we visited yesterday. The first stop was for some lunch and although there were countless restaurants, stalls and cafes to choose  from we went back to the cafe we visited yesterday to partake of a selection of Thai appetizers. We didn't mention it yesterday but the soundtrack was a combination of Chicago and Delta blues; B.B, Bessie, John Lee, Big Bill - all the favourites and countless more - could have sat there drinking Leo all afternoon. after food, Lily and Maz opted for a thai foot massage whilst George and I explored the retail opportunities. As you may have read yesterday, George had already earmarked a couple of t-shirts to be added to his wardrobe and so we tried to get the right designs in the right size  - with limited success. undeterred, we collected the girls who had been pummelled, stretched, rubbed and kneaded into a near comatose state and went to see if Lly could get some togs too. 

Unfortunately, in the clear light of day the few bits and pieces she had seen no longer worked the same magic and so we soon decided to leave the market and head back to the hotel. We had intended to do Lilttle India and Chinatown too but time had started to run short and so we diecided to have a short break, recharge our batteries and sally forth to the night market later on. More ferries and walking got us home to a nice cup of coffee and a half hour looking at, all the bits and bobs we had bought - as well as checking in for our flight tomorrow and trying to arrange appointments to meet up with friends in HK. 

one last burst of energy saw us back at the station boarding a train to a nightmarket - t-shirts, trainers, watches, pens, nick nacks (?) and all sorts of other things which are not suited to a family blog such as this. Maz haggled like a trooper, Lily bought more things than all the rest of us combined and i grew disillusioned with the whole thing - too tired to haggle but i guess that just means i don't really want 'it' anyway. the lack of dinner, the incessant noise, the people everywhere and the lack of an off switch on the Big Mango sent us back to the metro and a cab brought us home. A snack in the lobby to keep us alive until morning and a drink to take the edge off and now lights out. With the camera bag at my side and the water bottle on top of the table it's time for a, hopefully, less eventful night's sleep than the last. 

arrivederci, K. 

Day 18 - Bangkok

Today we didn't get an alarm call from M & D - I actually called them because we were worried that it was Singapore Day 1 all over sgain when we didn't get woken up until midday!  But that wasn't the case, we had just woken up early because of the time difference between Malaysia and Thailand.

We got dressed sharply and went down to breakfast.  Breakfast was good, I liked it.  Mine mainly consisted of pancakes, roast potatoes and chicken sausages.  Then out.  First we went on a ferry across the river Chao Phraya to catch a bigger boat to take us to the Grand Royal Palace.  It.  Was.  Amazing!!!  It was so beautiful with porcelain temples, a jade buddha, and gold EVERYWHERE!!!  We spent lots of time there because there was so much to see.

  After a full dose of beauty and culture, we were going to walk to another temple but we got suckered in to taking a Tuk-Tuk ride that promised to take us to every temple you could ever want to see for 20 Baht (about 50p).  After s short and scary ride, dodging in between holiday coaches and driving towards on-coming cars at top speed we got to our next stop - the Standing Buddha which was ginormous but not as ginormous as the packet of peanut brittle we got outside it! 

Next the Tuk-Tuk took us to a suit shop where they tried to convince Dad to buy a cheap knock-off suit and when Dad explained that he was as scruffy at work as he is on holiday they almost started crying and walked off in a huff.   Our Tuk-Tuk driver was a scam artist who tried to explain that he had to take us to lots of souvenir shops to get a special petrol coupon from the government because it was Bangkok Tourist day so our next stop was a jewelry shop selling mainly sapphires, dismonds and rubies.  After lots of walking around we bought a tigers-eye bracelet for Dad and a jade elephant for Lil, I even got a jade tortoise thrown in for free!

After the jewelry store we had another nerve-wracking drive to the Reclining Buddha where we said goodbye to our Tuk Tuk drivers.  Now, this buddha WAS huge.  The soles of his feet were amazingly decorated with Mother-Of-Pearl and he was all painted gold.  We exchanged some notes for lots of coins to put into a long row of donation pots.  Because so many other people were also doing this it made a lovely rattling noise which made the atmosphere in the temple awe-inspiring.   When we left th temple we had a bit of a walk about and saw a notice which warned us not to hire Tuk-Tuk drivers who take you to discount jewelry stores - too late!!!

Next we went to the Wat Arun temple which had very steep steps all the way to the top, so steep that when one lady got to the top her flip-flop fell off and fell all the way  down to the bottom, then she cried!!  At the top there were great views of the river and the barges going along it.  

All templed-out we got back on our tourist boat to Khao San road where we had dinner.  We had beautiful Thai curries and rice and spring rolls and Pad Thai.  There were alot of stalls selling great t-shirts so we're going back tomorrow to buy them all (I've got dibs on two) ;). We couldn't buy them when we were there cos none of the flipping bank machines would let us get out money (more than 50 baht) but on the way home we finally managed to find one that would.

Now we're back at the Ibis in the bar.  I've just downed 2 Fantas and I'm ready to sleep.

Adios

George

Day 17 - Langkawi to Bangkok

So, time to say goodbye to Malaysia today and to move on to the 3rd country in our South East Asia itinerary.  I must admit I did have a bit of an "end of the holiday" feeling last night and this morning, more than a little reluctant to leave our paradise island and head off to another big city.  Sad too, to be saying goodbye to Malaysia and wondering how long it will be before we return, and if we will ever go back to KL now that any last vestiges of fond feelings I had towards the place I lived for so many years have more or less disappeared.  

We were talking to a Malay woman on our Langkawi boat-trip the other day - she lives in KL - and I was expressing my sadness at the place it has become.  She was quite taken aback by my apparent negativity about her home town.  In her eyes (and I guess in the eyes of many Malaysians), KL's soaring skyscrapers and non-stop building development, its superhighways full of trillions of cars, its general 24/7 full-on in-your-faceness are all positives - signs of the country's successful economy and growing prosperity.  Her view (I think) is that we ex-colonial types have no place criticising Malaysia for becoming a fully-developed, major player on the world stage, or to be getting all misty-eyed about the Malaysia of the past and sad that it seems to have put progress and prosperity firmly at the top of its agenda over such secondary considerations as heritage, culture, etc.  And of course she would be right (up to a point) I guess, and I did feel somewhat chastened by her point of view, though I do still think it a shame that KL has lost so much of its past in the pursuit of so-called progress. 

I won't however apologise for much preferring the jungle covered mountains and kampongs and coconut trees and water-buffalo-filled padi fields of Langkawi, the Malaysia I remember from my youth, and a place I would definitely like to revisit before the jungle-covered mountains get studded with too many Holiday Inns and condominiums and observation wheels.  

We arrived in Bangkok early afternoon after an uneventful flight back down to KL to swap planes and head back north to Thailand.  First time here for all of us and first impressions are - it's another hustly-bustly city, perhaps more KL than Singapore - but we shall no doubt have a more accurate impression when we get out and about tomorrow and visit some of the sights.  We're staying at the Ibis which is right on the river and we're looking forward to venturing out later and boarding a river boat for our first Thai dinner...

(Unwinding at the Ibis pool before dinner)

After dinner (last night now) we came back to the hotel and I wrote up the experience and then spent the usual agonising hour trying to get online and post the damned thing only to give up with exhaustion.  As you can see, the bit about dinner didn't save so here is the abridged version: yum.  See pix for more details.

(nb: it was too dark on board to get a good iPad pic of the food, hence the above - that was dessert)

 

Off for my morning shower and breakfast now in preparation for some full-on sightseeing.

TTFN

Maria

Day 16 - Langkawi

At eight o clock i was awoken by the subtle tones of a marimba, recalling me from the arms of Morpheus and delivering me to the air conditioned peace of our house on stilts in the jungle. As Maria lay next to me snoozing and cramming the last few minutes of sleep into the locker marked 'slumbers', i checked my mail (how difficult it is to really let the real world go!) and gave the kids their early morning alarm call. By now well drilled, both chalets were all present and correct twenty minutes later and we headed off to another breakfast feast - how meagre my bowl of porridge will seem when we return to normality!

Once fortified, we strolled from the compound, striking forth in a most adventurous manner to the next door complex which contains a multitude of shops where you can buy all manner of lovely things - "Last seasons Chelsea strip anyone. No, then may i tempt you with a 2012 Poland and Ukraine Euro T-Shirt. My, Sir, you are proving hard to please today. a fluorescent buddah, key chain, i heart Langkawi T-shirt, some flip flops, a large pearlescent green pottery objet d'art, or a ride on a horse - Roll up! Roll up!" putting temptation firmly behind us we made straight for the cable car booking office and got two adults and two kids - since when, by the way, is 12 the end of childhood? Plane tickets, buffets, cable cars, any tourist attraction and Lily is an adult - why so? anyway, i digress.....

The Langkawi cable car is the steepest cable car in the world and by the way Maria gripped onto that seat all the way up the chairs are the tightest bolted down things in the universe! it was great - a little bubble of a capsule to ourselves and apart from the screams of "Sit down you idiot!" all was peaceful as the sights of Langkawi were spread benath us. Four fifths of the way up there was a viewing platform which afforded good views of the environs, views only surpassed by the two platforms at the top of the peak another cable car ride further on. The skybridge was closed off which was a shame as it looked like even more fun - a narrow suspension bridge jutting out and over the jungle to another remote peak. The greenery went on and on, the beaches looked beautiful and the islands dotting the sea beyond the shore shrouded in mist gave the whole a magical quality.

With our poetic bags filled to the brim we boarded another car and trundled back down the hill. it was interesting to note that the way down seemed less steep and faster - both of which were patently false but impressions shared by us all. Back on terrafirma we were offered more polaroid memories (no-one seemed to view the snowstorm scene in which we boarded the Langkawi cable car in 35 degrees of heat as ironic) but rather than risk the further dissatisfaction of certain ingrates (some people didn't even get a plate!) we passed on these and all other retail temptations laid before us in the gift shop and headed on back to the ranch. Swimsuits on, beach bag packed and off we trooped to the pool for an afternoon of relaxation. 

Being succesful in our. mission there is little further to report. sun, pool, sun, sleeping, pool, reading, sun, drinks, pool, reading, beach, sun, sleeping, pool, sun and reading i think sums it up. At one point in the afternon Maria and the kids immersed themselves in local culture by doing some batik painting and very good it looks too. Around this time the pool area was temporarily astir when a BIG monitor lixard was found - from tip to tail probably five foot long. Apparently, when they are this size they can be a danger to humans and so this one was captured, trused and then taken away to be turned into a curry and matching handbag / released back into the wild to frolic with its mates - you decide. 

Earlier this afternon we checked in for our onward flight to Bangkok tomorrow and arranged a car to take us to the airport. I'm actually quite excited as I have never been to Bangkok before and I have heard things both good and bad so i am interested to learn which holds true. However, we will have an early start so once dinner has been done we will have bags to pack and zeds to catch before starting the next leg of our Far Eastern odyssey. 

Night all, K.

Trying to post today's blog entry...

...is proving impossible.  God knows why.  Blogger sucks - big time.  All I have been able to post after an hour of trying is The first half of Lily's post, minus all the pictures.  Really fed up with this stupid app. 

Day 15 - Langkawi

Wow, I think we all have to agree that Langkawi is like a paradise island. Today after being woken up at absurd o'clock in the morning we headed to the cafe to stock up on stodge to last us until lunchtime. We had croissants, pancakes, fruit and pastrys. Then we walked the short distance to the lobby where we waited for the shuttle bus to where we would catch the boat trip we had planned for today.

After a longer then expected ride to the dock side we, along with hundereds of other tourists waited eagerly on the small jetty. Finally the boats started to arrive and collect people to take away.  Luckily out of our group me and George got to sit right at the front with a parent each behind us. To our surprise our boat, which was one of the biggest and had the most people on, was one of the fastest! We set off for our first destination with the wind in our hair.

We stopped at an island that appeared deserted and only jungle. We gingerly made our way up the steps and onto the jetty where we where confronted by some monkeys, we hurriedly followed the group up some steps until we reached the fresh water lake. The lake was shrouded by mountains on most of its sides and gave it a very magical feel. That was until the millions of other tourists came down and started to crowd on to the platforms. We hastily exited only to find MORE monkeys then before, one nearly got hold of my anklet!

On the way to the second island we stopped between the two massive, jungle covered rocks to observe eagles hunting. It was amazing! The driver threw chicken skin into the water and they all came swarming down towards the sea. This happened just off of the second island. When we got to the island we saw lots of people turning left at the end of the jetty, towards one bit of the beach so instead of following the crowd we were trend setters and turned right. The beach was stunning. The sand was really pale and the sea had that sort of graded blue where it is light near the shore and it gets darker and darker. It turned out we were so trendy that everyone else who got off the boats wanted to come and sit next to us, much to our pleasure.

After an hour of splishing and splashing in the warm sea we had to head back to the boat, the ride back was much shorter then expected and so was the bus to the hotel. For the rest of the day we relaxed next to the pool. Then suddenly out of nowhere a whole troop of dusky leaf monkeys ran out of the jungle and up the palm tree that was right infront of our sun loungers. We instantly leapt up and started videoing. It was very exciting.

We then headed back to the chalets where mum started the washing and we watched telly. I got a bit bored of telly so I decided I would go and get the iPad to start my blog. As i was stepping out of Mum and Dad's chalet I spotted a great big lizard just crawling through the undergrowth!

Now we are back at the Chalet after gorging ourselves on food, and yes, mum did have her rendang, just unwinding before bed so we can be up for the cable cars tomorrow. Apparently they are the steepest cable cars in the world so wish us luck!

Bye Bye,

Lily

Day 14 - Langkawi

Today was a relaxing day, maybe one of the most soothing days of the holiday so far.  The day started with a nice walk to the breakfast buffet in the restaurant.  On that walk we encountered a monkey and a massive caterpillar and a chirpy little squirrel.

For me breakfast was very stodgy, but in a good way.  I had 2 glasses of pineapple juice, one bowl of chocolatey cereal, 2 small Danish pastries, quarter of a waffle and a pancake with maple syrup, a paratha, some melon and some pineapple.  That breakfast kept me going until 3.30 when I had some chips.

The activities of the day included swimming in the pool / sea, triple jump & long jump on the beach (which even Dad says I'm good at), volleyball, and relaxing by the pool with a book.  The sun was blisteringly hot and I have now got terrible sunburn even though I was heavily doused in suntan lotion. 

(My tan line) :(

The scenery here is spectacular.  In the morning we have to walk through the jungle, and it comes out onto white sands and mysterious islands and towering mountains.  On our way back to the chalet in the afternoon we saw an 18 inch long lizard and a hornbill bird which looked beautiful. 

Soon we got dressed and ready for dinner, in my case I had beef rendang which is brilliantly cooked chunks of beef in a coconutty and lemongrassy sauce.  Question for you: beef rendang was mum's favourite dish when she was little and she really wants to order it for dinner tomorrow but should she?  Remember she has been a veggie (pescetarian) for around 30 years!  Admittedly she has been scoffing chicken satay all holiday but apparently it doesn't count cos chicken isn't a mammal!!!  

Now we're back at the chalet and I've just had a nice hot shower and I'm ready for tomorrow's boat trip!!

Ciao bambinos!

George

PS: is anybody else ecstatic about the new prince being called George?  

Day 13 - Penang to Langkawi

Take 2

We were awoken (awakened, if you prefer) at 7.30am by the dulcet tones of the headmaster of the local school conducting an open air assembley over the PA, rendering his every wise word loudly and clearly to us sleepy heads on the 12th floor of the Bayview, meaning we were wide awake by the time of our morning alarm at 8am

It didn't really matter as we had planned an early(ish) start to make the most of our remaining hours in Penang and to make up for the debacle of the previous day's "car-hire-return-from-hell".  So we dashed from the hotel (breakfast-less once more) into a cab and set off for more temples - The Temple of the Reclining Buddha and The Temple of the Standing Buddha with the Temple of the Sitting Buddha thrown in for free.  In fact all these temples are free to visit which is, perhaps, why we have visited so many of them - that and the fact that they are so fascinating and bizarre.  Lily (who is a lapsed Buddhist, having taken to the faith for a few days in her earlier years) was full of questions about  the subject and why there are so many different types of Buddhas - fat ones, long ones,  tall ones with disproportionately large hands, ones that look like a Mr Bean / Boy George hybrid - but I found myself quite woefully ignorant on the subject and unable to answer most of her questions.  (Note to self: research Buddhism more thoroughly at the earliest opportunity).  Why Buddha comes in so many shapes and sizes, and why each one seems to have its own set of devotees I do not know.   I must admit I do find it  strange to see just ordinary, sensible-looking people fervently praying and paying homage of food and money before these statues, but that said, I think we all felt a bit touched by the spiritual vibes in these places.

(Mr Bean / Boy George Buddha)

My favourite of the temples was the Temple Of the Reclining Buddha which I used to visit as a child.  I wondered if I would be disappointed on seeing him again as I remembered his as being enormous and often things seem much smaller than when you remembered them as a child.  But no, he's still as impressively massive as ever, with his sparkly pedicured toenails and mystical symbols on the soles of his feet.  I had also remembered seeing a real dead, mummified monk at the temple covered in gold leaf that devotees had rubbed onto his body and so was pleased to see he was still there - and now joined by a couple of new mates, both similarly resplendent in suits of gold.

All templed-out by this stage we left by way of the merchandise stall for Lily to purchase some more gifts for her pals, and then back to the hotel to squeeze the last few bits of our newly acquired schmutter into our already bulging bags, and for a last minute dip in the pool.  Lunch followed at the cafe round the corner (well it had been two hours since pretzels) and then we hopped into our pre-booked cab which whisked us off to the airport for the next leg of our journey.  When I say whisked, I mean we crawled along the haze-ridden, smogged-up, car-clogged, noisy, mental three-lane George Town superhighway at 5mph until we got past the jam at Penang bridge.   By now I think we would all admit to having developed a certain weariness of big, noisy, dirty Asian cities and were certainly ready for a change of scene. 

So, on to Langkawi.  We had a comedy moment in the plane when, not more than 5 minutes after take off, the pilot instructed us to get ready for landing.  We really should have swum it, it's very close to Penang!  And so, as the plane descendeed, we all got our first glimpse of the first place on our itinerary that none of us has ever visited before - little jungle-covered islands dotted about the calm blue sea, with no Sumatran haze dimming the sunshine - hurrah!

We arrived at Berjaya Hotel not 45 minutes after landing and were very pleased to be informed by the receptionist that we were to receive a free upgrade.  That will do nicely thank you!  We then piled into an open-air mini bus thing which ferried us and our luggage a few hundred yards up the path to our little Malay-style chalets, nestled twixt jungly vegetation and the sea.  Oh my.  We have finally arrived at the place I was born to spend the rest of my life in - cool, understated luxury accomodation with a verandah and marble floors and a ceiling fan AND air-con and a walk in shower AND a bath and a ginormous bed and a TV almost the same size as the bed and an amazing view and monkeys that come in and steal your stuff if you don't close AND lock the doors.  I'm leaving ours unlocked in the hope that a troop of Jungle Book style simians stroll through the patio doors and start jiving around the bedroom...

Paradise was put momentarily on hold however when it transpired that the bags of nuts and crisps and various exotic lotions and potions atop the mini bar and which I'd given the green light to the kids to scoff and/or smear themselves in, were not complimentary as I had thought but actually cost approximately one million pounds each.  Or so you would think from the way the bill-payer carried on about it.  Even now I am self-flagellating (ooo-err!) as I write this, in the hope that I can make amends for this uncharacteristic lapse in judgement, however I think I may be reminded of my faux-pas at regular intervals for the rest of our stay...

Paradise was then further interrupted by the arrival of dark clouds, a sudden drop in temperature and then a torrent of big splashy drops of rain - a portent of doom perhaps?  No, just a brief tropical downpour.  Our moods soon lifted once the sun returned, all reproachments re: the nuts / crisps / lotions fiasco put on the backburner, and a jump in the beautiful pool had us all smiling again.

We rounded off the evening with a lovely dinner in one of the restaurants here and then back to our chalet where, for the second time this evening I have slaved over a hot iPad to bring you our daily travel bulletin.  If I lose this post again I am throwing myself off the verandah and that's no idle threat.

Maria

Day 13 - Absolutely Gutted

I've just spent an hour writing up our day and the bloody internet went down as I was posting it and the post has been lost forever.  It was a good one too.  Too bad.  We're still alive, everything is great (apart from the fact that it's late and I'm fuming like a fuming thing).

Maria

Day 12 - Penang

,After an undisturbed night's slumbers the alarm woke me at 08:00, up early to make the most of our full day in Penang. Things started to go slightly awry when we learned that we weren't booked in for breakfast but on a room only basis but undeterred we headed off to the Snake Temple. We knew from our map - akin to somthing drawn by a precocious four year old armed with a new box of Crayola - that the temple was in the general direction of the airport but as we were carried along in streams of morning traffic we saw no signs until finally a U-Turn NOW! sign set wheels to screeching, horns to blaring and family Harris tootling back templewards. Once parked, in the shade of a handy tree, food was the first call and we chose a selection of fresh mango (yum!), pineapple, (double yum!!), coconut milk fresh from the coconut and prepared by a man and his two foot long parang (big curvy knife) (:-s), and assorted chocolate and sugar snacks to even the balance. 

Into the temple we headed, managing to avoid the temptation of buying a roulette set, model of a jumbo jet, hat with horns, rubber chicken or NYPD police set, and were somewhat underwhelmed when we reached the altar to find two cane cake satnds adorned with three absolutley motionless pit vipers. Hmmmm, i thought, hmmmmmm. The thing about Malaysia is that the people seem really disinterested in either you or their attraction - no eye contact, greetings, information - "this is it - what did you expect?". Luckily we walked though an unmarked door and found Snake Temple part two - this time columns with cane hat racks encircled with many more pit vipers and a big snake which was regularly hauled out of its case and draped on tourists - George and Maz amongst them. 

(A sign above the giant tortoise which amused us all somewhat)

the tour finished off with a rather sad snake zoo - to be honest i expected more slithering - but there were a couple of HUGE snakes - reticulated pythons and a king cobra who definitely would cause a girlish scream and a waving of hands Al Jolson style if met in a darkened alley. Snaked up to the max we headed for the airport to return the car - a seemingly innocent task which turned into the low point of the holiday so far so let's skip past that and change scenes to the hotel pool where G, L and I splished and splashed and slept (well, i did) for a couple of hours whilst Maz had a rest in a darkened room. Four o clock arrived, the sun started to sink and the pool started to fill with workers returning from their offices and to be honest i had heard enough from the Australian who had a new tattoo everytime he visited a new city - even the story of how he and his mates got an American lady so drunk they managed to tattoo her chest with Bismarck before she awoke! - so back to the room I tripped. 

Food was pretty high on everyone's agenda so we left the hotel and found a litle restaurant with an international menu. Hardened curry heads M&K went for Char Koay Teow and Nasi Lemak whilst the kids took advantage of having a menu which included things in English to enjoy an omelette and fish and chips - which were none too shabby by the look of the clean plates at meal's end. Thus fortified we headed off for the Clan Jetties, the site of the first Chinese settlement in Penang, by the coast with lots of houses built on stilts either side of a central pier jutting out into the sea. Now UNESCO protected this is a fascinating glimpse of how things once were - and indeed still are for those living here.

Once finished there we started to walk home and headed, when opportunity allowed, for Little India which was filled with colour, LOUD music, mopeds and hundreds of food stalls celebrating Ramadan. So much delicious food, fantastic sights, delicious smells, noise, people, incredible food - so incredible we bought some of almost everything. Some we knew like samosa, pakora and bhaji but others such as the long fried ribbons of dough covered in orange stuff, the green spring rolls which are coconut and sticky rice concoctions for dessert and other bits and bobs were new to all of us. Some Thai chilli sauce to spice things up, a round of Kickapoo to wash things down and now we are back at the hotel ready for an illicit street food feast!

Sitting cross legged on the carpet scoffong illicit goodies reminded us of midnight feasts in dormitories at school or on field trips, waiting for the teacher ( or in this case the hotel manager) to burst in and give us Saturday morning detention. The dahl which came with the lattice breads was lovely, the orange stuff was VERY sweet and the green sweet spring rolls were delicious - coconut, palm syrup and rice in a sweet pastry.....more please! Replete, we made a quick sojourn to the lobby to check in for our flights tomorrow and then - devils that we are - we headed to the revolving restaurant and rooftop bar for some cocktails. of course, the restaurant was on its final revolution when we arrived before being closed for the night (such is the impeccable Harris timing!) but the mojito was cold and the views were a fine sign off to our stay on the Pearl of the Orient. Next stop Langkawi! 

Kent.