Raj: In this picture I'm sporting my scruff - while I can. When we leave Malaysia for Vietnam on 17 May, I've been told to look "presentable" for Vietnam immigration and given security people tend to pick on me I guess the razor will come out on the 16th!

Today we leave Penang Island for Langkawi Island, our last stop in Malaysia. Even better beaches and apparently cheaper beers (as the island is tax free). More on that latter. Glad we decided on the 20 min flight rather than 3 hour ferry as the wind is on par with a gusty Wellington Norwester - only it's a hot wind.

[ The website has censored my language so ***** = ugger ! ]

On the Raj (and Vikki) factor: We've had a number of b***** me moments which peaked last night. About 2 weeks ago Vikki's credit got scammed and had to be cancelled, and with that all accommodation re-booked. Hopefully we'll get our money back (quite a bit got taken). Her replacement card got sent to the wrong address in UK (where we'll be in early June) so Kiwibank is resending...b***** me. During the week Vietnam Airlines changed our flights (twice) so we've changed our travel plans and re-booked accommodation, cars and flights in Vietnam - with penalty or no compensation...b***** me twice (oh and an overnight train also got canned so we need to work through that). And then yesterday both my credit card and debit cards stopped working - 3 cards between us, no credit...b***** me thrice. Thanks to Pat (Vikki's mum) for letting us use her card to rebook a flight, only to find out latter her card has to be physically presented at check-in, so now we have to cancel the flights again and find a travel office to re-sort and make payment...b***** me all over! Hopefully our luck improves from here.