Bizarrely we have a mini bus all to ourselves from Cameron Highlands to KL along some very windy roads and eventually to motorway. Dropped off close to the Chow Kit mono-rail station we immediately got lost walking around the complex ramadan markets that cover every bit of of pavement. The hostel is on the fourth floor of a rather innocuous, almost derelict looking building. With only an A4 piece of paper sign to suggest you have the right place we were rather...

We leave Taman Negara early by boat which is very beautiful 2 hour ride down river passing jungle and Orang-Asli villages. We have a scary moment when there is a 50p size spider that jumps at Andy but after squashing it with my bag we are back to happy days although a little tentative looking out for any more. When we arrive at the port we are instructed to have lunch, it's only 11am and the local restaurant that is serving food provides some of the worst food ...

After a 30min speed boat ride, followed by a 9hour coach/mini bus journey including a broken down coach, lots of palm oil plantations and a loony mini bus driver that must have been late for his dinner we arrived in Taman Negara National Park. Malaysia's first national park. The first thing that struck me as I got off the bus was that the smell in the air reminded me of the Sheffield Winter Gardens - hot, humid and earthy. We made our way to our hostel that the L...

Following our instructions we meet a Chinese man who runs a "Kodak" shop and get a taxi to Kuala Besut. The taxi driver was obviously a fan of touring car racing (and Luc Bessons film Taxi) and liked to practice his high speed bumper to bumper driving skills. We arrive at the port safe but slightly disturbed. After that ride a taxi boat to the Perhentian islands sounded pleasant. This taxi boat has some serious acceleration and it's a struggle to s...