There is so much to see and do in Kuala Lumpur and I only had a day and a half so I barely scratched the surface. We had a luxury bus ride from Cameron Highlands - the fanciest bus I've ever been on, more like business class on an airplane but without the flight attendants. When we arrived Nigel took us for a quick walk around and we saw many different aspects of the city - a Hindu temple, a Chinese temple, a church, a mosque, modern skyscrapers, a park with foun...

After a very rocky bus ride through the mountains we arrived in Cameron Highlands, the 'bread basket of Malaysia'. On the way we passed lots of farms on the hillsides - vegetables, flowers and tea are the three main industries here and they export vegetables throughout Malaysia and flowers all over Asia and the Middle East. The strawberry trade in particular seems to have become a local obsession - there are images of strawberries and strawberry souvenirs all ove...

Penang is an eclectic mix of cultures - it was colonised by the British in the 1700s though the bulk of population is made up of ethnic Malaysian, Chinese and Indian people. Many of the buildings that are crammed into the narrow streets have been around since colonial times and are small, pretty and European in style, mostly occupied by Chinese and Indian shops/restaurants (though most things are also written in English and everyone speaks English). It's refreshi...

When, at breakfast-time, I was having a beer in the sunshine on the front of a speedboat bound for the Phi Phi islands, I had a feeling it was going to be a good day... and it certainly was! The weather was fantastic and the scenery was beautiful - the water was bright turquoise and dotted with limestone karsts. The boat stopped in a couple of places where we could go snorkelling over the coral reef; the water was warm and there were so many fish in different siz...

Our accommodation on the edge of Khao Sok National Park was very funky - a series of bungalows meticulously decorated with a jungle feel, all surrounded by beautiful trees and flowers, and the main building was a restaurant/bar constructed from wood and teeming with decorations, mostly made from plants and trees, and at night it was lit up with a collection of lots of different lamps in a various colours. Plus the food there was great and everything was beautiful...