Right so after the last blog entry I was going on a 2 day, 1 night trek in to the jungle. Well this wasnt completely set in stone at that point, until I went to the info desk. The woman told me that noone else had really expressed an interest in doing it, so it looked ominous. Anyway, a dutch couple overheard me talking about it, and sort of became interested, then in walked a girl I had met in Cameron Highlands who I managed to pursuade aswel, so there was 4 of us, which pushed the price down, and the next morning we set off!~

Our guide for the trek was incredible. Whilst we laboured throgh the thick undergrowth with just a shoulder bag, the poor guy was carrying 2 days worth of food and water in a huge rucksack on his back! The first day we walked about 10k to get to the cave. It was a lot different to the 2 walks I had done the day before, and after a short rain shower, the leeches were everywhere! Hundreds of them, and they burrow through your socks and shoes, and they crave blood. lol. so, we were sweaty, leech ridden, muddy, wet (we had to cross several rivers) and tired when we eventually reached the cave at about 6pm. My feet looked like glass noodles, and I htought the skin was actually going to just disintegrate before my eyes. After a wash (in the stream) and a quick trip to get fire wood, our Guide prepared a simple chicken curry dish with rice and vegetables, whilst me and the other guys hacked at the fire wood with machetes cutting it into smaller pieces. The cave itself was huge, and dry, and warm, a real natural refuge. This made it cosy for us, but it meant also that the odd wild animal might also find it cosy during the night, and find it stocked with juicy humans too! The point therefore of the fire was not to cook with, or to provide warmth, but to create smoke to ward off leopards, tigers and elephants. We slept just on a roll mat, with no pillow and the lining of a sleeping bag. Had I been any less tired, I might not have slept, but exhaustion took over, and I soon nodded off.

The next morning I woke to one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever witnessed. The sun was pouring into the cave at a near horizontal angle, but through the dense canopy of the jungle, it was entering in very individual streaks. Being on the floor of the forest and heavily guarded by larger trees, there wasnt a breath of wind and therefore the leaves were perfectly still. This meant we were sat in natures equivalent of a laser show, and until the sun moved higher in the sky, we just sat drinking tea and enjoying this phenominal setting. The pictures I took, are of postcard quality I kid you not. Amazing.

After walking almost 20k the past 2 days, I wasnt really in the mood for putting my wet adidas shoes back on. It was especially painful looking at the other guys who could casually sink their feet back into proper mountain walking boots, waterproof and grippy! It didnt bother me too much though, and once we got going it was fine. The day was a scorcher, and within half an hour of setting off, I was drenched in sweat. We ambled on. Luckily for our guide, his back became progressively lighter as we munched through bags of nuts and biscuits at our hourly resting points. Even though this trek was far deeper into the jungle, we still saw little in the way of wildlife. You can hear it everywhere, and the noise is at times deafening. We did see a leopard's pawprint clearly etched in the mud at one stage, and we had to be wary of small snakes, one of which I almost picked up by mistake! We eventually got back to the river for a short boatride back to the main village at around 4pm. Tiredness just does not cover how I felt, and the shower I had back at the hostel is in my top 3 showers of all time! What an adventure, so so glad I did it, and will remember it forever.

The next day it was time to go to Kuala Lumpur which took up the majority of the day to get to. It was Saturday though, and I had seen St.Patricks day being advertised in a few of the Irish bars in the city. I thought it best that I investigate. I found a bar called finnegans in the heart of the city, and to be honest was a bit shocked at the prices. Malaysia is a Muslim country, and so they tax alcohol highly to discourage drinking. Anyway, England had just beaten Ireland in the rugby, and I was out the back of the pub watching this football promotional competition going on. An English guy, who loved the fact that they had won the rugby, had a go on the machine, which was in fact a hardest shot machine, with full equipment measuring the speed of your shot, and hit 45mph. He thought he was great. So i stepped up, in my flip-flops, and belted this ball, and got 49mph. A war had begun. So he went again and got 51mph. I said fair enough, let me borrow your shoe for a minute- which he did, and I hit 54 with 1 shoe on. He then hit it, got 56mph, and refused to let me borrow his shoe again. What a bitter bast*rd. None of his pals would let me borrow a shoe either. So i searched around the bar until someone would give me some shoes, and with one belt (imagining the ball was his backside) blew him out of the game with a 62mph strike, and won a John Barnes signed Liverpool shirt for my troubles!!! A great night after that.

One of the girls I travelled with in Cameron and Teman Negara, Caroline was meeting me in KL. Luckily for both of us, when she was on the east coast, she met a nice Malaysian family who offered her a lift to KL. They also extended to her the offer of lodging for the night, and when she said she was meeting me, the offer was extended to me as well. The family was absolutely amazing. They dropped us off in town on the sunday morning, where we went to the KL tower, which has panoramic views over the city. We then walked to the Petronas towers, which are the tallest towers in the world, and are really quite stunning. The rest of the day we spent pottering around in Chinatown, and Little India and finished off the afternoon with a bit of shopping. KL is a very nice, clean, modern city, but thats all it is, a city, and after the past few days in the jungle, I was a little disenchanted. That changed though when the Malay family came and met us for dinner. Sunita, and Daniel they were called, and they took us to a small street food place where we ate Stingray, Chicken and Pork with rice and vegetables. The local knowledge was key, as it looked just like any other restaurant, but the food was stunning. They treated us, then took us on a short night tour of the city before heading back to their place. They had a truly beautiful home, with 52 inch TV, waterfalls in the foyer, and a maid. We sat out on the veranda with a few beers, and got somehting money cant usually buy, a glimpse into real Malaysian lives, in their homes. I could not be more grateful to them for letting us stay.

The next day I headed to Singapore and found a really cool backpacker lodge called The Inn Crowd. Being actual St.Patricks day, I thought a tour of the bars of the city was called for. It was an expensive tour. Guinness was costing over 4 quid a pint, but sipping slowly and chatting to the ex-pats working there was quite a useful insight into life in the city. Singapore is even cleaner than KL, more Americanised with the streets organised into Avenues and blocks, and more modern. The central business district is not disimilar to Canary Wharf, perched on the harbour front and lined with boutique bars underneath huge office spaces. The next day I decided to visit the Zoo, as I read it was worth a visit. It most definitely was. Unlike most zoos and parks, there are no fences or glass enclosures, the animals are simply segregaeted from eachother and form us using moats. This meant you could get really quite close, get great pictures, and at times, glared at by the animals, especially the big cats who looked a bit peckish! The white Bengally tigers, and the polar bears were definitely the greatest attractions.

Last night we chilled at the hostel before venturing out to find a couple of cool clubs in the city, and today I am just passing the time and counting down the mintues until Australia tomorrow first thing. South East Asia has just been the most wonderful place, but, time to move on, so Ozzies, watch out! xx