Blog 50 After another smokey squashy minibus ride we climbed up and into the hills to arrive in the village of Beristagi. Immediately greeted by masses of people, pointing fingers and laughs, we tried to get our bearings and headed up the road to our hostel which we'd been recommended and rightly so. This homestay was ran by Awan and his 70 year old mum, and they couldn't do enough to make you feel welcome. Cups of tea on demand and morning chats to check we'...

Blog 49 Our 1st Indonesian destination didn't disappoint. A small kampung in the heart of the Sumatran rainforest complete with all the wildlife you could dream of. The first night we found ourselves in a guesthouse mid renovation so naturally at 6am the builders woke us and an hour previously the macaques stirred us as they played tig on the corrugated iron roof. Thinking back I guess monkeys weren't a bad way to be woken up. We moved on to a home stay styl...

Blog 48 On the flight from Singapore we met a girl from Medan who promised her brother would give us a ride into town, and not only did he do that, he shared his cheesecake too (apparently a local speciality, a Swiss roll stuffed with cheddar and sprinkled with chocolate hundreds and thousands, it was vile). Jo smiled appreciatively and insisted that it was... Interesting. I wasn't as diplomatic and told him it was weird. Busy and frantic. Backpackers don't sta...

Blog 47 Expensive or what! I'd forgotten how pricey this Asian country was, especially in relation to our last destinations. We'd decided to book a place online for Singapore and we're glad we had, going by the size of the city. Most accommodation on our travels we hunt for when we arrive rather than booking ahead because it tends to be a lot cheaper. £11 for a 16 bed dorm bed I guess wasn't too bad considering we got all day breakfast included too... And we...

Blog 46 A luxuriously easy and safe two hour coach ride on a road with no potholes brought us to Malacca, a small city on the south west coast of Malaysia. Cultures are mixed here. When the spice trade was bustling along and through the Malacca strait droves of immigrants moved in. In the 15th century a Hindu prince and his entourage settled on the land here, so in moved the Hindus . In the 16th century a Chinese prince pledged protection and so in came the Chi...