Ok, so after 7 months working and travelling our way around Oz we waved goodbye and jumped on the plane. First stop Bali, Indonesia.

Transport, transport, transport sir. They were probably the first words we heard leaving the airport and something that we would have to get used to for the next 10 days. It's the first (and probably won't be the last) country that the taxi driver hails you and not the other way around. At first it was annoying walking down the streets shaking your head and saying no every 10 seconds. But then this was how they make their living and no matter how annoying they get, you just can't get angry with them. After getting used to the hawkers, we went about exploring Kuta where we stayed. It's a real tourist trap, everything from pirate dvds and games to fake designer clothes was on offer and the price was as good a you could haggle with them, something that we will have to get better at. There was nothing exceptional about Kuta, full of bars and nightclubs and an ok beach but it was really quiet, it still hasn't fully recovered from the bombings in 2002 and 2005. We went to the memorial which is on the site of the 2002 bomb, very strange to see so many nationalities listed, families leaving pictures of loved ones who they had lost, quite errie indeed. From Kuta, we went to Ubud for a couple of days to try and experience some Indonesian culture. We went to see some traditional dancing which was amazing, has to be seen to be believed. After 10 days, we jetted off to Singapore.

Singapore was really good. It's such a diverse city, each quarter having it's own identity and people. I enjoyed Little India and the food markets were good if strange. Fish head curry is the local specialty but i wasn't brave enough to try. The Asian GAA Games were on when we were there so we met with Catriona, a friend of Trish's, who was playing for Seoul Gaels. We watched the final and like any good GAA event their was the big piss up at the end, it was a good night. We caught the bus out of town and entered Malaysia.

We stayed in Kuala Lumpur seeing all the sights included the Petronas Towers, the second tallest building in the world, an amazing sight. After a longer than anticipated wait for our bus (5 hours!) we took the long and winding road to Cameron Highlands. This place was beautiful, undulating hills covered with tea plantations and forest as far as the eye could see; it is one of the most picturesque places we have have been lucky enough to see to date. After the obligatory tour of the tea plantations and factories, a visit to a local family who live the traditional life of hunting and gathering food in the forest and live is a simply bamboo house was really special; i'm now a crack shot with the blow pipe, able to kill from 50 metres, that is if they stand still and don't move for about 5 minutes (takes me a while to get my aim right!). After a stopover in Penang, we arrived into Langkawi, a small island off the west coast of Malaysia. We booked ourselves into a little beach chalet and set about doing absolutely nothing for the next 2 days. We had met another Irish couple in Cameron Highlands, Sean and Leslie, and the nights were spend drinking and chatting away. We've noticed that if anyone asks about our travels we have a tendancy to go on and on (a bit like my emails) so they were probably glad to see the back of us as we boarded out ferry to Satun, Thailand.

From Satun, we got a bus to Krabi, arrived yesterday. My cousin Maria lives and works here as a teacher so she was our guide for the night bringing us for beautiful food in the local market and a few quiet beers in her local after as the rain poured down outside (it's currently monsoon season on the west coast of Thailand). Tomorrow we hope to go to Pi Pi, a small island off the west coast which is famous for it's beaches (the film The Beach was filmed there). What it's going to be like in all this rain is a question which will be answered tomorrow but we'll make the most of it i'm sure. Till the next thrilling installment...............

Paul.