After setting off via a speedboat ferry from Ko Muk we arrived at Ko Lipe two hours later at the floating pier some 150meters away from the shore. After a quick transfer onto a long tail boat costing 50 baht each we were soon being taken around the island to Sunrise Beach were we had planned to stay for the duration on Ko Lipe. The island itself is rather small and it took no time at all to be taken to where we needed to be from the floating pier and the boat moored up right into the fine white sands of the beach that would be our home for the next couple of days. We landed on the island around 4.20pm giving us good time to find a place to stay and have a little explore of the area before the sun went down. We tried a place that we had read about in the Bible called Forrna Dive but it was too expensive as the prices shoot up as it is coming into peak season. We walked a little further up the beach to find a long stretch of bungalows, with 10 bungalows running along the coast with another six lines of bungalows running offset behind them that looked like a little village. A man sat at one of the bungalows that doubled up as a reception and gave us a toothless smile as we approached. The cost of the bungalows went up the closer you were to the sea, 600 baht for the front row bungalows and dropping by 100 baht every two rows back. The cheapest was 400 baht for the bungalows on the back two rows but all of these were taken so a 500 baht a night bungalow it was on the fourth row back. All the bungalows were decked out the same and were clean and charming with comfortable beds and a 1980's campsite style bathroom attached at the rear. As normal we dumped our backpacks and made our way up the beach to have a good look about. Using a pretty useless map we overshot where we wanted to be by a little way but being pointed in the right direction by some giggling kids we had found our way onto Walking Place, the main path that would take you through the middle of the island and from Sunrise Beach to Hat Pattaya Beach. Getting on the correct path we noticed that it linked onto the back of the place we were staying at and turned out to be rather handy for getting around the island. Walking Place is sort of magical as one moment you are on a sandy path leading from the beach and the next moment you are walking between bustling shops, bars and restaurants with bright colourful boards advertising the many things on offer, with water features and statues coming to life along the walkway and before you know it you are walking on sand again. After a good walk about, we took a load off at Pooh's Bar situated pretty much in the middle of Walking Place. This bar was great with flags of the world pinned to the ceiling and the token flag of Bob Marley that you find in practically every bar you visit within the Thai islands hanging in pride of place between them all. The tables were low and the floor was scattered with the triangle backrest cushions enticing you to lie down on the floor instead of sit. Around 6pm everyday Pooh's Bar plays films on a big screen so we had a bit grub, ordered a few beers and got comfortable for night of watching movies for the first time in a while.

The next morning we had a bit of a lie in and woke at 10am. The wind on our side of the island seemed rather strong and the night before we thought that the roof could be blown off at anytime. Thankfully it didn't and the wind had calmed considerably. The sun was trying to shine but the clouds seemed to hang heavy and thick in the sky only allowing the odd beam to pop through every now and then. It was still warm though and we made our way through the Walking Place and onto Hat Pattaya Beach were we were looking to hire some snorkels and masks for a day of snorkelling around the many coral reefs that surrounded the crystal clear waters of the island. We found a little shack on the beach and hired what we needed for 50 baht each for the day. We walked back thought to Sunrise Beach as we had read that the corral around a small islands just 50meters out was great for snorkelling but the waters were far to choppy and would have been a bit of a struggle to keep away from the rocks that jutted out from the sea and surrounded the tiny island. So we made our way back to Hat Pattaya Beach were the waters where nearly still bar the odd long tail boat making a swell every now and then. Getting our masks and snorkels on we were straight in and swimming around and between the coral that was only 15-20meters out from the shore. The fish were plentiful and curious and would swim right up to your mask for a good look at you. The colours were so vibrant and spanned the spectrum making it look like a mini underwater light display. The rainbow fish were our favourite with their scales, well, all the colours of the rainbow and their piercing yellow eyes that would flit back and forward constantly. We swam from the centre of the beach and up and around the rocks on the left hand side of the beach that lead around to the other side of the island. Looking at this little underwater world was fascinating and we didn't know where to look next as there was always something opening or closing within the coral or the army's of little fish that seemed to swim as one would dash back and forth right in front of us. After a good few hours and with the taste of salt water well and truly embedded in our mouths we decided to call it a day on the snorkelling front and head off to find something to eat. We handed our masks and snorkels in at the shack and made our way back to our bungalow for a quick wash and change of clothes.

We had not yet been to the other beach on the island and thought it would be a good idea to check it out and maybe grab a spot of lunch there. So back on the path we turned off onto the path sign posted Sunset Beach. It took a good 25 minutes walk and was a little hilly. The clouds had finally cleared and the sun was shining making the walk a hot and sweaty affair. We walked through an archway of plants and trees that lead down to the beach to find a little suntrap with a few boats scattered along the small coastline. The beach was the smallest of the three of the island and is the most expensive place to stay on the island also. I can see why though as it's rather remote and quiet and a good place to get away from it all for a while. The food options weren't too great though so after a while we hot footed it back to Walking Place to grab a bite to eat at a family run street restaurant we had past a few times, selling cheap and tasty Thai classics. Time was getting on a bit and we decided to head back to Pooh's Bar again for a bit of the same of the previous nights action to finish our day off nicely. The next morning we were up, packed and out by 8.30am as we had to be at the Thai immigration by 9am to have our passports stamped as we were leaving to go to LangKawi Island, Malaysia. So after having the paper work sorted we had an hour and a half to kill before our boat would set off. We killed time by stuffing our faces with a good hearty breakfast, Ashleigh opting for the healthy option of fruit and muesli whilst I went for the good old full English. Boarding our boat with heavy bellies, we took the seats at the front of the speedboat ferry with a view out over the bow. The boat set off at 10.30am and was supposed to take an hour but we got there in 45 minutes. This was due to the boatman going full throttle through the choppy waves causing the boat to rise completely out of the water followed by the hard bump of the hull crashing back into the waves. Needless to say, it wasn't the most comfortable 45 minutes of our lives as we were being thrown all over. I think he had a bet on with one of the crew that he could make one of the passengers sick , either that or he needed a poo and wanted to get there as quick as he could!

We were more than happy to get off the boat at the pier of LangKawi Island pleased that our rollercoaster ride on the waves was over. We waited a while as our passports were stamped by immigration once more to say we had entered Malaysia and hopped into a mini bus taxi with other passengers from the boat to take us to the main strip where we were all planning to stay. Another country, another currency and we agreed a price for the taxi at 20 ringgit (£4) for us both. It took around 15 minutes to drive from the pier to the main strip and we pulled up at the money exchange so we could change our remaining Thai baht into Malaysian ringgit. The exchange rate wasn't great but it wasn't terrible either and we had enough ringgit to get us by for the next few days. Back in the taxi we drove to the place where we planned to stay only to find it was fully booked. So just down the road was another cheapish place to check out but again it was fully booked. This happen another 6-7 times and our only option now was to move further down the strip that would mean more expense for the rooms. After checking at a tenth place we finally found a room that would cost 60 ringgit a night (£12), Ashleigh still checked out a few more places up the road just to make sure but they were all fully booked too. Turns out that it was the school holidays and a lot of Malaysian family's visit LangKawi around that time, hence the whole place being packed out. Finding a room was like finding hen's teeth and it was the first time that we have had to go from place to place to find a room. But we had one and were pleased to check in with our hotel owner who looked like the Malaysian version of Rosanne, you know that American TV show in the early 90's where they are playing poker for sweets in the intro and the fat cow pulls them all towards her as she laughs like a whale. Well that's who she looked like anyway. Getting into our room, our joy was short lived as it looked like a room from Mother Superior's flat off Trainspotting. But we were only going to be using it to sleep in and get a wash so it wasn't all bad. We were only a short walk away from the beach and decided it would be rude not to check it out. Walking up the beach we found a cool bar that was ran by a couple of Rasta's called Babylon that was made with pieces of drift wood and guitars that had been nailed together with painted surf boards either side of the bar. The drinks were cheap and we sat and watched the world go by for a bit. Later that night we returned there and caught a local band playing reggae tunes that helped us nod our heads constantly to the beat as we chatted and sat on the sand. We had found a place where we had lunch called Tomato and decided that it was that nice and that cheap that we would have a late night snack there. It is open 24 hours and every time we walked past it, it was busy. You can get a curry form there for 3.50 ringgit (70p) and it is absolutely delicious. Ally Pentland would love it here and would be right amongst it and I told Ashleigh as much. Malaysian curries are very similar to Indian curries but they just seem to pip them to the post here with the balance of spices they use, the butter chicken masala we had was out of this world and I didn't want it to end. We were only in LangKawi for two days and I think we ate there five times and if we had stayed longer, we both would have put on about two stone each from the amount of curries and naan bread we would have ate.

Leaving LangKawi, we had booked a package of taxi ride to the ferry terminal, ferry ticket to Perlis on the mainland and a bus ticket from Perlis to Kuala Lumpur. We hadn't done a full days travelling for quite a while and we were strangely looking forward to it. Our taxi picked us up from our hotel at 10am and took around 30 minutes to arrive at the ferry terminal. We were there with time to spare as our ferry wasn't due till 11am but as we waited, over the loud speaker a message was blurted out in Malaysian, we hadn't a clue what it said but a man and his wife next to us informed us that our ferry would be 45 minutes late. Our bus was due to leave Perlis at 12.45pm and the ferry would take an hour to get there so it was cutting it rather fine. Thankfully the man who had told us what the announcement had said was also expecting to catch the same bus and he phoned the bus company to tell them that our ferry had been delayed. He was told that the bus could wait for around 5-10 minutes but no more, so as soon as the ferry pulled up we would have to be off quick smart. True to their word we boarded the ferry at 11.45pm but did not set off till 12pm so it already looked like we would miss our bus. Arriving at Perlis at 1pm we made the mad dash to the bus stop in the hope that it might still be there but it wasn't the case. We saw the man from the queue talking to the info desk at the bus stop and he dashed into a taxi "Excuse me...." shouted Ashleigh and as he was closing the door he spotted us. Climbing out he said "The bus is waiting for us at Kangar....you take this. I will get another for me and my wife" which was really nice of him we thought. Climbing into the taxi the driver told us it would be 20 ringgit for the taxi or if we waited one moment and shared it with another person it would be 5 ringgit each, funny how they do business here. Only a minute later a bubbly Malaysian woman climbed into our taxi and we were off. The drive to Kangar only took about 20 minutes and we were relieved to see the bus sat waiting at the station for us. A few minutes later the man and wife from the queue boarded the bus with a look of relief on their faces and took their seats the row in front of us. Now you have read about some of the buses we have been on and you know the majority have been the pits but this bus......oh my friends, if a bus was made for a king this was it. The seats were huge and you sank into them with enough legroom to do the river dance. It even had a leg rest that would pop up from the base of the chair. I was in bus heaven and was generally excited about it, strange how a few months travelling effects what you value. I don't think I will ever complain about getting on the M1 ever again (or the 194 as it is called in my eyes). The ride to Kuala Lumpur was one of comfort and it made one hell of a difference as time seemed to fly by. We got there a little later than we thought we would and jumped straight into a taxi from the bus station to take us to our hostel. We had paid upfront for the taxi 15 ringgit and a good job too as our driver couldn't find the street of our hostel for a good 30 minutes. We drove around and around the same area looking at maps and street names to no avail. The driver would keep sighing through his nose by taking deep breaths and forcing them out of his nostrils every few minutes as he turned the corners he had just minutes before. Eventually he found it and to his and our relief we got out of the taxi and made our way into the hostel. We turned up two hours later than we expected to at 10pm and were rather quick in checking in, getting a hold of our key for our room and getting our backpacks off our backs. The room was great and just what we needed after spending two nights at Mother Superior's. We wasted no time in popping back out briefly to grab a curry and naan as we hadn't eaten much and took it back to our room to camp out on the floor whilst we stuffed our faces. It had been a long day and the travelling had caught up with us. We burned the midnight oil a little and turned in for the night.

The next morning we were up and out by 11am for a day of action by flitting about Kuala Lumpur or KL as it's known to the locals using the MRT (monorail) and the LRT (metro). The public transport system here is quick, reliable and really easy to use with all stops and interchanges being a stone's throw away from each other. First on our list was to arrange our bus for the following day to take us to Singapore so we checked out a few bus stops to no avail but the issue was sharply settled at a train station offering the service. With tickets bought we could get on with the fun stuff. We had a walk around China town that was bustling with markets selling everything that you can think of and after a while we hopped back on the MRT bound for the Petronas Towers, formerly the world's tallest skyscrapers until Taipei 101 was built in 2004. After the short walk from the MRT we were stood at the base of the towers and looking up to the summit give you a stiff neck. The towers have a sky bridge on the 41st floor that connects the towers that you can walk between. Unfortunately the tickets to access it are first come first serve and by the time we had got there they were sold out. Well you can't win them all. The building itself was very impressive and whilst walking through it to access the gardens at the rear, you walk through the shopping centre that is any shopaholics dream with the A list of designer labels strewn throughout the whole place. After a quick walk around looking at things that we could not afford to buy we walked briefly through the gardens and back toward the MRT. On the map we had spotted the Hard Rock Cafe and it was on the way so we thought it would be rude not to pop in. We treat ourselves to a spot of lunch and a jug of beer as we sat ogling the endless rock memorabilia that surrounded us. I opted for the 10 ounce burger and it was a monster when it came. It took me a few minutes to decide how to even eat it. We spent a good hour and a half listening to various rock classics and stuffing our faces. It was a bit expensive but you have to treat yourself every now and then. Back on the MRT we travelled back a few stops and connected onto the LRT to take us to the Batu Caves. This is a lot closer to the Indian cultural side of KL. They are a system of caves 13km northwest of the capital, the most impressive being the Temple cave that contains a Hindu shrine that you reach by a flight of 272 steps that is guarded by a 43meter high gold painted Murga statue that is the highest in the world. We had read about the statue but were still blown away by the height of it, again like the Petronas Towers, standing at the base of it looking up gave you a stiff neck only this time you got a great view up the statues nose instead. The staircase leading up to the cave had small shrines over the entrance and around the area adorned with crazy little statues. Obviously each one meant something in the Hindu religion but we couldn't help thinking that some of them were a bit crazy. For example there was one of a cow with a woman's head and a massive set of breast on it. Needless to say I took a few photographs of it.

Walking up the stairs wasn't as bad as we thought and they were nothing compared to the stairs of death from the gibbon experience. At the top of the stairs, a walkway opened up into a great expanse of rock and greenery overhead and to another set of stairs taking you down into the belly of the cave. The further you walked into the cave you could hear numerous chants around different shrines and then came the little army...of cheeky monkeys that seemed to dominate the cave. They were everywhere and they were on the prowl, following anybody who had a bag that might contain food. They were everywhere and you couldn't help but laugh at the little b*****s. They literally didn't give a monkey's! They were grabbing bags and food from people's hands as they tried to pray and as soon as they had something they would be off back up the rock face quick as a flash. Ashleigh's favourites were the mothers that had the tiny baby's clinging to the underside of their bellies. This didn't stop them from causing mischief either and were always on the prowl for a scrap of food to eat. Watching the monkeys run amok we kind of forgot about looking about the cave and decided we should as that's what we came here to do. We made our way slowly around and back through the cave leading to the stairs and walked back down at a snail's pace taking in the sight of KL city centre in the distance. Getting back on the LRT we headed back to KL Central and changed onto the MRT to take us to Chow Kit where our hostel was situated. My favourite named destination on this line is called Titiwangsa, pronounced TITI-WANG-SAA and I would say this quite often as for some reason we found it rather funny. Getting off at our stop, we got some fresh fruit from the market and headed back to our room. It had been a long day and we had seen quite a lot of KL and were rather pleased with ourselves. We burned the midnight oil a little once again and went to bed chatting about the day's events. I started writing this on the bus ride to Singapore and have only had time to finish it whilst sat in Singapore airport waiting for a plane to Bali. So you will just have to wait till next time to find out what we got up to in Singapore. Until then we bid you adjure.

Love Peter and Ashleigh x