Well here we are in Berestagi, Indonesia. A hill station south of the lovely Medan. The Dutch, when colonising this area decided that they needed a more temperate climate to escape to and where better than the beautiful landscape up here. We took a taxi and driver via the hotel in Medan. Internet problems meant We had not managed to book any room in Berestagi but - hey ho! It was an exciting 2hr 20 drive through incessant traffic. We spent as much time on the lef...

Hi from Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia. We left Penang 07:15 and got the buses to Penang International Airport - a 45 min drive. We sailed thru check-in/security after some 'kiosk' check-in annoyance..... grabbed a snack breakfast then waited for the Air Asia flight. It was 30 mins late but we boarded swiftly and in the shiny new Airbus we hit Medan in under 1 hour. Medan airport is very small - we were the only plane in. We paid our $25 US for our VOAs (Visa on arri...

With a bit of grumbling from me, we set off today for Penang Island Taman Negara (National Park) and a trek along a coastal path through the rainforest. The rainforest is on the north western part of the island (a part hit during the 2004 Tsunami). The rainforest and its lake are inhabited by eagles, otters, wild boar, monkeys and monitor and other lizards. And as Jan would hate, lots of insects, plenty of ant trails. The internet investigation revealed that flip...

Well last night we visited an Indian restaurant and Paul had a Roti Canai (small thin pancake style patty with dahl and curry) - then went to Maharaj for a full-blown feast of curries, naans, rice, beers and lassis - it was very popular with visitors and was full- it was the hottest curries we've had yet! Despite our talk of the weather yesterday ... Overnight there was a violent thunderstorm with very heavy rain, lightning and the loudest thunder we had ever hea...

Beautiful day in Pulau Pinang. We headed to the beach using the usual cheap air-conditioned public transport system. After some research on the internet we discovered that the Park Royal hotel in Batu Feringghi (Feringgi Beach on the north coast of the island) has a day pass available. It was 40.60 ringgits (weekdays) per person to have use of the pool and beach, sunbeds, beach towels, use of private showers plus a 23 ringgit discount each off their menus. It wor...