We have pitched up in Thailand and have been exploring the Phi Phi national park both above the waves and below. We spent yesterday skimming across the Andaman sea by spead boat to various islands called Phi Phi. One of the islands wasused as the location for "The Beach". It is very crowded these days but still very beautiful. Our snorkling experience was a delight with brightly coloured coral and fish of all sizes and species. Above the waves the karsts rise ver...

Gentle reader, you may have noticed a hiatus in the updates of our adventures in SE Asia. This has been due to Mr MacIntosh's Apple not living up to it's propaganda. In the meantime we're using hotel computers so not sure yet whether we will be able to upload pictures. Hoping to have the MAC Book fixed in Bangkok in a few days time. Penang Crossing the causeway to the island, Penang looked very impressive - chalk white skyscrapers rising out of a silver sea in...

After a morning in KL which we used to explore the area around the twin towers we left the heat of the lowlands behind and headed for the Cameron Highlands. The road was long, steep in places and very twisty. Susan had taken a travel sickness pill and spent most of the journey unconcious. It is very much cooler and wetter up here at 1500m - thunder was rolling around the valleys this evening and it is pouring with rain tonight. We were really cold in bed last ni...

From old world Melaka we are back in the 21st century again in Kuala Lumpur. Another impressively modern city which is undergoing rapid development. It is very like Singapore about 15 years ago except that it still has plenty of litter. Yesterday we took the city bus tour to get our bearings and finished off the afternoon with a trip to the top of the KL tower. At 440m tall, the view was spectacular as you can see from the pictures. In the evening we ate fis...

Melaka is an assault on all of the senses. It is an old trading post with Portugese, Dutch and British colonial influences. The lasting influence, however, is Chinese and Chinatown has hardly changed in 100 years. The rickshaws have evolved slightly into pedal driven, outrageously decorated trishaws. They carry enormous batteries and amplifiers and blast out 70s and 80s pop music as you go along. The stalls at the night market sell everything to eat that you cou...