Hi everyone, well I've made to KL but have done so much since my last posting. Our last day in Thailand was Friday and in the morning I went Kayaking in the Mangroves - just for the exercise and boy did I get some exercise. We got there quite early to be told the tide was a little low but no problem so got into our boat things, I shared with this Thai bloke so I think he did most of the work as to start with I just kept going around in circles but got the hang of it eventually. We paddled our way to the mangroves and the monkeys, and I've never been so close to a monkey in my life - it was about a foot away and then it got on the boat and started to eat fruit from my hand it was lovely and a really good thing to do. Once we fed the monkeys we carried on with a leisurely paddle til we reached really really low tide and the boats would go no further but, instead of heading back we were made to walk through knee deep mud for about 20 minutes pulling our boats behind us - it was horrible but so funny at the time although I've ended up with cuts all over my feet and they are still dirty even today as you just can't soak your feet over here. Well after the excersions of kayaking I thought the only sensible thing a girl could do was go for a full body massage which cost about four pound for an hour and well worth it. Our last night in Thailand we decided to 'go for it'. After a wonderful fish dinner on the sea front we headed to an Irish bar for a bucket (for those who don't know this is a bucket filled with 1/2 bottle of whiskey and two cans of diet coke) and when this closed at 1pm we headed back to a club on the beach for a few more buckets, and by 4am I was lying on my back in the sand looking at the brightest stars while chatting to a girl from Ireland about the meaning of life and buckets. The others went skinny dipping but as I'm not that skinney I gave it a miss and carried on drinking around the fire. Made it back to the hotel about 5.30am feeling crap but no time to sleep I'm afraid as we had a full day's travelling in mini buses to look forward to and we're leaving at 7.30am. Some sound advice to future travellers if you're on the buckets make sure you leaving late the next day - I was pretty rough and don't remember much about the travel except it was hot, cramped and not funny. In to Malaysia and first stop Penang. We stayed in a town called George Town which I loved. One minute you were in China, the next you were in India and the smells, food, people, buzz would be hard to beat. Wish we had longer there but only one night and after the previous evening it was not a late one. Ate a fantastic currey in little India then had a couple of beers, while watching the rats have a party in the street (the only downside of the place). After Penang we went to the Cameron Highlands for our homestay. We had more bus travel and was met in Kuala Kangsa by our host and all 9 of us proceeded to jump in his little boat with our back packs to be taken to Sukasuka island where Aziz and Asha lived with their baby son. The Island was only 9 acres by 7 acres and again we lived in little woodern huts. And, I came across my first spider. Vix and I went to our hut, I went to open the window and there was the monster - as big as my head. I grabbed Vix and pushed her out screaming (so I was composed) and Jon upon hearing us came to our rescue. But after that I could not sleep we used to check every knook and cranny before going in the hut but with only a torch it was pretty hard to do. There were so many bugs around it drove me mad but i did see a huge lizzard and there were water buffulo wandering around at night too. However bugs apart this was a really good place to be - it was alchol free so I detoxed and the food all cooked by Asha was the best yet - all traditional Malay and all very spicey. The highlight of our stay here was on the last night where we all got dressed up in sarongs and invited into our hosts house for dinner and sat on the floor to eat with our hands - very messy but something I won't forget. On Tuesday morning (my birthday) we left our homestay for KL stopping at Kuala Kangsa for a while to see the Royal Mosque. Got to KL about 4pm yesterday and I instantly fell in love with the place. We're staying in Chinatown with it's hugh market and street hawkers (a shoppers paradise). KL is very westernized compared to every other place I've been but it's still got that real Asian feel to it. There's even a Top Shop (got 3 new t-shirts) and an M&S here and really good nightlife. We had dinner in Chinatown last night and the group got me and Alice (whose was 21 on the 1st) birthday cakes with candles, we went drinking then clubbing and bed at 5am. One thing about KL, everything is cheap apart from the beer. It's three pound fifty a pint here which is outragous BUT if you're a lady (which happily I am) you get free booze in all the bars - the girls on the group are delighted the boys are going to buy wigs and dresses. This morning I got up at midday (late for me) and went with Simon to Petrona Towers for the obligitory tourist snap shots. Well that's it for now. I've tried to load some photos but this pc won't let me so I'll try and get some on over the next couple of days. Hope the weather not too cold there, it's hot hot hot here.