twin towers and tremendous cheese ...

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to the aftermath of the 50th anniversary celebrations of their Merdeka (or independence to me and you).

Of course it had only been a warm up for the main event of the week - Mel's birthday. They'd left the bunting out for us.

So for the first time in a long while we treated ourselves to some 4-star luxury with a 21st floor room in the Renaissance Hotel, complete with picture postcard view of the Petronas Towers.

KL is a very unique place indeed. It's a mix of 3 distinct ethnic groups - Malay, Chinese and Indians - so during an average walk down the street you'll see the locals wearing either burhka's, sari's or miniskirts - it all seems a bit incongruous at first, but you get used to it.

We visited the Petronas Towers skydeck for fantastic views of the city. It's free to get in - the only cost being the 7-minute Petronas promotional video you have to watch before taking the elavator up there. Like all good corporate video's they decided to shoot it in 3D (?) - but unless you're into 3D petrol pumps it's a fairly tedious experience.

The real highlight was the birthday meal at Carcosa Sri Negara - the former mansion of the British General to Malaysia - a superb colonial building now converted into a luxury hotel that caters to the likes of HRH Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip.

A recurring theme amongst our conversations with other Europeans in Asia is how much we all miss decent cheese and wine. Just for once, in the award-winning French restaurant that evening we were able to take advantage of the very best in both.

After all, if it's good enough for the Queen ...

Andaman sunset ...

After spending most of the previous 3 weeks covering old ground in the Gulf of Thailand, we thought it was about time for somewhere different before leaving the land of smile.

So we headed over to the Andaman coast for a few short days, enjoying an out-of-season deal in Krabi at the resort of Ao Nang. Despite visiting during west coast's monsoon, we had clear skies and brilliant sunshine for the first 2 days. It was only when we arranged a speedboat day-trip to the islands Ko Phi Phi that the weather turned ...

The choppy seas made for a rather exciting boat ride, bouncing along off the top of the waves. So much so that by the time we made our first stop, already 2 of the 10 passengers we're throwing up into plastic bags - although speaking personally I quite enjoyed the ride. By the time we reached the beach (location for the film of the Alex Garland book) the storm really took hold - and the only way of keeping warm was to get into the increasingly violent surf as we waited for our boat to pick us up.

Mel will remember the day as the one when she overcame a lifelong fear of fish and tried snorkelling for the first time. After a slightly shaky start (running squealing from the water after seeing a small fish) on Bamboo Island in the morning, she persevered and in the end really enjoyed it (I think). As with eating grasshoppers, I know Robert and Jane back in Ireland won't believe it without clear evidence - so here it is.

Remarkably Mel is now even considering trying scuba diving. I think it must be the lure of the rather fashionable gear ...

You can see all the photos from Thailand and Myanmar (Burma) by clicking here ...

10 days later ...

I arrived on the island of Ko Pha Ngan, more in need of the Betty Ford Clinic than another beach party.

In short my timing was perfect. I'd arrived 24 hours before one of the island's legendary full moon parties where around 10,000 people party until dawn.

I met up with Mel who was already ensconsed at the rather laid-back Cookies Bungalows on the quiet West side of the island. It had everything we needed - a private beach, and decent food with ice cold beer on a wooden deck facing out to sea.

Come the night of the full moon we decided against the overpriced taxi's, broken glass and thumping bass of Haad Rin beach, and instead spent the evening alone on the deck, sipping cold beer and listening to the waves lapping against the rocks below. It was the perfect antidote to the previous 10 days ...

For those who didn't quite get my recent post about Mel and me splitting up - thanks for all your messages of concern. I can assure you the split was only temporary and purely geographic in nature ...

My video from Mongolia - World's Biggest Ger - has just been nominated as one of the top 10 travel videos from Asia on the internet by weshow.com - when I checked this morning it was in 6th place - you can see the video and add your votes by clicking here

getting down with the fishies ...

Finding the others on Ko Tao proved rather more difficult than expected.

Since my last visit 8 years ago, the main beach of Sai Ree has gone from 3km of unspoilt coastline to a fully developed resort with 7-11's and ATM's. Although in the end it wasn't the increase in size that stopped us finding them - it was the fact they weren't there.

We found them the following evening in Chaalok Bay to the South of the island to discover the mobile phone we'd been calling had suffered seawater damage, during what is probably best described as an apres-pub night-snorkelling expedition, that also added additional cuts and bruises to the growing list of injuries. We set off back to Sai Ree armed with the number of the remaining mobile, promising to call the next morning once accomodation had been arranged for the whole group.

I don't think the question of whether that one was lost or stolen was ever conclusively answered, but either way it had achieved missing in action status by the time we called the next day. So it wasn't until 48 hours after our arrival on the island that the full group assembled, having collectively incurred more injury, loss and travel disruption in 4 days, than in the whole of the previous three and a half months.

We spent the remainder of the week taking advantage of the excellent scuba-diving and of course frequenting the equally impressive bars along the palm fringed beach.

Arguably the most exciting land-based incident happended one evening during a tropical storm when a giant centipede (2cm wide by 25cm long) ran across our bar table, seemingly flushed out of it's usual home in the wall by the rainwater. On seeing it, one of the staff quickly ran out from behind the bar and cut it in half, only afterwards pausing to explain how poisonous its bite would have been.

On reflection the timing was fortunate, just moments before the barman's cleaver-wielding arrival, two of our group (who shall remain nameless) had been trying to poke it with their fingers - narrowly avoiding an additional entry on an already impressive injury list ...

Guy's - it was a pleasure to see you and a real change from the kind of travelling I'd been doing ... although please don't take offence when I say I definitely couldn't cope with it for 52 weeks running! Travellers planning a SE Asia journey take note; it may take Thailand's reserves of Tiger beer and English breakfast ingredients some time to recover ...

A big thanks to Jim and his disposable camera for the photo's on this post ... after Angkor Wat I found myself giving my shutter finger a well-earned rest on Ko Tao. I hope I''ll soon be in a position to reciprocate with some fresh Jim Thompson information you may find of interest ...

Finally, if anyone's interested I'm currently having a rant about responsible travel over on day12.com, you can catch the full article by clicking here. If you've an interest in travel you'll find the rest of their site well worth exploring too.

from bungle to bungalow ...

As a Leeds United supporter, the omen of boarding a coach emblazoned with the Manchester United logo should have been enough to let me know it would be a tough trip ahead.

Somewhere along the line I'd forgotten just how frustrating long distance bus travel in Thailand can be. For the uninitiated, the usual components of these journeys are ...

1. Rendezvous at the travel agent you booked the tickets with. So far so good.
2. Take a longish walk in searing heat, hauling your baggage to the meeting point for the bus.
3. Or so you thought. You will then be moved to the real meeting point for the bus.
4. Repeat point 3 for 30-45 minutes. You will normally arrive back at the original meeting point (see 2).
5. You finally embark your coach, which can be anything from an ageing bone-shaker to a luxury aircon coach. Which you get will bear no relationship to what is described on your ticket.
6. You then proceed happily along toward your destination ...
7. Or so you thought. Usually you will be dropped off at a cafe somewhere on the outskirts of an unspecified town, to be picked up again anywhere between 15 minutes and 3 hours later for another bus to your final destination.
8. Dependent on how lucky you are - repeat point 7 using as many different vehicles as possible for 3-4 hours. All without moving outside a 1km radius of the first drop-off point.
9. At some point one of the vehicles will break the 1km radius and take you to your final destination - technically in the town you requested, but way beyond any reasonable walking distance to where you actually want to be.
10. Take one of the conveniently poised overpriced cabs to your end destination. Alternatively make noises about going to find a cheaper one, and enjoy an instant 25-50% discount.

At no point will you receive any meaningful information on the number and timing of forthcoming transfers. In order to maximise frustration, experience at night.

Our trip south from Bangkok included all these elements. So much so in fact that our group fractured part way through the journey, with two people electing to jump ship at the port of Chumphon to head straight for the island of Ko Tao. Chris and I doggedly continued our intended route to Ranong, in a predominantly muslim area characterised by houses on stilts lined up along riverbanks.

We elected for a much shorter than planned hop over the river into Myanmar (aka Burma), where we found the town of Kaw Thuong (above) to be ... well, exactly the same as Ranong. Except that is for the hordes of hawkers trying to sell cheap Viagra, whisky & cigarettes on the dock. Not having a requirement for any of the aforementioned items, we spent our time talking to a one-armed man about Premier League football - almost more popular in Thailand and Burma than it is back home.

So a mere 22 hours after leaving Bangok, and having visited an extra country) we arrived on the beautiful tropical island of Ko Tao where we checked into some bungalows on the beach where we'd arranged to meet the others (no intended reference to Lost).

A consequence of cutting the Burma visit short was our arrival on the island a day earlier than planned, giving us the opportunity to surprise the other two. All we had to do first was find them ...