Malaysian Love Affair Starts Here

What a crazy few days we've had. After spending three sweaty days in nights in Singapore we headed by train to Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur. It took 8 or so hours on a rickety old thing which trundled through the border past shabby villages, jungles, rivers, paddy fields and high rise towns. Again we were very much in the minority and the train was packed with families of all races.

At the border we all had to get out while they searched the train for stow-aways and stamped our passports. The woman behind me belched all the way! The loos were black holes and had no locks. Highly entertaining.

We arrived at midnight in to bustling, humid KL and decided for a few extra quid (though it still cost us less than 25 each) to stay in a four star hotel which had a pool! Joy!

So on our first day in KL with no idea where we wanted to go or how long we wanted to stay in the city we went for a wonder. We've seen a lot of cities now and although the architecture and the vibe is always a bit different, they all have the same type of malls, restaurants and attractions.

Time to get out and see some country side and some nature. As we negotiated the trains, maps in hands, we bumped in to a guy from Sabah called K.K. Chin, who befriended us immediately and took us on a whirlwind tour of the city all around China Town, the fake goods markets, the 'Twin Towers', the malls, forbidding us to pay for anything. 'Where's Sabah we asked?', totally ignorant of the Borneo region. 'Sabah?! Oh my friends. Your people came here a long time ago and you don't know? You don't know where the best diving spot in the world is? Where to see the turtles, the highest mountain, the jungles?! Ah, my friends!'

We didn't need any further persuasion to leave at once.

So here we are sitting in his mate Jimmy's hotel in Kota Kinabalu on the East side of Malaysia.
He collected us from the airport and drove us round the town, bought us dinner despite our protestations and helped us book an intensive diving course which we start tomorrow, after which we'll head over the Sipadan Island which boasts the deepest scuba dive in the world.

Then Mount Kinabalu and orang utan reserves.

Naturally we're nervous about diving but so excited and thanking our stars that we met K.K.. He's even on a mission to find me veggie food and even Quinine after I told him about my reluctance to take Larium, which has fortunately caused no side effects in Ric.

Our cautious British natures make us question such generosity and good fortune but the people here all seem so friendly and laid back and even grateful that we Brits want to be here plus the landscape is so lush and beautiful that it's easy to relax and go with the flow!

So diving school starts tomorrow at 9am. Someone is the bar next door is singing Elton John and the rain is lashing down but we feel at ease and will sleep well.

Thailand will have to wait for a few weeks. We're glad we didn't over look Malaysia as we might well have done had we not made these new friends.

A lot of hippies here. People who've been travelling for a while. Also, in Asia generally we've notcied a lot of anxious looking couples! The girls mainly. I don't think I look so concerned any more!