Our first few days in Vancouver.

We arrived on Friday night, after 2 days in Taipei, which was a really interesting experience. Taiwan has such an interesting history, governed in the past by the Dutch, Portugese and now working towards gaining acceptance of their independence from China. I would love to go back and explore the country, which is supposed to be beautiful - showcasing volcanoes, mountains and jungle.

Our visit helped us to acclimatise to the cold as it was about 15 degrees, a nice mid point from the 30 degrees plus we are used to and the 4/5 degrees we were about to experience. A big part of our few days was shopping for warm clothes! The rain is taking a bit of getting used to after having only 12 days when it rained in 5 months!

When we arrived in Vancouver we were greeted by our host for our first week, Dianna. She made a very good first impression of Canadian peeps. She is very accommodating and friendly and we are really enjoying our stay with her. So far Canadians in general are making a great impression. We have had so many people say 'Welcome to Canada'; shop staff who strike up conversation at the till, fellow patrons at a bar who overhear we are new to Vancouver. Literally everyone we have spoken to has been so open and friendly.

We had thought we would head to one of the nearby ski resorts to find work but we have decided to stay in the city. It will be easier for me to find work here and also Martin can play live poker throughout the day here in the city. Which will be great, as it means hopefully we will be working similar schedules, which will be a big improvement to how things were at home.

The city has so much to offer. We haven't had a chance to explore properly yet but downtown has great shopping, loads of bars and restaurants, lots of theatres, 2 stadiums. At the moment the ice hockey season is in full swing and Canadians are BIG on hockey. So we are hoping to get to a Canucks game asap. There is also international womens football taking place. The mountains are only an hours drive from the city, Whistler 2 hours and Vancouver Island a few hours away. Within the city there is also Stanley park and the beach is 10 minutes walk from where we will be living.

We have hit the ground running. So far we have found a place to live. We saw an ad on Craigslist and went to meet the couple. We ended up spending a couple of hours chatting and they offered us the room. They have a beautiful basement flat. They are both artists and have really made the flat their own. We will have a 'suite' of 2 rooms, a bedroom, an office and a huge walk in wardrobe. They also have an art space, which they've said I can use! I'm very excited.

I also have applied for a few jobs and I have some interviews lined up. If I can get the jobs I'm applying for then I think it will really help me career wise.

Last night we went to a Couch Surfer social, which was really good fun. There must have been about 50 people there, all people who were travelling, new to the city or 'ex' travellers who just enjoyed meeting people. Everyone was really open to speaking to new people and it was easy to 'mingle' and chat with different people. We'll definitely go regularly.

So far I have a really good feeling about our move. We left England as there were several things we wanted to change about our lives and so far it seems being in Vancouver will help us to achieve these changes and hopefully lead to a more balanced, active life. Of course at the price of missing our family and friends, so we'll see how it goes.

Our last day in Thailand.

Kayaking in Krabi province.

Our last day in Thailand was a real adventure and we faced it with our good friends, Megan & Phil.

We had decided to splash out on a full day of kayaking through mangroves. We were picked up in a minivan and driven through Krabi province. There is plenty of stunning scenery along the coast of the province as dotted off the shore are lots of limestone islands jutting dramatically out of the water. At one point on the drive we could see 7 or 8 of these islands from one bay.

We began the day by kayaking out of a wide, silky estuary at low tide, getting accustomed to directing the kayak accurately (which seemed easy with this huge amount of space!) Out of the estuary, we turned inland in to the wide mouth of a canyon. Behind us on the horizon were silhouettes of jagged peaks; haggard facial profiles and leaking ink blots.


Ahead of us we spotted the small figure of a monkey who appeared to be walking on water! Our guide told us that monkeys can often be seen fishing for crabs with their tails and it is not unheard of for a monkey to be stuck with his tail down a hole, as a large crab has caught hold of it and he can't pull it out. The monkey then has a choice; to drown when the tide comes in or gnaw his own tail off. This was the first time I'd seen a monkey in the sea. He wasn't too interested in us until the Russian family with us started throwing him small bananas, which he stuffed in his mouth as quickly as possible and then strolled off when he'd had his fill.

We then deliberately ran aground on a mud bank and watched in amazement as a rusty red mass of army crabs swept away from us each pace we took. There were thousands of the creatures all scattering in different directions and then hurriedly digging a hole with their disproportionately long pincers and disappearing. We also found lots of dusty coloured star fish, with rippling cellophane like suckers.

Next we paddled in to the canyon, it was difficult to see where it was deep enough for the kayak to go and an hour or so later we did have to turn back and go back the way we came. Along the way we saw a few monkeys sauntering across the muddy banks and a large monitor lizard winking at us. There were cobalt-blue patched crabs scuttling along the sharp edged rocks of the canyon. On either side of us were mangrove trees and then the vertical walls of the narrow canyon formed by the Karsts. Up until 3 or 4 foot above us the rock was soot grey and heavily scarred with mollusc shells. The walls above were dirty vanilla striped with great drips of grey and orange, fragile, wiry trees somehow clung determinedly to the crumbly rock. The shadow of the cliffs were very welcome as we drifted through the canyon listening to the loud, constant hum of the insect world.

After a really tasty and filling lunch, we were down to just a group of 5 and we ambled down the coast and through the mangrove forest. Monkeys were dropping from tree branches in to the water to keep cool and quietly stalking our kayaks. Either side of us were the dark intricate webs of roots, like fairground claws clasping for a prize in the deep mud. Each tree was formed from a dozen or so overlapping arches bridging the water culminating in one proud spindly trunk growing high out of the water.

We turned down a narrower tributary and appeared, on first sight, to reach a dead end of rock. Our guide told us to duck and keep going beneath the overhanging rock in to a low cave. Watching our heads on bobbly stalacites and without room to paddle we cautiously guided our kayak through the cave and gradually out the other side in to a hidden lagoon. Surrounding us were high rock walls, mangroves and vines hanging off the trees. Pixels of blonde sunlight danced and tickled the grey rock walls. Magical!


Emerging once again we continued through the mangroves to another cave. We clambered in to the steep opening of the cave through sticky mud. Above us were a hundred bats hanging in the shadows, swooping away when we clapped our hands. Before us opened a large high cavern, it was so dark we could barely see the ground below us. We stumbled through one step at a time over the uneven ground cushioned with powdery 'kee kam kaow' (bat poo). All the time we could hear the gentle whispering of wings and the bats conversing in clicks over our heads.

The large cave had several different exits. We climbed down towards one exit which led down to the water one way and then to our right, were columns of stalacmites and stalactites clinging to each other like a falling child and his desperate mother. One structure looked like it might be a set of heavy, velvet curtains hiding a trophy or plaque. The guide drew our attention to a noise that sounded like drumming in the distance. We walked towards the cave wall following the eery sound like water boiling over, rattling the lid of a saucepan. It was apparently water trapped from high tide.


Reluctantly we climbed back in to our kayaks and made our way back. This seemed to take us a lot longer than on the way there and we struggled to get in to rhythm and eek out the last of our energy!

Overall it was a fab end to our time in Thailand and we were really sad to leave this incredible country and our new found friends.

But we can't complain, on to phase 2 of our travels!

Koh Lanta

In total we stayed on Koh Lanta for 10 days and we loved our time there.

Although it is quite a small island, there is plenty to do and something for everyone, including Scuba Diving, great snorkelling, kayaking, lazing on the beach, exploring the national park and the Sea Gypsy village, elephant trekking, trekking, watching Muay Tai (although it is very pricey). You can sample all types of cuisine: French, Greek, seafood, Indian, Italian (although the quality is generally better if you stick to Thai). Although we did sample the Greek Taverna and that was really good and Mr Wees 2 pizza was very good. We'd highly recommend Muslim Seafood near Pimilai and before the turning for Meteoroligical Department. The food is fresh, very reasonably priced and the staff are very friendly.

There are several 'hubs' ,if you like, where people stay and all the eateries and bars are. There is Saladan, which is the main town at the ferry terminal and there are a few dive centres there. Then there is Long beach which is a long strip of beach cafes, bungalows and bars and it has quite a nice vibe, however the beach isn't the most picturesque and it's quite rocky in places.

For the second half of our stay we stayed at a beach further south, Khlong Nin, which is a lovely stretch of beach with views of Koh Ha. We stayed in a gorgeous little family run resort called Fevrier. It only has 9 rooms, most of them are quaint looking bungalows with coloured glass windows and attached warm shower bathrooms. The lady that runs it is so sweet and helpful and they really pay attention to detail, cleaning the rooms everyday, providing bottles of water and a fridge. It's been a lovely stay. I would highly recommend it and according to Tripadvisor I think most other people that have stayed here would as well!

Not only is Lanta a great place, but we had some great company, which always helps. Jason was with us for 3 weeks and it was great to spend more time with him and get to know him a bit better, which we never seemed to get round to doing at home! I hope he's having a fab time in Malaysia. We were also lucky enough to meet up with Arthur and Justine while they were 'holidaying' and they were a lot of fun (as always) to spend time with. Last but by no means least, we managed to bump in to Phil and Megan for the third time! And so far we haven't been able to get rid of them!! Only joking, I think these two will be friends for life, feel really lucky to have got to spend so much time with them!



Right, enough of that..

Apart from the company, there has been several highlights of our stay on Koh Lanta:

1) I would definitely suggest hiring a bike for at least a day or so during your stay here. For the only other way to get around the island is by tuk tuk. Unfortunately, this island is under the influence of 'the tuk tuk mafia' which basically means they have agreed to charge extortionate prices. We have been charged 240 B just to go 2 km's down the road compared to Chiang Mai where you would pay no more than 80B to go anywhere within the city.
But it is also a beautiful island to explore. Inland there are mangrove forests and as you circumnavigate the island there are stunning views of hidden coves and the jagged limestone islands off shore. We had great fun with the 7 of us driving around the island in convoy stopping at various photo opportunities and bars with sea views.
2) We also hired a long tail boat and crew for a day to take us out to 3 different nearby island. This was a fantastic day out. Between the 7 of us we paid 4500 B, including the boat and crew, pick up and drop off at our hotel, cold water and lunch and use of snorkel gear. First of all they took us to a snorkel spot around a rock island. We jumped off the boat and off we went. Unfortunately the visibility wasn't very good, it was very cloudy but we still saw lots. The second snorkel spot was much better. It was off a beach and there was much
more coral and colourful fish. We then spent an hour or so relaxing on the beach and enjoying out lunch.
The final destination was much more than we expected – Emerald cave. We arrived at the entrance of a cave. It was quite choppy swimming in to the cave so we were given life jackets. We bobbed around trying to navigate ourselves towards the cave entrance sticking as close to our guide as possible, laughing at how ridiculous we each looked in our life jackets as they floated up above our heads. The cave got progressively dark and we realised we were actually going in to a tunnel. You could only see a few feet ahead so it was difficult to tell how wide and how far the cave went. Just as I was beginning to get a bit scared we saw sunlight and we came out of the cave in to a secret beach surrounded by high cliffs and forest. It was a real pirates hide out! Incredible experience!
3) Finally Megan, Phil, Martin and I decided to book a 'Discover Scuba Diving trip' when our other companions had gone home or moved on. We booked with Lanta Diver (visit http://www.lantadiver.com/en/About-Lanta-Diver ) and I would highly recommend them. The day consisted of 3 dives. It took 2 hours on the boat to get out to Koh Ha where we do all 3 dives. The boat is very spacious and they provide breakfast and lunch and a good supply of cold drinks thoughout the day, Our first dive was off a beach, where we were able to stand while we got used to the gear and practised skills, like being able to put our --- back in if it comes off and clear our mask. We then swam towards a rock island and had a nose around at about 5 metres. The instructors are great and we had 1 instructor to 2 people. Megan and I buddied up and the boys went together. By the end of the day we were calling Megan 'the Mermaid' as she was such a natural! I wasn't such a natural and a few times had to fight the nerves.
After about 45 minutes we were back on the boat, desperately trying to warm up as we'd all got a bit cold down there (my lips were literally blue!). Unfortunately it was overcast, so we had a few warm drinks and my instructor kindly found me another wet suit, so I could double up for the next dive. For the second dive, we jumped off the boat in the same place but swam towards a different one of the 5 islands (Ha means 5 in Thai). Here we went down a bit deeper and by now we were beginning to control our depth through our breathing which was exciting! We saw plenty of fish, including Boxfish, some angel fish,moray eels, and some shrimp. We were swimming around the rock island which was like a beautiful, colourful wall with lots of nooks and crannies. I loved swimming through shoals of fish and watching fish nibbling on jelly fish. Again we were under water for about 45 minutes and then had to swim back to the boat which was a bit of a challenge as it was a bit choppy, but we managed it.
Next we enjoyed lunch on board the boat, although it was still a bit chilly, before all deciding we wanted to do the third dive, which was optional. This dive proved to be a little trickier for me. It took me a while to equalise and we had to come back up to the surface once, but eventually I was okay. The instructor was very patient with me. The when we got down I was struggling a little with nerves as I felt that I was too buoyant and I couldn't seem to use my breathing to stay at the depth I wanted to. So my instructor told me to let some air out of my floatation belt as soon as I did this I thought I was floating up instead of down and started to worry. I didn't know what to do and felt helpless as I slowly drifted up towards the surface, my poor instructor ended up chasing me up to bring me back down. She later told me that what had actually caused this, which now seems obvious, but I didn't realise as I was thinking about everything else I should be doing. So while I had been concentrating on pressing the right button and worrying about my breathing I'd actually turned my body so I was upright in the water and I was kicking, so of course I was kicking slowly up towards the surface! Duh! I'll never make that mistake again!
I still really enjoyed the dive, there was plenty to see again and there was lots of rocky outcrops and coral to explore. My favourite sighting was a shoal of squid, which I'd never seen before. They look like cute alien creatures or the cartoon 'squelchy' characters we used to draw as kids.
All in all it was a fab day and good value for money! I would highly recommend this company, they were very professional and our instructors were very experienced and patient.

Noises, loud noises!

So far we have been on Koh Lanta, in southern Thailand for 6 days. It is a beautiful island in the Andaman sea and is a lot quieter than other better known islands.

For the last 3 nights we have been staying in a bamboo bungalow, a few minutes walk from the beach, in quiet gardens. Each bungalow has a little porch and a hammock. I have to say I never feel very secure when I stay in these bungalows. I think as there is usually gaps between the roof and walls, the odd hole nibbled in the bamboo and gaps between the wooden planks of the floor. So as you can imagine they're not particularly private or sound proofed!

The first night we stayed here I was really quite afraid when I woke during the night. It was because of all the unfamilar noises out 'there' in the night. I'd forgotten how loud a quiet,peaceful place could be! If you're not used to it these noises of nature can feel as loud and intrusive as sleeping alongside a busy motorway.

However in the last few days I have got used to it and have tried to separate and identify the different sounds so I can try and describe them for those who are not familiar.

You are first alerted to the noise by what sounds like the the wheezing in and out noise of a dogs squeezy toy saying 'cukoo,cukoo'. The reply comes as a warbling chuckle and the conversation continues with the tutting and snapping of another creature. There is a whispering undercurrent of gentle maraccas contributed by crickets. Then a sudden crescendo of urgent pulsing rattles accompanied by the tick,tick,tick of a second hand. When all of a sudden, time stops still......

and you wait....

The brief silence is broken by the sound of a wooden spoon tapping on plastic,' tut-tut-tut' partnered with a sound like finger nails urgently scratching an itch. Up starts a high-tempo drum beat which gradually subsides in to a gentle whistle like yachts awnings tinkling in the wind. Finally it is drowned out by the wind through the battered palm leaves and branches scraping and scratching the side of the hut.

Ready to begin over again.

Unexpected Footie Match

We stayed in the Chiang Mai area for around 3 weeks and it was great to catch up with Martin's dad and brother. The week between Christmas and New Year were particularly busy as we stayed in Chiang Mai city for a few days and we had several friends come to visit. We had a few trips out of town; exploring Doi Inthanon national park and then an 'adventure' day, trekking to a waterfall and white water rafting (which was very tame!).

However one of the most memorable experiences for me and one that encapsulates my experience of Thailand occurred as we were walking home from a night out. As we past Tapei gate along the moat we saw 5 or 6 people having a game of football in an open space alongside the moat. In the space was a huge coil shaped sculpture made from C.D's and an arch that was partly constucted for the New Year celebration.

The current players included 2 young boys (who looked like they live on the streets), 3 middle aged Thai men and a middle aged European man. Jason and Martin immediately approached this ensemble and asked them if they could take part. With much smiling and pats on the back from the Thai members they were welcomed in to the game and it was announced the 2 teams would be Thai and 'Falang' (meaning foreigner). So the 3 Europeans joined one team with the assistance of 1 of the young boys.

There were several unusual things about this game. The first was the boundaries of the pitch. These were: a busy road, one of the gates of the old city, the city moat (which one of the goals backed on to) and the Christmas Arch. Throughout the game the pitch would occasionally be crossed by a refuse collector or a passer-by on a bicycle. Several players were only wearing 1 shoe as they were using the other as a goal post, 2 of the Thai players were playing bare footed on the paving slabs.

Throughout the evening various passerbys joined the game from all sorts of walks of life. There was a lot of spirit and jovial banter going on. When one of the young boy stubbed his toe his middle-aged, pot bellied, Thai team-mate pulled him up and shoved his cigarette in the boys mouth. The scrawny 8 year old boy took a drag and off he went again!

As we had approached the match initially, a goal had been scored and the ball had flown in to the moat. Without hesitation, and to our suprise, one of the players dove head-first, fully-clothed in to the cloudy, dirty water to retrieve the ball. Within seconds he was being dragged out of the moat, ball held high and he continued the game dripping wet. Of course throughout the game this happened a few times and the same player happily jumped in again and again. I suppose it was refreshing!

Watching this game made me realise how fond I am of Thailand and how many wonderful people we have met. In general people are very friendly and hospitable. It was great to watch people with such different lives playing and cooperating together despite not speaking much Thai or English and within the game they all understood each other perfectly.

The Price of Convenience

In the press recently there has been lots of discussion about whether India should allow foreign investors to own 51% of retail stores. This would allow stores such Wal-Mart and Tesco to open in India. In recent days these plans have been suspended but it is an interesting and ongoing debate and one which the UK's experience should contribute to.

The Indian government claims it will aid competition. For who? For the big brands perhaps, but the fact that a Tesco Express store seems to be opening in every street in the UK is testament to the fact that it certainly won't help smaller independent retailers who simply cannot compete. I would like to compare the numbers of small independent retailers now and 10 years ago in the UK, I bet the numbers have decreased greatly.

Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, also claims that it will help to drive down prices which have risen dramatically with inflation. However this has gone to the other extreme in the UK, where prices for farmers have been driven down so low that many farmers are struggling to stay in business.

Surely India has only to look to England to realise this move can only benefit the big chains and continue to help the rich get rich and the poor even poorer, which seems to be a common theme. I read an article in India Today that advocated the opinion that the Government in India was an enemy of the poor and that by setting the poverty line at 32 rupees per person in urban areas and 26 rupees in rural areas this was actually adversely effecting ordinary Indians. Currently the government claims that 32% of Indians live below the poverty line. This means that 32% of Indians survive on less than 50p a day in urban areas. But the article, in my opinion, was arguing that by setting the poverty line so low they are confirming that it is okay for ordinary people to live on so little, that they need no more than the absolute minimum for survival.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/india-today-editorial-director-m-j-akbar-planning-commission-poverty-montek-singh-ahluwalia-rs-32-a-day-democracy/1/154070.html

Another argument for opening up the market to foreign retailers was that there would be no end of choice for the Indian consumer. This may be true but at a cost. We are used to being able to go to one store and get everything we need, sorry want. It is irrelevant whether we can actually grow that produce, whether it is in season, we can still get it. That is what we have become accustomed to, we expect to be able to get everything and anything we want. The result is being sold tasteless fruit and veg, that have been imported at great expense to the environment and to us, that have been stored/frozen for weeks in some dock container.

That was one of the things that was so wonderful about travelling around India - the fresh, flavoursome food. If you ate at a local place, okay you had choices limited to what they could grow or obtain locally, but the food was all freshly prepared. You could eat a well balanced meal of rice, vegetables and lentils for very little cost. Okay we did not eat a lot of meat and a majority of people in India are vegetarian, for religious reasons. Also it is not so easy to keep meat fresh. But still if meat is used it is sourced locally. It may not look as juicy or each cut as 'meaty', but nor has the animal or the meat been pumped full of additives or water.

I have also heard that a lot of vegetable/fruit produce is rejected and wasted by supermarket chains because of how it looks. Apparently British consumers are reluctant to buy an apple unless it is perfectly formed, there is not a blemish or lump in sight. There seems to be parallels here with our cosmetic/modelling/MTV/ celebrity culture!! But how ridiculous, since when does it matter what a potato looks like? What does it taste like? Where did it come from? Is it fresh? Are surely more appropriate questions? But seemingly people fail to consider this and I have to admit in the past I have been one of these people. Much more concerned with being able to get what I need in as little time as possible, only considering the effect on my pocket and time.

Reflecting on my life back in the UK I realise I have spent a lot of time telling myself and anyone else that will listen, what a busy life I lead. That I order my food online from a big supermarket chain because I don't have enough time and I save money. What rubbish! It's taken this 3 months of taking my head out of my own........life (!) to consider my impact on the world around me. I hope when I return to a working life somewhere, sometime soon, I will remember this and take the time to support local retailers, to buy fresh produce from independent stores and prepare more food from scratch. My sister has always been a great advocate of this and does a great job of preparing fresh exciting meals each day. There is no reason why I cannot do this. I'm thinking about having a family in the near(ish) future and I don't want to teach my children to be selfish or apathetic about what they consume.

Another trend that I hope India does not follow, is being able to buy convenience in terms of ready-made food. A wonderful part of the culture, that is lacking in the UK, is the passing down of family recipes. A huge part of Indian culture, according to families we met, is cooking and eating together. Most importantly cooking meals from scratch, making your own roti etc. Every family we met on the trains had brought entire meals with them, which they without fail wanted to share with us. Working mothers cook fresh meals and take great pride in this. I know many families in the UK still do this, but I believe there is a risk within our generation and the generation after us of loosing this, of convenience winning over healthy, nutricious food. People buy 'diet' meals instead of cooking for themselves, which they can guarantee has no additives etc. I am definitely guilty of buying ready-made sauces and filled pasta as a quick meal. I have a very small repertoire of basic meals that I make from scratch. Must do better! It's also so cheap to buy a 'meal' at a Weatherspoons or similar chains, which can be cheaper than buying all the ingredients and cooking from scratch. It's also cheaper to buy some chicken (in the loosest possible sense) and frozen chips than cook a healthy well balanced meal. This doesn't make much sense to my simple brain. Fresh food has been sent to a factory to be processed and created, you'd think this would cost more! No wonder we are fighting obesity in the Western world.

In the same vein, I often question the 'convenience' of using the internet, especially since we have been away. In the past I'd always rather book a hotel on the net or do my banking online. But I think actually in a lot of cases this is a false economy. I've had situations where I've tried to inform my mobile phone contractor that I want to cancel my contract etc. and this is such a pa-lava online with all the security checks etc. There are so many instances where it is so much quicker and straight forward to speak to someone. And I think actually I lost some confidence and felt deskilled at talking on the phone and communicating in different situations. It's really important to be able to relate to people over the phone or face to face. Anonymity is not always such a good thing. Things tend to get done much quicker and are more likely to be achieved if there is a personal element. You would think as a teacher this would have been obvious to me!!

Of course, there is also the transport aspect of our convenience culture. Jumping in the car to nip to Tesco's, a ten minute stroll down the road, because it's raining or because you've got 'so many other things to do'. Or as I'm guilty of, driving to work to save ten minutes each morning and evening, even though it's probably more expensive to drive. The hundreds of thousands of journeys we make as a nation each day that are unnecessary, the impact this has on our environment. I hope instead of sounding like I am on my high horse I am simply demonstrating how far from a 'good' and 'moral' citizen I am. Hopefully I have countered this in some way in my teaching, even if I am not leading by example and am a huge hypocrite! Must do better, before I can preach.

So to finish....watch this space! Will the Indian government continue to block foreign companies having considered the effect on ordinary Indians or just out of the inability to get anything done as a congress? And will I take the small step of changing my own behaviour? If I can't then this may be good news for a nation that are already doing things 'right' (in terms of not living for convenience) and terrible news for the UK who are loosing the battle to a nation of convenience nuts, which in turn is having a detrimental effect on health and our economy.

Cameron Highlands

27.11.11-29.11.11

From Ipoh it was only a 3 hour journey in to the Cameron Higlands and the small

town of Tanah Rata. However it is currently school holidays in Malaysia and a

3 day weekend so the roads were rammed with domestic tourists meaning we ended up at a

standstill as we wound the 6 or 7 km between the 2 towns in the Highlands.

My first impressions of the CH's were not as I'd imagined. The area seemed much

more commercialised than I'd thought, with the roads lined with garden centres,

restaurants and strawberry farms. In places all you could see were hills covered

with huge plastic green-houses. I later found out that this is the only place in

Malaysia that strawberries are grown and they are not exported to anywhere else in

Malaysia, they solely supply the tourist industry here. That must mean elsewhere in

Malaysia strawberries are exported, what a waste.

Tanah Rata is pretty much a one road town of guesthouses, shops and restaurants, not

very picturesque. Our guesthouse, Twin Pines, was the cheapest and by default the least inviting

place we have stayed so far in Malaysia and the room itself is probably the most

basic room we have stayed in throughout our whole trip. The walls were really thin

and the room smelt damp and the blanket on the bed even felt damp. But it was clean

and there were plenty of showers with hot water. It also had free wi-fi and a nice-enough

communal area. However we went to go and have a look at Fathers Guesthouse, which had

been recommended to us, and next time I would definately stay here. The dorm was

very cheap and had a lounge feel. The communal area was lovely with lots of comfy

sofas and the staff were so friendly and accomodating. Recommended!!

As we only had one whole day, and we'd got the impression that all the things we wanted

to visit were quite spread out, we decided to book a tour. We booked a days 'Rafflesia'

tour through Father's Guesthouse and it was well worth the money!

We were picked up by a dodgy looking 4 x 4 with huge horns on the front (obviously)! We clambered in and

chatted to our companions for the day, as we made the 40 minute journey to a local village.

It had rained quite hard the previous night so our guide explained that the 4 x 4 could not

go as far up the track as usual as it was too muddy. This meant we would have to trek

an extra 45 minutes or so each way. We were up for the challenge but were a little concerned because

we knew we weren't exactly equipped for any serious hiking. But the guide laughed it off

and we hadn't seen the track yet so off we went.......

Half an hour in it was apparent that it was going to be tough going for Martin in particular

as his trainers had no tread left on them. The track was pure mud and mainly uphill, if

you didn't watch your step you ended up up to your knees in mud. It was slow going! And

once we had reached the point at which we would usually have started walking we had another

hour and half to go. It was quite a fast pace and very slippy so you didn't get much

time to take in your surroundings. We were walking through occasionally very narrow

over-grown trails through rain forest. To either side of us and across the path were teepees of

stripy bamboo stabbing in to the sky. Our local guide led us through the paths hacking

at undergrowth as he went. At the times I was behind him I was concerned I would slip and fall in to

him, impaling him with his machete! It didn't happen thankfully! Otherwise this may have been

a very different blog entry!

Once we got of the track that the vehicles took it got marginally easier as there were

usually rocks or roots crossing the trail to give you more grip. But at times when

the trail went steeply uphill or downhill it became very difficult to stay on your feet.

We were fearful it would rain while we were trekking as this would make our route even more

difficult, but luckily the weather held up.

Our guide was a local and knowledgeable about the area, he stopped to break up the trek 3 times

to talk to us about our surroundings. However he did have a 'guide in training' who he

asked to do the first 'briefing' to our group. This guy was obviously very nervous at having to

speak in front of his boss and froze, managing to only mumble a few incorrect sentences. At

which point our guide interrupted and told us he was all wrong and carried on himself. This

made us all very uncomfortable and I didn't think it was particularly professional of our

guide.

We were shown 3 rafflesia in different stages of their life cycle, dead (!), in bud and in bloom. The

flower that was in bloom did not smell as rumoured. Apparently it only smells (like a corpse) for

a few hours after the flower first opens. It is strange looking fleshy flower, a cross between a

fungus and a flower.

After we had viewed the flower we took a break and were refreshed with a drink from a freshly

cut piece of bamboo! We then had the gruelling trek back to the vehicles, which for Martin

was particularly painful as it was so difficult for him to stay on his feet. About an hour

from the vehicle, Martin called me back as he saw a snake on the path. It looks like I got lucky

as I must have stepped right over the small brown snake that was in striking pose and was according

to our guide poisonous. Phew!

It felt like a great achievment when we made it back to the vehicle, albeit covered in mud. We then had

a few minutes walk to a nearby village where our guide demonstrated how to us a traditional blow

pipe and we all took it in turns to try it. It's suprising how powerful they are.

Afterwards we were driven to a local indian restuarant for lunch. We then embarked on our afternoon

tour of the areas' sights driven by the trainee guide, which was hairy at times to say the least!

Our first stop was at a viewpoint over the local tea plantations. Bushes were about 3 foot tall,

course and stumpy with waxy, shiny leaves, planted in rows with half a foot gap in between. The view

of the undulating valley was gorgeous, rich velvety green as far as the eye could see with younger plants

a brighter, lime green. Our guide was laughably abrupt (because of his limited english, not out of

rudeness!) and hurried us along to the BOH tea factory, which was unfortunately not running as it was

a public holiday. But the exhibition gave a good overview of the company and the tea making process.

You can also have a cup of tea while soaking up the views of the surrounding tea plantations.

Our next stop was probably the highlight of the afternoon, the Butterfly farm, not a grand affair,

purely set up for the tourists. As part of our package we were allowed to hold various creatures.

We started off with a small, very slow moving lizard. Then we built up to a rather large rhinocerous beetle,

which was huge with large pincers and a horn, a shiny, oily black colour. Didn't like him much!

Next was a leaf beetle, which is an exact replica of a light green feathered leaf and each

part of it's body is leaf shaped! Very clever evolvement! Then it was time to bring out the big

guns!...the scorpions! The guy opened up the enclosure lent in grabbed 4 or 5 scorpions by their tails

and slapped them over his body! "Right who's first?!" We all looked at each other, after a few seconds

a german man on our tour volunteered. In a flash, 2 scorpions had been placed on his chest, 1 in

each hand, without a word of instruction. Then to top it off, mid pose for a photo, the guy leapt

in with a final scorpion which he ceremoniously placed on the german guys crotch!!!

We were stunned, I have to say I was very reluctant to hold one but did agree to hold one in my hand.

However I didn't trust that it wouldn't hurt me! After we had all held them, our guide decided to

divuldge why we had been quite safe (he didn't feel the need to explain this to us before we held

to ensure we didn't get hurt!). Apparently the scorpion can only sting you if you touch it on it's

back because it can only move it's tail back and forth. Phew!

After that excitement we went in to the butterfly enclosure, which again we were hurried around

which was a shame. There were butterflies the size of my hand, with black wings and colouful

'eyes'. There were some children visiting in bright, light coloured t-shirts who had 2 or 3

butterflies land on them! It was easy to see the butterflies up close and watch their 'tongues' curl

in and out on the flowers.

Our final stop of the day was at a strawberry farm, however we only had the opportunity to

buy a strawberry product. So we scoffed a strawberries with ice cream!

A great whistle-stop day with plenty of memorable moments!