hi all

i was having a blonde moment this morning and spelt Kuala Lumpur wrong and it wont let me change it now. excuse me please.

sorry not been in touch much but i just not had the time while on this tour. any free time that i do manage to get im sleeping - dont get much sleep at nite cos of the bugs and tracy's fear of them - her screams wake me up most nites!!!

Well wat have i not been doing since my last update!! we left bangkok and headed to khao sok ( the rainforest / jungle).The place is amazing . the rainforest is totally gorgeous. the scenery up there is breath taking and it was cooler as well. we stayed in little bungalow huts in the forest land. they were so cute. IT was a long bus journey there, but we went straight out to see the elephants.

I went elephant riding!!! they are so hairy and big up close. Tracy and i were together on the elephant. Its actually quite comfortable to sit on. you just have to make sure u move with the elephant. its not good though when they are going down hill. you seriously think you are going to fall off. Tracy was brave and moved off the seat we were on and sat on the elephants head for while as we walked through the rainforest. i wasnt so brave!! and she got covered in elephant sweat!! the ride was about an hr and a half. we stopped half way so the elephants could rest and cool down etc. so we went into the waterfalls. it was so cool.

On the way home from the elephants we stopped at the local temple and cave - the monkey caves!! You would seriously never even imagine the scene that i saw. it was out of this world. All these monkeys and newly born monkeys were freely moving around the caves and gently took bananas out of our hands. They are use to humans feeding them. They even peel the bananas like we do!!! We were surrounded by them . they ran between our legs, sat beside us, climbed the rocks and trees. it was so cool being that close to them. There were also snakes aparently in the cave also but we never saw any. While this was happening. the rain was pouring out of the sky but it was lovely. it cooled the air down. I never though i would be happy to be out in the rain.

That nite we went to the rainforest resturant were we saw a frog. well actually were one of the boys threw a frog at us.

The next day we went tubbing down the jungles rivers. We got in the big tyres and sat in the currents down the river. my arms killed me paddling. it was hillarious. The tour guide Terry tipped me over a few times which meant i actually had to go into the stinky water. - gods knows what lived in that water!!! It was amazing though. That nite we went to some resturant where i got to use my torch!!! it was in the middle of the jungle somewhere and it was pitch black. we were so afraid walking home but it was funny. got drink on the way home and had a party.

Got a bit drunk that nite but it was all good.

Left the jungle the next day and headed for the islands. we went to krabi. This place was gorgeous. The beach was lovely but it was touristy. Paula tracy and i though the next day signed ourselves off the tour and went to phi phi islands. This is where the tsunami hit!! we got the boat to the island and found a stunning beach hut to stay in for the nite and hit the beach. Got a little colour but didnt stay out for long. i would have been roasted. the images of the tsunami are still visible and it stil touches the island people. it was quite sad to see the wreckages.

We had one of the best nites there. we went to a bar called hippies. There was a fire dancing show where boys done various dance routines with fire. We met the bar owner and dj Emir. he was lovely so hot and he bought us a bucket of drink   as we ran out of money. we didnt bring that much with us to the island as only staying the nite. we had to live on 2 pound for the day betweenthe three of us. we danced though on the beach etc . we didnt want to go back to our group the next day.

went back to our tour group the next day and our group were so jealous!!. We headed Penang after there. This was in Malaysia. we had to que for ages to go through immigration with our bags. think i broke my back having to stand so long. Malaysia is a richer country and is very westernise in the buildings etc. Penang was scary though. the men were so pervy.... they literally stopped in the street and starred at you. went to a traditional indian rest that nite. god knows what we had!!!

Didnt do much here just went to the shopping mall - it was soooo big. paula and i bought hair straightners we got straight hair again - soooo good. we got good ones also although paula did burn her ears in the shop trying them out.

We left penang and headed for cameron highlands. This place was lovely. we were in a lovely guest house. but the journey there was a nitemare. They are crazy drivers here. i have lost count of the many times i thought i was going to die. they overtake on the corners of a windy road the highlands at 100 miles a hr. Tracy had to put her arm out in front of me many times to stop me going flying in the van. Tour guide terry was cracking up with the driver!!

only stayed here for the nite as not much to do but went to a traditional Chinese rest where we learnt to cook like the chinese do. it was cool. U get a big bowl of boiling water and then you put your own food in to cook for 10 seconds. i wasnt to keen on eating much as everyones spoons where in the same bowl and cooking different types of meat and fish at the same time. didnt trust it much.

We have had so many early starts - its not good for me 7am bus journeys are not good for the good old stomach.

Finally we have headed for kuala lumpur (KL). Now this is place to be!! its a city and it has a massive shopping mall that has TOPSHOP in it. - of course i had to check it out and buy something. Went to the reggae bar last nite here - it was so cool the whole group where out drinking and dancing. - i never drank much though as (sorry mum) but not ate much over the past few days with the 10 hr bus journeys and only having crisps as an option to eat.

Paulaand tracy are currently in their rooms dying though. i have been playing mum all morning to them getting them water and tablets.

well that is me up to date!! sorry so long!!

Claire

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