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Well hello there and happy nearly summer holidays to you. We've been having a fun time working our way towards Indonesia...... Last left off we were still in Koh Samui, we begrudgingly left there in May and headed back onto mainland Thailand stopping a couple nights in a small town called Chumpon before getting the overnight train to Kanchanaburi - i don't know why we fool ourselves that we will sleep on the overnight trains the reality is that it is a fun way to travel but you do usually need the next day clear for afternoon naps and early bedtime! So after arriving in Kanchanaburi (and our afternoon nap) we spent a week travelling around this area and it was great - so much to see and learn about - as always Mark got some great pics which will most likely convey better than i can describe but it is another totally respectful remberance location of good and bad times gone by - for some reason (above visits elsewhere) i came away from here taking on much more realisation of how much we have to be thankful for from others sacrifices (Anton we didn't contact your friend in the end as we had a good amount of time there we just got local buses and explored - thank you though).
So after a lovely week there we headed back to Bangkok for a few nights - which was over the weekend so we got a chance to go to the Chatuchak weekend market which is one of the worlds largest markets (covering 27 acres!) - so off we went armed with a market map and a compass - got to say it was pretty impressive and put together in such a way it never seems to get to crowded (that or we were going the wrong way round or something). We both could have spent and spent there is so much stuff to buy it's just fun - but we mostly just looked and looked and planned our shopping trips back there one day. From Bangkok we took a short flight back down to Kuala Lumpur to apply for our Indonesian visa and starting point for heading south. The visa processs was super simply however you can't wear flip flops, shorts or t-shirts to the embassy so each visit we had to put on our shoes, trousers and shirts - not that i mind looking a bit smarter (as we are both right ol travel grungies these days) it was more having to walk in searing 38 degree heat to get there but hey ho all done and dusted we enjoyed the rest of KL wandering around the places we didn't get to visit on our last trip.
From KL we got a bus down to Maleka which turned out to be the best trip for quite a while. On our arrival we ventured out for some food and drinks only to stumble across our new home from home for the week a lovely cafe called Calanthe Art Cafe, with lovely staff, food and drinks (especially the coffees and Sour plum, lime and cuecumber drink). After our lunch we were invited to their 7 year anniversary taking place that eve. So after a short break it was back to the cafe for abundance of lovely local food, iced tea and chatting - lovely eve - oh yes and of course birthday cake which was super delicious! From there we found it hard to not have a meal or a drink there most days. We were also treated to a day out by one of their staff called Antoinette - who kindly took us out and around for a day walking tour to some great sites and eateries - we also ended up getting married in a traditional malay house (however we're not so sure on the authenticity - think more we are just married in that house or something).
So after a throughly lovely enjoyable time in Melaka and being dropped at the bus station by our lovely new friends at Calanthe we took the bus down to Singapore which is where we currently reside until next Monday. Singapore is proving to be a bit of a playground for us - there is so much to see and we are staying in a lovely hostel that has given us so much info on what to see, how to get there etc that we will be fully busy until Monday. Our first day we walked around Marina Bay which itself it so impressive but there are loads of free shows to go and see and enjoy there to so we are heading back this evening for the light show and some music. Yesterday we went to Universal Studios Singapore which was fantastic fun - not being a huge rollercoaster fan myself i still managed to force myself onto all the rides including the cyclon which goes upside down and all over the place - kept my eyes closed the whole time listening to Mark shouting 'oh my god' several times in different voice pitches and being thrown around was enough of the experience for me....... however i surprised myself with how much i enjoyed the Transformers ride - went on it twice and it is flippin amazing - its the only one in the world at the moment but hopefully everyone gets a chance to go on it at sometime - it's seriously like being in the film (all 3D) with all the transformer robots around you and involved (Shawn - you in particular would love it simply for how cool the technology is) - totally awsome!!!!
And that's us for now - we fly to Yogykarta on the 18th to begin our 7 week trip of Indonesia - travelling down Java and onto Bali, Lombok, Gilli and Flores islands - this we are super looking forward to - volcaneo craziness to ensue, a lil surf in Bali and top up the tan again!
Until the next time - hope everyone had a fantastic Jubilee - there is so much going on in the UK this summer its going to be a fab time with or without the sun but hopefully it comes out enough for evening drink in the beer gardens!
Big smiles from us - Zoe & Mark x
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