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We have now spent a week in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore which has been quite a change from the rest of SE Asia. We have spent the last 48 hours in a competition to see the first piece of litter... chewing gum is illegal here!
In Malaysia we visited Taman Negara national park for three days, and on our first evening we had a rather exciting night hike. Feeling like smug seasoned jungle-goers after our time in Costa Rica last year, we trailed behind the rest of the group to do our own 'spotting'. Hearing footsteps on the path behind us we turned round (expecting to see a fellow hiker) and the head torches caught only eye shine (about 4 feet above the path) and a huge dark shadow. Smugness melted away to fear (there are Tigers, Boars and Elephants in this jungle) and we quickly called to our guide, who came running (all 6 stone and 4 foor 6 of her) and identified a rogue Tapier! She was pretty excited as she'd never seen one (!) and thankfully it heard our yelps and headed off into the jungle, though reached about 2 yards away from us. Eeek! After that we stayed firmly with the rest of group, and had even saw a Slow Loris (little monkey), a ton of spiders, and a teeny snake!
The rest of our time in the jungle was spent trecking, taking in the forest on a vertiginous canopy walkway, tasting local fruits (including the pungent Durian!) and racing up and down river rapids. Oh, and enduring perhaps the heaviest rain of our lives at 6.30pm each evening sharp!
KL was pretty cool too, Hiles tours had us booked into a hostel in Little India, and we had some pretty awesome curries. Perhaps though my first ever tee total curry as they just dont sell Beer in the Islamic restaurants! For a cheeky drink you have to head to China town and know who to ask.... We did all the obligatory sight seeing including a trip up the Menara tower from where you can see the whole city, the Petronas Towers and beyond.
Apart from litter hunting in Singapore, we hugely enjoyed the breath of fresh air. River cruises around the bay at dusk, harbourside walks (to rival even Bristol!), and huge tropical gardens next door to megamalls. We even got stuck in Prada's flagship mall when the rain came down for 2hrs one day - can you imagine us in our finest(!) travelling gear, all see-through from the rain, being frowned upon by Singapores elite? We hid outside in the end! We redeemed ourself later that evening by topping Shanghai in the pricey cocktail catagory and having our Singapore Slings at Raffles... delish!
So we have just arrived in Bali, soon to pop to the Gili Islands, and in 2 weeks we are off to NZ! We'll write again soon!
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