We hired a scooter again to explore Gunung Raya, the highest mountain peak in Langkawi at 881m. There is a scenic 23km winding road up to the top where you can then see spectacular views of Langkawi and even Thailand on a really clear day. Unfortunately the higher we drove the darker the clouds became. Just before the top there was a viewing point to see the spectacular views but alas there was only clouds and mist to be seen. We decided to turn back as the sky was now really dark and we didn't want to be caught in a heavy downpour on the scooter. On the way down it became a bit clearer again and we stopped at a parking place to give our butts a rest as the road was really bumpy in places. My bladder wasn't going to hold out until we got to a toilet so I decided to attend to the call of nature at the parking spot.
Although the road was really quiet and we hadn't seen many other vehicles I climbed over a wall onto the grassy verge as I thought that no doubt, as soon as my shorts are down, a bus load from Wigan will appear! As I was undoing the buckle on my shorts I looked down and both my feet and ankles were completely covered in ants. I had landed on an ant hill. I was back over that wall in jig-time. I am so glad I noticed the ants before I squatted down. That would really have been a disaster.
We didn't take any photos because of the weather but if you click on the link that follows you will see some of the views we should have seen. Once you click on the link, scroll down to the bottom and click visit D'coconut Hill Resort. Then click on photo gallery. The views would have been really nice to see while we were there. http://www.gunungraya.com.my/
On 22nd March after 2 weeks in Langkawi the British Embassy in Kuala Lumpur contacted us to tell me that my new passport had arrived (just a few days short of the 4 weeks that I had been told it would take). We booked a ferry for a few days later to Penang. A flight was cheaper than the ferry but, with no passport, I couldn't fly. We were going to stay there for a few days and then head down to Kuala Lumpur to collect the passport. We had to decide what to do then as, once we collected the passport, both our passports were being sent back to the UK to get a new Indian visa stamped into them. We had to decide whether to stay in Malaysia or travel elsewhere - Thailand, Vietnam, Loas - as we had to be settled somewhere and booked into accommodation before both our passports could leave our possession as, once our passports have gone, we can't travel around until we get them back. (Oh, the difficult decisions you have to make when you are travelling!)
We are meeting friends from the UK in Thailand on 20th April so we thought we might just head there and courier our passports from there, but when Colin read about courier services on the internet it seemed that Thailand can be a bit dodgey as it is not addressed in Thai script. We therefore decided to stay in Malaysia. We would collect the passsport, head to Melaka to the Old Town Guest House, where we stayed before, and have our passports returned to the Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. We thought that would be the safest thing to do as passports are a wee bit precious when you are travelling. Although Melaka is fairly small and not a great deal to do after a few days, the Old Town Guest house is very a very friendly place to stay with loads of books and magazines to read, DVD's to watch and generally a very relaxing place. Also with the spacious, airey sitting areas it is a great place to meet other travellers and swap stories. The hawker stalls around the guest house sell cheap excellent food so it's not a bad place to go and hole up for a bit.
Although the road was really quiet and we hadn't seen many other vehicles I climbed over a wall onto the grassy verge as I thought that no doubt, as soon as my shorts are down, a bus load from Wigan will appear! As I was undoing the buckle on my shorts I looked down and both my feet and ankles were completely covered in ants. I had landed on an ant hill. I was back over that wall in jig-time. I am so glad I noticed the ants before I squatted down. That would really have been a disaster.
We didn't take any photos because of the weather but if you click on the link that follows you will see some of the views we should have seen. Once you click on the link, scroll down to the bottom and click visit D'coconut Hill Resort. Then click on photo gallery. The views would have been really nice to see while we were there. http://www.gunungraya.com.my/
On 22nd March after 2 weeks in Langkawi the British Embassy in Kuala Lumpur contacted us to tell me that my new passport had arrived (just a few days short of the 4 weeks that I had been told it would take). We booked a ferry for a few days later to Penang. A flight was cheaper than the ferry but, with no passport, I couldn't fly. We were going to stay there for a few days and then head down to Kuala Lumpur to collect the passport. We had to decide what to do then as, once we collected the passport, both our passports were being sent back to the UK to get a new Indian visa stamped into them. We had to decide whether to stay in Malaysia or travel elsewhere - Thailand, Vietnam, Loas - as we had to be settled somewhere and booked into accommodation before both our passports could leave our possession as, once our passports have gone, we can't travel around until we get them back. (Oh, the difficult decisions you have to make when you are travelling!)
We are meeting friends from the UK in Thailand on 20th April so we thought we might just head there and courier our passports from there, but when Colin read about courier services on the internet it seemed that Thailand can be a bit dodgey as it is not addressed in Thai script. We therefore decided to stay in Malaysia. We would collect the passsport, head to Melaka to the Old Town Guest House, where we stayed before, and have our passports returned to the Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. We thought that would be the safest thing to do as passports are a wee bit precious when you are travelling. Although Melaka is fairly small and not a great deal to do after a few days, the Old Town Guest house is very a very friendly place to stay with loads of books and magazines to read, DVD's to watch and generally a very relaxing place. Also with the spacious, airey sitting areas it is a great place to meet other travellers and swap stories. The hawker stalls around the guest house sell cheap excellent food so it's not a bad place to go and hole up for a bit.
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