Sabah, Borneo

Some places are best described with pictures, rather than words, and even then it's not quite adequate in capturing the blissfulness of lying on a pristine white beach with turquoise tropical waters lapping at your feet. A welcome and much needed break from the dazzling madness of big cities:

This is my third time on Malaysia's relatively unspoiled coasts - the first being on the amazing Perhentian Islands, which I just can't rave about enough, and the second in Sarawak,during my first visit to Borneo. The fact that I came back should say enough really...

We stayed on the idyllic Gaya Island for a few days where I was lucky enough to spot about 5 black-tipped reef sharks whilst snorkelling, and also unbelieveably relieved to get back into some scuba gear and explore the depths. The diving wasn't as impressive as what I'd found in Perhentian and Indonesia but still well worthwhile. At one point, we found two horseshoe crabs stuck in a net on the seabed which our diving instructor freed - giving us the chance to take a close look at the alien-like species which is effectively a living fossil dating back over 450 million years.

The last couple of nights of our stay were spent at the Shangri-La Resort in Rasa Ria where they are wrapping (today is the last day) up their orangutan rehabilitation programme. We spent the morning watching two two-year old orangutans clambering over each other and their keepers - followed by a canopy walk where we introduced to the pit viper. Our guide gleefully told us that it was called the 100 step snake (because that's as far as you'll get once it's bitten you) whilst poking it with a stick:

Another of the highlights of the trip was a night tour of the mangrove forests that line the rivers around Rasa Ria. At night, the shadows along the river banks come to life with the twinkling glow of hundreds of miniscule fireflies. The scene looks like it's been lifted straight out of a Disney movie - our guide held a small blue-ish light on our boat which mimics the light given off by female fireflies, making the tiny twinkling bulbs lift out of the shadows and float towards the boat

Our last day in the sun was spent sipping coconuts whilst topping up our tans on the beach and hiring out a small catamaran, skippered by Stanley, an ex-mechanic.

Our return trip was broken up by a one day layover in Hong Kong - the mist had finally cleared and we were finally able to enjoy the unbroken views of the amazing skyline:

Sleeping:
Gaya Island Resort - absolute relaxing bliss. They organised snorkelling and scuba diving trips for me and both were great. Evenings are a little quiet as you are stuck on the island so definitely a place for relaxation!

Shangri La Rasa Ria - set on the most amazing stretch of beach and within close proximity to the rivers and mangrove forests - we chose it for the orangutan rehabilitation program which is now closed. 

Hong Kong

Most new places I travel to have the ability to tug at my heart strings and each one seems to strike a different chord making it that little bit difficult to leave each and every time. Hong Kong (which means fragrant harbour) is no exception. Coming from the tiniest of places I have a great love of big cities and although Hong Kong is not the biggest, it certainly knows how to make great use of the space it has available.

I'm at a bit at a loss as to how to describe it in words. It feels as like a jigsaw puzzle with the pieces still jumbled up in its box - everything seems a little out of place somehow and yet connected ... cheaply built concrete tower blocks cozy up next to sleek modern glass skyscrapers in the shadow of which you can expect to find anything, thrown together in a seemingly haphazard manner -  a small street lined with vegetable vendors interrupts a row of trendy gift shops (wan chai), a chic coffee place sits next to a sweaty fluorescent-lit noodle joint, stylishly dressed party goers on their way to high end roof top bars, dodge their way through hordes of stumbling drunks outside the 711 (a pretty happening spot in Lan Kwai Fong as people try to avoid the considerably high drinks prices).

Skyscrapers old and new:

At one point we even got lost in a lift for a hour ... although I'm somewhat convinced it  was a tardis - every time the doors opened they revealed a different world; a gym, a wedding banquet (chandeliers and all), shops, a tapas restaurant, a food court, a toy store/amusement arcade ... when we gave up on the lift and tried to take the stairs we stumbled across a sleeping man in wellington boots ... my cheese dreams are less surreal, but it's all part of the quirky charm of this seemingly haphazard city. 

Mong Kok is home to the ladies night market which is a seemingly endless cluster of streets lined with stalls selling pretty much anything you can imagine being sold. Apparently it's also the most densely populated area in the world and might have been for awhile as the name means prosperous/crowded corner.

Mong Kok:

On our last day after giving up hope of having the relentless fog clear,  we took the tram up to Victoria Peak. We were very lucky to coincide with a slight break in the grey weather which allowed us to get a glimpse of the stunning views.

Victoria Peak:

On the way back to Tsim Sha Tsui where we were staying,  we took the ferry as darkness set in and the sky scrapers came to life to reveal stunningly lit skyline shining through the fog. 

The ongoing grind of human history has no understanding of, or interest in, the logic of physical geography and as a result it occasionally churns out a few anomalies. Gibraltar,  my home, is one of these and Hong Kong is another. Whilst wildly different, there seem to be certain parallels across these two identities. I'm told that before Hong Kong was ceded to the British after the first opium war, there wasn't actually too much going on there. Much like Gibraltar,  it was its unique status as a colony that catalysed it's growth - as a result, the Hong Kong have an identity that is unique from that of China or the UK. Now that it has been handed back to China, (whilst retaining its unique status) political tensions are rising between the local population and China, culminating with several protests and riots which have been fuelled by the ongoing manipulation by the Chinese government of the agreed terms of the transfer of the territory.

As is often the case when visiting cities, we left with an appetite to see more and I'd return to Hong Kong in a heart beat to continue enjoying all it has to offer. Special thanks to Resham, Mathias and John (aka "Stu''s friend") for each giving us tips and a glimpse of their version of the city (including the infamous syringe jelly shot):

Sleeping:
Hotel Icon in Tsim Sha Tsui. Lovely hotel in a slightly awkward area. They provide a free shuttle service to the tube which is very helpful and taxis are so cheap that location wasn't that important anyway. There's enough going on around the area that you don't feel at all isolated.

Eating:
Soho: Little Bao (recommended by Resham) was well worth the visit - there is a queue for a reason! The salted caramel dessert was amazing (and I am not a dessert person).

Drinking:
Lan Kwai Fong: Ce La Vi has amazing views (and oddly enough a jacuzzi to dip your feet in)
We stopped for a cocktail at Paradis - It's a restaurant really but has a nice bar area and a really great vibe.
Staunton Street in Soho has tons of cool and quirky bars.

London

Grey, wet, cold, busy, smoky, unfriendly, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful London! I've never loved this city as much as i do right now. Restaurants from every corner of the earth with all their menus written in English. Public transport that more or less functions despite being packed in like a sardine. Cab drivers who know exactly where you are going, even when you don't. Beautifully spaced out queues of people. Cool, fresh weather - not a drop of sweat in sight. They have a thing called pavements here, which are these areas on the side of roads where no cars, motorbikes, trucks,  horses, donkeys or cows can travel along making it safe for the humble pedestrian to go about their business - it's bloody genius!
And don't even get me started on the delights packed into my beautiful, beautiful flat. Double beds with the softest mattresses, clean linen, rooms with as many power sockets as you could ever possibly want... Wardrobes. Oh, a whole wardrobe full of wonderful, wonderful things. Heels, belts, bags, jeans, dresses. A dressing table with make up, perfume, moisturisers, hairbrushes, hair dryers. Oh my god, it's like my own personal beauty salon... A bathtub. a real life, clean, white, bathtub stocked with shower gels, soaps, shampoos and conditioner - I don't think I've ever been this clean in my life. I smell like fresh flowers and my skin feels like a dolphin's. I put on real clothes, high heels, make up and I even brushed my hair and when I looked in the mirror I felt like one of those women off a Trinny and Susannah makeover show. It almost brought me to tears. I've been reunited with my music collection. I will never listen to Whitney or the Bee Gees again. Best of all though are the toilets! Gleaming porcelain beauties with seats, flushes, tissue paper, soap, running water. Now I understand why they call it a throne, I could sit on that fresh smelling thing all day... I mean just look at this before and after shot:

Yes, that's right. Squat toilets with no doors. I mean seriously Beijing, are we animals?!

There's also this thing called a kitchen in here and it has everything you possibly need to turn raw stuff into food.. Look at how I transformed these eggs and bread into breakfast:

A miracle! And not a noodle or a grain of rice in sight. Joy of joys!

In all seriousness though, I'm surprisingly happy to be back. I'll try really hard to not write a million soppy cliches but there's no other real way to describe this than as a sort of rebirth. Everything seems new and exciting and I can appreciate things that I would never have thought twice about before. I am relaxed and happy and the best part about it is that I have 1001 incredible memories that will last me a lifetime. There aren't really any words to describe the past 6 months. I've been dreaming about them since I was a teenager and they have lived up to and far surpassed any expectations that I may have had. People ask me what my favourite places were and I usually give them the easy answer which goes something like: "Bolivia and Laos. China and Malaysia were amazing - all of it really except India which I didn't massively enjoy" but really it isn't that straight forward. It's not so much the places that you visit that makes a trip it's the experiences you have there. My favourite places actually are the tops of mountains, the bottom of oceans, the middle of jungles, the beginnings of friendships... Rooftop bars with glasses of champagne, greasy little backstreet restaurants, beach bars with fire breathers, trains and buses with multiple landscapes flickering through their windows, nightclubs at 4am ... my house packed with great friends, my lovely soft bed (not packed with great friends). I could rabbit on and on but I've already blogged about it all so if you've read it you already know what my highlights are. Even India which may not have given me the greatest experiences taught me something about myself and something about the world, so whilst I am not in a rush to go back there, I am actually happy that I went.

Anyway, I want to thank you all for reading my rambles about my rambles. I'm heading home to Gibraltar on Wednesday so I think I can manage one last post in honour of my beautiful home town but other than that, my everyday life is sadly just not all that exciting so if I don't think of something else to write about, Kate will no longer post. What I will say to those folks who go on about how jealous they are is to stop being jealous. I didn't win the lottery or get some magical travel invite, I just saved up some cash, quit my job and booked a flight. Seriously, it's that easy. Obviously if you have financial commitments or a family please don't go and bankrupt yourself or give your children abandonment issues - make do with a week off here and there. But if you can do it and you want to do it, just go and bloody well do it! Please!

PS. Errr... Anyone out there want to employ me? I'm kinda broke... :D

Guilin

Our first taste of China came on our 6 hour train journey to Guilin which seemed set to be a particularly uncomfortable experience when we realised we didn't have any seats. What we didn't count on was the friendliness of the locals which turned what could have been an awful train ride into a surprisingly enjoyable day. One guy decided to test out his English skills on us (consisting mainly of the words 'hello' and 'beautiful' - the little smoothie) and pretty soon we attracted quite a large group of his friends and neighbouring passengers. We squished up on the seats in between them and took part in a little photo shoot and a mutual and very unsuccessful Chinese/English lesson whilst swapping snacks and struggling to communicate in some very broken English. Giggling is a universal language however and the Chinese put it to good use.

Train party:

 

 

China is amazing and beautiful but it is also really rather an odd place. When the Chinese are standing still or sitting down they are seemingly the friendliest, happiest folks on the planet ... But catch them when they're in motion and they become violent human bulldozers - personal space is an alien concept and the previously under appreciated British orderly queue is non-existent. At one point Cata was about to sit down on a bench and a man sprinted over and literally bumped her out of the way before her arse had time to hit the wood - perfectly normal behaviour apparently as no-one else even batted an eyelid. Now that we know the deal though we're getting quite good at the shoving etiquette. The trick is to stick out your elbows and not allow any space whatsoever in front of you. If anyone does try to cut in, give them a swift bump back with your shoulder or place your foot or bag in front of them, then shuffle back in as soon as there is some space.  This doesn't always work however as it is also acceptable to wave money and/or whatever you are buying in the shop keepers face in order to get served first even if you are behind in the 'queue'. Haven't quite figured out how to beat that one yet. Perhaps I need to invest in an extendable claw? Chances are I'll find one somewhere because the shops here literally sell everything that you can or can't imagine - and no sooner than you think to yourself 'why on earth would anyone buy that' does a very willing customer or two shove past you waving some of their well earned cash at the vendor. Toothbrush salesmen on trains, women on boats selling flowery headbands, folks whizzing around touting wheels that you can attach to your shoes, shops stocked with every kind of noisy rubber animal you could possibly want, demon eyed battery powered puppies, mini statuettes of Michael Jackson (OK, so maybe I was a little tempted by that one) ... You name it, they sell it.

Eating has been quite the challenge as well as no-one really speaks English and all the menus are in Chinese. First rule before heading into an eatery is to make sure there's stuff that you can point at, otherwise you'll be leaving the place hungry. Even the pointing technique can be hazardous with culinary delights such as dog meat, chicken feet, or 'cold white fungus' as illustrated by one of the few chinglish menus we found:

In a nutshell, this place is totally crazy. It's exhausting but great fun! I suggest if you plan to come that you bring a good phrase book and life might be made a little bit easier! Make sure to learn the word for toilet - there is nothing really more awkward than having to mime it...

 

 

China's quirks aside, Guilin is the one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been in, surrounded by two rivers and two lakes and set between spectacular mountain scenery. The real highlights however were to be found outside of town - a scorching four hour trek amongst the stunning Longji rice terraces in an area know as 'the dragons backbone' was easily one of the highlights of the whole trip. The endless ridges of winding tiered rice fields peppered with old wooden houses are so unbelievably beautiful that you get the feeling that you have stumbled onto a film set.

Mountain villages and Longji rice terraces:

 

 

The next day we headed on a bamboo boat tour of Yangshuo which again rewarded us with breathtaking scenery.

Yangshuo:

 

 

Hoi An, Mui Ne and Ho Chi Minh

Before we got to Vietnam we'd heard a few negative reviews about how it was dirty, busy and how the locals were unfriendly so I wasn't sure what to expect. I found the Vietnamese to be warm and helpful people. Ha Noi and Mue Ne were super relaxed towns and I didn't really experience any major issue with hygiene levels so I'm not sure if we were just lucky or if perhaps India just set a very, very, very ... very, very low benchmark? Either way, I thought Vietnam was a lovely country. Apart from the amazing food, Ha Noi was probably the highlight for me being a very beautiful and picturesque town with some great spots to eat and drink. While we were there we also did a 1 day diving trip to the Cham Islands - the diving wasn't quite what it has been in Malaysia or Indonesia but I still enjoyed it and the islands hid some stunning idyllic beaches (which would have been even nicer without the rain!).

Rolling on the river with our lovely guide, Mui who tried in vain to teach us to speak Vietnamese:

The Japanese covered bridge:

Selling candles to float down the river:

Hoi An by night:

Mui Ne is a beach town where we had time to relax and top up our fading tans, although I over did it somewhat and ended up more rouged than bronzed! Another day tour here took us to the fairy stream ... Which is really just a stream and to the red and white sand dunes ... which were really just sand dunes. Cata decided she'd rent a quad bike to zoom around the dunes on which I sat on screaming for all of 10 seconds... I hate the bloody things after a somewhat embarrassing experience in Greece involving bad steering, a giant bush and some attractive male witnesses (The worst kind of witness to any embarrassing incident).

Cocktails on the beach:

The fairy stream:

Sand dunes:

After all that relaxation we dived right back into the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh -though I prefer to call it by its old name, Saigon because it easier and it sounds more exotic... As the capital of South Vietnam this was also the olace to learn about the Vietnam war. Travelling through South East Asia you get a feel for how the whole region suffered relatively recently during the war against communism, but it's only in Vietnam where you really get to see the deep impact that it caused and also insights into how the locals view the conflict. Plenty of shops sell old Vietnamese propaganda posters which although visually striking have pretty dark anti-American messages behind them. Messages such as 'What are you doing here? For whom are you dying?', '3000 enemy planes shot down' 'Nixon the murderer' respectively accompanying images of American soldiers, USAF war planes and the American president portrayed as a monster. There is definitely a sense that the war here was  not an conflict between the communists and the anti-communists but a war against the invading Americans. This theme continues into the rather one sided and harrowing war museum. Plenty of quotes from journalists and World organisations discrediting the inhumane actions of the US during the war hang on the walls alongside horrific pictures and accounts of the terrible war crimes that were committed. In any situation where man is 'legally' killing man atrocities are carried out and innocent people suffer and die, so in a war that spanned over 20 years you can imagine that there was plenty on show to be horrified by. Photographs of dead women and children, annihilated villages, the effects of chemical warfare which the people in South Vietnam suffer even now due to the prolonged effects of the previously untested Agent Orange, which can affect genes across several generations. Outside in the courtyard a collection of US military vehicles and weapons including tanks and fighter jets as well as a chinook helicopter gives you a real sense of what these people were ip against. Of course losses were suffered on both sides, the USA suffered 58,000 military deaths due to the war ... but in a death toll of up to 3 million more than half of those killed were Vietnamese civilians. Although the museum clearly gives a one sided view, with statistics like that it's very clear to see that something went terribly wrong here.

With 53 year old Song whose legs of steel have been cycling around these streets for the past 20 years!:

 

American military vehicles:

 

One of the many massacres including that occurred during the war:

Ha Noi and Halong

From the most relaxed capital city in South East Asia we dived right into hectic Ha Noi... By European standards it's totally insane ... By Asian standards, on a scale of 1 to India it hits about a 5, hovering just below Bangkok. Still, it took a bit of time to adjust to all the hustle and bustle after laid back Laos, but once we did the city managed to win me over. Drinking beer on the street sat on little plastic stools with street vendors, tuk tuk drivers, mopeds and cars whizzing past makes for a good experience and the countless little alleyways packed with quirky little bars, restaurants and cafes blaring everything from techno to pop to live lounge music give this city an infectious charm. 

The lake in Ha Noi:

Beers on the street:

However what has really impressed me about Vietnam so far is the beautiful, beautiful food - these people know how to eat! Everything from the Banh Mi (Vietnamese baguettes) and coconut filled pastries you can get on the street to the delicate white rose dumplings and delicious coconut curries. Not to mention my favourite, the fresh spring rolls. Enjoy my Halong Bay bikini pics because at the rate I'm eating in this country my next posts are going to be typed up by some pretty chubby fingers!

I'm not too sure what can be said about Halong Bay other than its status as one of the natural wonders of the World is well deserved in my humble opinion. We did a 2 day boat cruise where we got to spend one magical night sleeping between these beautiful limestone mounds under the light of a full moon ... Along with the rest of the World admittedly, but honestly it didn't really matter, in fact the sight of all the boats at night lighting up the bay was beautiful in itself. The myth behind the bay (literal translations is 'descending dragon bay') is that when enemies were attacking the area, the gods summoned a dragon who breathed a wall of jewels around the area, in the meantime the almost 2000 limestone islands we see today sprung up in the way of attacking ships. Apparently the dragon liked the area so much that she stuck around and still lurks there to this day. The eerie atmosphere of the place can almost make you believe it - there is something about being there that makes you want to stick a parrot on your shoulder and hobble around shouting 'arggg matey' at everyone. Maybe that's just me? Never mind...

Halong Bay - so good it deserves a collage:

With our fellow passengers:

Twinkle twinkle:

Key info: Booking a Halong Bay cruise can be a little daunting with the thousands of options available. We finally went with the relatively budget option of Carnival Cruises and they were great. Apparently the cheapest: gold or white pearl are terrible.