Food Critiques of Penang

4th to 9th October - Penang & Cameron Highlands

Our next stop off in Malaysia was Penang, a place i’d almost dropped from visiting as i knew very little about it, all i’d read online was the sheer quality of food and that, no surprise, interested me. Another boat and a good five hour minivan ride and we landed at our hotel where bags were dropped and we headed straight to a close by mall. After several months out here i’ve fairly mastered the whole ‘traveller’ appearance of sandals and no interest in shaving however within minutes i felt as out of place as i did when we first arrived in New Delhi! We walking around the mall looking for bits and bats and everyone was dressed up in jeans and shirts, not a sandal in sight! None the less it didn’t stop us from exploring the whole place and having an evening of normality. Our first full day was hilarious, hands down one of the funniest things we’ve done out here. We planned to walk around the streets of George Town to spot all the street art created by Ernest Zacharevic along with seeing some local temples. We walked past this side street that was renting out these colourful, six seater buggy type carts and we instantly got one for an hour. Driving around beeping these comical horns and peddling to the fastest the thing would go. Almost everyone we saw burst into laughter and started photographing us, six British guys on this thing causing mayhem of the busy roads. For further comical value i even filmed us pulling up to a petrol station and attempting to fill the buggy, the staff saw the funny side thankfully. We managed to see a lot more of the town which was great, until i jumped off for a quick photograph to find the guys had began peddling off and i ended up chasing them down Little India, one of the close by districts. 
     During the evening we managed to visit a Burmese temple, Dharmikarama. Fairly interesting as far as temples go with loads of interactive things to do. As mentioned earlier the food was incredible in Penang, there was two meals that stood out, firstly a lemon chicken dish served with rice and accompanied by a three layered ice tea. It was absolutely jaw dropping, i love the Chinese dish and it had blown any others out of the water by a mile. Secondly we read of trip advisor about a place down town that did the best roasted duck, they weren’t lying. Apart from the fact it was served quite cold (thats normal out here) it was brilliant. I think half a duck cost something silly like £4. On another day we got another few places we wanted to see out of the way, starting with The Snake Temple which Ingham had been to a few years back on a family holiday. Unfortunately there wasn’t as many snakes as expected and the place seemed very quiet, but none the less i’m glad we went. If we didn’t, i’d of been kicking myself thinking about how it could of been. Kek Lok Si was next on our agenda and after being dropped off by our taxi in the wrong place we walked through this market for a good 10 minutes before reaching the place, however we saw much more doing it this way including this pool with gigantic terrapins, never seen anything like it. I use to own a few when i was younger and they didn’t get to a 10th of the size. It was a huge temple with loads of complex architecture but absolutely no information that i could find, so because of that it wasn’t the best. 

     I’d been looking forward to Cameron Highlands quite a lot ever since planning this trip to Asia, unfortunately it didn't live up to expectations, this could of been due to the weather, constantly throwing it down during mid-day or simply we struggled to find where the hikes began as there was no wifi at all! None the less we had several days of relaxing instead but still managed to go and see the most famous strawberry farm in the area. A waffle, cheese cake and milkshake later (of course everything was strawberry flavoured) definitely helped make my decision that the strawberries grown here were superb. We were happy to leave the area but also felt quite underwhelmed, i'm sure the areas great but unfortunately we didn't get the best of it! Onwards to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia where we couldn't wait to meet two more friends from home, Paul and Jenny.

 Lanterns going into a local temple in George Town

 One of my favourite street art pieces

Two more that can be seen around George Town

 Interesting architecture was everywhere

The guys in our six man speedster

 Rival speed squad...

One of the street vendors clocking me while i photograph him

 The best lemon chicken i've ever had!

 Dharmikarama temple. You had to throw coins into cups that read 'prosperity, health' etc.

 Ingham, Rob and Dan

 Taken from the bell tower at the temple

 One of the only snakes at snake temple!

 A farther and daughter feeding the terrapins

 I said there was quite a few of them!

 Kek Lok Si Temple

 Street vendor just across from our hostel at night

The view from our apartment in the Cameron Highlands

The Thai Mountains

6th to 11th September - Pai & Chiang Mai

We arrived in Chiang Mai and got ourselves onto the minibus heading to Pai, even further into Northern Thailand, we never originally intended on heading this far but with previously meeting up with Jenna and Josh, we wanted to continue with their route. The 3-4 hour journey was not only the best luxury public transport we've had so far but the views were amazing, mountains surrounded us whilst the clouds rolled through these huge valleys. This to me felt like the real Thailand, the Thailand i'd seen millions of photographs of and where i wanted to be. We jumped out of the minivan at the main market in Pai, i'd read about it being a great night time market with shops, food and bars. First thing we noticed was absolutely zero pestering. Not one person came and tried to sell us something, it was a far cry from Bangkok... Thank god. Jenna and Josh headed off to their own accommodation whilst Ben passed me his phone and i rang ours. To my surprise the guy was English! Turns out he's from Brighton so getting picked up was nice and easy. That first night we were starving and ventured down the hill where our new home was and into town, down the hill however, there must of been a pack of like 15 dogs. During the day they're harmless but at night time, they follow you, barking and at times its a bit unsettling! I kept thinking, just you wait, tomorrow we'll have scooters and you won't go for me then! The next morning thats exactly what we did and from then on, they stayed at a distance haha.
     The scooters here seemed great due to the vast countryside which was filled with little gems, the first day with them we travelled out towards a waterfall, where after a small walk we were knee deep in water exploring and then grabbed some food at 'Strawberry Farm', didn't have any strawberries but it was definitely the best pad thai i'd had so far! Getting towards the late afternoon we had heard of Thom's Elephant Camp, a local lady who's family had cared for elephants over several generations. I'm usually very wary of anything involving elephants as i think they belong in the wild, end of. However this appeared to be a well kept place that genuinely cared for the elephants. It was completely free to go stroke them and throw some bananas straight into their mouths, entertained us for a good 20 minutes before one of the ladies there told us that the elephant here, whilst pointing to one in particular, will pick you up. Surprisingly with not much peer pressure Robin decided he would volunteer as tribute and off he walked towards the elephant and within a split second it had wrapped its trunk around his legs, dragged him into the air and began placing Robin in his pen. All at the same time me and the guys had broken down in laughter as Robin furiously grabbed at anything in distance to 'save' him from impending doom. The elephant placed him down reasonably safely as the woman ran in to try and help and before long the elephant then tried to pick her up, it was all far too much for us and tears were almost shed on my part from laughter. I'll always remember that time when Robin almost got eaten by an elephant. The next day we relaxed a little more and simply drove around on the scooters for most of the day before trying to find somewhere to watch sunset, we struggled at first trying to find a good spot but finally settled on an open valley where you could see a storm rolling in across the distant mountains, not a bad view at all.
     The next day i began to deteriorate, i had a reasonably dodgy tasting chicken roti the night before and wasn't feeling great so sat around for the first half of my day, later on the guys had come back and decided to do nothing at all so me, Ingham and Robin headed off to do Pai Canyon, a walk everyone recommended doing if you're in the area. It was fairly awesome, the views were great and half of the hike was more like rock climbing as the path was incredibly thin at points and it dropped down then back up again. We watched sunset which was unfortunately quite underwhelming then shot back on the scooters as it got dark. That night i got worse and worse, turns out i'd got another bad stomach and it kept me in a horizontal position for the final two days of Pai. With our time there done we set back off in the air-con minivan back to Chiang Mai for our final day before heading South and with me still in poor shape we only went out for some food, but it was still eventful to say the least, we saw a sign for a buffet after a near 20 minute walk from our hotel and like eager kids we ran in, paid and got sat down only to realise that we had to cook everything ourselves. Challenge accepted. But it went wrong fairly quickly, all the meats, definitely cut off, were laid out with noodles, rice etc and we just picked up a tray of foods and began boiling our meats. Yes boiling. It was all we had, a pot of water and we had to make do. In all honesty i tried to stay out of the cooking but the guys pulled it off somehow and the food was reasonable. I pretty much just stuck to two bowls of rice since i thought i was dying from the inside out. I'd really enjoyed Pai but can't say i really experienced Chiang Mai, it seemed like too much of a built up city and thats why we didn't give it much more time.

 Having a break from the bikes at Strawberry Farm

 My interesting protection for several days!

 The walk down to a waterfall we found

 Finally a group shot!

 My favourite and only good elephant photograph so far

 Watching the storm come in over the Pai mountains

 Pai night market

 The dodgy, thin path up Pai Canyon

 A hike wouldn't be complete without some climbing

Not great light but at least we saw a sunset at the top!

Sri Lankan Culture at Last

24th August to 1st September - Kandy, Adam's Peak & Negombo

After the amazing train journey that was Ella to Kandy we stumbled out of the train station and bartered a tuk tuk driver into taking us up the mountains to our new 4 person apartment. Our first impression of Kandy was quite expected, busy but yet full of greenery. We arrived at our new place and were greeted by a lovely couple who had only just opened up, tea was instantly served and we noted our own kitchen so decided for the first night Christine would cook something traditional from China, we both headed down to the shops in town and bought loads of stuff including breakfast however when attempting to buy sausages i was turned away by the Sri Lankan worker who explained due to the festival happening, no meat or alcohol could be served. No alcohol for me isn't a problem, but meat... None the less the meal was great and after a couple of games of yaniv, the card game, where i betted and lost my bed for the night, we decided to get some sleep. The next day was absolutely packed with interesting things which came by complete chance, we started our day quite poorly, rolling out of bed late morning and only getting into Kandy centre for turn 1:00PM. Our tuk tuk dropped us off at Kandy lake where we had a quick walk around, seeing loads of people, mainly families, already sat down awaiting the evenings parade of elephants and dancers. Within 10 minutes we had been asked by a local to attend a small ceremony where the different performances would be shown to foreigners in a bid to attract more tourism. Reluctantly at first we accepted but soon found out it was free and pretty cool! Around a group of 100 sat down as we watched and photographed these elaborate dancers with drums and got to see one of the elephants all dressed in gold and silk. It was interesting to learn about the festivals heritage and i believed we purely found this ceremony by chance. As the hours went on through the day we had visited one of the markets and bought a few new thinner pieces of clothing to keep the days heat at bay we bumped into this Sri Lankan guy who swore blind he knew us from our accommodation, i instantly thought this was a scam as he told us about a market for locals and that we should go there. He walked us down the road five minutes to its location, took us in and started to show the price differences. He wasn't wrong! It was so much cheaper from fresh fruits to clothing. After a few more minutes with this man we explained we wished to walk around alone and just like that he said thanks and headed off. I was expecting for him to at least ask for a tip, but thankfully we must of been in luck. We got the ingredients bought for tea and ended up at this small fruit and spices stand where the owner began feeding us a variety of different fruits.. Jack fruit, dorian fruit and papaya. It was far from a bad discovery and with a quick, friendly chat and a photograph together we went our separate ways. We had discovered that this local market meant near no haggling required and no pestering. Soon after the sun began to creep below the horizon line and the streets were getting bare, we knew everyone was off to watch the festival begin so we walked to the starting point and took a seat near the end due to it being so packed. Within 20 minutes the police had began closing the road we were sat on, turns out the festival doesn't head down this route! We grabbed our things and shot down the road trying to find a good spot for when the festival began, however so many of the roads had been blocked off we walked for a good 10 minutes before finding this smaller road which was already filled with locals. We decided to get settled here, moving forwards when we could to try and get the best views for the festival. As most things are in Asia, it started almost an hour late and with a poor standing area we saw very little and the festival itself went quite slowly. None the less i'm glad i saw a mixture of elephants, fire dancers and people dancing on stilts. For me, the best part was seeing an entire city come to life for this once a year festival and just how excited the locals got, a good comparison for our country is when the queen visits your local area and the masses appear from nowhere!
     The next morning we got up nice and early ready to push the journey forward to Adam's Peak, one of the most popular hikes for visitors. The hike is typically a pilgrimage for buddhists who would complete the hike for sunrise and begin morning prayer at the temple of the peak. Our train journey was not great by any means, even with second class tickets we stood up on the rickety edge of this train for three and a half hours before finally arriving at a town near by to the peak. From here we got a heavy walk ten minutes up the road to the bus station and luckily ours was just leaving so we jumped on and within a further hour we had reached our accommodation. Bags in our rooms and tea in our bellies the four of us headed out to grab something to eat, i was craving a large meal knowing our hike would be done with no breakfast so we went into a restaurant just down from where we were staying. I was optimistic about the food literally until the moment it was placed in front of me. Not completely sure what i ordered but it was some form of chicken with tomato sauce served with friend rice. The chicken was so dry it was tough and the rice had so much grease i'd expect it to be sieved first. By far the worst meal of Asia so far! Instead of making me feel ready for tomorrows hike i felt ill. Straight to bed i decided where i still only managed around two and a half hours before my alarm shattered my sleep, with a look outside whilst getting my hiking boots on we saw that it was raining quite heavily and knew it was only going to make the morning harder. At this time i was considering calling it a day and going back to bed, however, i knew that i wanted to challenge myself on this trip and it would be the largest hike so far! Rain coats on, we set off. It was a good 40 minute walk before we even reached the start of Adam's Peak where the steps began, when i was told it is a total of 10,400 steps all the way up and down i thought it was quite reasonable, considering a typical staircase. I was completely wrong. Every single step was different in both size and distance apart which meant concentration was a must, within an hour the rain became almost unbearable, i was drenched down to my boxers and my feet was squelching. We wanted to try and take shelter somewhere but the steps were just surrounded by dense looking forest and it was still pitch black. We continued onwards until we saw a group taking a break, they asked how long it had already taken and by the reply we realised how quickly we had done most of the hike, this gave us a new lease of life which was sorely needed when we saw just how steep and slippery the last 20 minutes was! Most of the steps were only large enough to fit your tip toes on and they spiralled left to right making it very difficult. The fog began to surround us and visibility was incredibly poor when all of a sudden another hiker coming back down said we're only 2 minutes away and sure enough we had arrived in no time! We could see absolutely nothing haha! But it was expected, with it being the rainy season i knew the odds were stacked against us but really wanted to do the challenge none the less. We cut up a pineapple for breakfast, took a few group photographs and got heading back down quickly as it became so cold, the coldest i've actually been so far. The walk up was breaking my thigh muscles but the walk down, my calfs were on fire! Thankfully cramp stayed at bay but i realised i was healthier than originally thought, tough mudder must of sorted me out in some way, shape or form. After the long stroll back to the accommodation we grabbed some well deserved breakfast and got to sleep for a good three hours before once more, waking up feeling rough and getting three buses and a six hour train drive to Colombo and to finish off, an hours tuk tuk drive to Negombo where we stayed for nearly a week! We had said goodbye to  during the journey as she went white water rafting but she reappeared on her last day in the country with a bottle of wine, we all relaxed playing cards and said our farewells once more. Negombo wasn't a great place but it gave us time to relax, regroup our plan and get ready for the hectic month that will be Thailand. Sri Lanka, you've been nothing but great to us!

 Young boy on the train from Kandy to Ella

 Everyone hanging out to see the mountain views

 Pulling up to a station

 I wanted his spot the whole journey, so instead i photographed him...

 Kandy Lake

 As the crowds began to arrive for the celebrations

 I'm photographing Ben but sure, a smile is always welcome!

 Dancers with drums

 Dancers once more

 Catherine photographing the photographer

 The local market filled with fresh fruit

 Our new best buddy

 One of the elephants during the festival

No views from up Adam's Peak but heres one of the temples near the bottom

Ella - The Beautiful Countryside

21st to 24th August - Ella & the train to Kandy

We awoke with the sun breaking through the hotels curtains and i jumped up and heading straight for our balcony, the views were amazing, situated in a valley with a clear view of the mountain range. That was me instantly happy. The staff were brilliant as well, calling us up for breakfast which was an array of fresh fruit, toast and eggs, much better than some places we've had with the added bonus of the scenery. Not long after the two guys Leonard and Friedl came up on the scooters and we decided to get our own bike and head to the waterfall just down the dodgy, dirt road that is riddled in pot holes. It's always fun with really thin tyres! The waterfall itself was huge and at times a difficult hike, we went straight up the rocks that ran side by side to the water. We struggled at points as it was more like rock climbing that a morning stroll but the views from the top were so worth it. Dan and Leonard went for a quick swim in a small patch of water near the top and then we sat down, carved up a pineapple and took in the location.
     The hike back down got rather interesting as we saw rain clouds rolling in and before long it began pouring it down, difficult on vertical rocks, trust me. With a small rummage through the forest on the side we got down ok apart from Ben that took a tumble on literally the last step, a small graze but none the less perfectly fine. we then took shelter from the monsoon rain in a small cafe near by, drank a copious amount of tea and played a new Israeli card game we had been taught, Yaniv. With the day nearing an end we grabbed some food and took an early night. As the morning came around we took our scooters and shot up to the local tea plantation for a tour, at only 300 rupees (£1.50) i couldn't complain especially with a complimentary tea tasting session at the end. I can happily say the process of tea is actually interesting, makes it taste ever so better weirdly. Unfortunately i didn't get the chance to photograph the tea plantation workers, apparently this isn't allowed. Looks like i'll be settling on rice paddies in South-East Asia instead. With time in the day still spare we decided to begin our hike up Ella rock, a well known hike which is known for a full view of the town below. We struggled instantly with finding the right path, they darted left and right every few hundred meters so we opted for a guide who we met at the bottom, he took us half way before the rain began to flood the area again so we chucked a few rupees and a thank you his way and decided to stay in a small hut for half an hour, waiting for it to pass. Not complain though as we continued the card games and threw some music on. Continuing the hike got interesting as we walked through the forest which i swear was almost completely vertical. I realised at this point i'm not as fit as i use to be! Few more of these hikes and i should be back up to standards. We reached the tip of Ella rock just before sunset and this golden glow along with rays of light illuminated the scenery, catching on the mountains that surrounded us. We sat, photographed and watched as the light disappeared and began our hike back down with torches in hand.
     Once more we awoke at some crazy time in the morning, around 3:00AM ready to begin our next hike up Little Adam's Peak for sunrise, with our tuk tuk driving and two mopeds we shot up the edge of the mountain to the beginning of the path and hiked up in the pitch black. Thankfully it was an easy hike at only 30 minutes and we settled down whilst eating coconut biscuits awaiting the sunrise. And we weren't disappointed, i was in my element running around with my camera and tripod whilst Leonard worked on training a dog that followed us up the mountain side, god knows how but he made it stand on its back paws and even sit. I'm sure Sri Lankan dogs don't speak English. We got back down, grabbed some breakfast and said our farewells to the two guys, we all got on so well and its a shame to see them leave, but we've now to plan a new road trip to Austria, where they're both living currently. Our last day in Ella arrived and we decided to sit in our favourite cafe and organise the rest of Sri Lanka, out of nowhere we saw Catherine, a lady we originally met in Arugam Bay, she's from Hong Kong but travels quite a lot. After a quick chit chat it was decided she would come along with us to Kandy where we had booked a four people apartment so that worked out perfectly, making it cheaper for everyone. We agreed to catch the train in the early morning together which everyone talks about, and they weren't wrong to. It was possibly one of the best train drives i've ever been on. They leave the doors open and you can just stand there and watch as we rocket through the mountain ranges. Most areas looked completely untouched by man, almost jurassic in some respects. Typically i'd just put my head back and get some sleep but instead i stood there and watched as we travelled for four hours. It completed our trip to Ella beautifully. It's definitely a place i would revisit, once again and likewise with Ella the Sri Lankan people are so welcoming and friendly.

 Beginning the waterfall hike

 Friedl clocking me taking a photograph

 Group shot - Me, Dan, Leonard, Friedl & Ben

 Professional Selfie

 The guys having a break

 One of the best pineapples i've ever had

 The hiked waterfall

 Waiting for the monsoon to finish after the waterfall hike

 Waiting for the second monsoon to finish whilst hiking Ella Rock

 Our awesome guide!

 Mountain cows...

 Just as sunset began up Ella Rock

 The beautiful light we got at Ella Rock. Worth the hike

 Leonard shooting

 Ben with the best seat in the house

 Another group shot up Ella Rock

 Quick shot from Little Adam's Peak before sunrise

One of my favourites from Little Adam's Peak