Globetrotting Crates

We were so excited to set off to Wells (Somerset) on our second trip with Monica, staying at an adult only campsite and looking forward to visiting Wells Cathedral and exploring spiritual Glastonbury. All went well on day one, good journey no hazards, only to other drivers (stalled on a roundabout). Who knew that on the road Motorhome drivers wave to each other? We were delighted to find that the campsite had a croquet lawn as we have experience of playing the game every summer with the Messies of Winchester and we could get in a bit of practice before we compete this year! Even better there was a table tennis table so Mr C could get some practice in for next weeks summer league match. We walked into Wells- about 30 minutes from the site and marvelled at the beautiful cathedral and grounds. Had an early supper, a glass of wine or 2 and walked back feeling full, tired but looking forward to the next day’s activities. Morning arrived and we woke up to wonderful sunshine BUT? wh...

We took recently took delivery of Monica our brand new motorhome and our first trip was to the nearby New Forest for 3 nights where we were testing all the equipment. Mostly it went smoothly apart from us loosing all our water due to the drainage tap being left open by the dealer and us not realising. Luckily the water supply was close by to us so we only had to move forward a few feet to fill the tank up again. Although we could have collected rainwater in buckets as the weather was appalling and never stopped raining on day one! Day 2 and after a fitful nights sleep due to feeling chilly and someone snoring loudly we woke up to a lovely sunny day. We stayed at Long Meadow campsite it is very quite and surrounded by wildlife, apart from toilet, shower blocks water and electric hook ups there are no other facilities. We took a lovely walk into Brockenhurst across the heath. We had visitors in the evening, friends who live nearby picked us up and we went to the Huntsman for din...

Well, we are safely back home after a fantastic 8 week trip, amazingly bar the odd little spat we did not fall out once  - a miracle considering we were with each other 24 hours a day. We have had some great experiences and met some interesting people along the way. We have also eaten some wonderful food and some not so good.  We both kept well for the whole trip so have Imodium going free to anyone who is travelling to India or the like. All good things come to an end and after sleeping in 17 different beds it will be lovely to snuggle down into our own bed tonight. We have been reflecting and thinking about the highlights and lowlights of the trip and here they are in no particular order: Highlights Varanasi Peaceful Home Stay - Sigiyra Sapa Hoi An Langkawi Lowlights Amritsar Airport and the cancelled flight Being Dry in Northern India The mosquitoes of Sri Lanka Ella Inn Litter in India and Sri Lanka Thank you for following our travels so far, althoug...

We have found that Kuala Lumpur isn’t the easiest of cities to get around in, due to very heavy traffic we tried the free bus and travelled round and we have used the very crowded monorail. Our hotel is within walking distance to the Petronas Twin Towers and shopping area. It has been extremely hot but we have been lucky in that it has stayed dry apart from the storm when we arrived. Got a result when we went up the Petronas as we got in for half price being pensioners over 61, Mrs C was a tad disappointed that they didn’t query her age. The view from the observation deck on the 86th floor is quite spectacular. We visited the Batu Caves  about 12 Kms  from Kuala Lumpur, travelling there very cheaply by train. The Batu Caves is a limestone hill that has a series of caves and Hindu cave temples. The largest known as the temple cave features ornate Hindu shrines is reached by climbing 272 steps. It is well worth the climb. The Ramayana cave was also very interesting to see,...

We reluctantly left the beach resort at Langkawi to catch the 7.30 ferry to Kuala Perla. The journey takes just over an hour and costs around £3.50. We then got a taxi to Arau railway station to get the 11.34 train to Kuala Lumpur the cost of that was less than £20 for the 5 hour journey. It is almost as cheap to fly from Langkawi to Kuala Lumpur but we wanted to sit back and see some of the countryside. As it happens most of the view was taken up mostly with palm oil plantations. Not surprising as Malaysia is the second largest producer of palm oil in the world, with Indonesia being the largest. You can blame the British for that, as they introduced palm oil trees to Malaysia in the 1870s. Due to the concerns of the social and environmental impact of palm oil, the Malaysian government have pledged to limit palm oil plantation expansion. There are talks of an EU ban on palm oil due to the concerns of deforestation should this happen it could affect Malaysia’s economy significantly...

Langkawi  is our penultimate stop before heading home. We reached here by high speed ferry from Penang which took 3 hours. The crossing was very calm and we were entertained by The Pirates of the Caribbean on the TV screens! We are staying in a lovely hotel right on the beach and it is like stepping into a warm bath when you go into the sea. There are jelly fish around so we have to be vigilant. It is very hot around 33C so we haven’t ventured far from the hotel except in the evenings to eat in one of the many restaurants serving Malayan and international food. Alex ( pictured with Mr C ) is an absolute delight he is originally from Java  and here for 6 months as part of his training. There’s no doubt he will go far! Leaving here tomorrow to travel to Kuala Lumpar by ferry and train probably not the most easiest route but hopefully the more interesting.

We were in Georgetown the capital of Penang for 4 nights staying at a hotel on Chulia Street. Georgetown’s architecture is a mixture of colonial buildings, ornate chinese clan houses, temples, mosques and shops and bars painted rainbow colours. The oldest part of the city is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the most interesting attractions is the wonderful street art (pictured is The Indian Boatman by Russian Artist Julia Volchkava). We visited Kek Lok Si Temple complex which is one of the biggest in SE Asia, although there is no entry fee, it is very commercialised with loads of shops selling the normal souvenir tat which spoils the atmosphere. Also free is the CAT bus service meant for tourists (although locals use it) that you can hop on off around the city. We did the circular trip to get our bearings. We also used the local buses to travel to other sites. The fares are very cheap less than 50p to go anywhere the buses clean and not crowded. We did have a prob...