#48 Beach time on Perhentian Island, Malaysia

After a foodie indulgence in Penang for five days I was ready for some beach time. So the Perhentian Islands came st a perfect time in the trip. The two islands off the east coast of Malaysia are very popular with divers as well as heading beautiful beaches and good snorkelling. The smaller of the two islands, Perhentian kecil, is more popular with backpackers compared to the larger island which has large resorts lining the beaches.

Faye and I took our first overnight bus in Malaysia from Butterworth after taking a free twenty minute ferry from Penang. We boarded the bus at 9.30om and were surprised with how comfortable it was (of course, I'm true South East Asian style they had the AC up full whack causing us to whip on socks, jumpers and cover ourselves with blankets for the first time since arriving in Malaysia. We arrived in Kuala Besut, the small port town and gateway to the island at a ripe hour of 5am. We knew on arrival that the return boat to Perhentian would cost about 70RN so when we found a man selling them for this price but promising a boat leaving at 7am, an hour before all other boats we took it. The small speed boat left with us and seven other dreary backpackers, dropping me at coral beach, the smaller beach on Kecil island. Leaving the rest at Long beach, the main beach on the island. I found my basic chalet accommodation on the beach called maya chalets. In true island style, no one was to be seen, it was 7.30am after all. After an hour waiting, playing  with the resident cats, a young guy called Hazim came out wrapped in a blanket claiming he worked there and had been battling a flu all night, he let me into my room and I had a very decent three hour nap.

Later that day we discovered the island, walking the ten minute trail from coral to long beach. We had a much needed swim in the pristine clear waters before finding a small beach bar named 'Chichis blancas' (translating as white titties....no joke)! Jordan, the owner from Borneo Malaysia was also who Faye was Couchsurfing with. He was definitely a character and didn't make it home earlier than 4am every day we were there. He was 40 but partied like an 18 year old...he made us feel very old and boring.

Jordan, Me and his pet unicorn

Everything on Perhentian was more expensive than what we were used to. Food was one of these things. Jordan was happy for us to use the little kitchen out the back of the bar to make breakfast which was very handy. The majority of the time we ate in 'Ewan's', a restaurant and shop in between coral and long beach. It did huge portions and good wifi...perfect for us.

After a full beach day I decided to see more of the island and with no roads the only options were walking or taxi boats (expensive taxi boats)...walking it was. A rough 'boardwalk' has been built around the island leading to various beaches and to the small town aptly named 'Fishermans' village. The boardwalk we were told was built so that during monsoon season there is still access to the villages. Faye and I walked south from Coral beach through the jungle on the boardwalk, coming firstly to rainforest beach complete with puppies owned by the rainforest camping accommodation. We continued onto Maya beach and onto Petoni beach for snorkelling. Maya beach was our favourite, it has chalet accommodation on the small private beach but the manager running it was there and was happy for us to use the beach and snorkel. He also told us when the tide is in there is an 80% chance of seeing sharks just off the bay! I did snorkel when I was there but didn't see the promised sharks (and didn't search too hard for them either)! We continued out trekking there another day looping around the opposite direction, following the very haphazard boardwalk that had obviously been damaged through various storms to the main village on the island, Fishermans village. Most of the boat tours come here for lunch, luckily we arrived earlier in the morning and were pleasantly surprised with the calm and quaint village, away from the tourist riddled long beach. We spent a few hours on the small beach there and had a good bowl of cheap chicken noodles cooked by a lady at a little stall on the edge of town. We continued through the village and looped back through the same beaches we had walked the opposite way to the days prior. The whole walk took about 3-4 hours, not including our many stops to swim in the sea.

Finding puppies on our walk

The night Cayo finished his open water we all celebrated with an overpriced burger and even more overpriced rum in the diving resort 'Oh lala' on long beach. Strangely (or maybe not strangely) Jordan and a lot of the male resident diving instructors, bar tenders and local staff were dressed in women's bras, dresses and sarongs....apparently a common occurrence on a Saturday night. We also watched the fire show which is a nightly occurrence on long beach. Our last day was a quiet beach day, food at Ewan's and swimming in the crystal clear sea. Glorious.

Taman Negara was our next destination and a big difference to the beaches of Perhentian. Taman Negara in the small village of Kuala Tahan located in central Malaysia is now a national park, the thick, dense jungle on the river......is the oldest rainforest in the world.
With Cayo heading back to Kuala Lumpur, Faye and I left Perhentian islands on the first boat out at 8am. We were keen to see if it was possible to get public transport all the way to Taman Negara but with limited wifi on the island we hadn't had time to research. So when we were approached by numerous our operators offering air conditioned mini vans to bring us all the way to Taman Negara we reconsidered. Especially as it looked like a serious mission to public bus it all the way. We copped out and paid the 65RN (bargaining down from 80) to bring us, along with a French couple and Dutch girl the seven hours to Kuala Tahan, the gateway town to the national park. The town itself doesn't have much more than some small hues houses, tour companies a few small restaurants and shops. We found a small hostel on the river overlooking the river for only 15RN per night with cute little kittens (always an added bonus for me)!

Exploring the rainforest

Views from the hostel 

The evening we there we ate in little restaurant (and what looked like the main one) on the corner of the town. The next morning we took one of the small boats across the river for 1RN each...taking less three minutes. We paid 1RN park entrance fee and took the map given to us by the rangers. As I had been warned by other travellers about the number of leeches in the park we both opted for long leggings and thick socks (it.was.so.hot)! We hiked the basic DIY loop including a canopy walkway, up Bukit.....to a viewpoint. Thankfully it stayed lovely and dry, thus avoiding the likelihood of imposing leeches. The whole loop only took about three hours. Here were other hiking and tours available but with limited time to get to Tioman and Faye not keen to read-enter the jungle we decided to leave the next day. Later that night we found a place for food in Acha restaurant, where Acha herself made us a really nice chicken ginger (with three chillis in it for me) and a beef sweet and sour for Faye (with no chilli). She showed us pictures of her two sons and introduced us to her husband. We chatted away to her as we ate the tasty food she has prepared. By the time we left we knew what age her whole family were as well as their birthdays and we had arranged to come back the next morning to have roti and coffee for breakfast. After all, a roti a day.........

Hostel kitten

The whole SMART team came for training. The hostel was full of young Malaysian men in uniforms. The next morning, after it was raining all night we awoke to see the whole rover flooded (I think a regular occurrence) and affirmed our decision not to trek further that day. We managed to take a public bus from the town after everyone telling us that sometimes it comes.....sometimes it doesn't! Thankfully to both ours and the locals surprise the rickety bus came at 8.20am and we avoided having to pay the expensive tourist van fees. We took the bus along the main road through the jungle with moneys running across the road to Jerantut, a city south. From here we took two more coaches, one to Kuantan and the second from Kuantan to Mersing. We arrived in Mersing at about 8.30pm that night. Mersing is the port town and ferry port for the boat to Tioman. We knew we would have to stay a night here and ended up getting a really nice hostel for the night close to the port to get a ferry the next morning.

Next Stop: Tioman island, Malaysia
Stayed: Maya Chalets, Perhentian Kecil. Lianas hostel, Kuala Tehan.
Food/Drink:

#47 Eating....a lot in Penang, Malaysia

Needless to say I was extremely excited to go to Penang, an island in the north west of Malaysia and linked to mainland by a bridge. It is considered one of the worlds food capitals! It also has the famous Georgetown heritage walk, complete with alternative street art designed by Ernest Zacharavic. It also has a big national park, famous Penang hill which is popular with hikers or non hikers who choose to take the cable car up as well as beautiful temples and big malls. It has everything really. Faye and I took a bus straight from Cameron Highlands, through Butterworth and over the Penang bridge, taking about four hours. We were Couchsurfing again in Penang thanks to Faye who organised it.

When we got into Penang we met Jim, our host. He is a Penang local and told us he was a financial advisor, thirty years old and had hosted over three hundred times on Couchsurfing! Wow! He was so friendly and knowledgable about the area, he also had great enthusiasm for the local street food (this made me very happy)! In our first day alone I ticked off four new foods I wanted to try; Penang laksa, roti canai, putu mayam and Chendul. Chendul was the first Penang delicacy I tried and I must admit, it was a good first. Jim brought us to a little stall down a side street which was so busy and was producing colourful bowls of creamy iced looking soups. Jim ordered us one and showed us how to mix it all up, turning it from a white milky pudding to a light brown. It tasted like mushy weetabix in coconut milk. A mixture of coconut and condensed milk, ice, red beans and grass jelly (yep)! It was strange and somewhat refreshing but I am not rushing to try it again. Penang laksa is a type of noodle soup and a tasty mix of flavours from mackerel, sour tamarind and chilli. It came in a big bowl with noodles, shallots, coriander, cucumber and sometimes also pineapple. It definitely had a kick to it..luckily I like my food hot and spicy! Roti canai Faye and I tried later that evening in Little India, a popular snack of flatbread served plain as a snack with some curry to dip into or stuffed with egg, fish and meat. It was so cheap and tasty, we were hooked on roti for the rest of our time in Malaysia.

Penang Laksa

Jim told us the street art has come in the last three years. Later that evening we spent a few hours discovering some of the street art on the heritage trail and little India at night. Little India, the Indian quarter just off the heritage trail was great to visit at night with local music blaring from the various sari and music shops, lights lining the streets and plenty of great local food places. We also stumbled across a food court just next to the heritage trail. Most of tables were taken up by older Malaysian men enjoying their Saturday night drinking carlsberg and eating big bowls of noodles. I had a beer and we were kept entertained by three Malaysian singers on stage in the middle of the chairs and tables....they even sang the Corrs in Malay.

The next morning we took the bus to Penang national park. Not before Jim brought us for breakfast (I had already had porridge so declined breakfast) but that didn't stop Jim ordering three portions of hokkien mee (a big bowl of thick egg noodles and white rice vermicelli in a pork and prawn broth topped with a boiled egg, crispy shallots, spicy sambal (chilli sauce) and small prawns). Apparently a very common breakfast dish usually eaten with black coffee! They were very tasty so I managed what I could on top of the porridge wth Jim ordering anther portion of curry noodles on top of his hokkien. After being completely stuffed with noodles we left Jim, Faye and I took a public bus straight to Penang national park which was free entry! They provide you with a map and the trails were clearly signposted. There were two beaches to visit, a lookout, lake and  swing bridge. We decided to go to....beach where there was a turtle sanctuary. We hiked into the jungle for an hour and a half until we made it to the beach. We crossed the bridge over a meromictic lake (a rare lake where there is fresh water on top of salt water)! Further down the beach we found the turtle sanctuary which consisted of five different tubs containing various rescued turtles and one with about twelve baby turtles inside. We couldn't swim at the beach unfortunately due to lots of jelly fish in the water but we did stop to watch a very serious game of volleyball being played by a group of school students who had been camping in the national park on a school trip. On our way back out of the park, the heavens opened and I mean they were widddeeee open! Within about two minutes we were soaked. Even my very attractive plastic poncho didn't help that much, after an hour we had made it back out and the sun returned. We had a celebratory roti and curry (soooo good) before heading back on the bus... oh so very soggy.

The next day we explored Georgetown. Famous for its heritage trail and inventive street art. We spent the morning wandering around finding the pieces of art tucked away on side streets being typical tourists and taking pictures of it all list trying to dodge the boards of Chinese tourists. For lunch we headed back into Little India and had a really tasty lunch. I had a 'set vegetarian lunch' which consisted of small portions of a cucumber salad, picked onion in spices, a Dahl and curried vegetables with white rice all served on a banana leaf with ginger tea. Very tasty.

Georgetown street art 

Banana leaf vegetarian Indian lunch

During our stay I was keen to traipse up Bukit bendera, also known as Penang hill. Despite Faye's reservations she agreed to join me, Jim rather conveniently was too busy with work to come but he did say he had hiked it numerous time before. The hill is 833m tall and has a very steep 'jeep track' sloping the 5.1km up which can be walked up. Most people however choose to at 30RN return for a cable car to the top which is found on the other side of the hill. The hill is free to enter otherwise, and is surrounded by lovely botanical gardens with lots of monkeys roaming around. After fifteen minutes Faye bowed out so I carried on alone, thankfully with some pumping tunes I made it to the top in about an hour and half. As we had set off so early (7am to be exact), I made it to the top before the cable car had started running so there was virtually no body else at the top! I was able to wander around the two temples at the top, the love lock railings and enjoy the (very hazy) view of Penang all alone. On the way down I decided to take the quicker and easier option of.....running down. Despite getting very weird looks from the various people going up and down in jeeps and on scooters. Safe to say I made it back down in a sweaty 35minutes, meeting Faye at the bottom...her looking a lot fresher than I.

On our last day in Penang we ticked another site off my list of things to do in Penang. We visited the famous 'Kok Lek Si' Buddhist temple situated in Air Itam. It is said to be the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia. It comprises of a few different temples but the main attraction is the towering 36 metre tall 'Pagoda of ten thousand buddhas'. We went quite early in the morning meaning the temples were quieter however they were quite touristy with plenty of souvenir shops on all levels. The details and good cladding of the buildings were beautiful. I took the small cable car up the towering statue of Kuan Yin, the goddess of mercy which overlooks the city of Penang. We also took the chance to make a small donation to choose a coloured ribbon, each representing a different wish to hang on the 'wishing tree' in one of the prayer rooms. After walking around the temples for a couple of hours we descended back down into the bustling market street of Air Itam. On a small side street we found a famous street food stall called Sisters curry mee which specialises in..surprise surprise; big bowls of curry mee. A spicy coconut curry soup with thick egg noodles, tofu, shrimp, cockles and pigs blood! Topped with mint and sambal. The two sisters have had their stall since the 1940's so you could say they have perfected the dish! They were also both there when we visited. I had a big bowl of curry mee for 5RN even braving the porks blood which actually didn't taste of much thankfully. Later that evening we said goodbye to Jim who dropped us off at the bus stop where we embarked on our next journey and reminisced about the amazing food we had eaten and culture we had absorbed in beautiful Penang.

Jim, Faye and I 

Kok Lek Si temple

Next Stop: Pehentian Kecil island, Malaysia
Stayed: Couchsurfing with Jim
Food and drink: Penang Laksa (5RN) at Air Itam market, Penang. Roti Canai (1.80RN) in little India, Chendul (4RN) in Georgetown, Curry mee in Air Itam (5RN), Hokkien mee, Air Itam market (5RN).

#46 Tea drinking in the Cameron Highlands

Five days in Kuala Lumpur flew by and what a great introduction to Malaysia it was! I'd had the chance to try some of the famous food, sample the night life, see the sights and met some great people. 

The next Stop in Malaysia was the famous tea land, known as the Cameron Highlands. North east of Kuala Lumpur and at an altitude of 1000-1600 metres, the Cameron Highlands is a popular place to visit the famous tea plantations, strawberry farms and to do some walking. 

Faye and I took one of the regular buses that leave from the TBS bus terminal in Kuala Lumpur to Tanah Rata, the main town in the centre of the highlands. The bus took about four hours, the last two of which were very windy roads. When we had initially boarded the coach in Kuala Lumpur we wondered why there were lots of little plastic bags tucked into the front of each seat. An hour into the winding roads we quickly realised as the three men behind us took it in turns to very casually vomit into these little bags, hanging said bag on the back of the chair until the next succession of bends in the road caused them to reach for it again. Gross. Apparently this is a common occurrence on SE Asian bus journeys! I guess we are more seasoned to bumpy bus journeys or have stronger stomachs. When we pulled into Tanah Ratah we quickly dismounted the bus. We hadn't booked any accommodation but with numerous guest houses all in the main little complex in town it was very easy to find a cheap guesthouse in TJ's. Mas, the girl at reception was really friendly and showed us all the different hiking routes we could do ourselves. It didn't long for us to find a 'food court' type set up of little eateries where I had some local food of Nami (fried rice) and paprika chicken before the torrential rain came and didn't stop all evening. 

The next morning, thankfully the rain had stopped. We got up early and opted to not take a standard bus tour that brings you to the tea plantations, strawberry and butterfly farms. Instead we hitched (after Mas advised us it was safe to do so) to Brinchang, the next town about 8km from Tanah Ratah, from here we started a trail (which turned out to be a road) up to mossy forest! It was a nice uphill walk all the same, passing tea plantations, strawberry and vegetable farms as well as the local tea farmers small blue cabins where they lived. It took us about two hours up. Unfortunately as we made it to the top so did all the tourist vans who were also entering the mossy forest. The mossy forest was essentially, well, a very mossy forest. It grows in high elevations, such as in the Cameron highlands, the clouds are at low levels bringing lots of rain and shade to the forest. We walked the 2km boardwalk through the forest getting glimpses of the view through the trees. After the forest we walked (and then accepted a lift from a lovely couple who stopped and offered us one) down to Sungei Palas 'boh' tea factory. It was full of tourists but the rolling tea plantations and tea pickers village we walked through to get there was beautiful. We got back to Tanah Rata for a lunch of local dish; chicken rice ball in local restaurant which didn't exactly live up to its reputation. 

Boh Tea plantation

Local Indian food

Later that night however we went for a 'snack' at a small Indian stall just around the corner from the guesthouse. I had chapatti and two small scoops of curry for 1.50R which was delish! The Indian lady there and her family were really friendly and we chatted to some other travellers and the family there. 

The next day we hitched back to Brinchang (expert hitchers by this stage). An Indian man who owned a ranch nearby and a Pakistani vet picked us up, before we had even sat down in the truck the Indian man was asking us if we wanted to ride his horse! We politely declined and instead he dropped us off at Big red strawberry farm. When we got into the farm, Faye was very disappointed that her wish of picking strawberries couldn't be fulfilled as it wasn't 'strawberry season'. 

 On the way back we hitched (again) to Tanah Rata. Two cars stopped for us with an extended Indian family occupying them. They seemed very friendly so I jumped in the back of one with two elderly Indian women and Faye got in the other car. The Indian women, who did not speak a word of English were very interested in me. One the women's daughters was in the front seat with her husband who was driving. The daughter translated for the Indian women, they asked my why I was travelling and where I was from. The inevitable question then came up of how old I was and was I married! Shock horror when I told them I was 27 but not married...'but why'? One of them asked. I joked saying I didn't want that stress. She the offered me up a Malaysian man to marry, she said I was too blonde and slim not to be married. I'll take that one as a compliment I guess. We had a good laugh and when they dropped us off we got a group picture with them.  You don't meet people like that on the bus at home anyway. 

Some of our lovely hitch-hiking family 

The one thing I really wanted to do before leaving Cameron Highlands was a visit to Brinchang night market in golden hills. It started off with the usual clothes, toys and souvenirs. We walked further up the market stalls and were overwhelmed with the amount of enticing food stalls loaded with strawberries (of course), corn on the cob, sweet potatoes in many forms, sweets, fried chicken, fried rice, pancakes, spicy stir fries and juices. We didn't know where to begin and after two laps of the market we managed to devour; Sweet potato balls, deep fried sushi, noodles, pancake with corn, peanuts and sugar and of course we bought some fresh juicy strawberries for the road! A very well spent last night in the highlands. 

Next Stop: Penang, Malaysia

Stayed: TJ's guesthouse, 25RN per night 

Food and drink: night market in golden hills, brinchang, try everything. Especially the sweet potatoe balls, strawberries and thin peanut and corn coated pancakes. Really good Indian curry, chicken and rice in a local Indian stall in Tanah Rata. The tea plantations at Boh plantations. 

#45 Hello Malaysia, first stop Kuala Lumpur

After a stunningly beautiful month in the Philippines (it didn't feel like enough), Amy and I rounded it off by booking a very fancy hotel in Cebu city for our last night in the Philippines (what backpacking budget)?! We enjoyed the rooftop pool all day,  our massive double beds for a much needed sleep that night and milked the buffet breakfast for two hours the next morning before flying from Cebu airport to Manila. I said goodbye to the best travel buddy I've had and new life long friend before I headed off for my flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and she departed back to Perth, Australia. 

After nearly 12 hours of travelling I arrived in Kuala Lumpur (KL as the locals call it), Malaysia (country number 15 on my trip) and met my friend Faye in the airport. We made our way from the airport to our accommodation which would also be my first Couchsurfing experience! Couch surfing is an online community of like minded travellers or locals who offer up their couch, spare room, floor etc for free to travellers passing through. Faye is an adamant couch surfer. It's a great way to save money while traveling and also to get shown around a new city or town by the people that live there. Win win! When we pulled up to the huge apartment block just around the corner from the Petronas towers I was 
wondering if we had the right address. We arrived up at Bens apartment and he greeted us straight away with a warm welcome and a Belgian accent even though it was 11.30pm on a school night. We ended up sitting up chatting, playing pool and cooing over his beautiful cat Nana. His friend Eva from America and his Spanish housemate Cayo also joined us. Over the next few days we felt so at home, using the pool and gym that his apartment block had as well as being shown around the best places to eat in KL (the food here is amazingly delicious) and even being taken to parties by Ben. 

Me, Ben, Nana (the cat), Eva and Faye 

The famous Petronas Towers 

On our first morning, Faye and I went to the Batu caves, a limestone hill about 12km from KL. It is a holy site with temples inside and is a well known tourist attraction. We navigated the train/metro system easily across KL and made 
it to the landmark long before lunch. On the train to the caves we ended up chatting to a retired widower from California called Tim who was also heading to the caves. Tim told us after a while that his wife had recently passed away, they had planned to travel around South East Asia together so he took the plunge, coming away by himself for the first time in over forty years. He was really interesting and loved hearing about our travels too. After dodging monkeys, pigeons and other tourists at the caves and being generally a bit underwhelmed by the landmark, the three of us took a metro to central market and Chinatown. We went to a food court in Chinatown with every type of Asian cuisine you could imagine. I had a very spicy, tasty seafood Tom yum with noodles! A great first meal in Malaysia. 

Bath caves 

The next day, after a long overdue gym session (I still ache when I walk), Ben took Faye and I to meet some of his friends to play some board games in a cafe. After multiple games of UNO we went back to Bens to get ready for a party he invited to us that night in the Belgian Ambassadors house! After eight months of travelling, I felt out of my depth trying to make myself look presentable. Thankfully when we arrived most people were very friendly especially the ambassador himself, Daniele. We spent the night enjoying the free wine (and gin), really good food, salsa dancing and the swimming pool (it was a pool party after all)! Eva and Cayo also came and we met a really nice group of Canadian students who were over in KL on an internship for 6 weeks. It ended up being a late night so Sunday was not extremely productive but Faye and I went to meet three of the Canadian girls that evening from the party for some Indian food. 

Acting classy at the embassy's party 

We also took a day trip to a UNESCO world heritage site town called Melaka. The bus took about three hours each way, costing 20RN return (about €4). Melaka is known for its food, specialising in coconut shakes, chicken rice ball, Nyonya cuisine among other dishes. We got to Melaka quite early and spent the morning wandering around Jonker street which is lined with quirky souvenir shops, small cafes and restaurants. There are numerous Chinese and Hindu temples around the area which are free to enter. After trying some of the local Chinese food and a coconut nut shake (really good) we visited the temples, local churches and 

walked along the canal. There a pimped out tricycles called Trishaws zooming around covered in various paper maché cartoon characters blaring random music and covered in flowers. They definitely add to the quirkiness of Melaka. After a few hours we wandered past a place renting the tiniest electric cars so decided to rent one for twenty minutes to zip our way through the town. Faye took up driving position first and it was hilarious zooming around. We stopped to swap over only to realise that the hand brake was jammed....with cars struggling to get around our little 

green mobile I walked the few hundred yards back to the office to get some help. I managed to get two of the people from the rental place to walk back with me, clueless as to why the car wasn't working. Just as we were approaching where I had left Faye with the 'broken down' car she whizzed past in stitches, apparently we hadn't been putting the brake down to activate the hand brake (i'm blaming Faye for this one). With red faces and lots of embarrassed apologies to the rental company we headed off the get the bus back to KL.   

In our jazzy electric car pre break down 

Melaka 

On our last night in KL, Cayo took Faye and I to the main hawker food street in KL called Jalan Alor, only a twenty minute walk from the apartment. I was in food heaven! The place was bustling and lined with Indian, Chinese and Malayan street food. Colourful little dim sum dumplings and steamed buns, noodles, fruit, fried ice cream, coconut shakes, skewered meat, fish, vegetables and various rice dishes lined the long street. We found a Chinese restaurant and sat outside, we all shared a beer, Singapore noodles (sooo tasty) and spring rolls. Rounding it off with chocolate 'fried' ice cream (rolled ice cream)! I am definitely going back next time I'm KL for a dim sum binge! 

A Melaka coconut shake 

Paprika squid and chicken at Tepak Urban dining 

Jalan Alor street food 

The next morning Faye and said our goodbyes to the boys and beautiful cat Nana. We headed to the TBS bus station in a GRAB taxi and took a four hour, very windy journey to the Cameron highlands. 

Next stop: Cameron Highlands

Stayed: Couchsurfing 

Food and drink: Assam pedas (spicy paprika chicken and spicy squid with rice and vegetables) and a mango shake at Tepak urban street dining for less than £3.

Singapore noodles with chicken and shrimp at Jalan Alor (shared), £1.

Rolled chocolate ice cream at Jalan Alor, £1

Traditional curry and rice at a small Indian restaurant in Masjid Jamak, £1
Tom ham seafood noodles in Chinatown, £1.50 

#44 Camiguin island...or 'come again' as the locals say

After taking a ferry from Bohol, taking about 3.5 hours we arrived in Camiguin island. We hadn't met any other travellers going to Camiguin but I had read about it in a guide book I had picked up along the way. It described it's good hiking, waterfalls and adventure sports. We had a few days left and enough time to visit another place so we decided to take the ferry there from Bohol. 

We hadn't booked accommodation in advance but unbeknownst to us, it was a bank holiday in the Philippines. We became aware of this firstly when we got to the port in Jagna, Baohol three hours before the ferry was due to depart to be told that the ferry was full and we had to be put on a waiting list (thankfully we were number three and four on the list). We managed to make it on the ferry thankfully. 

When we arrived in Camiguin we took a tricycle from the port to Yumbing. Our lovely driver Sonny said he would bring us around until we found somewhere to stay and recommended some places. The first few were fully booked for the weekend. He then brought us to Medano resort, a family friendly basic hotel with big swimming pool backing onto the sea and views of famous White Island about a kilometre away. We immediately thought it was too expensive but enquiries anyway. The Filipino owner Rolien, a happy man in his fifties immediately welcomed us warmly, asks us where we were from. When I told him I was Irish he was quick to tell me that he was taught in school by Irish nuns and sang when Irish eyes are smiling. He told us they had a fan room available and as we were staying for four nights we negotiated the price down. 

Balcony views in Medano resort 

BBQ and beer st checkpoint 

We looked into what we wanted to do while we were there as we had three full days. We decided to rent a scooter (with Amy driving) and the next day and I was keen to hike the volcano 'Mount Hibok Hibok' which towered above behind Yumbing. On our last day we planned to take advantage of the pool and go to 'White Island' which we could see from our hotel. White Island is one of the main attractions of Camiguin. It is a natural white sand bar in the middle of the glistening sea, small engine boats chug there and back all day bringing tourists to enjoy the pristine beach. Sunset out there looked exquisite so we made that our plan for our last night. 

That evening we had traditional BBQ of meat skewers (chicken and pork for us....no intestines or pigs skin), rice and red horse beer at the very busy checkpoint restaurant which seemed to be the main point in Yumbing for people to go for food. They also had a small shop and bakery. When we returned to our room, it dawned on us why this was the only vacant room left...when we opened the door, the
stagnant heat hit us in the face. We turned the fan on, left the doors and windows open and tried to sleep which we both quickly realised had less chance of happening than Trump declaring his hair is actually not his. 

The next morning after a restless oh so clammy sleep we rented a scooter for the day from the hostel for $6. There were loads of different attractions around the island. We decided to focus on the south west side of the island first. We set off (Amy driving of course) and firstly visited the sunken cemetery. Apparently a real cemetery was originally to be found at this spot until four different eruptions from mount Vulcan caused  the cemetery to be emerged completely  underwater. The last eruption occurred in 1948. It is still possible to dive down and see the original cemetery. Now it is marked by a ladge cross a few hundred metres out to sea  from the viewpoint. After, we visited he Gui-ob church ruins, the Bura soda water springs and Tuasan falls, making our way around the island in an anti-clockwise direction. 

By lunchtime we weren't too far away from the capital of Mambajao, we went and ha ramen (noodle soup with vegetables, chicken and s boiled egg) for lunch in a local eatery. We chatted to two localme. Whom were sitting outside and when we were leaving one gave us Camiguin bananas from his home for our trek the next day. After lunch we continued driving around the island and drove the 5km up into the jungle from the main road to Katibawasan falls, my favourite site of that day. It was around 4pm so there were less people swimming below the towering 250ft high   waterfall.We went swimming, chatting to a lovely elderly couple on their holidays from a nearby region. We also kept getting asked to pose for numerous photos with other groups of teenagers and groups of friends. We joked that we had to start charging for photos. 

Posing with the locals 

The sunken cemetery 

Admiring Katibawasan falls 

Later we went to the checkpoint bakery to stock up on snacks for our hike the next day. We went in search of a local eatery to get some food, only to find another BBQ eatery...meat and rice again so! The man BBQing was keen to know where we were from, once he found out I was Irish he started asking me if I knew Conor McGregor, telling me that he was his idol. As we were leaving after our rice and meat (I was seriously craving some vegetables by this stage) there were tiny kittens huddled at the side of the road outside the restaurant. The McGregor devotee told us there were six strays and that we could take them if we wanted!  This broke my lil heart and I was seriously contemplating taking them but didn't think they (or the airlines) would take too kindly to being stuffed into my backpack. I did however ask Rolien back at our hotel if he wanted any cats....he was quick to decline my offer. When we got back to the hotel (kittenless I may add) we met our guide for the hike the next day 'Be-bot' as well as a French guy called Coco (we couldn't pronounce his real name) who was also doing the hike with us. Coco of course turned out to be a super fit trail runner back in Brittany where he was from! Be-Bot a Filipino man in his forties from the town next to Yumbing gave us a quick briefing for the next day- to bring water and snacks, wear appropriate hiking shoes and clothes. He told us the hike could take anywhere between seven and a half to nine plus hours, I could feel Amys gaze on me (she was NOT overly keen for the hike)! We had another horrendous night in our oven roasted room sweating buckets and listening to the questionable eighties hits being sung by the live band on the rooftop (it was Saturday night after all). I finally caved at about 11.30pm and went downstairs to ask Rolien if he had another fan, tears in eyes, he saw my desperation  and quickly located another fan. It didn't help and we continued to sweat the night away until our alarm went off at 4.45am (WHY DO I DO THIS)!?

Wearily we grabbed our backpack, setting off at 5am on be-bots motorbike, five minutes down the road to the bottom of Mount Hibok Hibok. The four of us (Myself, Amy, Be-Bot 

and super fit Coco) started hiking at 5.30am and set off at a pretty decent pace uphill (I was struggling to keep up). We hiked up through the jungle for nearly four hours, including a break in the old crater of the volcano which used to be a lake. 

Mount Hibok Hibok hike 

At points we literally had to scramble up rocks, clinging onto tree branches or me having be-bot pull me up via my 'good' right arm. I definitely felt I was a lot slower due to my left shoulder being more or less useless. When we finally got to the summit it was still only just after 9am! We were disappointed with the lack of view, clouds blocking it and not clearing for the half hour we were up there. Still we felt proud of our achievement, even though we were saturated with sweat from ascending up in the humidity. Little did I know that going down was going to worse. We descended down a different route, I won't say it was trail as it definitely didn't feel like one. We climbed al let vertically down rocks and mud, again using vines and tree trunks as aides. It took us almost three and a half hours to scramble down. Finally rejoicing as we reached the bottom and ending at some hot springs. 

We hiked over 11km up and down, taking seven and a half hours and leading us to slip and fall repeatedly (I've somehow managed to perfect falling on my left side, avoiding my bad shoulder but I guess putting my right side at risk). Be not told us stories of the cock fighting that is extremely popular in the Philippines, particularly on Sundays after church. He even invited coco to go with him later that day to watch it (I think it's a 'mans' Sunday activity however coco didn't seem that keen to partake. He also to,d us about 'spider fighting' but we weren't too sure if this was true and he seemed to be full of extremely sarcastic stories. After an extremely stressful and tricky descent we arrived at the other side of the volcano to the ardent hibok hibok hot springs. Amy and I went for a dip in the (thankfully) chilled water before going back to the hotel to an attempted ( it failed) nap attempt in our microwaveable heated room. 

That night we went back to checkpoint for dinner and invited coco to come along too. Portions were massive so we shared a chop suey, rice and some red horse. There was a fiesta just down the road so with coco heading back to the hotel for a nap, Amy and I ventured down. It was full of local families with a Filipino comedic act on stage. We couldn't understand a word they were saying but I'm assuming they were pretty entertaining based on the howls of laughter coming from the crowd. With little understanding what was happening we decided to head back to the rooftop of Medano for some cards and music. 

Our last day on Camiguin we spent relaxing by the pool (typically I got burnt at the end of the holiday and resembled a roasted tomato by the end of the day). We had planned to go to White Island later that evening to watch the sunset (they really are incredible here). We sauntered down to the port where the boats depart at 4.30pm only to be told by the (not so friendly) lady that the last boats come back from White Island at 5.30pm (I.e: before sunset). We almost kicked ourselves for not going out earlier that day and couldn't really justify spending 490PHP (only $10) for less than an hour on the beach. Instead we decided to sit at the small cafe/bar in medano with a beer and watch the sunset from there. Which was beautiful but much to our dismay we could watch all the boats going out and coming back from White Island, the last ones returning up until after 6pm! Whhhy!??! Anyway next time I 'come again' to Camiguin (as the locals say), White Island is on my 'to do' list. 

Next Stop: Cebu city

Stayed:  Midano island resort, $7 night for private fan room (was discounted due to multiple night stay) 

Food and drink: checkpoint is the main restaurant in Yumbing. The mains in the restaurant are huge so you can share! $2 each for chop suey, rice and red horse beer. BBQ and rice at Checkpoint. Shawarma from Alex's across the road from checkpoint ($1). Rum and red horse beer in Medano. 

One month in the Philippines

I spent a glorious month in the Philippines in April 2017. I hadn't initially planned on visiting the Philippines or South East Asia for that matter during my twelve months away however after a friend spoke to me about visiting I googled some blogs. Once I saw the photos of the pristine white beaches, turquoise blue waters, towering waterfalls and lush jungle I was convinced (although I took those 'filtered' photos with a grain of salt).

With 7,107 islands making up the Philippines and only a months visa (if you want to extend it costs) it was difficult to decide where we wanted to visit but the general main island groups on the tourist trail are: Luzon and the Visayas. When we got to the Philippines we spent one night and a day in the capital, Manila (skip it altogether if you can). When we got off the 'mainland' and away from the bustling, noisy cities I was totally blown away with the exact same picturesque perfectness from the photos I had seen! Maybe even more humbling and causing me to fall even more in love with the country was the genuine warmth, hospitality and friendliness of the people here.

Coron tricycle drivers jumping for joy for us  

Tips for the Philippines:
- Internal flights are cheap if you book ahead (at least one month). The main budget airlines are: Cebu Pacific, Philippines airlines and Air Asia.
- Jeepneys and yellow Cirus buses are public buses and cheap to take
- Always negotiate the cost of your tricycle and agree on a price before you depart. In some places we were being told it was 50PHP each when locals only pay 10PHP!
- The cheapest food is found in local eateries or on the street. You'll see multiple silver dishes lined up. The mains (usually fish, chop suey, vegetables, lumpia (spring rolls) and multiple pork dishes (adobo is a must try)) are served on small plates costing between 20-50PHP. Rice is usually 10-15PHP. Street food is generally fried and/or very sweet. BBQ meat skewers can be found in most places and consist of chicken wings, legs, heads, neck and intestines (I'm not joking), pork meat, liver among others. These usually range from 10-70PHP and you can usually get sticky rice cooked in a woven banana leaf with it. The mangoes and banana are really good and sweet. Otherwise vegetables and fruit weren't abundant so take advantage when you can.
- Also don't book rooms in advance as you can usually negotiate the prices of rooms on arrival. Double rooms can also end up being the same price, if not cheaper than dorms so good if you are in a pair or even a trio.
- Use the Grab taxi app (similar to uber). Uber is also in operation in big cities
- Get a local SIM card when you arrive
- Whilst most places have ATMs, in some places like El Nido and Coron, there are limited ATMs and they can run out of money at the end of the day. Port Barton has no ATM.
- Most people speak English
- Filipinos will ask you for your photo! We were happy to oblige and it was a great way to meet lots of the locals
- The Tanduay rum is oh so cheap and good. Red horse beer is oh so strong and cheap
- Ask around for local fiestas on the islands as there is usually one happening somewhere
- Get ready for breathtaking sunsets!


Here is my itinerary for the month in the Philippines:
Fly into Manila, the capital: 1 night in Manila.
- Stayed in Baho Kuba Hostel
To do:
- Museum of anthropology and museum of fine art (free entry)
- Rizal park
- China town for authentic Chinese food
- Sample some of the street food
- Ride a jeepney

A traditional jeepney 

How to get to Coron: Prebooked overnight 2Go travel ferry Manila to coron. Karaoke all day on the top deck...bring rum and snacks

Coron, Palawan: 3 nights in Coron.
- Stayed in coron guapos guesthouse or lagrosa hostel backpackers
To do:
- Island hopping tour B
- Rent scooters and go to the beaches and waterfalls
- Hike up mount tapyas for sunset


El Nido, Palawan: 2-3nights.
How to get there: Boat from Coron to El Nido (Can book day ahead from your hostel).
- Stayed in billabong but look around as this was a basic hostel. Melting Pot Hostel was recommended but fully booked when we were there.
To do:
- overnight island hopping tour A and C.
-  El nido beach is nice and quiet during the day for a beach day
- Rent scooters
- Go to napcam beach (voted most beautiful beach on TripAdvisor). Busy during the day but can stay there overnight and enjoy it when the crowds have left
- Early morning hike up Osmena Peak for sunrise 

El Nido beach 

Port Barton: 3nights (quiet beach town, really recommend)
How to get there: bus from El Nido to Port Barton. It takes about 1.5hrs. You can also book this through your hostel in El Nido.
- Stayed in divinagracia - private rooms or cabins. Local family owned.
To do:
- island hopping here (cheaper than el Nido and Coron)
- Kayaks to white beach
- Waterfalls
- Drinks on the beach (reggae bar for happy hour...2 rums for €1)!

Quiet Port Barton beach 

Flew from Puerto Princessa to Cebu: 1 night in Puerto Princessa
How to get there: From Port barton, take a bus to Puerto princessa (big city).
Stayed In yourspace pensione, basic, clean hostel. Not much to do in Puerto princessa.
- Good vegetarian restaurant called imas.
Flew PP to Cebu city: 1 night in Cebu city but no need to stay.

Maolboal, Cebu island: 3 nights
How to get there: Take a public Minivan or yellow public bus from Cebu city to Maolboal. (Most people stay at panagsama beach, good for snorkelling! Lots of sardines).
- White beach (not that nice)!
- Bingo at Maolboal port in town, most nights I think. So much fun! Can also go to local Karaoke after.
- Kawasan falls, must do! Either go for the day (early to avoid crowds) or do canyoning through the falls which we did with happy wanderers for 1000PHP (Get scooter and tricycle out to the falls yourself)

Kawasan falls 

Dumaguete, Negros island: 3 nights
How to get there: Take a yellow public bus from Maolboal to Bato , then take a Tricycle to the port. From here a Ferry from bato to port about 5km from dumaguete then take another tricycle or jeepney to Dumaguete town.

- stayed Harolds pension, good hostel. Really nice rooftop with good well priced food!
To do:
- Twin lakes national park. Take a public yellow bus to the first halal habal stop (ask the bus conductor to let you off there), take a motorbike (Habal Habal) from the bus stop to the entrance of Park. Its a really nice drive up: fixed price of 400PHP up and down but we negotiated with two of us on the back. Not a big hike just a 30-40 mins walk. Nice Scenery. Or if you wanted a longer hike you could go to volcano negros to hike (we didn't make it though).
- day diving or snorkelling trip to Apo island to see sea turtles and beautiful coral
OR
Go straight to Apo island and stay on the island itself. There are a few guesthouses. Food is more expensive on the island so be aware!

Snorkelling with sea turtles 

Siquijor island - my favourite!!! (2-3 nights...or longer)
How to get there: Boat from dumaguete to siquijor, only 1.5hrs. Can walk to the ferry from Harolds.
- Stayed in lazy lizard hostel, about 400m off the main road in San Juan. Newly opened, really chilled hostel. Have a cute little cabin for two people or dorm. Also JJ backpackers is popular but need to book ahead.
To do:
- Lots of fiestas in siquijor- ask around
- Paliton beach for snorkelling and sunset
- Rent motorbikes for time there,beautiful waterfalls (cambugahay falls), caves, lookouts, secret beach....so amazing but difficult to find, need a motorbike and ask locals how to get there.
- Eat at roch cuisine, small eatery in San Juan on the roadside by the beach. Really good cheap food and perfect for sunset.

Secret beach, Siquijor island 

Bohol island: 2nights
How to get there: Take a ferry from Larena in Siquijor to Tagbilaren, Bohol island.
From the Ferry in Bohol, take a tricycle to a jeepney and jeepney to Alona beach, Panglossian island. Most people stay at Alona beach. I was not that keen on Alona beach, it's quite touristy and accommodation is more expensive than other places in the Philippines.
- Stayed in henrys hostel and Alona hammock (don't recommend either)
- Could stay in Lamboc, jungle area on the mainland in Bohol, closer to chocolate hills and tarsier sanctuary. Nuts huts is supposed to be good.
To do:
- rent scooters and go to the tarsier sanctuary, chocolate hills and waterfalls. Really nice scenery! Chocolate hills are very touristy.

Chocolate hills, Bohol 

Camiguin island: 4 nights
Not backpackery at all. More Filipino tourists. Really like this island.
How to get there: Ferries only go a few times a week there and back so check the timetable first. The ferry takes about 3.5 hours from Jagna in Bohol.
- Stayed: Medano island resort, really good location in yumbing, family place, but has private rooms and dorms. Nice pool!
To do:
- rent scooters (can rent form Medano) and go to sunken cemetery, old church, soda springs, cold springs (we didn't go to cold springs), tuasan falls and katibawasan falls. Everything is 30PHP entry.
- Hike mount Hibok Hibok, difficult hike. Need to rent guide for 1200PHP and 200PHP fee. Start early (5.30am), takes about 7hrs. Can go to hot springs after.
- Pool day at Medano. Take boat to white beach. We thought we could go for sunset but we're told last boats come back at 5.30pm. However boats were coming back until 6pm. Go early in the morning or afternoon.
- Island called mantigue island for day trip, good snorkelling (we didn't go here).

Ferry from Camiguin island back to Cebu city (through Bohol) and fly back to Manila :(
(If you can maybe book flight directly back home to to your next destination from Cebu city)

Other places that were recommended but I didn't make it to:
Siargao - small surfing island! Supposed to be stunning. Takes an overnight ferry to get there from Cebu city.
Bicol - north of Manila. Can go whale shark diving here, hiking and surfing
Malapascua island - north of Manila. Really good diving.