Everest

This is it. We fly to Lukla tomorrow at dawn, then start trekking. Everest base camp is 10 days up, and maybe 6 days back down - we'll be back around 7th Nov, at least, that's when the flight back is. Kathmandu is really polluted, cheap and interesting.

Bangkok and out

This may be the last post for some time - Bangkok tomorrow, Kathmandu the next day, then 16 days climbing to Mount Everest base camp and back. Actually, I lie, there's almost definitely internet in Kathmandu. But if we're incognito for a while, that's because we're up a mountain. Those who are bored can look at some more photos at my flickr page.

The Beach

The Beach, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

Where they filmed The Beach. Forget Halong bay in Vietnam, this is much nicer. One delicious bay round the other side. Its not actually that big, you can walk from one side to the other in a few minutes- the filmmakers must have used several angles.

Fishies

Fishies, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

Fishies feeding

Fishies feeding, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

Tiger fish congregating onto leftovers from lunch. I was snorkelling a few meters away, its a weird feeling being swarmed by fish.

Bamboo Island

Bamboo Island, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

Tiny island just north of Koh Phi Phi. Absolutely friggin gorgeous.

Mat on springboard

Mat on springboard, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

One of these days I'll get Liz doing an action shot...

Koh Phi Phi

Boats, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

Liz and Mike in Colisseum

Liz and Mike in Colisseum, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

The poster reads "What to Do if Your Servant Has Malaria". Built in the 1920's, this is a real colonial outpost. Somerset Maughum once drank here.

Petronas towers

Petronas towers, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

That's the Skybridge between the two towers, which has appeared in lots of films (Entrapment and Art of War spring to mind). The towers are 452m, the skybridge about 180m.

Petronas towers

Petronas towers, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

The tallest twin towers in the world.

Koh Phi Phi

Having dodged 3 monsoons, we're now back in Thailand, in the absolutely spiffing Koh Phi Phi. This island is paradise, best place we've been for sun, sea, sand, fun, facilities etc.

But wait, I hear you say. Wasn't... yes, it did get flattened by the Tsunami. Hit by a 3m wave from the south and then a 6m wave from the north, which as the settled bit is only about 2m above sea level was pretty fatal. It seems to be back on its feet now, there's still a lot of construction work going on but that's mainly a lack of money. It was a seesaw argument about going -yes, they want the tourist trade, no, they don't have enough resources for themselves but this is a fairly modern country and all the essentials (water, food, port) were established months ago. There are still some scary reminders, the 7-11 shop with just the sign still standing, the insides just washed completely away.

If you've got 2 or 3 weeks holiday, come here (maybe not in September when its the monsoon). Costs really aren't that high, $12 for room with fan and private bathroom, up to maybe $40 for deluxe air con. Really really good food in the town; awful food in the tourist restaurants on the beaches. Oh, and yes, this is the place they filmed The Beach -well, the island next door which is just as nice but no hotels.

Cameron Highlands

Father's guesthouse, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

We stayed in Father's guesthouse, a converted WWII army barracks. The Cameron Highlands are cool, wet and sunny, they're renowned for good scenery, walks and for being much cooler than the rest of the country.

(In tropical climates, people holiday in hill stations to get some cold.)

The trails were all overgrown or had trees fallen across them, the restaurants were all dire (except for one funky steamboat stir boil), and it was a freezing cold 18'C at night. Oh, and we met the first person from our south American leg, going back to New Zealand the other way round the world - didn't think that'd happen.

Malaysia

We've now quit Malaysia (moving very fast this week), up to Koh Phi Phi and on to Bangkok tomorrow.

All in all, Malaysia was friendly, sober, not cheap. We have a cheapness scale that runs like this; cheap compared to London, cheap compared to Argentina, cheap compared to Bolivia. Malaysia was cheap compared to London, except for the beer prices.

Kuala Lumpur was reasonably nice, it made all the difference knowing people there (well, Mike, who knew people). Bit of a dirty compared to London city (nothing is dirty compared to say Bangkok or Jakarta).

Gecko

Gecko, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

Geckos are brilliant. They sneak into your room, steal all the tasty insects, and run away again. This one was about 6", they're normally much smaller.

Self Plucking

Self Plucking, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

Yup, you too can pluck yourself at the self service strawberry farm. Its like England, only with Ingerish.

We're now in KL (Kuala Lumpur) about to meet Mike. We fly to Nepal on the 16th of October from Bangkok.

Coconut tree

Coconut tree, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

Tea plants

Tea plants, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

The Boh plantation in the Cameron Highlands. Its cold (a cool 25'C midday, a freezing 16'C at night), wet, and sunny. Great jungle walks, and you can actually walk without collapsing from heat exhaustion.

Liz on Perhentian long beach

Liz on Perhentian long beach, originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

The Perhentians - Long Beach, which has the "budget" accomodation, beach volleyball and well, a beach. Its scorchingly hot right now (pre-monsoonal) and we've been in 35'c heat for over two months now.