James takes on the world!

Gisella and I spent 1 day on the island of Langkawi which we were sadly a little disappointed with as it felt slightly overly commercialised due to the huge number of expensive resorts and tourists. We managed to escape this for a day by paying a man with a jet-ski to drop us at a small island with a nice beach that we had to ourselves all day. We had arranged to be picked up again in the afternoon and luckily he remembered otherwise this message may have been reaching you by Morse code.

We decided to quickly move on the following day and we had originally intended on going to the Perhentian Islands on the East Cost of Malaysia, however, because of the school holidays all of the buses were fully booked. We then attempted to book to go to Singapore but this was also full, as a desperate effort to leave the island rather than having to stay for another 3 days I suggested that we go to a small island north of Langkawi called Koh Lipe in Thailand. It was low season on the islands situated on the West coast of Thailand so transport involved two speedboats and 3 minibuses whereas it was usually just one short speedboat ride from Langkawi. Once we arrived we were both thankful that all of the buses in Malaysia were booked as otherwise we would have missed out this beautiful island.

Spot the odd one out (and no they don't eat cats)

Before I had started my travels I met so many backpackers who raved about the beaches of Thailand but I thought ‘they can’t be that good’ but I can now say that they were all correct. The island of Koh Lipe is an undisturbed paradise that remains how Koh Phi Phi was 20 years ago.

We arrived on the island after a bumpy 2 hour speedboat ride where Gisella somehow managed not to be sick on the other passengers. We were greeted by someone who worked at one of the few resorts on the island. She took us to view the resort but the cheapest option they had was 700 Baht per night (£14) but we were looking for something at around 400 Baht per night (£8) so we moved on. We met a group of 4 backpackers who pointed us towards some bungalows that were 300 Baht per night (£6) so we headed along the beach towards them. Along the way we passed a stunning resort and spa and I suggested to Gisella that we go and have a look just to be nosy. They informed us that the rooms were usually 8000 Baht per night (£160) but because it was low season then we could have it for 3000 Baht per night (£60), this was obviously way over our budget but we still wanted to be nosy and look at the room anyway. This turned out to be a mistake because as soon as Gisella saw the beautiful room with a huge bed covered in flowers, big glass sliding doors, decking area, swimming pool, bar, private secluded garden with outside bathtub, gorgeous bathroom with a glass windowed shower which was situated right on the beach then it made it very hard to say no. I suggested that we stay for her very early birthday present and after haggling a little more then we managed to get the room for 2300 Baht per night (£48), Bargain!

We quickly noted that the staff were extremely attentive and waited on our hand and food, we then realised that that the reason for this was that we were the only guests staying at the resort. Not only were we the only guests staying in the resort but after walking around the island we discovered that there were only around 10 tourists staying on the whole island. The beaches were absolutely mesmerizing. I have seen quite a few beautiful beaches on my travels especially in Indonesia and Philippines but I have never seen sand so white and fine and the sea so turquoise and invitingly warm. Most of the restaurants and accommodation were closed on the island so we were limited to 3 restaurants and 2 bars but the food was great, even if the spiciness was unbelievably hot (that was after ordering it as ‘not too spicy please’).

We spent the following 4 days having a small holiday from the traveling (I am sure some of you will laugh at that but traveling does tire you out) and enjoying our own resort, taking massages, sunbathing, (Gisella no longer looks like a pastey white ghost) drinking and eating. The maids amazed us by their creative towel folding on our bed which was there to greet us when we got back to our room each day. We then had to leave which was very hard and we reentered Malaysia and headed to the Perhentian Islands.

Our accommodation on the island sadly had to bring us back down to backpacker reality however we still managed to stay in a nice bungalow even if it was nowhere near as good as our room in Thailand. The islands were very backpacker orientated and beautiful. The first morning that we arrived we were sat at a cafe having breakfast when someone tapped me on my shoulder, I turned round to find that it was one of my really good friends from back home, Sam Walker, who I had grown up with my whole life. I had no idea that he was in the Perhentian Islands, let alone Asia. I was speechless for a while at how much of a coincidence it was but after getting over the surprise Gisella, Sam, Sam’s girlfriend Robyn and I all got chatting and spent the rest of the day snorkeling and lying on the beach.

After I completed my PADI Open Water diving course earlier in my trip Gisella had decided that she also wanted to try diving. She started by doing her Discover Scuba Diving course in the Perhentians which is designed to be a small introduction to the underwater world. She struggled with her breathing and often felt very panicky. I assisted the dive instructor in trying to calm her down but after completing the course she decided on her own that she would overcome the fear and go on to do her PADI Scuba Diver course. The instructor was incredibly patient and friendly, he refused to let Gisella give up and even after telling me on her last day of the 2 day course that she was “absolutely petrified” she still managed to complete it. I was so proud of her and now we can go diving together which I am really looking forward to.

I found that I was getting a bit bored of islands and beaches (I never thought I would say that) so after 4 days in the Perhentian Islands we took a 27 hour journey to reach Singapore.

What a city it is, it blew me away with its culture, food, architecture and immaculate environment. It is one of those cities where you can just walk around and you find yourself constantly looking around you at all of the amazing things. Along with New York it is definitely my favorite city that I have ever visited. The first day we visited a Chinese Temple, the Botanical Gardens and walked along the river taking in the modern architecture where it appears that the architects were allowed to run wild. The following day we visited another temple before having lunch in the Lau Pa Sat (or “old market” in the Hokkien dialect) food market which consists of what seemed like hundreds of food stalls where they cook everything in front of you. We then looked around the famous Raffles Hotel and the National Museum of History before visiting a few of the incredible shopping malls which line Orchard Road. That evening we went to see some Jazz and finished the day by going to a bar located on the 70th floor of the highest hotel in South East Asia and taking in the incredible nighttime cityscape.

We planned to go rollerblading in East Coast Park and then to Sentosa Island the following day but a huge storm meant that we spent the day at the cinema instead. Three days in Singapore was sadly not enough time for us but we needed to return to Kuala Lumpur ready for our flight to Laos today. Gisella and I think that we will definitely be returning to Singapore at some point in the future to finish taking in all of the sights.

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