Malaysia, Borneo, Pandemic and Singapore

January 2020 and we embark on an eight-week trip to explore Malaysia, Borneo and Singapore. Unfortunately a worldwide pandemic brought our plans to a premature end. We had already covered the Malay Peninsula and were enjoying the wildlife of Borneo when countries began to close their borders. Suddenly there was a mad dash to get home!

Fast forward three years and we set off again, revisiting our favourite parts and finally taking in the destinations that we were forced to miss. More research (and the extra time) gave us a few extra stops to take in along the way.

This book tells the story of both journeys, an eclectic mix of the ultra-modern cities of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Melaka and Georgetown. Add in the palm-fringed beaches of Langkawi and unforgettable encounters with orangutans in Borneo. Once again travelling on a budget, we stayed in some great accommodation and met some fantastic characters along the way. Hopefully our stories either bring back holiday memories of your own or ignite the wanderlust in you.

Cambodia and Vietnam – Take Two

Cambodia and Vietnam, or Asia in general awakens your physical senses, the constant noise of traffic and street sellers peddling their wares, the incredible colour of temples and the smell of incense sticks and spices. Your tongue and taste buds are in culinary heaven, divine food fusions from across the continent have been merged into regional specialities. Shoes are on and off, cold tiled floors on bare feet are one of life’s simple pleasures in the heat of the day. Asia makes you wonder if you have been living numb in your day-to-day life, four months away and all our senses have been jolted and kick-started back to life.

By the time that we return home from Hanoi we expect to have covered just over 2,800 miles, mainly by bus but with the odd rail journey thrown in for good measure. Our excitement and anticipation are interspersed with dread – flashbacks of the countless hours of blaring Cambodian karaoke shows on never-ending bus journeys that are still firmly etched in the memory from four years ago…

Our Travels Around India

In those working years when holidays were limited to just two weeks, each journey would begin with a fortnights holiday in the beach paradise of Goa. Internal flights led to us visiting a host of amazing sights and incredible places that India has to offer. From the northern city of Amritsar, the nightly border ceremony and the Golden Temple to the southernmost tip of mainland India, Kanyakumari and a plethora of places in-between. Enjoy our thoughts, memories and comical incidents as we visit the Taj Mahal as part of the Golden Triangle, visit the worlds largest laundry in Mumbai, dip our toes in the Ganges at Varanasi and enjoy festivals in Kerala. Throw in some magical Rajasthan cities, the illuminations of Mysore Palace and what was in it’s time one of the worlds richest kingdoms, Hampi. It’s not all culture, there are plenty of cows on the beach, Kingfisher beers and curries along the way.

Backpacking: Not Just For The Young!

Follow the story of our first backpacking experience exploring South East Asia following redundancy in our mid-forties. The perfect opportunity to swap fourteen days holiday with four and a bit months living from one holdall each. Starting in Bangkok, exploring Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai before heading onto Cambodia with its fascinating but grim history from the Pol Pot era. The journey continues with a month in Vietnam before culminating with some rest and recuperation in Goa, but still finding time to visit one of the worlds oldest continuously inhabited cities, Varanasi. Hopefully not too heavy on the facts and figures front, but with a touch of humour as we endure hours of Cambodian bus travel with blaring karaoke on the television and ladies eating crickets…