A holiday within the holiday

 I have not been updating much as there has not been much to report. Currently on the south coast of Cambodia, on a beach called Otres just outside the town of Sihanoukville.

We have not been doing much at all. We planned to go to some islands, some villages... but the truth is that we hardly left the beach. We have been staying at a nice hostel, with our own little bungalow just off the beach. We met some new friends and the beach has got a very relaxed vibe which kind of sucks you in.

Our days have been filled with pizzas (there is an authentic Italian place our here where we have been celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this week) and buying fresh mangoes and seafood from the ladies that are walk up and down the beach. They also offered massages and how could you say no to a cheap massage on the beach?

Moved onto Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia today. We already have a visa for Vietnam and we are going to be get a bus from her straight to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city) on the 8th.

Last few weeks of this adventure!

Relaxing on Pulau Tioman

Another island off the west coast of Malaysia is Pulau Tioman, it is a lot bigger than the Perhentians and very different. We had to take a night bus and a 2hr ferry to get there (if a 4am drop off in front of a Chinese temple is to be considered a night bus). Tioman is like a "Pocket Coffee", the Italian chocolate with real coffee inside, one of my favourites...  it has got hot sticky jungle on the inside and lush beaches on the outside.

We stayed in a village called ABC (it is really called Air Batang, but I like ABC!)... walked around for a bit and got ourselves a little hut 1min walk from the beach - and that is pretty much it! You could hear the sea at night and the jungle during the day, something I have never experienced before.

The weather was not the best as it is coming into monsoon season, so the beach and the sea were not as good either. We just spend a few days not doing much: reading on the balcony, observing the monkeys that were coming from the jungle to look for food (or to explore my bag when I left the door of the room open!), playing cards with other travellers, eating nasi goreng (fried rice), drinking kopi ais (cold coffee) and having a few beers on the beach... Very relaxing.

Now onto the last few days to be spent in Melaka and back to KL, before our Thai adventures start.

Gotta love a beach swing!

View from the beach

Flowers and teas

The central part of Malaysia includes the area called the Cameron Highlands. The wet and cool weather (that we really enjoyed after KL!) makes it possible to grow tea and strawberries that are the speciality of this area.

Around here, you can go for long treks and see the green scenery: one particular walk we enjoyed was the one that took us to see the Rafflesia. The Rafflesia is the biggest flower in the world, 1mt wide and weighting up to 10kg, it is impressive to say the least. It lives for 7days but it has no roots or leaves as such but grows on other plants as a parasite.

A 2days old Rafflesia

After the tiring walk, we got back to the town of Tanah Rata to reward ourselves with nice cake and tea and an 1hr long foot reflexology massage.

Since the last time I came to south east Asia, I have been dreaming about these cheap massages and how good they make you feel! Already looking forward to the next one...

Strawberry tea and cake

Massage heaven!

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