During a visit to Denmark, I had the opportunity to stay at the prestigious Andersen Boutique Hotel in the uber-trendy Vesterbro “Meatpacking” area of Copenhagen. Before I blog my full post on our trip, here is the Andersen Boutique Hotel review.
Perhentian Islands, Malaysia
Waking up in the oldest rainforest in the world knowing that you will be arriving at one of Earth’s most beautiful islands later that day, is a feeling that you don’t get too often.
Our schedule was packed, as always, so we couldn’t relish this feeling for too long. Today we were heading to the Perhentian Islands, 2 islands located just off the East coast of Malaysia, that are enjoyed by foreigners and Malaysians alike.
Perhentians
Taman Negara and Kuala Tahan
We were up early once again to start our mission from Kuala Lumpur to Taman Negara. We had to pack our stuff before heading through Chinatown to Han Travel, the company we would use for our long journey to the oldest rainforest in the world.
We were there at 7.40am and were the first to arrive, better safe than sorry in my eyes! The doors opened soon after and we paid for our pre-booked trip at the desk. We also paid for the next leg of our journey, which was to Kuala Besut, a coastal town where you can jump across to the idyllic Perhentian Islands.
It was around 95 ringgit per leg per person and our 9 seater minibus was filled with Dutch families and us. A Malaysian fella gave us our instructions for the day and he began driving, but unfortunately it was only for 10 yards. He then got out, and swapped with an oriental looking lady, I assume they had method in their madness but it didn’t look that way. The driver was great, the only downside being that we stopped 40 minutes into the 3 hour journey, rather than somewhere closer to the middle.
The vegetation began thickening and the buildings were decreasing, the rainforest was approaching fast. We got to Kuala Tembeling just after 11am and sat down to take in the beautiful view down the Kuala River. Our boat was not leaving until 2pm, so sunbathing was in order.
Kuala Lumpur, Batu Caves and Cameron Highlands
Moving back to the UK from New Zealand is a big move. It is also the perfect excuse for a holiday. So why not a weekend in Aus and then 10 days in Malaysia? The weekend in Australia was catching up with old friends – nothing too exciting barring a surprisingly sunny visit to St Kilda Beach, despite it being July.
St Kilda Beach
So we arrived in Kuala Lumpur Continue reading
Travelling through Malaysia
For those of you that can’t wait for the full posts, I have cut a video of our time in Malaysia below. We began in Kuala Lumpur, then visited Batu Caves (a worshipping ground for Buddhists), moved on to Taman Negara (the oldest rainforest in the world) and finished up in the Perhentian Islands, which are as close to paradise as we could find!
Siesta Motel Review
To save money for our remaining few weeks in New Zealand, we moved out of our flat and into a motel. I managed to find a room for $54 per night, as the stay was 20 days long. It was roughly the same price per week ($375) as our flat, and we didn’t have to pay for water or electricity. The down sides were a smaller space and only 200MB of WiFi per day.
Indian Delights Taupo Review
As a man that was raised to eat anything and everything, I’m not exactly a food connoisseur. I enjoy too much food to ever be an acclaimed critic. Gemma, however, is one of the pickiest eaters you could meet. Perfect for a restaurant review. We both love Indian food and were therefore really happy to be invited to review Indian Delights in Taupo.
This 100 seater authentic and fully licensed establishment comes advertised as having a “Million Dollar Lake View”. That’s quite a claim. They are open for lunch between 11am and 2pm so we popped in during our day in the area.
