Despite our relatively late night we all woke up early except Maisie (of course) and when I opened the door and looked out at the gorgeous beach I couldn’t go back to bed even though I still felt tired. Ali and Simon went off to get some fruit for breakfast and a squid for the days fishing and I cleaned the place up which basically consisted of sweeping the sand out. Toby and I were chatting last night and both agreed we would be making some lifestyle changes when we get back. ie less housework, more fun at the weekends!

I have 2 jobs to do today, firstly I want to go and swap my book for a new one and I want to answer a few emails also. Internet access here is easy to find but it has been easier to sit on my arse for the last few days and not check them. There are some good attractions here such as Underwater World but I think we will just spend our time on the beach for the next few days anyway.

Its 6pm and we have had a great day. I spent an hour teaching science to 4 kids this morning who responded to my teaching methods with varying degrees of enthusiasm. (Not much from Maisie!) Still we seemed to get through it quickly which is good as I have hoped that each section won’t take as long as the human body took.

I then went and checked all our emails and wrote some back, this took ages as I had quite a few to catch up with but it has been too hot to sit out today and even scorching in the shade so I didn’t mind catching up a bit. We had some lunch at a beach shack, mixed satay, Greek salad and tiger prawns .. yum! It feels like being on holiday here and for the moment I am loving it!

There is a huge yacht moored just out to sea, I have been talking to the girl who runs The Submarine Shack who tells me it has been there for 2 weeks. I’m not surprised as it is so pretty here and really quiet. There are a few English couples here, older people and honeymooners but not many other tourists and we couldn’t wish for a nicer resort to be in.
Along the main road it’s busy with loads of shops and restaurants but we’re in a good place at the end of the beach and nothing has disturbed us.

Ali and Simon went out on Jet Ski’s this afternoon for half an hour, it is the first time Ali has been on one on his own and it felt scary watching him flying across the water on it. Still there is hardly any sea traffic around and I guess it is good to practice in open, calm and empty water. I curse him though when I see him standing up on the thing, but keep my mouth shut as he is so proud when the Jet Ski fella says he can tell he’s been on them before and looks confident.

I sit sunning myself and talk to Toby and the kids, its nice talking to other people, although I really love Simon and the kids for company and we certainly haven’t got bored of each other at all. It seems amazing that the days go so quickly but there are always things to do and plans to make about the trip and our future when we get home. Although we try not to talk about going home too much I have a few things in mind lined up for us!

The kids and I are all exhausted and we just nip across the road for dinner. We have pizza’s and pasta and although it’s relatively expensive its good food and worth the cost. By 9.30 we are in bed, all knackered which sounds like a bit of a joke as we have done jack shit all day and actually to my shame I have only managed to accomplish one of my 2 simple jobs. But hey it’s a tough life and someone has to do it.

We set our alarm today and got up around 9am. It was really amazing to lie in bed looking out of the door at the waves gently breaking at the edge of this beautiful beach. What a gorgeous place, it really is wow, and I can’t believe we’re actually staying here. Although we’ve only booked 3 nights I’m sure we will stay longer.

We walk up the road to The Red Tomato Garden Restaurant and have a lovely breakfast Maisie and I have fresh mixed fruits and homemade yogurt which makes a nice change.
We walk back to The Delta Motel where we are staying and get the schoolbooks out. Jon and Toby haven’t been teaching Barney and Lois quite as much since they started their trip and this has caused a bit of dissent amongst the ranks with our kids as they think it is wholly unfair but I stick to my guns and we have a couple of hours science. We have completed the human body and today moved onto classification and variation of species, this is interesting and the time flies.

Simon goes to update our website; we have had a problem uploading pictures but it seems to be sorted out now with the help of Gary who set it all up for us. What a star! I get settled on a sunbed on the beach although lying in the sun without an umbrella for even a minute is completely out of the question. A fella at the beach shack bar tells me it is 39 degrees and when I check Ali’s watch it says 38.5 in the shade. We bought factor 20 sun cream and plaster the kids in it although by now they are now really brown and I’m glad to see at the end of the day they haven’t burnt at all.

The sea is perfect for swimming, very calm and shallow but there are some big jellyfish which are quite scary. I ask the fella at the bar if they are dangerous and he tells me they are quite dangerous but not to worry as they are fairly easy to see and avoid. This isn’t particularly reassuring, as I have already walked into one in the water and we have seen a dead one at the waters edge, but there are a few people swimming and I decide to let the kids in but tell them to be vigilant. In the end they don’t spend much time in the sea but this is actually due to tiny fish that nibble them and draw blood occasionally.

We bump into Jon, Toby, Barney and Lois later and the boys go out fishing again. They are more successful than yesterday and catch 3 small fish. Jon goes shopping and comes back with rice parcels wrapped in banana leaves and a bunch of bananas. We light a fire on the beach and cook the fish with limes, the rice parcels, and the bananas in their skins with slices of Toblerone. Simon gets the Tiger beers in and we all agree it makes a fantastic and cheap meal. The kids of course just love it and are all running around barefooted like 4 little wild creatures .They look so happy and healthy and we have a great night, Ali plays a few songs on his guitar and Toby and I sing along, not too tunefully!

We head for bed around midnight, before we go I ask Barney and Lois if they want to do a bit of schoolwork with us tomorrow and they say they will. Toby says she will do it with them the next day in that case – hurray that will be great! She is a classroom assistant as well as a nurse and it will be brilliant to have someone else teaching them a bit and I’m sure for Ali and Maisie a welcome change too.

Our taxi driver arrived on time at 7.30am and we caught the ferry to Langkawi as planned. The ferry ride took 2 and a half hours but it went quite quickly and Ali enjoyed watching the Jackie Chan film showing on the way.

My first impressions of Langkawi from the ferry are good and it looks beautiful. I’m sure we will have a good time here. We get in a taxi which costs 20 ringitt to Pantai Cenang, this is the main tourist area and we decide as it is early we will check out a few beach bungalows to make sure we get somewhere really nice.

Eventually we settle on a bungalow which is right at the end of the beach, it’s a really good room with air con, 2 double beds, hot water, a TV, a fridge and a kettle. It will cost us 110 ringitts which is just over 15 pounds a night. As we are checking in an English family arrive and we get chatting to them. They are from Essex and have a 14 year old son and a 10 year old daughter, Barney and Lois and are also travelling for a year. It’s a great coincidence to meet them and they tell us we are also the first travelling family they have met since they started in September.

The kids all get on well after an initial bit of shyness and all go and play in the sea. Maisie and Lois play cards and Ali and Barney and buy a squid to use as bait and then go fishing. Its really great to swap stories, they also started in India but ended up staying for 4 months as Jon became very ill and needed 2 major operations. They then spent a few days in Singapore and have just spent a month in Thailand. We sit having a few beers and chatting all afternoon and I really enjoy it.

We have a toast to travelling with kids and all agree we’re having a fantastic time. As Jon put it “Why wait until your kids have left home and go travelling, it’s nice to look out of your window and admire the beautiful mountain but much better to get out there with the kids and climb it” I admire his sentiments and although I don’t think mountain climbing is on my agenda quite yet it might be sometime and I never thought I would say that in a million years!

This must be the loveliest beach place I’ve stayed in; the beach is fine powder white sand and stretches for about a mile. There are beach shacks, A frame huts and bungalows along the back but it isn’t crowded and although there are very small clusters of sunbeds it is quiet and peaceful. There are small uninhabited islands in the bay and the water is clear and blue. What a perfect place! It was my choice to come to Langkawi as I had heard good reports from friends Nicky and Amanda and I’m so glad we didn’t head straight up to Thailand as I think we would have missed out on somewhere really great.

We have a quick shower and head off out for some food, unsurprisingly its expensive to eat here as Langkawi is deservedly one of Malaysia’s finest tourist destinations and we wander along for a while before settling on a Pakistani restaurant where we have a cheap enough curry, rice mixed vegetables and naan bread meal. We visit the 7- 11 on the way back and get a few supplies and then have a drink at a The Submarine Beach Bar. We make our way back and are all asleep by 10.30 have a busy day on the beach ahead tomorrow.

Similarly to Singapore, Penang Island has a long and interesting history .In1786 Captain Francis Light (Thomas Raffles’s brother in law) first set foot on Penang. It was almost completely uninhabited and the story goes that he loaded his ships cannons with silver dollars and fired them into the jungle to encourage the workers to clear it faster.
A trading port was established here and Light hoped to lure trade from the British East India Trading Companies rivals the Dutch.

By the mid 1800′s Penang was home to a large Chinese population. Its main economies included opium growing, gambling and prostitution and it had become a dangerous and violent place. In 1867 10 days of rioting by rival Chinese societies left 100′s of people dead. When British administrators finally took control they fined the societies heavily and used the proceeds to build police stations which subsequently kept the peace.

We are going to Penang Museum today. Although the kids have learnt the history of Penang we have found that visiting museums helps them to retain the knowledge and often use visual aids to reinforce information.

We have learnt the majority of facts about present day Malay politics, issues and culture by talking to taxi drivers. Although many of them seem quite surly and unfriendly when you first get in they will often start chattering away. The biggest bone of contention is the preferential treatment afforded to the Malay people. The Chinese and Indian people although they may be 3rd or 4th generation Malaysian born still have to pay many extra taxes including when buying a house, getting a business licence etc. ( around 10%)

Until the early 1980′s there weren’t any high rise hotels on Penang Island, now there are hundreds. I’m glad that we have visited now, as it continues to be promoted as one of Malaysia’s top tourist destinations. I can see that it was probably once very pretty but for me it seems a shame that the trees have all been chopped down to make way for concrete.

It is really hot today probably I would guess around 35 degrees and the temperature seems to have shot up since yesterday. We catch a trishaw which is a type of bike powered rickshaw to the museum. Unfortunately the air con has been switched off on the top floor so we spend about 5 minutes flat there. The ground floor level is very interesting though and as well as explaining Penang’s history there is a gallery with Chinese wedding outfits and beautiful antique Chinese furniture including mahogany opium beds.
Opium smoking was legal until just before WW11 when the British outlawed it on moral grounds. There were also pictures showing men lying on the beds, with the opium pipes in hand getting off their faces.

From the museum we walked to The Eastern and Oriental Hotel, this fantastic old hotel was built by the Sarkie brothers who also built Raffles in Singapore and we have read that a visit to Penang isn’t complete until you have had tiffin on the lawn. As we hadn’t long eaten we had a ginger beer instead but it was a pleasant enough break from the burning sun sat under the umbrellas.

Next we got a taxi to The Snake Temple; apparently home too many poisonous snakes who laze around doped by the constant burning of incense and only venture down later in the day when it is cooler. We did see a few snakes coiled around candlesticks and Ali had his photo taken with one round his neck and one on his head but for me I thought it was a bit of a crap attraction lacking in both snakes and spirituality.

After a quick shower we decide to go out in search of some hawker food for dinner and don’t have to walk far before we find a really good place. We have chicken satay, crispy duck, fried rice and dim sum. I can’t remember when the kids last ate with a knife and fork and are expert chopstick users now.

Tomorrow we are moving on to Langkawi, originally we planned to skip it but we are very close and have heard lots of good reports so plan to go get a bit of beach for a few days. We booked our ferry tickets this morning which cost 170 ringitt (around 27 quid) and have arranged some beachside accommodation so I am looking forward to moving on and catching a few rays.

We set our alarm today and woke up feeling quite bright and breezy. There were a few drunken characters around last night when we came back from dinner asking if they could jam with Ali but we insisted he was too tired and all headed off to bed.

Georgetown is described as a real Chinatown and everywhere we go you can hear the clattering of tools, smell a mixture of spices and drains and see old people either playing cards or Maarjong. It is a lively, smelly, rat infested place with crumbled down buildings that look as if they are about to collapse.

We wander up the road for breakfast and when we get back sit down to do some schoolwork. Wherever we have been our attempts at educating the kids have been noted and taken very seriously. It seems education is more valued here in South East Asia than in the UK. We do over an hour of literacy where they rewrite the endings to the books they have been reading. I realise Maisie needs to concentrate on spellings when she writes” igsotick” (Exotic)

Despite the hotels run down appearance I really like it here, everyone knows our names and are so kind and can’t do enough for us. They all seem to laugh and joke around a lot and it is endearing and funny watching Uncle Lake cuddling a chicken like it’s his best friend. I feel like everyone around us is slightly mad but really lovely with it!

We catch the bus to The Toy Museum, really it should have been called The Action Figure Museum and although it was hardly educational the kids loved it and we spent an hour or so wandering around reminiscing over Barbie, Batman, Snoopy, Garfield, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pokemon, The Fantastic Four and Biker Mice from Mars to name a few!

We catch another bus to Batu Ferringhi, this is the main tourist area of Penang Island and where most of the large hotels are based. We make our way to the beach and crash out at a beach shack. Although the beach isn’t very wide it’s quite pretty with white sand and a few palm trees and will certainly be a decent enough place to spend the afternoon topping up my tan. We all hungry by now and order some food. Like an idiot I ask for Tom Yam soup. Simon ate loads of it when we holidayed in Thailand but it is an extremely hot and spicy concoction of chilli, lemongrass, green leafy vegetables and seafood and although I do eat it my mouth is on fire afterwards and takes about an hour to recover.

We have a bit of a swim which is very relaxing and I read my book, a novel by James Patterson, it is a bit of a trashy read but I have been swapping books along the way and so far have only had to buy one book. We also swapped our old Lonely Planet Thailand for a 2005 edition which is more up to date following the tsunami.

Its 11.30 now and I’ve given up and come to bed. We went out for Chinese food and found an excellent restaurant. We were fairly conservative with our order and had some tasty beef and prawn dishes but should have left it at that instead of ordering some local puddings. The hot peanut soup was ok but the Chinese pancake was a horrible crispy, greasy thing that we felt obliged to eat despite being stuffed.

When we came back Ali played his guitar, with Uncle Lake and one of his mad friends. The bar was really busy and I was really proud as he played confidently and jammed along to some Malay songs. Two Dutch guys came along and shook his hand which made his night and although I’m used to people praising his guitar playing and singing it was really cool to see him doing his thing so well.

Following a restless night’s sleep, which was probably down to the copious amounts of Tiger beer we drank yesterday, I woke up and couldn’t work out whether it was morning or not due to the complete lack of natural light in the room. Slowly I realised that what I thought was torrential rain all night was actually the noise generated by the antiquated air con system and the final straw for me was lying there watching a steady stream of ants marching up the wall.

We get up and go next door for breakfast; we’re all starving and have porridge, a fry up croissants and coffee.( Hangover fodder) It hits the spot and we plan what to do for the day. First on the list is move hotel and we pack up our stuff and walk the 10 minutes to The Hong Ping Hotel, which is behind The Blue Diamond bar. It’s also a bit of a dive but has loads of character and its like stepping back 50 years here. Everything is so old fashioned and I’m sure nothing has ever been updated or renovated since the place opened.

Our rooms are massive, the kids are delighted to see they have a double bed each and despite the bricks on the floor blocking up the rat holes, the lizards running up the wall, the world’s thinnest towels and cold water only, I am glad we have moved. Alister’s guitarist friend, who is called Uncle Lake, is pleased to see us and chats to Ali about music. The people who hang out here are friendly and there are some “interesting” characters here to say the least! Simon says Uncle Lake looks like one of the characters in the Tarantino movie Dusk till Dawn.

We are staying in Georgetown which is the capital of Penang, just off a road called Love Lane in the heart of backpacker land. The area has a chequered history and was first called Love Lane by British soldiers. It reminds me of Union Street in Plymouth and similarly has a reputation for bars, drinking and prostitution. Although most of the hotels are reasonably respectable these days some are still brothels and there are a number of Lady Boys touting for business across the road once it gets dark.

Eventually we decide to get out and catch a taxi to Penang Hill. It would take around 3-4 hours to climb and there’s no way we are doing that and opt for the funicular railway instead. In the heat it’s a very uncomfortable journey and we are glad to get out half an hour later at the top. The views are good although it’s a little hazy and we have a drink before catching the train back down again.

We head back to our hotel and make some plans for the next few days. There are a few interesting sights but for tomorrow we have chosen to head for the beach. Despite the fact that we generally do very little, most days we’re all knackered and feel in need of a bit of rest and recuperation. Oh this is the life!

We caught the train to Penang last night at 7.45 as planned. We didn’t book our tickets until yesterday and couldn’t get all our seats together but we’re not far from each other and it isn’t a problem.

The fellas that shared our compartment have been working as security at the Thaipusam festival and we had a good chat with them before eventually settling off to sleep. I slept quite well and woke up around 7am. The train was, by this point an hour late but this is good as we have to catch the ferry across to Penang Island and it doesn’t run overnight.

We catch the ferry which takes about 15 minutes to reach Penang. We have read that the Penang taxi drivers flatly refuse to use their meters and don’t argue when we are told it will cost 10 ringitt to get to our hostel.

Eventually we arrive at 75 Travellers Lodge. What a dump! I just asked Simon what it was called and he said Shithole Central. When the kids lay on the bed they told me one pillow smells of cheese and the other smells of pet shop. The rooms are tiny, the ceiling is bare hardboard and the walls are filthy. Added to this the communal toilets are next door and the whole place stinks of urine. Usually after an overnight train we crash out but I can’t face staying in here for any length of time and we decide to go out for a walk instead.

We don’t get very far before we reach a fairly lively looking bar and decide to stop for a drink. It’s only early but the beer looks good and our one drink stretches into 8 or so. There is live music later and Ali and the guitarist get chatting. Ali plays a few songs and the fella asks him to play with him tonight. The afternoon has flown by and we go back to shithole central for a kip. We set the alarm for 8pm and head back to The Blue Diamond for some Mexican food.

Ali plays a few songs and goes down really well. Everyone wants to talk to him and tell him he’s going to be a rich rockstar one day and one fella asks Simon if his son was born with shades on as he’s so cool! But he’s really tired as its now nearly midnight and we head off back to the hostel. We have decided we are going to move tomorrow as neither of us can face any longer than a night here. The final straw for Simon is when we get back and a group of lads are watching the football. He asks them about the rugby (England are playing Scotland in a 6 nations game) and gets blank looks in return. Definitely got to move on!

Checkout the video clip of Ali added to the India photo section. Will post a link to it later, but you can find it if you scroll to the bottom of the main photo page. It is the last file loaded.

The clip is Ali playing guitar and singing a song he wrote about his early impressions on India.

Here’s the link, hope it works now.

We slept in today until 8.30 and are very slow in getting motivated. We are all tired and the kids both seem grouchy and incapable of doing anything other than lazing around. We have discovered when this is the case that the best thing to do is to take things at their pace otherwise we all end up with an argument!

There is a small kitchen here and toast, tea and coffee is included in the price so we have breakfast and then sit in the lounge area. The kids watch a film and Simon and I read magazines. Eventually we decide to head off out and get in a taxi. We ask the driver to take us to the bird park which claims to be the world’s largest free flight aviary and it certainly takes some walking to get around. On the way we are overtaken by a black car with a 3 car police escort and the driver tells us it is the queen of Malaysia. He also tells us she is very very young (aged 35) I love him!

The park is divided into different areas and we are pleased to see a large monitor lizard at the entrance trying to get in under the net. These lizards are supposedly everywhere in Malaysia but this is the first one we have seen. I wasn’t so keen on it though when Simon said they eat small birds and that is why it was trying to get in. It did manage to squeeze through a small gap in the end and slunk off presumably looking for its dinner.

Some of the birds are fantastic and we see hornbills, peacocks, parrots ducks and different birds of prey. It is very hot wandering around and when we stop at the cafe for a drink we get some good photos of Maisie with some great hornbills in the background.

We checked out of the hostel at 11am this morning but have left our gear there in the storage locker. We decide to get some food early as we have to catch the train tonight at 7.45pm. The culmination of Thaipusam festival is the returning of a silver carriage to KL and as this may cause some of the roads to be closed we plan to leave early for the station. We end up at TGI Fridays – don’t seem to be doing too well eating the local food at the moment but hey I guess we have lots of time still for that.

When the alarm went off at 5am it felt like a sick joke and took me ages to peel my eyes open .After a shower, coffee and a few digestive biscuits we’re ready to leave and get in a taxi and ask him to take us to the bus station. The taxi drivers last night quoted us 200 ringett to take us to the festival but as the bus is only 2 ringitt each there’s no contest.

The Thaipusam festival is one of the largest and most dramatic Hindu festivals. It is held at Batu Caves which are a well known tourist attraction near KL. The caves are huge and reached by a straight flight of 272 steps. Inside are elaborate sculptures of Hindu gods and Lord Subramaniam, the son of Shiva is the main attraction. It is estimated that 1.5 million pilgrims attend the festival which is always held in late January, early February. They come to honour Lord Subramaniam, sometimes with acts of amazing physical resilience, ask for a favour or repent their sins.

Thaipusam is described as a wild orgy of seemingly hideous body piercings. As we near the caves the numbers of people increase dramatically and it is only around 7am. The entrance to the cave is clear to see and there is a tall Hindu god standing at the foot of the steps as if guarding the entrance to the caves. The noise is overwhelming with massive speakers blasting Hindu music, thousands of voices crying out “vel, vel” and beating drums.

The greatest spectacle here are the kavadi carriers; some devotees subject themselves to masochistic acts as fulfilment for answered prayers .Many people carry offerings of milk to the gods, which is carried in pots attached to the skin by hooks. We make our way nearer to the steps; there is a slow and steady procession of people winding their way from the left up the steps. I thought that we wouldn’t see any of the devotees close up but we seem to be right in the thick of it all and they would be impossible to miss.

Some carry on their heads, great cages of spikes that pierce their skin. They stand around 3 metres tall and are decorated with peacock feathers, flowers, pictures of deities and plastic dolls amongst other things. They must weigh a ton, but the carriers seem to be in a trance and many of them dance around. Each carrier has a group of people with them who appear to be offering encouragement, rubbing their legs, lighting their cigars and giving them drink. We see coconuts been thrown onto the ground before them and bowls of fire and incense are carried.

As we stand open mouthed in amazement at what are witnessing, the kavadi carriers start to make their way past us. This must be the most unbelievable sight I have ever seen. The carriers are young men often with blood streaming down their faces. Their mouths are full of red dye also and mixed with the blood they look terrifying. They are in a religious trance and shriek, pant and scream as they pull themselves forward. Attached to them by numerous hooks embedded in their skin are other men who attempt to pull them back.
They are decorated with fruit, (mainly limes but also apples, oranges and bananas) green leaves and small silver milk pots. These are all attached to their skin by hooks. Many of the devotees have spikes, skewers and hooks through their cheeks and tongues.

The kavadi carriers are flanked by pilgrims with shaven heads, many of them are wearing yellow but I haven’t been able to find out the significance of this. Babies are carried in cradles made from sugarcane stalks.

We decide to brave the thousands and join the procession. I am very nervous about this due to the sheer number of people streaming up the steps towards the cave but everyone is moving quite slowly as the cage wearers can only take a few steps at a time before they have to sit and rest. I clutch tightly onto the kids hands and we inch our way along.

I think me and the kids actually found some of it very scary to witness and it has left me feeling a bit strange. Not uncomfortable and quite privileged in many ways but definitely weird. Seeing the extent of this religious fervour is a thought provoking thing and I guess that we probably won’t experience anything quite like it anywhere else. I also find it interesting that this festival is actually banned in India and yet celebrated with such enthusiasm here, in a mainly Muslim country.

Eventually we reach the top of the steps, the relatively small entrance to the cave opens out into a huge space and the procession of people continues far inside. Some of the devotees look at the point of collapse and are being urged on by their attendants. We decide that we have seen enough and after taking some more photos join the queue to make our way down again.

The festival is the culmination of a month of preparation including prayers, a strict vegetarian diet, sleeping on a hard floor, abstinence from sex and as a taxi driver told me “no dirty words!” Witnessing it has been an amazing opportunity for us and the kids and today has been very special.

We return to KL by bus and head to China town to get some lunch, none of us have much have an appetite and we spend a quiet afternoon back at the hostel. Simon does some maths with the kids and as we have a wireless connection I surf the net and check some emails.

We are planning to leave KL tomorrow for Penang and need to sort out our tickets and accommodation. I’ve been looking at the photographs from this morning, they are quite compelling, beautiful and horrible also and I feel quite stunned by it.

Just got in, we have been to book our tickets to Penang and then went to Nando’s for dinner. It only cost us 12 quid and was a familiar and comforting treat after the strange excitement of today.