The city of George Town on Penang Islamd was found in 1786 by a British trader called Francis Light. Temperatures are in the low 20s in March, though they vary widely. It is one of Malaysias largest cities with 600,000 residents, most of whom are very religious. For this reason, the town is very quiet the latter half of Saturday and all of Sunday. Hostel rooms range from 30 to 100RM.
Walking around the city you can view some of the excellent street art on show, and visit Little India, the Indian Quarter with authentic Indian cuisine on offer.
There is a butterfly farm called Ectopia not far from George Town (an hour and a half on bus 101) with excellent reviews and also featuring lizards insects and amphibians. Although the page on Tripadvisor says they are currently closed for renovations and don't expect to be open until the first quarter of 2016, so we will have to check closer to the date if we go here.
There is a small island, Pulau Jerejak, nearby. Numerous outdoor activities are available here including nature & historical trekking, mountain biking, and archery are available. There are also more relaxing activities such as aromatherapy massage, foot treatments and body scrubs. Unfortunately, swimming around the area is not advised given the pollution
Ferries to the island start at 6:30AM and continue until 12:30PM. Return trip fare for guests with room / event reservations: Adult RM6, Children RM3. Day trippers: Adult RM16 (include meals), Children RM3. Various accommodation options are available; a tent for 2 people costs RM80 per night.
One final activity here is to visit Penang hill, said to be the best view of Malaysia. It is a 5km hike to the top along a paved road, or take the funicular for 30RM. To take the funicular, get the 204 bus (2RM) or to walk get the 10 bus to the botanical gardens. There is an owl museum featuring all kinds of owl art and crafts at the top of the hill also.
So first and foremost, obviously we are coming here to see the Angkor Wat. Get a tuk-tuk to the temples, and get a day pass on the way for $20. It is recommended to get there early, and view the temples in the morning light. The site opens at 5am, so there's no excuse, make the most of your day. It is a large area to cover, so if you're really interested you may want to get a guide or buy a 3 day pass for $40.
Though we do have an alterior motive - gibbons. We really wanted to do the gibbon experience in Huoay Xai, but found that it is extortionate. However it's much more reasonable in Siem Reap at $110.
Flight of the Gibbon gives tours of the surrounding areas by zip line. Plenty of information on the course ca be found at TreeTopAsia.
Phare Ponleu Selpak - Cambodias finest circus not involving animals! Worth checking out I suppose.
What better way to view Battambang than from a flying bicycle? Take a 15 minute ride in a micro-light for $45 with sky venture.
The bamboo train is a unique and creative form of ad-hoc local transportation. It consists of a small (perhaps 2.5m x 4m), motorcycle engine-powered bamboo cart that rides on railroad rails, picking up and dropping off passengers, cargo, animals, motorcycles along the way. When it is bound to meet an on-coming train or bamboo train, it can be disassembled and taken off the rails in a minute or two, allowing the other to pass. When touring the countryside ask your driver to take you to a rail crossing where you can meet a bamboo train to take a ride.
Top of the list for things to do in Phnom Penh? The killing fields of course! Above is a commemorative stupa filled with the skulls of the victims at the Killing Field of Cheoung Ek. Charming huh? We thought so too, so we'll be heading there and paying $6 to have a wee look.
In case you're feeling a bit emotional about death and the suffering humans cause each other, go to a shooting range and fire a freaking rocket launcher! I thought it was a joke, but you can actually do this, find your local shooting range on TripAdvisor. I'm serious. It's pricey though, costing around $350 to fire a rocket launcher, machine guns are cheaper though.
An even cheaper option to getting over your new found emotional-ness, attend a cock fight! Sadly these aren't on TripAdvisor, so we will have to have a wee look around once we get there.
And finally to bring you back to earth, it is recommended you stay at Boeung Kak lake. These are the images that come up when you google that, so I imagine it must be a damn beautiful lake they're fighting to protect...
Well not anymore. A lot of the lake was filled in with sand and people's houses were ripped down to build bigger and better building by some company that government leased the land to. I think the places I found this recommended were slightly out of date. For more information see Nomadic Matt's post here.
Lampang is famous for its horse drawn carriages, and it has a cockrel as its national emblem. Apparantly the city is less visited by tourists, but we think it would be nice to stop off somewhere to break up the journey to Chiang Mai.
We have had a recommendation for Tonnam/Tonlux Guesthouse, near the gibbon bar where it is 250THB for a double room, run by a lovely elderly couple. We may see if this still exists.
There are again, temples - one with an emerald Buddah - and a ceramics museum... But luckily we're only here for a day, so I guess we'll just have a wander and admire the local architecture.
There is also an elephant sanctuary, which seems reasonably priced.
After a 4 hour bus journey from Vang Vieng, we will arrive in Vintiane, the capital of Laos, where we plan to visit the Lao National Museum (10,000 kip entry), have a look at the Patuxi - a renditition of the Arc du Triumph - (30,000 kip to climb) and probably visit a spa for a bit.
We also hope to see/visit;
The Black Stupa (That Dam)
This is the mythical abode of a seven-headed dragon that looks over and protects Vientiane.
Nam Ngum Lake
A lake that is a wee day trip out of Vientiane, somewhere to chill and enjoy floating restaurants.
The number one thing we have come here for is, like most, BAR TUBING!! So, you rent a tube, you float down the river and you pull yourself into bars along the way. Sounds awesome right? Wrong... kind of. Due to the large number of tourists it brought in the town itself changed, with a lot more drugs coming in. Mix in some alcohol and watersports, and presto! Lots of injuries. So a lot of the bars were torn down, but a few still remain, so you can have slightly more sensible fun now i guess?
The town seems to mainly live off tourists so there's plenty to do. There's kayaking, ziplining and even hot air ballooning! (£50 for 40 minutes)
The rooms come in pretty cheap at a base rate of £2!
And there is a beautiful pool nearby known as the 'Blue Lagoon; (pictured below) where there are rope swings too!
Directions:
Blue Lagoon is 7km from town. Cross the toll bridge (4,000 kip per person, 6,000 kip for bicycle and 10,000 kip for motorbike) and head west, perhaps stopping at Lao Valhalla one kilometre in for a fruit shake. After four kilometres, you’ll come to a fork. Take a right and continue until you reach the gate. This information is taken from TravelFIsh, which also provides this nifty tip;
Along the road to the Blue Lagoon are a few turnoffs to caves and other lagoons including one leading to a fake Blue Lagoon complete with sign and ticket booth. The fake Blue Lagoon is a simple bend in a creek with a swing rope and a couple of pavilions in which to relax — you’ll know you’re at the fake one if there are only a couple of other people around. The fake Blue Lagoon is two kilometres short of the real one — and is not worth visiting.
Also, near the lagoon is the Cave of The Golden Crab, featuring.. Yes, you guessed it - A bronze reclining Buddah! It's a steep climb up a slippery trail, and you'll need a torch if you want to explore further.
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