Being at least 1300 metres above sea level, the Cameron Highlands is home to Malaysia's highest hill station, endless tea plantations, agricultural crops and cooling temperatures. Getting there The views up to the Highlands are beautiful - imagine winding roads through lush, green valleys, blue skies and and rolling hills. As we got closer to …
Continue reading Cameron Highlands – tea plantations & a mossy forest
Pangkor Island is just off the west coast of Malaysia and only a three/four hour drive from Kuala Lumpur. However, if you take the bus, it could take up to six hours, but hey, that's cheap public transport for you and a driver who wanted to delay the journey by forty-five minutes to have lunch! …
Continue reading Pangkor Island – an island off the beaten track
Singapore was a huge contrast to Indonesia and it was obvious even from the airport. Everything is very clean, it feels a lot more orderly than the hectic Indonesian cities and there are hardly any mopeds! It is also safe to drink the tap water and there are public drinking fountains everywhere. Getting from the …
The drive from Berastagi in a tourist bus took about 5 hours, along bumpy roads and through a lot of palm oil plantations which was pretty depressing. We arrived at night, and Bob from Green Hill Guest House met us and walked with us (for about 15 minutes) to the guesthouse. We stayed in treetop, wooden …
Berastagi is a town in between Lake Toba and Bukit Lawang so it seemed logical to break the long journey and stay there for a couple of nights, and I'm really glad we did! The journey from Lake Toba to Berastagi took 4 hours or so in a private car (along very bumpy and twisty …
After the horrific bus journey from Bukittinggi, we arrived in Parapat - a small town on the edge of Lake Toba. The bus dropped us off at 7.30am and we walked about 15 minutes to the port where we had to wait until 8.30am to catch the first ferry. The ferry took around half an …
So the night bus from Bukittinggi to Parapat is an experience I certainly won't forget for several reasons: The air con was freezing, but we were given blankets and pillows which was a thoughtful touch. The driver was an absolute maniac, overtaking everything and going at a ridiculously fast speed on the endless narrow, winding …
Continue reading The night bus from Bukittinggi to Parapat (Lake Toba)
Bukittinggi is a large town in the centre of Sumatra, nestled in between Mount Singgalang and Mount Marapi. Because it's 930 metres above sea level it's quite cool in temperature, especially at night which is refreshing. The town itself isn't that visually appealing, but there are pleasant parts to it. Dutch colonial style buildings still …
I'd read a snippet about Abdi Homestay, in the Harau Valley, in our Lonely Planet guidebook, read some TripAdvisor reviews and decided to go - it sounded amazing and it certainly exceeded our expectations. The drive from Padang to the Abdi Homestay was bad - we had an absolute maniac of a taxi driver who …
As far as cities go, Padang is a pretty nice city on the west coast of central Sumatra because it's by the sea and a big river. We stayed in the Chinatown area, which was pretty damaged from a big earthquake in 2009. Some of the buildings were still obviously in ruin, including the hotel …
Adventures of Ailsa 
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