From Nepal, it was back to Bangkok to get organized and then we flew down to southern Thailand, hopped on a cramped mini-bus to the river that separates Thailand and Malaysia. Onto another rickety boat to go to Malaysia.
 
Then into a dying taxi from the 60's for a $6 2-hour cab ride to the coast.  Then onto a boat for a 30-minute high-speed, hard-bumps ride to the Perhentian  Islands....paradise! (Thanks to Trev D and Jill N for recommending we go!)
 
The Perhentians were great! Very hot and humid so we spent as much time as  possible in the bathtub temperature South China Sea.
 
Our first day on the Islands we bumped into a Vancouver acquaintance (small  world syndrome), Christi Howard who after a few days became a good friend and our new travel partner.
 
We initially planned to stay on the islands for only two or three days but it  took us 12 days before we could tear ourselves away. From here the three of us, Trace, Christi and Mike made our way by train down to the oldest jungle in the world, the Tamana Negara Jungles of Peninsular Malaysia.
 
The jungle was a bit of a disappointment, however, it was still interesting. From the jungle we said goodbye to Christi and made our way to Singapore.
 
Malaysia - Highlights, The Islands:
 
Mid 30’s and sunny everyday!
 
World-class snorkeling. We were told by a free diver who has dove around the world that what we saw in the Perhentians is some of the best he has ever seen.
 
To name a few of the things we saw while snorkeling: black-tipped  sharks, sea turtles, Barracuda, BIG  Jellyfish, incredible corals, Moray Eels... the list goes on.
 
Mike also went SCUBA diving and saw a few more cool fish.
 
We snorkeled with our free-diver friend from the States who can go down to  60 feet and then glide around down there for about 50 seconds.
 
Getting dressed up for dinner was putting a shirt on...sometimes. (over the bikini for Trace)
 
Reading a book while lying in a hammock surrounded by white sand, green palm trees, the incredible blue hues of the ocean and listening to the exotic birds of the jungle while sipping fresh fruit shakes.
 
Kayaking to a deserted tropical beach to spend the afternoon snorkeling and watching the monkeys in the trees behind us etc.
 
As everywhere we have been, the people were sooo nice.
 
Meeting the son of a ‘witch doctor’ or ‘healer’  who is an apprentice himself. Interesting stuff!
 
Malaysia - Highlights, the mainland:
 
Seeing how rubber, coco, and palm oil is harvested.
 
The humidity is so high that within an  hour we could ring out our clothing, we were so wet.
 
A jungle canopy walk that is 200feet high and 500m long. The walk is on a very rickety cable walk about a foot wide. Very cool.
 
Huge “rocket-ship” trees. ("The Beach" movie verbiage)
 
Swimming up a rain forest jungle river.
 
Getting caught out on a boat on the river in the heaviest rainstorm we have
ever seen. It rained so hard that visibility dropped to about 20 feet!