Country number 5... Malaysia
The following day we visited Fort Cornwallis - the original building of Georgetown - and it's all full of panels of info to read - we found the aircon units in the museum more interesting in the midday heat and sun! We then attempted to visit Penang Hill - 850m above the island with pretty spectacular views. After getting on the wrong bus full of school kids and sitting in traffic for an hour and three quarters, we were a bit reluctant to head up the hill, but thought seeing as we had come all that way... So we waited for another 3/4 hour for the funicular to come down the hill, spent 1/2 hour squished into the funicular carriage and finally made it to the top 3 hours after we'd left the city... gah. We spent 1/2 hour on the hill before getting freaked out by the giant spiders (Orb spiders we later learnt) and spending another 2 hours getting back. The views were nice, but so not worth it. 
We caught an early morning bus (which we nearly missed as we forgot to change the alarm clock time when leaving Thailand...ooops) and headed 4 hours south and east to the middle of Peninsula Malaysia and the lovely coolness of the Cameron Highlands. The area is beautiful (but marred by awfully designed hotels and apartment blocks) and famous for tea and strawberries as the climate is a lot cooler and drier than the lowlands. We've spent the last 3 days trekking in the jungle (thankfully as it's high there's no mosquitoes or leeches) and visiting tea plantations, strawberry farms, butterfly farms and eating scones! It's been a great retreat from the heat and the bustle of Georgetown and tomorrow's journey to Kuala Lumpur. 
We left Thailand a few days ago (have no idea what day it is today let alone what day it was then!) and headed to Georgetown - the capital of Penang island off the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia. We had a mammoth journey with the usual numerous changes of minibus in random towns on the way, and finally arrived at 10pm knackered and sweaty and then had to find a room... We eventually found an old colonial building converted to a hotel in the 1930s and looks like the people who work there and the decorations haven't changed since! But it was the largest room we've stayed in for a long time and had a bath! After a few weeks of cold showers, having a bath was heaven :-) Across the road from our hotel was a food court selling all manner of Indian, Chinese, Japanese etc etc food all for a couple of pounds. And whilst consuming our random plates of food (our friend Amanda's plate consisted of pineapple, chicken, mashed potato, gravy, carrots and spaghetti bolognase with a mushroom soup starter...), we were serenaded by semi-professional karaoke at full volume. It was brilliant! Somehow it all worked together to create a great atmosphere and we had a great time and went back there each night :-)
We spent the next couple of days exploring the city and looking for new shoes for Chris as he left a bag on a bus (fortunately with nothing too important in...) so the shopping mall was first stop. It was all a lot more civilised than most places we've been so far but still very asian and so many shops packed in and lots selling pretty much the same items. I splashed out on a £1.20 watch and £6 shorts!
After a surprisingly good shopping centre meal, we headed back into the heat to walk the heritage trail - Georgetown became a UNESCO site last year. There is a great mixture of architecture - lots of old colonial buildings and small houses mixed in with mosques, chinese clan houses and hindu temples. It's pretty much like all of Malaysia culture - mostly Chinese and Indian with some proper Malay thrown in. Georgetown was the asian outpost of the East India Company back in the 19th Century and there's lots of British influence, not only in Georgetown but all across Malaysia (and everyone speaks good english which is pretty helpful!).
The following day we visited Fort Cornwallis - the original building of Georgetown - and it's all full of panels of info to read - we found the aircon units in the museum more interesting in the midday heat and sun! We then attempted to visit Penang Hill - 850m above the island with pretty spectacular views. After getting on the wrong bus full of school kids and sitting in traffic for an hour and three quarters, we were a bit reluctant to head up the hill, but thought seeing as we had come all that way... So we waited for another 3/4 hour for the funicular to come down the hill, spent 1/2 hour squished into the funicular carriage and finally made it to the top 3 hours after we'd left the city... gah. We spent 1/2 hour on the hill before getting freaked out by the giant spiders (Orb spiders we later learnt) and spending another 2 hours getting back. The views were nice, but so not worth it. We caught an early morning bus (which we nearly missed as we forgot to change the alarm clock time when leaving Thailand...ooops) and headed 4 hours south and east to the middle of Peninsula Malaysia and the lovely coolness of the Cameron Highlands. The area is beautiful (but marred by awfully designed hotels and apartment blocks) and famous for tea and strawberries as the climate is a lot cooler and drier than the lowlands. We've spent the last 3 days trekking in the jungle (thankfully as it's high there's no mosquitoes or leeches) and visiting tea plantations, strawberry farms, butterfly farms and eating scones! It's been a great retreat from the heat and the bustle of Georgetown and tomorrow's journey to Kuala Lumpur. 
I had a better day at Sukhothai than Angkor, but the blue blue sky helped and there were hardly any tourists around at all. There’s not much else to see in Sukhothai so the following day made the trip back to Bangkok (nearly missed the bus as we’d left our passports etc in the hotel safe – Chris had to jump on the back of a motorbike taxi to get them – thank god we remembered before the bus left!). So, almost two months, 4 countries, at least 30 forms of transport, countless guesthouses, pancakes and spring rolls and we’d made a complete circuit back to Bangkok! Was very odd coming back into Bangkok now that we’re a lot more travel savvy (and tanned) and straight away we avoided being bussled into a non meter taxi – we strode on past and got in line with the Thais for a proper taxi – take that tourist hawkers! We found Bangkok a lot easier to deal with – it was a lot cooler and less humid, we weren’t jet lagged and we knew our way around so that we did all we wanted to do in one day (i.e. finally bought the elusive camera…). So after 24 hours in the capital, we caught the night train south to head to the beach. The train was a great experience – the one we went on in Vietnam were 4 berth sleeper cabins and we only shared with other members of our tour group. We had 2nd class sleeper seats in Thailand – had 2 seats facing each other during the evening and then at sleep o’clock, the guard came round and turned the two seats into the lower bunk and pulled down the top one from above our head where the sheets, pillows and curtains were stored for both beds. As if by magic we had beds complete with curtains to block the light and people out! Was very comfy and we got ok sleep for being on a train and arriving at 5.45. 
We got off the train near Surat Thani to get a bus to Krabi. But the first bus just picked up the train people and deposited all of us in a weird café/tourist office/waiting area next to the river about 30 mins from the station. Bizzare, but we’ve learnt not to question bizarre-ness any more and just assume that there is a plan, but we’ll not be told what it is. So we waited there for an hour until the Krabi bound bus appeared. That bus took 2 hours through palm plantations and sandy villages. We then got to another similar waiting area place on the outskirts of Krabi to have to wait another hour and a half until the Ko Lanta bus turned up. Yawn. But after another 3 hours and two car ferries on the Ko Lanta minibus, we finally arrived and checked into our bamboo beach hut 22 hours after leaving Bangkok. That was the 21st December, and we’ve been on Ko Lanta since (partly because we need a break from packing and travelling – my clothes are in a wardrobe at the moment which feels like the height of luxury!). 
We’ve basically been spending most days lounging on the beach, swimming, reading and eating. Perfection. Christmas Day, we hired scooters and I jumped on the back of Chris’ and Rosie on the back of Pete’s and drove down the island until we found a really quiet beach to have a break on. We had enormous BBQ-ed prawns for xmas dinner accompanied by copious amounts of Thai “whiskey”. 
We also went on a boat trip around nearby islands for some coral reef snorkeling and also visited a cave where we had to swim through the cave in the pitch black (all in a swimming conga line clinging to each others life jackets) to reach a lagoon surrounded by limestone cliffs eroded by the monsoon rains to create a big hole in the middle of the island where there’s also a wee sandy beach. Would have been pretty spectacular had it not been for all the other tourists there, but that’s what you get for visiting interesting places I guess… 
We had a good New Year’s Eve – started the evening with a wee balcony party – me, Chris and Rosie and our newly acquired iPod speakers and some Spy wine cooler for us girlies and beer for Chris. After dinner, we headed to the bar of our guesthouse, Funky Fish, where one of the most popular Thai bands (Job 2 Do) were playing. So we drank some overpriced cocktails buckets and danced our little hearts out to reggae covers and sang along to our favourite Thai song which is Job 2 Do’s new single – do do dooo do do Chang… Chang chang chang chang mai! (the words are not those at all but it sounds kinda like it). There were more people there than we’ve seen in one place in Ko Lanta so far, and a good mixture of tourists and Thais. Was a fab night dancing on the beach, watching fireworks and singing Thai pop music :-D