Genting Highlands, Malaysia (December 2023)

 Genting Highlands is approximately 90 minutes by car from Kuala Lumpur, high in the Titiwangsa Mountains.  It was established in 1965 by a Malaysian businessman.  The main tourist attraction is Resorts World, a hill resort with casinos and theme parks.  Our hotel was located at the lower part of the mountains so we took the cable car to the top of the mountain and visited Resorts World.  The cable trip up the mountain is quite amazing and well worth the trip for the view and to visit the Chin Swee Caves Temple half way up the mountain.  We were, however, not too keen on Resorts World as it seems out of character with the surrounding area. 

Amazing view from the cable car

View of the theme part at Resorts World

QingShui, a buddhist monk sitting high in the mountains to summon rain and ward off evil spirits

Chin Swee Cave Temple (Taoist temple), with nine-storey pagoda

 

Singapore (November 2022 and September 2023)

Singapore has to be one of my favourite places in the world.  It is clean, efficient, has great shopping, restaurants and hotels and plenty of interesting places to visit.  It is also somewhere where we feel completely comfortable, having previously lived in Singapore for a year.   It is easy to understand why Singapore was recently voted one of the safest cities in the world. The only downside to Singapore is that it is quite expensive but it is still possible to find great, reasonably priced, places to eat and drink.

The highlight of our trips to Singapore is always Gardens by the Bay.  The Marina Bay Sands Hotel is quite spectacular, the Supertrees look as if they belong on another planet and the Cloud Forrest and Flower Dome are always lovely to visit.  Since our last trip, the MRT (underground) has expanded extensively making a visit to the Gardens by the Bay much easier.

We were also lucky enough to go back to Singapore in September 2023 and attended the Formula 1 Grand Prix which was a fantastic event.  Robbie Williams was the star performer at the completion of the event which I was thrilled about as I have always wanted to see Robbie live. 

The Supertrees and the Flower Dome

The Skywalk at the Supertrees

The Supertrees and Marina Bay Sands Hotel

The Jewel, Changi Airport.  The largest indoor waterfall in the world.

Beautiful flower display in the Flower Dome

Macau, (September 2023)

We were excited to be returning to Macau as it has been approximately 8 years since we last visited.  We flew into Hong Kong as we were keen to travel to Macau on the new 55km Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge.   The journey takes 40 minutes and is the longest bridge/tunnel sea crossing in the world.  

We stayed in the Crowne Plaza hotel which was lovely with great rooms, service and excellent buffet breakfast. Crowne Plaza Macau

Macau is known as the Vegas of the East as there are just over 50 casinos, the largest being The Venetian.   The Venetian offers a resort, casino and the Grand Canal shopping centre (complete with gondolas and serenading gondoliers!).  We spent most evenings visiting the various casino/resorts as all have good restaurants, entertainment and shops.  We also had a lovely day and evening touring the old Portuguese area which collectively have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.  

The Zhuhai bridge in the background, taken from the hotel in Macau

The Grand Canal Shopping Centre in the Venetian Resort/Casino

The ruins of St Paul’s (17th century Catholic religious complex)

The new Londoner Resort, complete with replica Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

Luang Prabang, Laos (August 2023)

Luang Prabang, the former capital of Laos, is located in Northern Laos and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.  It is surrounded by mountains and is built on a peninsula, formed by the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers.  We stayed in a lovely hotel where we had a room overlooking the pool where we could watch the torrential rain bouncing off the water every day at around 4pm. Sunrise Garden Hotel 

Luang Prabang is a remarkably well-preserved town and wandering through the streets is interesting due to its architecture and acknowledgement of heritage.  Many of the traditional Laos wooden houses remain and there are many Buddhist temples and monuments.  Early every morning, the monks walk through the streets in a procession collecting alms. 

Every evening at 6pm the main street turns into a night market selling beautiful local handicrafts.  It is impossible not to purchase anything as the skill involved in making the scarves, table runners, cushions and bags is quite unique.  Once you have walked through the market, the street becomes a restaurant and bar strip where great and very cheap food is available. 

We also had a day trip to the Kuang Si Waterfalls, the Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Centre, a civet cat coffee plantation, an elephant sanctuary and a buffalo dairy.

Kuang Si Waterfalls

Floating restaurants and bars on and next to the Mekong River

South Korea (July 2023)

We arrived in Seoul’s Inchon airport (regularly voted the Worlds Best Airport) and headed to our hotel which was a golf/health resort https://www.mayfield.co.kr/main/ The hotel was lovely with a great indoor swimming pool, gym and spa.  Unfortunately, I didn’t realise that access to the sauna and spa was not included in our accommodation and I was only advised of this while lounging in the sauna when I was told I had to leave!  Luckily, I was able to use the gym and pool facilities but the experience of being thrown out of the sauna put me off using the rest of these facilities for our stay.  

The highlight of our time in South Korea was my day trip to the DMZ (Demilitarisation Zone) between North and South Korea.  It is only possible to enter the DMZ on an organised tour and the time in the area is restricted with passports being held at the border to ensure you return.  The DMZ is 4kms wide and 250kms long. Since 1974 South Korea has discovered 4 tunnels which are believed to have been built by North Korea.  We visited and climbed down into the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel which is 260m long and 73m below the surface.    It was an interesting experience but not an easy walk/climb and a large part of the descent is so low that the only way through is to bend over.  At the end of the tunnel is a small window where we could see two North Korean troops guarding their side. 

The Monument at the Third Infiltration Tunnel in the DMZ

The entrance to the Third Infiltration Tunnel in the DMZ

After recovering from the walk into the tunnel, I headed to the Dorasan Observatory, which offers views over into North Korea.  There isn’t a great deal to see except the Propaganda Village (named by South Korean) or Freedom Village (named by North Korea).   I could see the North Korean flagpole, once the highest flagpole in the world.  We also visited Freedom Bridge and our final stop was the Unification Village.   The whole trip was fascinating and one I would certainly recommend to anyone visiting South Korea.

Peace ribbons, hung by South Koreans with messages to family members in the North 

Freedom Bridge in the DMZ

Looking into North Korea from the Dorasan Observatory in the DMZ

Cambodia (June 2023)

I was really looking forward to visiting Cambodia, mostly as I have always wanted to see Angkor Wat but this wasn’t our destination for this trip (hopefully next time) as we were going to the capital, Phnom Penh.  I would describe Phnom Penh as hectic and nowhere near as modern as Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur.  The hotel we were staying in was very nice but not one I would recommend due to the location.  I did have the best massages I have ever had though in the hotel spa (hot herbal compress) at an extremely low price.  

It is impossible to go to Cambodia and not visit one of the infamous Killing Fields, a number of sites across Cambodia where over 1 million people were killed in a state-sponsored genocide during the years 1975-1979.

I visited the Choeung Ek Killing Field, believed to be the largest, approximately an hours drive from Phnom Penh.  It is hard to believe that this quiet former orchard, surrounded by rice fields, was the location of such horrific acts.  Once inside the gate I was given a headset and an audio tour guided me around the site.  Every step of the way are horrific reminders of what occurred as the audio guide shares stories from survivors, guards and executioners as well as explanations about the 129 communal graves (43 have been left untouched).  It is estimated that 20,000 people were killed at this one site.  

In the middle of the area a large Buddhist stupa has been built as a genocide memorial.  There are 5000 human skulls on display.  I found this part extremely traumatic and shed a few tears as I wandered around.  The museum contains extensive information about the events that occurred and displays items of clothing and weapons used by the guards/executioners.  

Cheung Ek Killing Field

The 17-storey Buddhist Stupor memorial

Skulls displayed in the memorial

The Maldives (May 2023)

The Maldives, the smallest country in Asia, is certainly quite spectacular with its amazing atols, clear turquoise oceans and world class exotic resorts.  The first week of our trip to the Maldives was spent on Hulhumale, a reclaimed island attached to Male by a causeway.  Unfortunately, our hotel was not very nice and the location of the hotel was not ideal so this part of our trip was disappointing.

Luckily, we had booked into a island resort for the second week.  This was a totally different experience to our first week.  We flew to the resort on a sea plane, an amazing experience, landing in the middle of the ocean before being transferred by speedboat to the resort called Amaya Kuda Rah.  It felt a little like being in a Bond movie!

We had booked an ‘all inclusive’ package at the resort so breakfasts, lunches, dinners and alcohol were included.  All meals were buffet style but the range was extensive.  Our villa was beautiful with its own plunge pool and steps down into the aqua waters.  One of the highlights of our stay was the snorkelling, straight off the beach to the coral.  There was so much to see we snorkelled every day of our trip.  

Amaya Kuda Rah resort from the sea plane

The sea plane landing in the ocean at the resort

Our villa with private pool leading into the ocean where the snorkelling was amazing

Dunsborough/Yallingup/Margaret River/Augusta (various times)

The South/West region of Western Australia is a favourite area to visit and we take the opportunity to visit as often as we can.  

Yallingup Beach in winter

Augusta

The Aquarian,Yallingup (great snorkelling spot)

View from Castle Rock, Dunsborough

Dunsborough Beach

Dunsborough Beach

England (April 2023)

My Mum was turning 80 years old in April 2023 so it was lovely to be able to return to England to help my parents celebrate this very special occasion. My parents live in Darlington, a town in the North East, famous for being the location for the first commercial passenger train.  There are many lovely towns and villages within close proximity to Darlington and some beautiful old stately homes.

As part of the celebrations for Mum’s birthday, we went to Scarborough for a couple of nights which was lovely.  The centrepiece of Scarborough is the Grand Hotel, a hotel built in Queen Victoria’s reign.  The hotel has not been maintained well in recent years but is still an imposing and impressive building.

I also visited towns such as Northallerton, Barnard Castle, Bishop Auckland, York and Leeds and thoroughly enjoyed travelling on the train to some of these towns and cities.  

York Minster

Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle

The Grand Hotel, Scarborough

Scarborough Bay (note the Grand Hotel on the cliff)