Borneo - Sandakan: Wednesday 16th May

Today we left Kuala Lumpur and flew nearly 3 hours to Borneo.  Our first stop in Borneo is Sandakan to visit the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary.  Our hotel is right next door to the sanctuary- the rooms are actually little chalets dotted around a large lake.

As we didn’t arrive until 4pm we just sat outside our chalet enjoying the views and listening to the sounds of the jungle.

Whilst listening to all the weird and wonderful sounds of the jungle we spotted something in the water and on closer inspection, after guesses of a water vole and a snake, we discovered it was actually a water monitor lizard so that was our first bit of excitement of the day seeing our first Borneo creature!

Although it is lovely to hear all the jungle noises it is also freaking me out a bit! Some noises are so loud they sound like they are in the room.... and I was right! As I write this there is a small gecko lizard running sideways along the wall!! I have taken the picture below from the safety of bed with a zoom lense.

Kuala Lumpur: Tuesday 15th May 2018

Today I had booked a food tour with a local guide.  It was originally going to be an evening tour but he asked to move it to earlier in the day so we met him at 11am at our hotel.  We made our way to Kampung Baru, a traditional Malay village in the centre of Kuala Lumpur. The area is a mixture of old wooden houses, food stalls and simple shops and is known for its traditional food.  

Our first stop was to try a different version of Nasi Lemak which we tried yesterday.  It was from a very basic restaurant where they served the food out of tubs and somewhere we would never of tried on our own! We tried two plates between us - one with cockles and the other with dried soya beans and it was very nice.

We walked round the area trying a number of different foods from the stalls, and then walked through a wet market where the locals buy their food, and tasted a number of different fruits along the way.

By this time we were stuffed but our guide wanted us to move on to Chinatown to try some more food. We had a walk around but only tried the Chinese pancakes before we had to give up as we were fit to burst!

It was a good day, but we all agreed we preferred yesterday’s tour more although we did get the opportunity to try some more local food.


In the evening we went to a bar that was on a helipad! As you can imagine it is a popular spot and when we arrived there we no seats available so we just stood and admired the view whilst we had our drinks.  Then one of the waiters come over to say they had a table for us on the other side but when we went there we could only find a reserved table available which was right in front of the twin towers (so pretty much the best seat in the house). He then told us we could sit there!  Talk about lucky - we think it was the ‘olds effect’ because mum and dad were the oldest there so we think they took pity on them standing - not that we are complaining!

Kuala Lumpur: Monday 14th May 2018

For our first full day in Kuala Lumpur, I had arranged a guide to meet us at our hotel to take us around and show us the sights! He ferried us around in his car, which was a bit of a squash with me, mum and Peter in the back, but it did beat walking around in the heat of the sun - even our guide said it was hotter than usual!

Brendon our guide told us about the 3 main religions in KL - Islam, Buddhism & Hinduism - and we got the opportunity to visit the national mosque of the city, a small Chinese temple hidden away and a large Hindu temple.

Looking good at the Mosque!

Chinese Temple

Hindi Temple

We also walked around the old colonial part of KL with its grand buildings,  through a street market and also visited China town.

We stopped off at a restaurant for lunch which was only visited by locals where we let Brendon order several local dishes for us to try including their national dish Nasi Lemak. Peter and I really enjoyed the food, but mum and dad found it a bit spicy.

Nasi Lemak - national dish

We then when to a roof top bar to get a great view of the Petronas Towers, where we sat and ate delicious banana fritters that Brendon had picked up from the market ( yes we are getting quite a taste for them!).

Our final stop was the KL Forest Eco Park which is a rain forest right in the middle of the city which has several nature trails and a forest canopy walkway. We started our walk but unfortunately it started to rain so had to cut that short.

In the evening we went out to a nice steak restaurant and mum & dad had the biggest streaks ever!

Kuala Lumpur: Sunday 13th May 2018

After a bumpy 13 hour flight we arrived in Kuala Lumpur this morning! None of us got much sleep (although mum nodded off every time she went to watch something!) so we were all like zombies as we arrived at our hotel around 11am local time as it was feeling like 4am. We are staying in a two bed apartment in the centre of KL and I had booked for the night before as I knew we would be tired when we arrived so it meant we could check in right away. Well it was money well spent as the first thing we all did was go to bed for a sleep!

We all slept for a few hours and then got up to make our way over to the famous Petronas Towers.  

I had booked a tour to go up the tower and they first took us to the Skybridge which is about half way up and links the two towers, and then on to the observation deck on the 86th floor.  The views were amazing but it was a little bit hazy.

views from the PETRONAS Towers

After the tour we stopped off to watch the dancing fountains - they were OK but the overall consensus was that they weren’t as good as the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas!

On the way back to the hotel we wanted to have some dinner as we hadn’t eaten properly since our flight and we were feeling a bit peckish.  We went to Jalan Alor which is a famous street food market - we stopped off at one of the restaurants and was met by a very gruff man shouting at us about what we wanted to drink as soon as we sat down!  

We ordered BBQ chicken wings, satay and salted egg squid and it was delicious - even my dad, who was not that keen on going to the street food market, loved it, and it was cheap too!
We ate fried banana and pineapples that we got from another stall for dessert and then went back to the hotel.  We have all enjoyed our first day!

Delicious Satay

Dad enjoying his BBQ wings!

Seville: Friday 23rd February 2018

Today is our last full day in Seville - in the morning we walked around the Triana area.  Formerly known as Seville’s gypsy neighbourhood it is especially famous for its vivid flamenco culture and its tile workshops and potteries, an industry that dates back to  Roman times.

 

Building in Triana area

One of the patios in Triana

Colourful houses in Triana

The area felt very different to the other parts of Seville that we have been to and we enjoyed wandering around taking in the views.

 

 

 After lunch we walked back to the Plaza de Espana so that we could have a closer look, and we also had a wander through the Maria Luisa Park.

 

Panorama of Plaza de Espana

 

 

We have done a lot of walking today - according to my fitbit we have walked over 20,000 steps which is over 9 miles!  Peter is saying it feels like it!!

We have had tapas pretty much everyday for either lunch or dinner (and sometimes for both!) so we decided to go to TripAdvisor's number one restaurant in Seville....which is a Lebanese restaurant!  Peter and I shared a chicken & rice dish and a lamb shish type dish and it was delicious - probably our best meal on our trip!

Not tapas for a change!

We have really enjoyed our visit to Seville - it is a really beautiful City which is easy to navigate round, and it has a lovely atmosphere.

Adios....until our next holiday!

Seville: Thursday 22nd February 2018

This morning we headed off to visit the Cathedral but when we arrived there were hordes of tourist groups going in so we decided to come back later and went off to the Hospital de los Venerables, a baroque 17th-century former hospice for ageing priests.  Although Peter and I aren't in to art there were some lovely 17th-century paintings on view but the main reason we went was to see the ornately decorated chapel.

Our next stop was the Palacio de las Duenas,  a palace built in the late 15th century in the Renaissance style with Gothic and Moorish influences.  We really enjoyed our visit here as the palace was set out as a home when the last owner lived there so you got a feel of the place, and it had lovely gardens.

 

 

 

We stopped off for some lunch and started walking back towards the Cathedral which was in another part of town.  We decided to go via some of the shopping streets to have a look round but unfortunately we were just hitting Siesta time and they were literally closing the doors as we walked down the street!

 

On our way to the Cathedral

 

We had a look round the Cathedral, which is HUGE, but I found it a bit boring to be honest - I think we had been spoilt with the Baroque churches we have seen.  The best part of the Cathedral was walking up the tower - I had read that it was ramps rather than stairs so we thought it can't be that difficult but believe me it was - we had to keep stopping to 'admire the view' from the windows on the way up but we were really just having a rest!  However, it was all worth it and the views were amazing.

 

Amazing views from the top of the Cathedral tower



The bells went off when we were up there and it was so loud - someone even screamed!  Luckily it was only 3pm so we only had to listen to 3 bongs.

 

Some of the bells in the tower

View from the bottom of the tower

The weather was so nice when we got back to our apartment we sat out on the terrace for a couple of hours - as long as you were sat in the sun it was warm (bit chilly in the shade!).

Seville: Wednesday 21st February 2018

Today we had booked tickets to see the Real Alcazar, a Unesco-listed palace in Seville which is one of the main highlights of the city. It was very interesting, and we took a couple of hours looking around the palace, as well as the extensive gardens.

 

 

Whilst looking around the gardens we came across a camera crew filming for a TV programme so we sat on a wall with the other tourists to watch them filming.

 

Filming at the Alcazar

 

We then went to view the El Salvador Church which is the 2nd largest church in Seville (after the Cathedral) and famous for its elaborate, baroque interior.

 

After lunch (tapas of course!) we did another free walking tour, this time of the Santa Cruz area, which is a former Jewish area of Seville.  We were the only English speakers in the tour group so we had a guide to ourselves - he was a little under-confident with his English speaking but once we got walking and he started to feel comfortable he was a lot better, but did keep pronouncing his J as Y so kept referring it as the Yewish Quarter!  It was a very interesting walk and he took us to places we hadn't been before in the area. 

In the evening we went to an Italian restaurant to take a break from all the tapas we have been eating!