Sights>Log>Blissfully in Brisbane from SE Asia

The Trip: Thai, Malaysia, Singapore

Yeah, down under finally! The guesthouse, hotel and backpacker circuit was getting a bit old for me by now, so getting to Oz and to friends is like a breath of fresh air. Quite literally - it smell like spring, yet the weather is consistently like the best summer's day in Finland would be. Above you'll find a few photos, mostly from the latter part of the trek.

Closing the books on SE Asia with Singapore was appropriate. Whereas I logged so bottom time and some jungle time, I was happy to hang out in a big city again, as I often am. Especially a new big city. People who prefer rural peace often say cities are all the same - for me, it's almost as though rural peace is all the same. Singapore was big, busting and trying to find its niche, which was cool to tap into.

Kuala Lumpur was probably the most multicultural city centre I've witnessed, maybe excluding New York. A tall order to compare to, sure, but Malaysia, being a predominantly muslim country, attracts visitors from all over the muslim world which contains a wealth of ethnicities a cultures. This influence mixes with the westernization of the country, the British influence (the country being only 50 years old) and the regional variety of peoples and cultures. It's a highly recommended experience in a very accessible city.

And it's worth doing the countries in a string. You get a better idea of the general regional commonalities and can contrast the local cultures to that as you go along. I'm happy I did the long ground leg. The buses and trains just killed my lower back though, and I'll seriously avoid them from now on. Given that the VFR800 was pretty good to my back despite the semi-crouched riding position, I think I'll go for a bike like that for the long, long ground legs in Australia.