Freedom Hill
Today we had porridge for breakfast. We needed energy for our morning of hill climbing. Luckily it was cloudy and we got an early start. If the sun is out it gets hot especially as the day progresses.
We drove to the start of the Freedom hill walk. The start is never easy to find but this one didn't take too long. Darryl grabbed a bamboo stick from near the entrance that was provided free for trekkers and up we went. The way was up. There were steep steps all the way to the top of Freedom Hill. We took regular breaks as the heat is quite exhausting. We heard plenty of noises as we made our way through the jungle. Some were the calls of birds and others the call of the wild! In fact we have no idea, possibly monkeys. On reaching the top we were all hot, so rested in the shade on the provided benches with a magnificent view. A cool breeze helped us relax and it was an amazing place that we had all to ourselves. Christine stopped a huge trail of ants and our friend told us all about the marriage bench, swinging chair.
We chose not to continue up as the place we were in couldn't be beaten. Down we went, steps all of the way and Darryl with his bamboo walking stick which he said was really good. At the bottom, the Aircon relief of the car was great.
A short drive home and relax. We sat on balcony over looking beach, chilling out for the afternoon. One of us had a little sleep of about 3 hours and their name begins with... Christine! Darryl and our friend chatted about everything whilst C slept like a baby.
We needed to help our friend with a spot of snorkel training in afternoon in the apartment pool. There is also a gym, sauna, kids playground but we didn't feel the need for a workout. In the pool equipped with our masks and snorkels we had a quick training session before our friend snorkelled like a pro!
One showered we headed to a food court that was closed. However, the next food court was just around the corner. Malaysia may well be the food capital of the whole world! Parking was tricky but there was fruit, food stalls, clothes etc. We tried soya (bean curd) in a solid 'yoghurt' form but sweet not like tofu. We chose from the vast array of choices - Huge noodle dish, braised duck and rice, chicken and lamb satay! AWESOME.
Full, we returned home and planned our next steps. Our planning took rather longer than expected. We were trying to see how cheap we could find a hotel for through a range of booking sites. Amazingly the price varied so much! Sleep appeared about 2am!