The end of a long road

So back to KL, our final stop before heading home and in reality TV speak, 'the end of an incredible journey'. It had now been over six consecutive months on the road, and while we'd been to some amazing places, fatigue was starting to set in and, yes, we were definitely missing home.

This final few days was about chillin' out downtown, basking in an exotic environment one last time and enjoying the fact that there were no onward travel arrangements to make, a luxury we'd not had since the start of the year. In the back (but increasingly the front) of our minds was the very exciting prospect of seeing family and friends again, and the familiar surroundings of home.

We opted for a spacious room at a nice high-rise hotel; the motivation for scouting around for a cheap hostel room had long since evaporated. It all seemed so relaxing compared to the beginning of our trip, arriving at Qingdao port with no cash, no map and only a vague idea of where to head - life seemed easy now!

A casual stroll around KL took us to the colonial area, and the park where Malaysia's independance was declared in 1957

With budget projecting no longer required, we cut loose with a bit of shopping at KL's modern complexes - this one in the shadow of the ever visible Petronas towers

Flower wallahs in Little India

Barfi Pista, an Indian sweet lined with edible silver foil

Mel's favourite part of our last accommodation was the bed - a comfortable one at last!

Young Malaysians of all ethnic origins seem to love a good fountain

When we found a karaoke room, we felt it was an appropriate way to spend our final night. And they had K-pop with subtitles!

So we packed up our gear for one last time, excited but also reflective. It was wonderful to be heading home, but it was also the end of an amazing adventure...

Wild nightlife

The final unchartered territory for our trip involved a visit to Taman Negara, touted as the world's oldest rainforest. This was another very different side of Malaysia, and while it seemed a pretty quiet place during the day nightfall produced a fascinating and eery array of wildlife sounds eminating from the jungle depths.

Mel surveys the river and jungle beyond - after sunset the valley came alive with sound

Some type of fungal thing on a tree root

The jungle was THICK! To get anywhere in a hurry, the river was the only way to go

'Back of house' in one of the floating restaurants - not very ergonomic...

We went on a jungle caving expedition and after being led into a chamber in the dark, our guide 'surprised' us by turning on his torch to reveal a wall full of sleeping bats, about 2 feet from where we'd entered. One would occasionally do a wild lap of the cave, buzzing right past our faces, just to really freak us.