Narrowboatboy’s Big, Bad Blog...Narrowboat & Travel blog based on Lancaster Canal

Holidays should be about taking it easy with a fair bit of lozzocking about instead of running around frantically like a sand crab. Wellness and mindfulness is high up the agenda these days so I need to put the reluctance and doubt behind me and embrace the opportunities. Open minded to new ideas, I decided to offer my body and soul to a tried and trusted local Chinese alternative medicinal practice that offered a variety of holistic healing claiming benefits to my health not to mention increased energy, improved blood circulation and correction of any hormonal imbalances I may have. So I signed up for an hour of soothing, pampering, calming bliss that is Reflexology. It’s been going since 2500 BC, and it’s an ancient type of zone massage perfected by Egyptians . I’m no expert but Iv read up a bit so let me explain. By rubbing your feet in different places, these ‘zones’ correlate with different organs in your body so, for instance, if you are struggling with ‘belly wazz’ you just need...

Fantastic to watch the pair of hornbills again hopping about in the garden.      We leave here today so il leave you just with some pics from this well established, beautiful and tropical garden that we have thoroughly enjoyed, full of birds and flowers.       Come into the garden by NIck Drake, off the album ‘Family Tree’…sad that he died at only 26…

Been here a few days now so some faces are starting to look familiar at the Sandy Spoon breakfast bar and naturally they have been appointed nicknames. There’s ‘Smiler’ who serves and looks as miserable as sin everyday, ‘Gunter’, a sour looking bald German fella with a chunky wife and then our favourite, ‘Fannypack’ who only has one pair of shorts and shirt and walks around sporting a massive, fully loaded, multi-zipped bum bag at all times. fanny pack noun   [  C  ]   US UK      / ˈfæn.i ˌpæk /   US      / ˈfæn.i ˌpæk / ( US  also   waist pack ) ;  ( UK   bumbag ) Morning fun is also had by turning the toast machine up to 11 when finished and sitting back to watch the pandemonium when the next sucker sticks in the bread and is helpless to retract the burning slice from the rotating incinerator before it’s too late… Rules must be obeyed though, Wet ‘Cloths’ will NOT be tolerated. That said, Iv already broken my o...

Why is there always one shoe on every beach…? Is it just me alone wondering this? In my 57 and 3/4 years Iv been to many beaches and I can honestly say that I have never lost footwear. Sunglasses?…yes, by the bucket load, but Iv always got home without having to hop. What is it about folk when they leave the beach they don’t check? Hmmm…Iv got my trousers, my hat, my car keys and my wallet…oh, hang on…why have I only got one shoe on?? It’s pretty obvious to me but admittedly I ain’t your average Joe. Not much to report today, apart from the sad washed-up sandal…it’s a ‘sign’ that its been a slow day but we have carefully circumnavigated the island clockwise again looking for the elusive bloody hornbills but only saw scraggy macaque monkeys and a large monitor lizard. As the sun started to set I spotted a Tiger… This blog is looking a bit ropey… Better luck and much more effort tomorrow…I’d like to promise!! “Shoeless in your favourite dress You walk the shores The waves carress your fe...

  Always good to wake up in a morning but even better to have sunshine and a handy beach for a morning dip in the sea. Now at Sandy Beach on Pangkor Island  https://pangkorsandybeach.com/   Low season here so hardly anyone about and prices cheap for a nice chalet and more many places open on the West coast. Had a spin round the island on a trusty rental just to explore and get to know the joint. Then stopped for noodle soup…I love a photo with a lot going on and even though the noodle soup lady had been busy it was nice to sit and eat and see the view from her office. Takeaway tea from the next village bay #Just Eat(Freshly cooked fish)     Oh and Yo…4 u homeys that dig da feed I have linked ma blog to ‘Insta’ in a vain attempt to get ‘in ya face’ and move with the times….u diggin’me?…I was ‘enlightened’ to sign up on to the dark web so watch this space for more regular ‘gourmet’ content Y’all…😎 Enjoy this track by a favourite band or I will ‘Pop a cap in ur as...

Allah spoke to us via the Imam on top of the 🕌 to let us know it was breakfast time and then we were leaving on the morning 🚌 bus. It took us past the unsightly plastic covered hillsides and down to Ipoh. You can’t ignore the shocking scale of degradation of this area it as it detracts from the normally green 🌳 🌲 🌴 hillsides. It’s where 60% of all the veggies and fruit in Malaysia and Singapore is grown. I have to admit that it has left a sour taste in my mouth, to the point that I have decided make a stand and never to eat 🌽 and fruit 🍉 again!  From now on I’m going to adopt a strict carnivorous diet to combat this and that way I will be doing my bit to save the 🌍 and il feel a whole lot better… The tea plantations are tiny in comparison and really only kept for ‘tourism purposes’…What a price to pay!! https://www.cameron.com.my/no-time-left-to-protect-cameron-highlands.html From the bus terminal in Ipoh we ‘Grabbed’ it to the awaiting ferry at Marina Island for the short ...

  A short taxi ride from the riverside hotel took us to Wakif Bharu for the morning train. The previous evening we had discovered that our plan of getting off at Kuala Krai and taking a boat up the river to Dabong was not possible as this service was not operating. Instead, a little torn, we purchased tickets for the end of the line, Gua Musang, continuing on into the internal jungle heart of Malaysia. It got obviously more greener and more and more remote, calling at smaller and smaller platforms along the route until finally we got to the end of the line. At Gua Musang it was the same story, because of Ramadan everywhere is closed up. Another rethink outside a small shop to get some provisions and we were off again, this time by ‘Grab’ car as our decision was to continue on to have a look at the Cameron Highlands. The road was pretty windy and bumpy so it was a relief to arrive at Tanah RATA in one piece but along the way we had witnessed the intensive ‘growing’ areas where Chine...