In Malaysia, we stepped, with barely a ripple, into the lives of a young British expat couple teaching at the British International School. They were honeymooning in Greece for six weeks, leaving two entertaining young cats as our hostages in a 12th floor apartment in Petaling Jaya.

Kuala Lumpur is an easy city to live in – much like Johannesburg, but a lot cleaner and with functioning public transport including a modern metro rail network, monorail and free bus services. Grab taxis (their Uber equivalent) are plentiful. The warm and humid weather is not oppressive. Electricity, though expensive, was paid for by our hosts, so we basked in the coolth of the aircons and fans in the condo and had fun working as digital nomads on their efficient Wi-Fi. We had no need to shelter in the many malls where Malaysians hang out in their droves to escape the heat.

Malaysia is safe and relatively affordable. The impression is one of modern shopping centres, high-rise office buildings and condos (we stayed in a 36-story building with swimming pools, tennis courts, gym and its own shop), and golf courses. Malaysians love their golf courses! We were astonished to learn from our hosts that they pay nothing for their water consumption, so perhaps the SA constraints on keeping golf courses green don’t apply.

Our cats needed far less attention than 14-year-old Beamer in Goa. At our hosts’ suggestion, we grabbed opportunities for overnight and weekend trips around the country. (Inter-city travel is cheap in Malaysia.) We went to Melaka, Penang and Langkawi (all on “peninsular” Malaysia though Penang and Langkawi are islands up north near Thailand) and to Sarawak on Borneo.

Both Melaka and Georgetown, Penang, are fascinating World Heritage Sites. The street art, famous in Georgetown, has spread to Melaka – simply wandering around is a fabulous treasure hunt (click here to see all the images of this remarkable and unique street art).

You never know what murals you will find around the next bend as random artists have caught on to the idea and are adding their own touches, some more inspired than others. (In 2012, Penang’s municipal council hired Lithuanian artist, Ernest Zacharevic, to breathe new life into the atmospheric inner-city Chinese shop-houses. He cleverly built real artifacts like bicycles and trishaws into his murals, creating fabulous photo ops for tourists. Read more at www.penang.ws/penang-attractions/penang-street-art.htm.

Those trips taught us about Malaysia, a more subtle culture than in India. A few things stood out:

• Malaysians are incredibly friendly and interested in who you are, where you’re from and why you’re visiting. They are known for religious and racial harmony and actively welcome people from other countries. Malaysia is one of a handful of countries with special schemes to attract long-term foreign retirees.
• It is home to an unusually diverse mix of nationalities. Apart from Malaysians, the permanent population includes Chinese, Indians, Koreans along with ex-pats from around the world. We had great fun socialising with a group from Australia and New Zealand who taught us to play Mahjong. Addictive!
• Food is important to them. They don’t talk about the weather: always the same, there is nothing to say. They ask if you have eaten recently – they routinely eat five meals a day. That opens a discussion about what you had and where, your favourite dishes and what to try. They embrace food from other Asian countries: it’s as easy to get Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean and Indian meals as Malaysian. Penang modestly calls itself the Food Capital of the World, with some justification.
• Bahasa Melayu (the Malaysian language) is apparently easy to learn and we enjoyed picking up common words and phrases to entertain Grab drivers and shop assistants who seemed appreciative of our efforts. English, though not the official language, is widely spoken.
• They are hard-working, a common trait in South-east Asian countries, but love celebrations; everyone happily adopts the different religious holidays – perhaps more public holidays than SA!
• It is a regulated society where newspapers toe the party line, alcohol is heavily taxed and driving is conservative.

While we were in the region, we explored Borneo, where we saw a different side of Malaysia: exquisitely beautiful jungles, beaches and rocky shorelines … and even warmer hospitality than in Western Borneo, if possible. The highlight was seeing orangutans in their natural habitat.

Of course, we couldn’t miss the opportunity for a return visit to Singapore, a longtime favourite city. It blew us away yet again, particularly with the technological and artistic brilliance of its astonishing visual displays. We arrived just in time for their Night Festival.

We both find travel enriching. We immerse ourselves with wanton curiosity in the culture, languages, food and lifestyle of other communities. As we interact, we become richer, not in pecuniary wealth, but as more informed, understanding and rounded human beings. Perhaps we also leave a tiny bit of ourselves as we engage with a shop assistant or Grab driver enough to brighten their day.

What’s your next adventure?

If you haven’t already taken a turn on the streets decorated with street art, click here.

Chartered clients, Andrew and Barbara McGregor, have found a unique way to travel; it allows them to soak up local culture, indulge their love of pets and have an affordable vacation. Here is their account of their stay in Goa with Beamer, the black Labrador.

It’s April. Trees are donning their orange and burgundy attire and the sun disappears behind the Magaliesberg noticeably earlier. Barbara decides that winter at Harties is not a great idea.

Where, she asks, can we go for three months that’s warm? We don’t want to live in hotels – too expensive, and we want to meet locals and experience living in a community, rather than visiting as sight-seeing tourists. But we don’t want to be stuck in one place for too long. And, it must be affordable – our sad ZARs don’t last well on the global stage.

With that bar set, she turns to her best friend for advice. Never one to let her down, Google produces a couple of house- and pet-sitting opportunities – one in India, the other in Malaysia. It’s very simple – get yourself to the house and live in it free, utilities included. One of them even includes a car for our use.

The rest of April is a blur of organising flights, visas, meds, travel insurance and researching the ins and outs of living in foreign countries. All is quite happily done online from home, provided you dodge the Indian visa scammers. Just to add spice, Barbara takes a tumble, resulting in a total hip replacement. Committed to our hosts in India, with tickets booked and paid for, delay is not an option.

Airport and airline staff at ORT, Mahe and Mumbai are amazing, conjuring up extra legroom seats, wheelchairs and queue-jumping porters to smooth and expedite our passage to India. Two nights in Mumbai and a daytime train trip (much more interesting than flying) to Goa completed the first part of our travels. We settled into our home for the next five weeks with Beamer, a delightful black lab. Having recently bid a sad farewell to our 21 year-old Fudge, it is such a pleasure sharing walks and playing fetch with Beamer.

India is such a diverse country (think: over 400 languages) and Goa, the smallest and by far richest state, boasts even more diversity. Having been a Portuguese territory for 450 years, it adds that heritage to the diverse mix of religions, cuisine, place names, sport (soccer is the main sport in Goa, not cricket) and susegad, a word derived from the Portuguese sossegado, meaning quiet. It is used to describe the contented attitude to life, perhaps best described as ‘laid back’, that characterises Goa.

Our beautifully furnished home is in the Goan capital of Panaji (although the locals remain more comfortable with Panjim, its colonial name). Atop a hill that dominates the city, we are welcomed into a small gated community of delightful neighbours, with whom we socialise every evening as the light fades. A five-minute drive in our little smart car takes us into the middle of town, with cars, bicycles, scooters, motorised rickshaws, pedestrians all teeming around each other as if dancing as they move around the city, hooting as they go with no hint of malice.

Indians classify food as “veg” and “non-veg”. Goa has a lot more non-veg (pork and a lot of fish) than most other parts of India. We fell into a mainly veg habit and enjoyed excellent meals at restaurants recommended by locals, and then shopping at the wet market for ingredients and recreating dishes at home for the next few days. We have come to really enjoy the freshness, lightness and flavours of the veg meals we learned to cook in Goa.

Apart from food – for us and Beamer, our days are taken up with walking the narrow streets in Panaji, and driving to the beaches, small towns, farmlands and markets outside of it. Some days, we are content to relax in the coolth of home. It is the end of summer and the monsoon is brewing as the heat and humidity rise.

They say “time flies when you’re having fun”. Having left home not knowing what lay in wait, our time in India disappeared in a flash and, all too soon, we’re bidding our old friend Beamer farewell and heading off to Malaysia.

Don’t miss out on the next leg of the pet-sitting trip for the McGregors: click here to travel to Malaysia and meet two quirky cats.

In Munich, Tony Emmerson from Trafalgar Tours took us to our hotel where we joined the Sound of Music Tour group comprising people from all over: Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand and three other people from South Africa.

We visited the Opera House, Ludwigstrasse, Hofbrauhaus and Marienplatz and watched the glockenspiel delights. The Dachau Concentration camp memorial, the first Nazi camp established in Germany, was very sad to see. Dinner was at a hofbrauhaus where the half eisbein and local beer and wine were delicious – no one could finish their portion.

From Munich we were driven by luxury coach to Oberammergau for two nights, stopping off at Neuschwanstein Castle en route. Oberammergau is a beautiful little village where the Passion play has been performed every decade since 1634, fulfilling a vow the villagers made when spared from the Black Plague.

In Seefeld, we rode on a horse-drawn cart through the forest and saw blue berries growing under the trees. Despite being their summer, it was extremely cold, with snow and rain. We jumped onto a speed train to Innsbruck for a visit to the Olympic Ski Resort, the old city and the Golden Roof House where cuckoo clocks are made.

In Salzburg our hotel for two nights was the house in which The Sound of Music was filmed. It is in these huge gardens that the children used to play in The Sound of Music. We visited the Hofburg Palace and Mozart’s house, ate Mozart chocolates, and put a heart-shaped lock on the bridge over the Danube River. The Avenue of Trees was the film location of the famous “I’m 16 going on 17” song, and we strolled to the stairs in the garden, the glass garden house and the iron garden gates seen in the movie. The Salzburg Cathedral also deserves a visit.

For one dinner in Salzburg we did a “B my guest” outing with Trafalgar – a visit to a local farm hosted by a farmer and his wife farm on 7.5 ha of pastures with eight cows, and homemade cheese for sale. The 2.5 ha of woodlands are important to them for the wood in winter. The farmer’s wife sells a wide variety of dried herbs and herbal ointment. Two beehives supply honey and bees’ oxygen to help people allergic to stings, with an apparent 90% success rate.

Then, onto Vienna via the beautiful lakes of Mondsee and a visit to Mondsee Abbey where Captain Von Trapp and Maria were married.

A city tour included the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the breath-taking Baroque Schonbrunn Palace and gardens, and the famous St Stephen’s Cathedral. We attended a Mozart Concert in the Opera House and tasted local foods, wine and beer.

Our last day in Vienna was a city tour in Bratislava, the capital of Slovokia which was behind the iron curtain for many years. We saw the UFO Bridge and spotted a cannon ball stuck in an exterior wall of a house in the old city. Beer is cheaper than water.

We flew home via Doha onto OR Tambo and then finally home after a wonderful trip. We both had contracted pneumonia on the boat. Though we had packed one lot of antibiotics, one bottle of cough mixture and one packet of sinus medication, it was not enough for two of us. Allan ended up at the Doctor onboard and a follow-up visit in Oberammergau at a cost of US$376 US Dollars for the ship and 105 EUROs for the Europe visit. Fortunately, we had insurance cover, but it’s a lesson to be learnt – take medication per person.

If you missed the start of this amazing adventure, click here.

After entering the Red Sea, we docked in Aqaba, Jordan. We did the excursion to Petra, an ancient stone carved city. 2.5 kms through a narrow stone passage leads you to the magnificent Treasury carved in the mountain. This stunning site was followed by a visit to the amphitheater, Royal tombs, library and jail, all carved into the mountains. It was extremely hot there. We skipped the horse carriage ride and donkey ride, as the animals are not very well cared for and we could not support this. Back to the ship, then, to sail away to the Suez Canal.

We joined the convoy at a little town, Suez, our ship being second in the convoy. Each ship has a tug to guide it through the middle of the canal, with one nautical mile between each ship. This trip of 11 hours was spent on our balcony watching pilots boarding the ship. On either side of the canal is Egypt; you can see the boundary fence on the one side between Egypt and Israel – we noted the army soldiers and army vehicles. We exited the canal at Port Said.

The following day was sailing, and we docked in Katakolon, Greece. Katakolon is beautiful, so green and well known for its olives. At the Ancient Olympic city we saw where the Olympic torch is lit for every Olympic Games. A Folklore show was a chance for us to dance and break plates, enjoying the local food and wine in between.

The next stop was the following day in Kotor, Montenegro, the entrance to which is via an extremely beautiful Fjord with snow on the Alps Mountains. We explored Kotor, Budva and the millionaires Isle of Saint Stephen.

From Kotor we sailed to Split, Croatia: a morning excursion of the old town, lunch on the promenade, local shopping and a walk back to the ship.

Our final stop was Venice, where we spent four days. On disembarking, we caught a water taxi from the harbour to Hotel Scandinavia situated at Santa Maria Formosa Square – very central. Venice’s narrow alleyways are actually their pathways, and some are so narrow that they are a mere arm stretch wide. We visited the Saint Marco Square, the palace and the Bridge of Sighs. On our gondolier ride our oarsmen sang and told us about some of the palaces we went passed. We visited the glass-blowing factory on Manuro Island, and many beautiful churches. We met lovely people. Delicious fresh cherries from a seller in the Santa Maria Formosa Square was often our lunch – Venice is rather expensive.

When we took a water taxi from our hotel to the airport, we paid 120 EURO – way too much as the hotel said it would be 105 EURO.

For the next installment of this exciting trip, you land in Munich. Click here to buckle up.

In July, Chartered clients, Allan and Gail Stephen, set sail from Durban to travel to the islands: Reunion, Mauritius, and the Seychelles. Then, crossing the Equator, they sailed onto Jordan, the Suez Canal, Greece, Montenegro, Croatia and Venice. They flew over the Alps to Munich and bussed to Oberammergau. Salzburg was next, and from there to Vienna and last stop before flying home was Bratislava. Read their own account in three interesting installments before you book your own ticket!

Our journey started on the MSC Musica, with four days in Venice on our own, and a flight to Munich, where we joined the Trafalgar tour. It was a trip of a lifetime!

We met two other couples from Port Elizabeth, and enjoyed the shows, games and especially the view from our balcony on the ship. It was lovely watching the departures and dockings from our twelfth deck cabin. Our package included priority boarding, anytime dining, all drinks, internet access, 80 pieces of laundry, a gift and farewell photograph.

Our first stop was La Possession, Reunion, where we spent the day touring the Cirque De Salazie Volcanics Caldera and visiting a vanilla plantation, tasting local food. At Port Louis, Mauritius, we swam with the dolphins (though there were too many boats chasing them) and toured with a guide who pointed out significant sites. It was election time, and we found the canvassing of the political parties fascinating. Shops closed at noon as it was a public holiday.

After two days at sea, we docked at Port Victoria, Seychelles. We visited the St Anne Marina Nature reserve on our first day and The Wild South on the second. We snorkeled in the beautiful clear warm blue ocean. We overnighted there so that the ship’s exterior could be changed as we were passing Somalia: all exterior deck lights were off at night and the ship sailed on GPS; two war vessels in the distance sailing with us with six snipers on board.

The next seven days at sea saw us crossing the Equator to the Northern Hemisphere. This transition was marked by a King Neptune Party where the guests handed the ship’s Captain a huge key to pass through the Equator. The entertainment and catering crews outdid themselves!

To read about the Stephen’s exciting excursions in the Northern Hemisphere, please click here.