Getting there

Since I didn't want to spend 24 hours on a plane wandering from airport to airport to fly to Australia, I decided to plan some stage and stop by some friends here and there.
In France I was welcomed by Joan and Aurelie, some of the good friends I met during my studies in Scotland of a few years back. They brought me to Amiens, in the north of the country, and we had an authentic French dinner, accompanied by a large stream of Champagne.

Le Louvre, Paris

The following day I was on a train to Paris to meet up with couchsurfer Dan, who hosted me at his place for a couple days and made me feel like a prince. Thanks mate!
We had a blast one night and partied like a rock star. I also managed to meet with friends from Czech Republic who happened to be there for holiday. Even though Paris is said to be quite an expensive city, and it really is, we found a bar place where pints were sold for just EUR 2.50 each, such a deal! That night we had fun until late (I should rather say until early morning) and I eventually arrived at Orly airport just in time to catch the flight to Kuala Lumpur! If I were one additional minute late I would have lost it.
Malaysia was connected by this almost never-ending 13-hours flight. First thing I did as soon as landed was getting into a taxi and leaped on the bed.

Petronas towers view from the hotel room, Kuala Lumpur

The hotel room was quite superb. Its windows were facing directly the Petronas twin towers. I think I slept for a straight 12-hours that day. When I woke up, couchsurfer Shaz brought me to have a very typical and local breakfast a few kilometers away from the city. His father used to drive the Malaysian prime minister with his car. I was indeed really surprised when he showed up with that long Proton Executive with any kind of possible amenities in it. Wow.

Batu Caves, Malaysia

We had a nice chat and he showed me around the city, I really spent my time as a holiday that week. Shaz has also told me of a place where you get a Thai oil massage by the blind people.
Blind masseuses are said to be particularly good at the job, because their sense of touch is much more finely developed than those with no visual impairment. I definitely had to try that. And it was amazing indeed: a one-and-a-half-hour deep tissue massage and reflexology, for something like EUR 15. Feel a lot better!
I love the places that only locals know, where you get the best food, the most valuable experiences and inexpensive bargains.

So far so good, after 11 days of traveling, I finally touched base in Melbourne, Australia!

Here it follows with some other pictures I took with my phone.