I was a cave dweller

Six months and a bit into my trip, I'm back in the saddle... so to speak. You join me in Malaysia, two weeks after fleeing Thailand where i spent almost 6 weeks, variously teaching English to some cheeky scamps (which included plenty of singing), being DJ Volunteer Sidekick at the local radio station and recovering from a bout of tonsolitis. More on these later.

I've just returned from a three-day jungle trek in Kenong Rimba State Park, "one of the world's oldest rainforests" in the heart of the Malaysia. The intrepid forest explorers numbered four - I was accompanied by a German guy, also Mark, and an Australian lass called Rena. Our machete-wielding Indian guide, Appu, a legend in the local town two hours away, looked every inch the veteran jungle trekker of 20 years - sporting a bandana, ripped t-shirt, red Puma football socks pulled over his khaki trousers, he carried a tatty backpack laiden with food supplies. He knew his trails inside out but still had to hack a few paths through the dense forest as monsoon rains had brought down trees halting our progress. Base camp was a limestone cave. The three of us slept on a rock face under a cliff overhang, a fire burning into the wee hours on both nights while Appu snored his head off nearby.

Not wanting to get our hopes up, he hadn't promised we'd see any particular bush mammals - the closest we got to the family of five elephants living there was sniffing their scent and stumbling over their one-day-old heaps of shit. The tigers, tapirs, wild pigs and monitor lizards also failed to join us for our evening feasts - veggie curries cooked on a massive wok and washed down with whisky tea. (Appu was a great jungle chef). I did, however, spot two monkeys larking about in the tree-tops, heard a Gibbon and we all got aquainted with the hideously ugly bats hanging around in the stinky caves we explored. Only one of us got friendly with a leech - and it wasn't me!

Save for the wild animals in hiding, though, we had the jungle to ourselves - didn't see another westerner in the forest and barely a soul for three days. Best thing about the trip. Not that it was quiet though. Two thunderstorms, a nightly chorus of insects/birds and other eerie forest murmurs kept us on our guard. Happy days and some fond memories... not least the rumble in the jungle - an epic fight in a rainforest pool one evening, when the three of us lost it completely, daubing ourselves in clay warrior make-up before wrestling in the water and pelting each other into submission with giant mud bombs. Tremendous.

Previous to the jungle expedition, I'd been beach bumming on the Pehrentian Islands, just off the east coast of Malaysia. Highlight was a day's snorkelling in the warm, turquoise sea, spotting exotic fish and reef sharks off the coral reef and swimming alongside a 3ft green turtle. Met some Irish girls on that day trip and got pissed with them at a beach barbie. Good times.

I had scarpered ChiangMai, Thailand's second city, after an entertaining introduction to teaching (only 29hrs in all) and my voluntary work at the local English language radio station. Enjoyed the teaching experience, apart from when i got tonsolitis and couldn't raise my voice to control the noisy kids. Also taught university students who were attentive and no trouble. More fun, however, were the 7/8 year olds. I brushed up on my English grammar and did some lessons to the book, playing a few games. But the kids loved singing. So it wasn't long before I found myself leading the organised chaos with screeching renditions of "Heads, shoulders knees and toes" and "Old Macdonald had a farm". And every Sunday morning there was a sing-along for 30mins, involving 40 kids and teachers wailing "Doe a deer" and "If you're happy and you know it". I happen to have a great voice... sadly, they weren't a patch on me!!

My swansong from teaching saw my class of 7/8 year olds take part in a performance morning. I'd drilled them in 'When the saints go marching in', putting actions to the words and getting them marching to and fro around the classroom singing at the tops of their voices and acting it all out. I thought of Jack Black in School of Rock and even had the kids practicing rock-style scissor kicks and throwing their tinsel halos in the air to finish the song (my rather fetching tinsel headdress had a Davy Crockett rat's tail). The performance rocked and the kids and teachers were rewarded with a rice dish and ice-cream sandwiches. I'd always wondered what a coconut ice-cream butty tasted like - now I know. Not bad at all.

Also in ChiangMai, I'd had a wheeze aiding and abetting DJ Zero Selon, an American, on his Afternoon Stirfry show at the city's only English language radio station. It's the Thai Information and Travel Service radio station - better known by the naughty acronym TITS Radio 106.5Fm! My moniker at TITS evolved from DJ Volunteer Sidekick to DJ Marky B. All very laidback - plenty of jovial banter on anything and everything filled the airwaves (I was meant to be the straight man... didn't much playing the Ernie Wise role though) and there was no playlist so we got to inflict our own favourite tracks on listeners - an eclectic mix of classics, indie rock, hip hop, reggae and R&B. I contributed with music and community news bulletins and news of the weird. Also got the chance to helm the show in his absence on a couple of occasions.

DJ Marky B hung up his 'oversized' earphones to head to Bangkok. Bit of a madhouse. Met up again with my scouse mate Dangerous Dancing Disco Dave - we had previous in Vietnam - and went on a couple of beery nights out. Good craic. I lasted four days in the big smoke and then i had to get the hell out of there and make for Malaysia.

So you find me in Melaka, a town on the south-west coast once colonised by the British, Dutch and Portuguese. Next stop is the eastern Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo, 600km across the South China Sea, an area populated by many of the country's indigenous people, the Orang Asli. Will be interesting to get an insight into their culture. Lots of national parks over there, so I may find myself doing my best Captain Caaaaaveman impression again!