Penang

I had hoped to be in the city early afternoon but once I found the hostel, checked in etc it was early evening. By the time I was settled it was too late to try book anything so I extended my stay to two nights. Thus would allow me to book my train the next day and give me a day exploring before moving on to Thailand. I was in a 5 person dorm but one of the beds was a double so as we had all checked in separately it turned in to a 4 person dorm and as the lucky last to check in I got the double bed! One of my dorm mates was in the room when I arrived and she was very friendly. A student from the Netherlands she was taking advantage of her summer break to explore Malaysia for three and a half weeks. She had some great tips about places to visit so I wrote them all down as I already knew I hoped to return to Malaysia before returning home if at all possible. As well as tips about places to visit she invited me to go get some food with her and one of our other roommates. He turned out to be French Canadian and was not as gregarious as his friend but was friendly enough. We headed straight to Little India where the choice of street food was everything I had come to expect and more. We were searching for Laksa as it is a local speciality. I was curious as we served a westernised version of it in the mountains in Thredbo where I had worked many years before. As expected it was something quite different but my newest acquaintance seemed to like it. I tried the fried oysters and was not disappointed. They came in some fried scrambled eggs and were full of flavour.

The next day I spoke with the owners of the hostel about booking the train I had heard so much about. They kindly offered to look in to it for me and so I was free to spend the day exploring the city.  I started my exploring by getting the bus out to Lok Kek Si temple. It is said to be the largest Buddist temple in South East Asia and it was easy to see why it was a popular tourist attraction. As always the statues were beautifully colourful and despite being a tourist attraction there was the feeling of peace I have come to expect from holy places. Even a non-believer can appreciate tranquillity y’know. As well as the beautiful places of worship it has the advantage of being on a hill so the views from outside were equally spectacular. As usual my camera got a good workout and I found the walk around the temple both interesting and soothing. I was there for about two hours before I decided it was time to move on.

 

Since it was a short bus ride away from the temple I decided to also visit Penang Hill. This proved to be a little bit more difficult than anticipated as they had the common Malaysian rule of transactions less than 50 Ringgit had to be cash. As it was my last day I had been hesitant about taking out too much cash and I am so used to using my card I misjudged what I would need. This resulted in a walk from the bottom of the hill to the neatest bank to withdraw some cash so I could get the train up the hill. I had asked if it was possible to walk and was told yes but couldn’t see the path hence the walk into town. It was a walk I am glad I made at the train took me to over 700m above sea level. I had read the front carriage was the place to be and soon saw why. The track was steep and soon Penang was visible through the trees as we climbed higher and higher up the tracks. Once at the top we could see the clouds were moving in I am sure on a clear day the views are amazing but on a cloudy day there isn’t much to do there so it’s not the most interesting place. The map they had given me at the bottom of the hill suggested there might be some interesting walk about the place but the guide at the top of the hill suggested they were for bikes and as the weather wasn’t great I decided not to try exploring them. Instead I had a rather expensive cup of tea in the hope the cloud would clear allowing me to see beyond Penang. I wouldn’t have minded so much but their choice of music was terrible and they played it very loudly. The view did clear a little so I took some more photos then headed back down the hill.

At the bottom of the hill it was back on the bus and back to the hostel. Once there I found out that since it was the end of Ramadan the train was booked out for the next week! I was happy to fly but the hostel owners were horrified at the prices, which seemed fairly reasonable to me. Instead they organised for me to get a van to Hat Yai and then fly from there to Bangkok. Apparently Hat Yai is an up and coming Malaysian tourist destination and there are vans that go daily. The bad news was it left at 5am! I made sure my bags were more of less good to go then headed out to Penang to explore for the last time. This time I had some chicken biryani. Yes I know it sounds like something you would eat at any UK Indian restaurant but trust me it wasn’t. It was however very tasty. I had been told Penang was famous for its food and it certainly didn’t disappoint me. Since I had an early start it was back to the hostel for an early night. I did have a last conversation with the nice girl from the Netherlands. She was so enthusiastic about everything it was just lovely talking with her. It was a nice end to a quick but interesting visit. I can safely say that Malaysia is a country that is worth further exploration at a later time.

Kuala Besut Stop Over

I had decided to stay out of the sea as I wasn’t too keen on being all salty for the rest of the day since we had already checkout out of our hut so wouldn't be able to shower before catching the ferry. That evening I was staying in a very cheap and basic hostel and I wasn't to convinced I would want to shower there. However I needn't have bothered as our boat ride back made sure we got a last good bye form the ocean as we raced over the sea. It would seem that taxi drivers aren’t the only ones with Formula one aspirations.

Fortunately though not somewhere I would want to spend more than one night I decided the hostel shower was worth a go. I would have liked to have left that evening but the bus to Penang left at 8am the next day so I took comfort in the fact my private room was secure with a lock on the door and a bed inside. Of course I was less happy when halfway through the night the bed sagged alarmingly but a quick inspection confirmed I wasn’t in danger of going through it. I did however spend the rest of the night at the edge or the bed where I felt there was the most support, just in case. My friend was lucky to miss out on this excitement. She had decided to head to Malaka then Singapore which was an evening bus leaving me to continue my adventures on my own.

It was better than sleeping in the street but I was glad to leave the next morning especially on the discovery that I was at the front of the bus with plenty of leg room in a nice big seat. The bus was quiet and I had both seats to myself and even a plug socket to charge my various devices. It occurred to me at this point that I may have rather skewed priorities. I have a laptop, iPod, phone and 2 cameras not to mention back up batteries and hard drives yet I don’t own a comb. Still it meant I knew I would not be bored on the long journey to Penang. I took advantage of the bus wifi to have a last quick look at facebook and saw a friend praising the film, Silver Linings Playbook which reminded me I had the book on my kindle, yes I have one of those too, and decided this would be an excellent time to read it. I have no idea how it compares to the film but the book is excellent. There was more than one occasion I had to wipe away the odd tear and I really found myself rooting for the main character. In fact I was enjoying the book so much I was disappointed when I thought we had reached our destination. However it turned out we were having a mid way rest so I had plenty of time to finish it. Book done I was content to watch the scenery go past as we made our way north and finally into Penang.

Little Perhentian Island

After a short taxi ride and only slightly longer flight we were soon in Kota Bharu. Whilst I waited for my luggage my friend went off to investigate the taxi options to get us to Kuala Besut where we could get a ferry to the island. She soon returned announcing that not only had she sorted us a taxi but also people to share with thus reducing the cost for us. The taxi ride was a little too exciting but we made it despite our Schmaker-wannabe driver. Once there though the ferry wanted to know where we were going! After much discussion we opted for the cheaper “Little” Island where we were told should be able to find some accommodation easily enough.

The owner of the KL hostel had said there was a hostel on the island which the ferry people seemed to know nothing about but it transpired that one of the other passengers knew about it. We explored the options on the beach first and decided that since we were there for a limited time we would take a more expensive beach hut. It was basic but private and it was right on the beach with lovely views. Unlike some other huts we had looked at it had electricity 24/7 and the bed was extremely comfortable.

Since it was late afternoon we contented ourselves with a walk along our little beach to find some food before exploring the other side of the island which we had been informed was the party side. It looked like a slightly bigger version of our little cove so we decided we were very happy with our choice. We even passed the hostel and though it looked nice and was cheaper it was in the jungle which since we had made quite an effort to get to the island we were glad we had decided on the beach hut with sea view.

We returned to our own beach for the sunset which failed to make an appearance due to the thick cloud building up. The cloud did however provide us with a rather spectacular thunderstorm. Since photographing lightening is on my photography bucket list (If you know me you are surely not surprised I have one) I was rather happy with this. The lightening was mostly sheet with some forks forming and was frequent whilst the storm rumbled on for long enough for me to get a few decent shots amongst the many duds.  It was a good end to good day.

The following day we headed out on the resort snorkelling trip. The sky was cloudy but there was no mention of when the storm might come in. We reached our first stop and jumped in the water to go shark hunting. It’s not quite as exciting/dangerous as it sounds; we were looking for reef sharks which are rather small and shy creatures. I spotted one straight away but true to form it soon swam off. My friend was a less experienced snorkeler so I helped her readjust her mask and soon we were off to explore. It turns out that the shark I spotted was to be the only one I was to see that day but I did see lots of colourful fish that as always I completely failed to identify. We swam to an area known for shark sightings and though I didn’t see another one my friend saw one before it too swam away. Since we had both seen one shark, all be it different ones, we were both happy with the first stop.

The second stop was fish point which was very shallow but did indeed have many more fish. I always feel a bit unsure in shallow water. The water was so clear I was sure I would kick the coral so though we saw lots of fish I found it less fun than our first stop.

Our third stop was by far the highlight of our stay in the islands for me. We stopped between the big and little island and slowly started looking for turtles. Soon a fellow boat spotted one and waved our boat over. He had spotted a large turtle and I jumped in as soon as I had my mask on, not even waiting for my turn on the ladders. I am glad I did as I was almost on top of the turtle, which was a long way beneath me in case you are worried for it by the way. It soon moved on but slowly so I was able to keep pace with it despite my lack of fins. It stopped once or twice yet my friend and I were the only ones able to keep up with it. Its length was at least half my height and it was the biggest turtle I have seen so far. As well as the turtle we saw some fish swimming under it, alongside it and on top of it. It was quite simply, amazing.

After this lunch was always going to be a let down. We knew that as it was Ramadan the town we stopped at would be quiet, in fact originally we expected to return to the resort for lunch. It turned out there was one open restaurant and we were lucky to be served quickly as the place soon filled up. Our two boat companions were not so lucky. As we were leaving we discovered that despite arriving not long after us and before almost everyone else they were only now being served. In the end they left without eating as we had been told we would be collected at 2pm and they didn’t want to hold us up. Unfortunately our guide did not have the same concerns. At 2:30pm he finally appeared and was completely unrepentant for his lateness. I get that some cultures are more laid back than others but our poor companions had missed their lunch to be there and were understandably not happy. I wouldn’t have been either if I had missed my meal.  To add insult to injury as soon as we reached out forth stop to started to rain. Now I know they can’t control the weather but it was hard not to think that the half hour we had spent waiting on the beach should have been spent in the water and now the rough waves meant most of us were not comfortable going in to the water. By consensus we decided to move on to the fifth stop.  Once there the rain was less so we tried but the water was still quite rough and my friend who is not the oceans biggest fan was obviously not happy. As the tide was going in I also had concerns about how the swim back out from the beach would be. We soon returned to the boat. Our two companions tried but soon they too had difficulties and also returned to the boat. It was a shame that a trip which had started so well would end that way. We did mention our displeasure to the resort reception but their response was that the boat had stopped. They didn’t seem to understand that it was his tardiness and cavalier disregard for our disappointment that we found upsetting, not the weather. Sadly there was nothing to be done so my friend and I decided to concentrate on the turtle and first stop when we remembered the day.

The rain didn’t last long and once it cleared it left a lovely sky which my friend rightly predicted would make for a lovely sunset. As the sun went down my friend suggested we head to the jetty to watch it and it was indeed a beautiful sight. We weren’t the only ones with the idea but we did last the longest and got some great shots. I even got to play with some long exposures since I found a few sturdy wooden railings to use a make shift tripods.

The next day we had booked to leave on the 4pm ferry so we spent the day lazing about on the beach. It was exactly what I needed after a busy two years in one place. The sun was warm and though I stayed in the shade due to having rather red shoulders from the day before I enjoyed it none the less. I had my kindle but struggled to stay awake long enough to read it and I soon dozed off. We did venture off the beach for lunch but straight afterwards it was back to our loungers. I’m not usually a beach person but I must admit it was a lovely restful day and I am glad we had booked to last ferry to give us the maximum amount of time on the island. I am always sad to leave a plac de but this time there was the added sadness of leaving my friend behind. She had decided to head to Malaka instead of Penang so we would be parting ways in Kuala Besut.

Goodbye KL

I only had one full day to explore KL so I was glad when I woke very well rested and ready to explore. I was thankful the hostel provided breakfast of tea and toast as it’s always nice to not have to worry about food that early in the morning. I took advantage if the free internet to update friends and family on my safety and location. Before long my friend joined me and it was time to explore once more.

We started our day by going to a nearby shopping mall that had a lot of familiar shops from both Australia and the UK. It was extremely quiet which felt weird after the crowded streets and markets the day before. It soon became apparent that these were the expensive shops but in amongst them we found the Australian brand my friend was looking for. On the way we also found a superhero shop and a frozen yogurt stand making a very successful morning indeed.

Our main goal for the day was to see the KL tower but we didn’t want to be there until after 7pm so we could catch the sunset. Since we had a few hours until then we headed back to the Petronas Towers to takes some photos then on to Chinatown to explore. The food there wasn’t as tasty as the bits and pieces we’d had the night before but it was an interesting experience and there could have been worse ways to pass the time until we headed towards the tower. Once at the tower we were happy to board the free shuffle up the hill. The weather hadn’t been great so I was more than happy to pay the lesser amount to stop at the observation deck rather than go all the way up to the top. The low cloud meant we didn’t get much of a sunset but we had fun looking and trying to photograph what we could see. As the darkness fell the deck got busier and soon we decided it was time to head off. By this time it was clear we wouldn’t make it to the free night out organised by the hostel. Whilst it would have been interesting to experience the KL night life I was a little bit glad as I was quite tired.

Despite my tiredness when offered the choice between seeing the Petronas Towers at night or going home I elected that my friend and I should walk to the towers. She had mentioned that all lit up they were meant to be quite a sight ad though she was returning within the week I didn’t know when or even if I would get another chance. I am glad we did as it was an impressive sight. We again took many photos before heading back to the hostel on the free bus once more.

Back at the hostel we were happy to discover we had the room to ourselves so we could shower and pack easily without disturbing anyone else. My time in KL was over but as my first experience of Malaysia it had been a lot more fun that I had been expecting. I was looking forward to seeing what the Perhentian Islands would bring.

Hello KL!

After two airports, one 5 hour layover and 12 hours of flying I was in a new country! Not only was I in a new country I had 6 weeks of exploring different countries and cultures ahead of me. If that wasn’t enough excitement in a few hours I would be seeing one of my friends I’d made whilst living at the hostel in Cairns. We flew in to Kuala Lumpur a few hours apart and had arranged to stay in the same hostel. We were both too early for checking in but were able to store our bags and start exploring the city straight away. We got the free bus to headed out to see the city. It was amazing to be in a place that was very different from anywhere I had been before. Yes it felt like a city and there were the obligatory sky scrapers but there were also more traditionally styled building which were unusual to my eye and gave the city an exotic feel to someone used to travelling in Westernised countries.

I couldn’t believe it had been two years since I had seen my friend. We talked continuously like we had only seen each other a few days previously yet there was so much to catch up on. She had completed her degree and been to a few more countries and I had managed to explore some of NZ in my two years working there. Despite all we had done and how we have both grown and changed it felt like we had never been apart. Since we were so delighted to be together again as well as visiting KL and the Perhentian Islands together I also suggested I come with her to Penang as I figured I could easily go to Bangkok from there.

She had done a lot of research and at her instigation we headed towards the Petronas tower. On the way we stumbled across Little India and I got my very first taste of Malaysian street food. I am glad to say there were no ill effects and the food was very tasty. Whilst I was excited to be in a new country and had slept well on the plane as the afternoon wore on I found myself flagging. Thankfully having walked a lot on the the way to the towers we discovered the free bus ran from the towers back to our hostel. Yay for Hostelworld and it’s excellent recommendation. The hostel was not only in an excellent location, the staff were friendly and helpful and the rooms were clean, comfortable and cool thanks to the excellent air conditioning.

 

With the evening to ourselves I discovered the pleasures of a Malaysian laundry which is only worth mentioning as on the way we saw a Hagen Dass shop and decided it would be the perfect place to wait whilst my clothes were drying. I don’t miss from home much these days but I’ve not had Hagen Dass in years so despite the relatively high price it was absolutely worth it.

Post washing we took advantage of the free wifi to book our flights to the Perhentian Island, or rather Kota Bharu. From there we were told we could get a taxi to Kuala Besut and then a ferry to the islands. Having sorted out our flights we then looked for accommodation. We found this slightly difficult as it turn out the islands are not very well connected. The hostel owner assured us we could find accommodation once we got there so with a certain amount of trepidation and a slight thrill of adventure we decided to risk it and our next destination was as set as it could get.