After a 45 minute speedboat ride onto the mainland and 6 hours in a minibus, we arrived in Georgetown in Penang. Georgetown is the other city in Malaysia (as well as Melaka) to have the UNESCO world heritage status and it was easy to see why. There were many impressive government buildings and temples within a short walk from our hostel. Although it was visually impressive, it didn't have the historic or cultural feel to it that Melaka has - Melaka is easily our favourite place on mainland Malaysia. Penang is well renowned for its amazing food courts, with an array of chinese, indian and malay eating options. We had dinner at one, which felt more like a football stadium than a food court and the atmosphere (as well as food) was brilliant.

The next morning we were up early to get the ferry to Langkawi. Many Malaysians we had met had recommended for us to go - we didn't really know much about it, other than it is more developed than the other islands we had been to on the east coast and it has duty-free alcohol! The ferry took 3 hours and although it wasn't particularly choppy, the Malaysian guy sat next to me was sick into a carrier bag - it was our cue to move seats… The ferry port seemed more like an airport and we got a sense right away for how developed it was.

We got dropped off at our guest house and our room was disgusting - it was really dirty with stains on the ceiling and linen, the door had been bashed in and didn't lock and it was full of unwelcome creatures! Needless to say, the first hour or so was spent finding another place to stay and Dave found a lovey motel-style place right by the beach for the same price!

Luckily the minute we got on the beach we knew we were going to like it in Langkawi… The beach was huge and really clean, with not many people on it. It was technically low season but the weather was beautiful (better than the East coast which was meant to be high season). People didn't hassle you to buy things and just let you get on with your day. It was bliss! We spent a couple of days unashamedly doing not a lot - chilling on the beach and just relaxing. We also discovered these huge duty-free shops where everything (but particularly alcohol!) was so cheap. We picked up a litre of Morgans spiced rum for 6 quid! Cans of beer were 25p… It was heaven! Even in the bars, beers were the cheapest we have had in Asia so far - and will get in Thailand. We made the most of it - going to a reggae bar and other bars on the beach in the evening to sip ice-cold dirt-cheap beer J

On our third day in Langkawi, we were beginning to feel the need for an explore and booked on an island-hopping tour - a steal at 5 quid each. We had a brilliant 3-4 hours sailing around the accompanying 98 islands around Langkawi - the scenery was just stunning and the islands were really green with dramatic cliff faces. We spent an hour at the 'Lake of the Pregnant Maiden' on Dayang Bunting island. After watching eagles feed by another island, we spent another hour at the Beras Basar island, which was pretty isolated and enjoyed a beer on the beach. It was a great afternoon. We then spent our last night on Langkawi eating at an amazing Italian restaurant, run by ex-pats. We hadn't eaten food like it since leaving the UK - it was delicious and perfect end to our time on Langkawi. The next day we took the ferry back to Penang and explored more of Georgetown, eating some fab food in Little India!

We have spent 3 weeks in Malaysia, which was longer than we originally planned but we found it to be really accessible, with so many diverse places to explore. We've been on 4 islands in total and each one has been so different. The diverse places reflect the variety of races and religions who live here, which have been interesting to explore. It has also been the school holidays during our time in Malaysia, which has been great as we have met many Malay people and also got used to their kids staring at us and the local men asking for photos with us! Melaka and the Perhentian islands are highlights from our time here. Next stop - Thailand J