Malaysia -

Sorry folks gonna be a long one!

Penang

After a ten hour overnight bus from Singapore, we were RUDELY awakened by the bus driver's booming voice shouting "LAST STOP - PENANG". We stumbled out of the bus dishevelled, sleep deprived and confused shells of ourselves. We felt slightly daunted by the task of finding out where we were and how to get to our hostel. We finally spotted a taxi rank and hopped in at the price of 6 Malaysian Ringits - too early to haggle! Driving through the streets of Penang was a bit of a culture shock; we definitely were not in Singapore anymore! The grubby exterior of Penang's buildings were the polar opposite of Singapore's skyscrapers. We arrived at the hostel at 6am which was run by the sweetest old couple, who despite a language barrier, instantly gave us cups of coffee and showed us a seat in the lobby whilst we waited to check in. We chatted to an American Backpacker called Shawn Liebling (check out his youtube videos http://youtube.com/shawnliebling) for hours as he told us stories of his past visits to Asia and gave us advice on everywhere we plan to visit. We eventually tore ourselves from the lobby to explore the surrounding area of Georgetown. After a super spicy Indian meal which made Anna cry, we caught a rickshaw from an old man who,in hindsight, must have been well into his 70's. We gripped the sides as we weaved in and out of the busy traffic at 2 miles an hour before cutting across four lanes of traffic - a moment which had Carlyn seriously thinking she was going to die and nobody would know what happened! We then got the lift to the top of the Komtar tower; once the tallest building in Malaysia - which quite frankly was not 'all that'. After heading back to the hostel - this time walking! - wet Two really nice Chinese guys who took us beyond the main backpacker scene to a busy local market where we sampled our first taste of CHICKEN FEET! Bleugh! The taste wasn't so bad but on the plate they looked like little baby hands and the pile of bones we had to spit out one by one afterwards was too much for us to bare. For breakfast the next day we met with Shawn again who showed us an little restaurant who had all kind of weird and wonderful vegetarian food. We then spent some time wondering through the wet market - so smelly! That night we celebrated one of our new friend's birthday and met some of his Malaysian friends who taught us how to say happy birthday in mandarin and Malay. Around lunch time the next day we headed off to our new destination - the Cameron highlands.

The Cameron highlands

We arrived in the Cameron highlands at about 7.30 and were picked up by the owner of Father's guesthouse - the hostel we were staying at. We met our first ladyboy in the form of the receptionist within Five minutes of arriving. Hard to tell but the hands and feet gave it away! Once in the dorm we dropped off our things and went to get some food because as my (carlyn's) grandad would say, we were 'hank marvin'. We went to a little Chinese restaurant and then went to book in a tour for the next day. We woke in the morning earlier than we would have liked and went to get some breakfast from a sweet old couple at their food stall - pancakes with fruit and honey.. Delicious. We were then picked up by our guide Francis and taken to the tea plantations twenty minutes away from Tanah Rata (the area we were staying) which the Cameron highlands were famous for. The views of the extensive tea fields were amazing. All cut to a certain height by the workers so that the tea leaves are fresh. The workers wore coned hats and used both shearing and a special machine to harvest the tea. Apparently every kind of tea is made from the same plant but depending on the age of the tea it determines whether it is black tea (old leaves) or green tea (new leaves) and everything in between. We then went to the top of a mountain where a watchtower from world war 2 still stood. It was used so the English could watch over the jungle and spot any Japanese hiding. The view from the top was spectacular and we were lucky to have great visibility on the day. We then went for a ''trek' through the mossy forest which to be honest after trekking across Nicaragua was more of a light stroll! Carlyn still managed to go over her ankle though. Francis told us about all the different plants we came across and one even produced an oil when scrunched up which was used in tiger balm! That night we went out for dinner with new people we met in our dorm and then headed to the only bar in town and sat round the fire talking to a British couple we had met on our tour. The next day was spent with an American girl named Stephanie, wondering around the town and seeing what each of the little shops had to offer. We loved the views and serenity of the Cameron highlands and the interesting people we met there but were ready to go to KL after three nights!

KL

We got a bus from the Cameron highlands to Kuala Lumpur and arrived at around lunch time. We met a med student from Oxford and another American guy within minutes of being in our hostel and we all headed out to the infamous reggae bar where we had our first taste of western food in about a week.. Okay it's not that long but you start to miss it after a while! We then had a look round the market in Chinatown which was the biggest one we had seen so far. It had pretty much everything you would want! That night we went back and watched Brave. Amusing for Carlyn watching Dutch people's confused faces when the Doric guy spoke but a chance for Anna to finally master the Scottish accent! We embraced the tourists in ourselves for the last day in KL. Starting off at the National Mosque, we dawned the robes and headscarves we were given and took a look inside. We then headed to the Islamic arts museum for a bit of culture and then to the butterfly farm before walking back through the lake gardens to catch the metro to the KL tower. We saw how vast the city was from the top and although it had an interesting skyline, it lacked the beauty of London and Edinburgh!

Overall we had a great time in Malaysia. The characters we met and the stories we heard along the way made our visit there special and made us even more excited for the rest of our journey! We're currently in koh Tao, Thailand doing a diving course! Going great so far, will update a blog about the islands once we get to Bangkok :)

Lots of love

Anna and Carlyn

Xxx