After two uneventful days on Ko Samui I booked up another bus ride - this time to Malaysia! On 27th July, at 6.30am I caught the bus to the ferry and once on the mainland I was soon on my way to Penang which is an island on the west coast of peninsular Malaysia. The border formalities to enter Malaysia from Thailand were very simple and come 9.00pm I had crossed the Penang Bridge and entered Georgetown, the capital of Penang. On entering Malaysia I was immediately struck by how much better the roads were and by the higher standard of vehicles in comparsion to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

After finding a hostel I went to the nearest food court for dinner. Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual society. Original culture stems from the Malays, yet substantial influence exists from both Chinese and Indian culture, and this is very much reflected in the cusine here. After weeks of rice and noodles I went for a creamy vegetable korma!

In the morning I explored Georgetown. The city was founded in 1786 by the Bristish trader Francis Light. (Britain also has had some effect on the Malaysian culture!) Where I was staying I was surrounded by colonial shopfronts that had just about seen better days and this was offset by huge skyscrappers in other areas. I went to visit Fort Cornwallis, where Francis Light landed, and then had a look round the vibrant Chinatown and Little India. In the afternoon I visited the Hindu temple, Kuan Yin Teng and it's many stairs and then took the funicular railway up to the 833m Penang Hill. The views of Georgetown were very impressive from up here.

The following day I caught the bus to Batu Ferringhi, a seaside resort along the coast from Georgetown. It was a bit of a disappointment! The beach wasn't very impressive and nor was the town! It is a heavily developed stretch of tourist resorts with no tourists! So the huge imposing hotel complexes sat uneasily along the deserted streets. I stayed long enough for a Magnum ice cream and soon took the 30 minute bus ride back to the city.

However, today was a good day for food! I went for breakfast in Little India and had a delicious roti which eggs and onion inside. I returned for little India for dinner and not being able to understand the menu I let the waiter choose my meal - but insisted that it be mild! Served on a banana leaf I had a pancake enclosing a creamy and tomatoey vegetable and chicken curry. And I ate this like a local - with my fingers!

After this I had to make my way to the bus stop for yet another journey, destination: The Perhentians!