A short bus ride up the West Coast, followed by an even shorter ferry ride from Butterworth took us to Georgetown, the main city on the island of Penang. We spent an age trying to find a bus to take us to Chinatown where most of the budget accommodation is, however when we finally got on one we only had to ride for about 5 minutes before getting off! Never mind. The temperature seemed to step up a notch in Georgetown and during the day we were both really flagg...

After the busy city life in KL our next stop was Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands. Malaysia's largest and highest hill resort is home to the nation's fruit and tea plantations so naturally we set ourselves up for lots of tea, scones and jam. And we weren't disappointed! We stayed at Father's Guest House, a laid back, friendly place just outside the centre of town, with 4 dogs (who were almost patted to death by the end of our stay) that had great gardens, a ve...

We had a few days in KL and I think that was enough! Our hotel wasn't particularly brilliant (more on that later) and the chaotic city was overwhelming at times! On our fist night there after the Jungle Railway we thought we'd go and check out the night market in Chinatown. It was one of the busiest places I've ever been to! So many people trying to sell you stuff, locals buying and selling, tourists trying not to get pulled into each of the stalls whilst walking...

Returning to the mainland after our relaxing few days on Kecil was a bit of a shock to the system! We caught the earliest ferry off the island in an attempt to arrive in Kota Bharu early in the day, only to discover that the next bus wasn't until 12.30pm. So we treated ourselves to a (reasonably priced) taxi and experienced the insane Malay driving first hand! An hour later we screeched to a halt outside our hostel and all was well again!Kota Bharu didnt rea...

Well, the Perhentian Islands are, according to the guidebooks, Malaysia's Showpiece Islands, and when we got there we realised why. It was amazing. We were worried about the boat and scams surrounding getting to the islands, but the whole journey there was completely hassle free. The sea was like a mirror on the way there too, reflecting the sky almost perfectly. We stayed in the Maya Resort, which consisted of some huts on the beachfront and some set back aroun...