We travelled again by express bus further up the east coast to the slightly bigger town of Kuala Terengganu, again off the usual trail of Westeners. Following the advice of Lonely Planet, we decided to stay at charming Awi's Yellow House located on a small island 10 minutes by ferry from the city. After lugging our rucksacks around in the sweltering heat for what must have been an hour, we eventually found the jetty marked on the map hidden behind a large hotel, with the only access point a narrow alleyway full of hawker stalls. Roasting hot and annoyed, we were still determined to find this place, convincing ourselves it would be worth the effort. A short ferry ride later, we were abandoned in a little village, with more chickens than people and only dust tracks. We followed a rough route to where we guessed Awi's should be located (LP had kindly only marked 2 "roads" on the map)...the village people all shouted hello and smiled, looking very bemused at our presence in their little town. After a while of wandering, we realised we were going in circles and the seemingly helpful people shouting "ah, Awi's that way" were probably being less than helpful. So, we trekked back to the ferry and walked back to a hostel that was only 5 minutes up the road from where our bus had arrived two hours ago!!! Welcome to Asia!

The next day after rest and and cold showers, Kuala Terengganu turned out to be a very nice little town. We spent some of the morning in the Central Market, before getting the local Heritage bus (a bus thats made out to look like a tram!) out to the newly built Crystal Mosque. It was pretty spectacular, but smaller than expected and seemed to be marketing itself as more of a tourist attraction thana place of worship. The town as a whole seems to be undergoing major redevelopment, with lots of money being plugged into tourism. However, despite lots of the attractions being readily advertised none of them seemed to be quite open yet!

In the evening we went to the night market, which was probably our best experience in Malaysia yet. All of the locals were so friendly, not hassling us to buy but more interested in saying hello and knowing where we were from. There were three long rows of food stalls, making deciding what to eat a difficult decision. Ben had a long wrap filled with meat and spicy sauces while i opted for the local burger. When i sat down to eat i discovered that the bun, as well as the burger, was coated in bread crumbs and fried!! Healthy option then!

Once the advertised sites are opened I expect Kuala Terengganu will be an even nicer place to visit, but it was the lovely people that made it a very enjoyable stay for us.