Getting to Malaysia from the islands of Thailand was quite the journey. Saying goodbye to the islands was sad. We took off from Koh Samui around 5am to the ferry station. We were supposed to catch a 6am ferry, but upon arriving, we were told it was cancelled so we had to wait around for the 7am ferry. Although it was early, I saw the most phenomenal sunrise over the hills and snagged and amazing photo that I'm sure I'll "throw back thursday" at some point. After the hour and a half ferry ride we had a 4 hour ride to the Thai/ Malaysian border, cleared immigration (yep another stamp in my passport) and then another what was supposed to be 4 hour drive to Penang. Because of traffic, we didn't arrive until around 9pm, making the journey nearly 13 hours (Penang is an hour ahead of where we came from).

Our accommodation here isn't near as nice as the last ones we have stayed in, but because we are staying for less than a full day, no one really cared and all we really wanted was a bed, rather than minibus seat, to sleep in.

Penang is a state of Malaysia and also an island off the north west side. Penang was the first British settlement in Malaysia and is widely known for its food. The night we arrived, Willie took us to this food court that had many many options to chose from. We all passed up on the Thai options and switched to Indian or Malay options. Everyone was quite stuffed after dinner, and extremely exhausted from the long journey, but a few of us decided to grab a drink. We went into a bar, found out it was ladies night, and took in the scene. Even though we had been in Malaysia for less than a day, we could already tell it is a lot more civilized than many of the places we were in Thailand. After our drink, it was off the bed due to an early morning start for our tour the next morning.

The tour we took was a guided bus tour around the island. Although being in another bus was the last thing any of us really wanted to do, this is the most efficient way to see the most things in our allowed time. Our tour guide left a lot to be desired, but we did see a couple cool locations.

Some significant things we saw on our tour were the houses on stilts at Chew Jetty and the Kek Lok Si Temple. The Chew jetty houses (see photos) are houses on stilts near the ferry stop. The Chinese own and inhabit these homes and built them upon immigration into Malaysia. These houses are no longer being built and when they are no longer livable they won't be re-built, but for the time being, they are impressive to view and a really near community.

The temple I mentioned above is the biggest temple in all of Malaysia. It was beautiful. Bright and colorful and massive. The temple overlooked Penang and offered amazing views of Georgetown, the capital of Penang. A near thing this temple offered was putting a wishing ribbon on the wishing tree.While we were there, most of us put a ribbon on the tree. I chose, "success in everything, world peace, and safe family" (see photos). Although I'm starting to get "templed" out after seeing so many, I'm in amazement at how beautiful each and every one is. SE Asia is truly a beautiful place.

Our lunch prior to leaving Penang was a bit unorganized. We got back late from the tour due to a late start in the beginning and Willie lead us on a wild goose chase to a food place that was closed... So we gave in and had subway instead. I'm not going to lie, a break from rice and noodles was okay with me. I actually thought I might lose weight this trip... But we literally have rice and noodles for most meals, sometimes even breakfast!!! Talk about carb overload.

After lunch, we took off in the minivans for the Cameron highlands! I can't wait for our time here, it's supposed to be amazing.

Until next time!