Hi

Day 15 we had to get up early to be ready to leave at 8am, the sky was still rumbling. The whole day was spent traveling. We had a 4.5 hour drive to our lunch stop in Hat Yai, still in Thailand. We travelled in 8 seater taxis and the driver was an absolute nut, something to feed back to Intrepid!

Lunch was another blowout, we were dropped at the side of the road and told we had 40minutes to find somewhere to feed 16 hungary mouths. The first obstacle was to find somewhere with an english translated menu! We eventually found somewhere but needless to say we were late!

It was then back in the vans, thankfully we had a change of driver. Then it was another hour and a bit to the border where we were stamped out of Thailand and into Malasiya. We all safely got through customs. Once over the border a policeman red flaged us to the side of the road, we all got a bit worried but all he did was open the door and say 'Hello foreigners, where are you from?'. Abviously he liked English as we were soon on our way again!

Afte the border it was full steam ahead to Penang, which we had to get a ferry to as its on an Island. Penang is the second smallest state in Malaysia after Perlis. We arrived at the hotel at about 6.30pm local time (they are an hour ahead of Thailand). Once we were all sorted we went to a food court for dinner. It had a very good atmosphere, with lots of different food stalls to choose from and a chance to dance Chinese style to the live band! We had a wander around the night market then called it a night.

Day 16 was a day exploring Penang. In the morning we went on a half day tour. We wee taken around by our guide Steve. We went to Fort Cornwallis, which marks the spot where the British landed on 16th July 1786. Then we went to see some Chinese houses that were on stilts along a pier. Next stop was Khoo Kongsi, a building where the Chinese families traditionally gathered for worship, which was very elaborate and full of hand carvings and paintings. The final stop was the Kek Lok Si Temple, the largest Buddist temple in Malaysia. It was a shame some of it was covered in scafolding. Rose and I each brought a lucky bracelet, which is a pebble bracelet with faint fossils of flowers in it, the longer you wear it the clearer the fossils become, we shall see!

In the afternoon a few of us went to Little India for a wander. It was like stepping into another continent. We ended up getting henna tatooes and buying quite a few bangles and earrings!

In the evening we went to a lovely indian restaurant by the Bollywood cinema. We had a gorgeous meal, yum yum!

Love Hayley and Rose x