Well after an 15h boat and bus combo journey we have now reached Malaysia. We spent the night on the boat from Ko Phan Nan to Surat Thani in Thailand, it was comfortable, one deck with a 100 matresses in a row. We than took a mimibus at 6am from Surat Thani to Penang getting in at 2pm. The border crossing was a bit wierd, but we got our passport stamped which was the main thing!! There were no bandits to see, but many army and police with big guns!! Pulau Penang, is an island seperated from the mainland Malaysian Penninsula. You have to cross the Penang Bridge from Butterworth on the mainland to Georgetown, the capital of Pulau Penang Island. It is really hot and humid here at the moment, 35C-40C, we are drinking so much water and losing many pounds in sweat-nice! Georgetown is a real cultural mixture. You have the Muslim areas with there mosques, Little India, Chinatown-which is really alive and colourful at the moment as it is Chinese New Year, and the traditional colonial Chinese 'clan-houses'. There streets all seem to have the same name, or now name whatsoever! There are not so many tall buildings or western names here, although we found the shopping centre - soooo cheap- which did have MacDonalds and Starbucks. We managed to find accommodation at the Eastern Hostel for our 1st night, a basic room but with a western style toilet - aww the small pleasures!!! We are now staying in the Golden Plaza Hostel, the same price-10 Ringitt each (1.30 quid)-as the Eastern. Today we have been exploring, you seem to be able to walk around the city on foot in about 1h30. We visited the 'Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion', the outer walls are painted in a rich blue - stunning! It was built by a very rich Chinese businessman, and you can tell when you look inside the ornate and lavishly decorated Fung Shui organised mansion. We then went to 'Fort Cornwallis' a very large wall with cannons that marks where the British landed in Malaysia. Next we went to 'St George's Anglican Church' which is oldest building in Penang, but very basic! Finally we went to 'Little India' and 'Chinatown', there were busy little streets with mini festivals and fireworks being lit in celebration. Tonight we are going to go to the area in which the 'Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion' is, as there seemed to be a little more nightlife and an English Pub in that area. Last night we met a group of people, two Dutch guys (Muz and Saif) and a Dutch women (Renate) and her Malaysian boyfriend (Mo) in one of the bars in Georgetown we chatted for ages and then went for a really good Tandoori, with traditional nan bread!! We exchanged numbers and decided to meet the next day, they were going to show us some more of the island other than Georgetown. We met up at lunchtime and went to a foodcourt that was full of little stalls each selling authentic Malay food. After that we went to the appartment that Renate and Mo were sharing, it was really nice, with a pool and stunning views over the island. After that we went to the butterfly farm but decided that instead of going in we would walk one of the trails up into the hills. In the forest there were monkeys jumping form trees, it was really fun!! We then went to the supermarket and got lots of food in and made a huge dinner, with salad and meat and bread - it was really nice to cook for ourselves, not just to eat out!! To end the day we went back into Georgetown and went for a drink at the bar we met in the night before. They were really great people and we had so much fun, we just could not stop laughing!! Emails have been exchanged so hopefully we can keep in touch. We have left Penang on Monday to head inland towards the 'Cameron Highlands' and the Tea Plantations.