Malaysia has been a bit of a whistle stop tour, mostly due to our ignorance we are ashamed to say (we had no idea how big it was or how many lovely things there are to see there), but with the help of Fern and Wan we are seeing the right things in the right places - thankyou! It really would help if we invested in a guide book but we have come so far without one it would almost be admitting defeat! The first thing that has struck us about Malaysia is that almost everyone is kind and helpful without wanting anything in return and that people don't constantly lie to us - we haven't been duped once! Not knowing this we managed to really offend a taxi driver when we questioned his fare (something you have to do in Thailand) but he said that if people are bad they get hanged so we guess that would explain it! We bypassed the tourist minibuses and got cheap rickety buses down through Thailand to get to the border - they are much more fun! The 1st bus was more like a truck; the 2nd showed a Thai pop concert on the inbuilt TV and the 3rd (obviously competing for one-up-manship) had Thai karaoke! Once arrived at the border (i.e. kicked off the bus probably for our singing abilities) we walked across it into Malaysia without plan, currency, map or anywhere to stay - we are getting good at this traveling malarkey. We found ourselves in Kangar where our hostel manager gave us a really helpful magazine (we nicked this because it was our only life saver). In it was some basic Malay vocabulary, tips on Malay etiquette and on where to visit - thank goodness! Next stop was Georgetown in Penang where we discovered the cultural diversity of Malaysia especially in terms of our favorite pass time - eating! We ate our way around Georgetown trying out the cuisine in China Town and Little India (we recommend both). Um, we can't really remember what else we did there, we think we were supposed to look at the architecture but we are easily distracted. Oh yes, that is right, we went to the botanical gardens to see the cute, little monkeys that run wild like squirrels. Let us tell you they look cute but are actually scary little blighters who try to steal your handbag when you are not looking! We did see a huge iguana though taking a stroll through the park. Yesterday we were in Kuala Lumpur. This was a great city with LOTS to see. We did see it, mostly on foot, climbing this building and that building, watching the sun go down from the big lollypop (aka the KL tower but our name for it is much more appropriate). We even went out in the Golden Triangle with 2 guys we met - an interesting pair, one (Mike) does biological studies in the Malaysian jungle and in our opinion he has spent too long there! We have sight seen Melaka today traipsing though museums, churches, graveyards. Everywhere in Malaysia is gorgeous. The buildings are interesting and diverse as is the culture, the food and the people. We know we haven't done the country justice in our travels because we just don't have enough time. We are almost on our knees with fatigue trying to fit in as much as we can (who said that traveling is all fun and games!) We will just have to come back and see Malaysia properly next time.