30/1/07

Well, I finally left Thailand a week later than anticipated because being in the islands was so relaxing. Yesterday I took a bus from Ko Lanta to Penang, Malaysia, which is where I am now.

I couldn't believe the change when we left Thailand and entered Malaysia - everything seemed so much more developed and organised. Georgetown seems nice, although I haven't really explored properly yet. I'm really looking forward to trying some of the local malay food as it all smells and looks so good.

7/2/07

Penang was a really nice place and a welcome rerturn to the chaos of the city after frying my brain on the beach for a few weeks. It's not that I didn't enjoy the beach - I felt so relaxed - but it's nice to have a balance. Georgetown reminded me of a mini version of Hong Kong, right down to the hill in the middle of Penang island from where you get great views of the city.

After four days in Georgetown we took a break from the heat and humidity and headed up to the Cameron Highlands to do some trekking through the rainforest there. It was so beautiful with the heavily forested hills giving way to tea plantations and strawberry farms on the lower slopes. Tanah Rata actually reminded me a lot of an alpine town and definitely catered to tourists but it was a good choice of place to go. The temperature was also a lot lower than I'd been used to, so much so that I had to dig out my coat from the bottom of my bag. Still, it was really nice to get out of the constant heat and humidity of most of SE Asia at this time of year.

After three days in the Cameron Highlands it was on to Kuala Lumpur. I was expecting a city similar to Bangkok but I found KL a much more relaxed and friendly place to be. It's smaller than Bangkok, both in geographical area and population, and has some fantastic architecture in a real mix of styles. I had wondered what it would be like to be a westerner in an Islamic city but everyone has been so friendly.