Well after our adventures in Korea and the Philippines we had 2 days R&R in KL. We caught up with mundanities such as washing and filling up on quality Indian cuisine, courtesy of our chums in Brickfields! A cheap stay at Prescott Hotel (shoebox room, but cheap) and we set off to get a bus to Penang, Georgetown for a week. A bargain £11 per night Tune hotel (inc a/c and some towels) based in Jalan Burma, close to the (food) action. The bus (RM38/£7.50) was steep, but it was a 280km/5hr ride. The bus was passable, but not Korean quality! We were dropped off at Penang south bus station and after 1h30m and some shenaninaghans a taxi driver told us where our onward bus ACTUALLY stopped (contrary to printed bus co. issued signs)! We got to our hotel eventually. We have been to Penang prior (2011) and loved it. We loved it again. The places/streets and walks all came flooding back. It seemed quieter, little real development, but as a UNESCO Heritage area much of it was same-same but cleaner/better, to our relief. Ironically the Indian we gravitated to for almost every breakfast (Rotis, Masala Chai) and dinner (Curry veg., Tandoori chicken, Cheese Naan etc.) was the self-same one we had used daily in 2011! To summarise; we caught up with chores (sunglasses/hat for Sheryl - Monster Beats headphones for Paul) and revisited old haunts. We undertook the 'Marking Georgetown' walk which has amusing and lovely painted murals and ironworks depicting the heritage of GT. See photos. It was steaming hot here, though, yet again - 30 degrees or so. We visited 2 mosques (Benggali founded 1803) and more impressively Masjid Melayu Lebuh Aceh. I got to enter that and it was lovely, the guardians there were very friendly. We also took a bus out to Kek Lok Si Temple. STILL had scaffolding up - which looked identical to that in 2011! Interesting, gaudy and distasteful all in one package..rather like 'the Apprentice', but in concrete. Buddhist temples with a plethora of tacky tat for sale 'INSIDE the temple... a real first. Some good pics though! We also revisited Taman Negara (smallest park in Malaysia) and took a trail to the Meromictic lake. This 3hr return trail through the rainforest (thankfully it was cloudy) to the lake took us past a huge scorpion and unsusual spiders plus lovely cuddly butterflies.. The lake has salt and fresh water but the 2 do not mix.. cool. It was a great walk sandwiched by cool AC buses.. mmmmmmm. Rest of the time we milled and watched the clouds, of which there were few.. but, hey, someone has to do it. Next stop Chiang Mai, N. Thailand.