Greetings!

So we got the bus upto Kuala Lumpur. If we thought the buses in S America were nice we were mistaken. We had these massive seats the reclined electrically and our own tv with a games console and films. We both watched Dumbo then I feel asleep and Ruth cried for the 6 hr journey because it made her sad - geek!

We had no accomodation booked in KL, and when we got off the bus this tiny Indian chap that spoke like a ghetto gangster led us to his hostel/brothel in Chinatown! The first evening we were reunited with our good friends Helen (crazy Scot) and Mimi (French) that we met in Christchurch and Melbourne in the very cool reggae bar next door - we had our first of many encounters with a ladyboy! Sadly at this point I was feeling pretty bad and spent the next 4 days pretty much in bed completely out of it in the brothel (travelling with glandular fever isn't much fun)! Ruth also became ill. Happy days!

However we did make it to the twin towers - see picture. Very spectacular. And we went to the cinema underneath them which was unbearably cold. We also managed to wander round Chinatown which was ace - the fake goods are amazing and so cheap! hehe. But it was really interesting.

After KL we had a full days bus journey to the island of Penang, also in Malaysia. We stayed in a 'hotel' and it was the first time in 5 months we had our own rooms (actually Ruth had 2 nights on her own at Lexi's which I'm still bitter about) - heaven...or was it?! Our rooms were shocking and at 4.30am I ended up knocking on Ruth's door. She too was up. We opted to sleep in my room because hers had a dodgy smell and damp. My room had bugs. Hmm. So that was fun. After less than 2 hrs sleep we decided to "Flashpack" for 3 nights in The Hotel Malaysia - superb! We were both still full of colds at this point and could hear each other coughing and blowing noses throughout the night!

Our 4 days in Penang were spent taking in some sights with Helen and Mimi (now named Georgette, watch Amelie and you'll understand and Fag Ash Lil). We hired a giude/taxi driver who we affectionally nicknamed Dad for 2 days. We went to The Snake Temple which was being renovated! But next door was this very strange wildlife place. We held snakes and some big lizard thing. There was a King Cobra in a wooden box - thats the worlds most dangerous snake. The man that worked there opened the lid for us to see (he wasn't a snake charmer) and it escaped. The man and the woman were in a right panic and we were literally running for our lives. The snake pooed everywhere before they finally managed to get it back in the box - phew! Myself and Mimi then got bitten by a monkey there (it was a right cowboy show)! Out of the 4 of us it is ourselves that didn't get a rabies jab - it was just too expensive. So if I'm scared of water when I get back then thats why! The monkey loved Ruth!

The following day we went up the mountain on one of those steep trains again. Ruthy was ratty. Me, H & M walked to an Indian temple then we got back in the car with Dad and headed to the botanical gardens to see 2 types of wild monkeys (me and Mimi were a little tense)! Then Dad took us to some wierd toy museum, I hated it, Ruth's inner geek loved it! The out to a local food market for some traditional Malaysian tea - just rice and noodles and wierd fishy stuff.

One last night for us pair in our heavenly hotel. Much of it was spent watching films and I did lots of handwashing then we heard Thailand calling to us......