March 18th - Kuala Lumpur (Airport!)

Aftter a pretty awesome 8 hour flight from Melbourne where we were plied with food and booze throughout we landed pretty merry in KL. We didn't think much of KL last time we visted so we pre booked a night at the aiport hotel watched some debate-able Malaysian TV and got ready for another flight to Penang the following morning.

March 19th - Penang

After the shortest flight ever (less than 40 minutes) we landed in Penang nice and early ready to explore the island. First we had to get from the airport into George Town. We were faced with 2 options, the 'rapid' bus service that took over an hour but only cost 50p each or a taxi for 8 quid, only taking 30 mins. 3 years ago when we visited it would have been a no brainer, we would have taken the bus, this time around we are splashing the cash a bit more, in the end though we did neither!!

We got chatting to a local retired guy who offered to take us to Love Lane (backpacker central). We chatted for a bit then decided to get into the car with him, we then had a history lesson as he give us a guided tour through to Love Lane, he was such a nice bloke, he dropped us off, we shook hands (money was exchaged!) and we headed off to find somewhere to stay. First day in Asia and we get in a car with a stranger. Love it!

After checking out a few guesthouses we plumped for a guesthouse called No 75, nothing fancy but then for less than 10 quid a night we weren't too fussed! We paid for just 1 night as we have already been to Penang and seen all the sights, and weren't planning on staying around.

The main reason why we came back to Penang was for the food so we headed straight out to the streets to find some street grub, we were not disappointed, 2 meals. 2 drinks less than 2 pound each!

The rest of the day were strolled around the streets looking at awesome art drawing on the walls (see Lorry's pics), we went to Little India for a snack plus we accidently ended up on a floating village after getting lost! All that walking had made us thirsty so we sat on the streets sipping away on some ice cold beers whilst people watching - Penang has a great mix of travellers of all ages, as well as local people going about their day to day business. We looked at each other and at that point thought "This is why we came travelling again"!

It was actually first day of Chinese New Year too so a lot of the local shops were closed and there were celebrations happening in the streets, it was pretty cool. We didnt have a late one as were had an ealry start in the morning as we were going to catch the direct ferry to Langkawi... or so we thought!!!

March 20th - 22nd - Langkawi

So we got up at 7am so we could walk to the ferry port to get a ticket for the ferry. When we got there it was pretty busy, we were then informed that all the ferries were completely full for the day and we could only go on a waitlist. With it being Chinese New Year all the locals like to get away (Penang is referred to as "the real Chinatown" - the biggest in South East Asia) and they all go on holiday to Langkawi!! Big mistake on our behalf - however we weren't the only ones, there were quite a few people in the same situation as us. We were approached by a taxi driver who offered to take us to the next port (about 1 1/2 hours drive away) and then we could board a ferry from there - if we wanted to get off the island that day we had no choice so we shared a taxi with a Vietnamese couple on holiday and a couple of young brits also backpacking.

After our car journey we got to the other ferry port, it was now 930am and the next available ferry wanst till 1230 so we bought a ticket and was discussing how to spend the next 3 hours, next thing we know a bloke comes up for us and says he will swap tickets with us (for a fee!) and we could board the 930 ferry. Sounded dodgy but we did it! We then got in line for the ferry and when we got to the front we were greeted by a member of the crew… turned out to be the bloke who swapped the tickets for us!! We got on and watched a gory and violent martial art film that was showing, not the thing you would normally wach at 10am and probably not suitable for all the little kids watching!

When we finally made it to Langkawi we were met by a sea of people, it was crazy, we went to the taxi rank but a sign said no taxis, good luck! That's when our luck changed as a taxi driver looking for 2 people to go to the backpacker beach ( Cenai ) came up to us, we got in with 6 other people who had been waiting over an hour!

We asked to get dropped off at Rainbow Lodge (where we spent 8 night a few years ago) but we were starting to realise we may have made a school boy error - as it was so busy that we thought we might struggle for a room. Our fears were correct as Rainbow Lodge was full. We then spent the next 45 minutes visting every guesthouse in the area, same answer - no room at the inn. As it was looking increasingly more like we would be sleeping on the beach that night we stumbled across a guesthouse tucked away by the beach, one room left, we snapped it up staight away. It was by the beach and had air con, a little bit more than we wanted to pay but 18 quid wasn't going to break the bank!

After the relief of finding somewhere to stay we need to relax so we headed straight to the beach to work on our questionable tan we had got from Melbourne. The sand on Langkawi beach is lush and bloody hot (37 degrees but felt hotter!). We walked along the beach and had a bit of a sunbathe before getting some munch in and heading to a beach bar in the evening.

The next day followed the same pattern however we started drinking a lot earlier, we bought some cans of beer from 7/11 for less than 50p - Langkawi is tax free so everything is so amazingly cheap.

We drank these and got more and more tipsy, then hit the beach bar with is awesome. You get 2 mats, a little table and a sisha pipe and they put on fire shows and play some awesome music (if your into the music we like!). There were chinese lanterns being let off everywhere and we even had fireworks on the beach - awesome night.

Next day we were so frikin hungover. We had booked a island hopping tour for that day and were so not up for it. One thing we had noted about Langkawi is it is far more commerical and westernised than it was 3 years ago with macdonalds, starbucks and subway appearing. We had stayed clear of these and only ate at local restuarants - so much better food and so much cheaper. However we did something that we are not proud of but that most Brits do to get rid of hangover, we had a MaccyD's - dont judge us!

Anyhoo it did the trick and we headed of to island hopping tour which turned out to be awesome, we rode a pedalo in a natural lake formed by a collapsed limestone cave, we fed wild monkeys (even though the signs said not to - rule breakers!!), watched eagles at feeding time swooping into the sea to catch their prey and visited preganat lady island, it actually does look like a pregant lady from distance. Totally worth it and we even bought a tacky souvenir plate with our picture on!

That evening we went for the best (and cheapest) curry ever (2 mains, 2 rice, a side an 3 drinks for 4 quid each!) but before went to a 6D, yes 6D cinema. It was pretty wierd, we were strapped into chair, has stuff whipping our legs, water spraying at us, all whislt wearing ridiculous 3D glasses. Loz screamed throughout the whole thing!

We chilled that night as we had another ealry start as were were heading to Thailand at 730 am next morning and what turned out to be a hell of a journey (again!). Please see next blog instalment for details!

If we were to sum up Malaysia, its all about the mix of cultres, the mix of amazing food, brilliant people....bascially lots of diversity. We will be back in a few weeks to do the other side of Malaysia - yipee!