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After our umptienth bus, taxi, ferry, bus, taxi journey from destination to destination we arrived in Penang. We had booked a guesthouse earlier on in the day, well we had booked three just in case as it was the weekend of Chinese New Year, but we had told all of them we would be there before 6pm. Yet due to the usual delays we arrived later than we expected so we were frantically making calls from the ferry trying to ensure each of the guesthouses didnt sell our reservation. The guesthouse we were keen on had sold our room so we were left with two other options.
We arrived in the centre of Penang and got dropped off at our first guesthouse. We had provisionally booked a dorm room but what we found was a dozen beds at the top of a large landing. You literally walked to the top of the stairs and all the beds were there. There was no door, no lockers and no privacy with anybody able to walk up the stairs. It was so random it was almost laughable. The noise was that loud and the bed was that flimsy you would never be able
to get any sleep. So we politely declined and quickly got out of there. On our way to the airport we shared a taxi with a girl called Denise and she had recommended another place close to our current destination so we checked it out but they were also full.
It was about now we were getting slightly tired, slightly hungry, slightly irritated and slightly worried that we may be sleeping in a darkened doorway. But we had one more reservation from earlier that we were pinning all our hopes on and due to the time I wasnt confident with our last hope. It was now getting late and we had told them we were going to be there 3 hours earlier so it was squeaky bum time. I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me the two blocks to New Banana's (i think thats what it was called) and with a look of desperation on my face I tried to nonchalantly enquire about my reservation. Luckily for us they had held it for us as they said we had promised them on the phone that we would be there. Phew!!! So I walked back to
where I had left Kate and we got to our room and finally set our bags and heads down the evening.
Our room was the first we'd had with A.C in Malaysia so to say we both had an awesome night's sleep was an understatement. We fully made the most of it and we both would of been happy to stay in our little Igloo all day. But we knew that we only had a few days in Penang so we had to get out and see the sights. After reading the lonely planet it had recommeneded visiting Penang Hill. Penang Hill is suppose to provide a cool retreat from the sticky heat and there are meant to be spectacular views over the island and mainland. So we made our way, for over an hour on two buses, to the bottom of Penang hill where a funicular tram takes you to the top. Unfortunately the next tram was full and the next available tickets weren't for another FOUR HOURS!!! Needless to say we scrapped that idea and found the nearest watering hole! Our first evening was low-key as we just grabbed some food and settled into a bar a
few doors down from our guesthouse to watch an Aston Villa match.
There was anothe part of the Island that we had been recommended to visit and that was Batu Ferringhi. The road from Teluk Bahang along the coast to Batu Ferringhi was a picturesque stretch of small coves and more beaches with Batu Ferrighi the final stop. There is a massive national park in Batu Ferringhi which you can camp in and take 3 hour walks round. Sounds nice doesnt it??!! Well Kate and obviously skipped that and headed back down the road to the Hard Rock Hotel we passed on the bus :-)
The hotel was beautiful and thoroughly decadent (well it was for us poor backpackers staying in downtown Harlem) and was themed on the Beatles. It had a beautiful pool and grassy area that lead to the beach where they had horses riding up and down the beach. Kate was very excited about the horses as it was something she had always wanted to do so she paid to take the very large stallion up and down the beach. At one stage kate thought the horse was going to buck but the guy holding
the reigns managed to bring the horse under control, apart from this one brief scarey moment Kate really enjoyed herself and had some lovely photos taken.
So feeling like we thoroughly deserved a chillax we parked ourselves on the loungers and planned to enjoy the sun for the last two hours. The busybody pool staff had different ideas. The hotel was at least 4 star if not 5 and more than likely all-inclusive where all the patrons had to wear a coloured band. As Kate and I obviously didnt have said bands a gentleman came over to ask if we were staying at the hotel, our response was obviously going to be yes. So as the guy walked off presumably to find his walkie-talkie to phone security we sloped off and headed towards the bus stop whilst not forgetting to have our pictures taken with the Hard Rock sign and a statue of M.J at the entrance :-)
We had decided that three days in Penang was going to be enough. We had enjoyed our brief time there but there really wasnt enough to hold our interest. It wasnt as developed as Lankawi and it wasnt a beach
kind of destination. Penang prides itself on its cultural attractions but to be honest it didnt seem enough to make us spend any more of our last seven days in Malaysia and as its only six hours from Kuala Lumpur this seemed more attractive. So with our tickets booked we spent our last night in Penang with the customary last curry and a few beers.
The following morning we made our way to the mainland for our coach to Kuala Lumpur (KL). We didnt have time to book a ticket in advance so we were reliant on the buying and negiotiating skills that we had built up over 3 months in South-East Asia. What actually happened was the first guy we asked for directions to the KL hatch took us to the other end of the station took our money, issued us with two tickets and directed us to the bus. 10 seconds flat we were booked onto a coach, so much for picking the best bus and haggling the price :-)
The bus that had been picked for us looked like an ugly duckling to say the least and once we had set off we realised that
we had also chosen the wrong seats. We managed to bag ourselves the back seats but this turned out to be a mistake as the bus was a bone-rattler!! The suspension was that bad that we bounced all the way from Penang to K.L. The constant bumping was making reading nigh impossible and trying to get some sleep was soon forgotten about. So 6 hours later I was definitely looking for the nearest Chiropractor. The only funny thing about the journey was that we were sat next to a Malaysian lad who had family in England. It turned out that his brother was an Engineer and his sister-in-law a lecturer that both worked in Birmingham. His sister-in-law worked at Aston University and his brother for Rolls Royce (i think). He was studying English and had plans to move to England, and more hopefully Birmingham.... I told him not to bother because Birmingham was pants :-)
K&K
xxxx
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