DAY SIX

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I am now in Cameron Highlands Malaysia! It is quite a bit above sea level and therefore a lot cooler. I have a full day tomorrow, which I am excited about. Today feels like it was a long day, but I think that it was mostly due to travel. Not much happened today, so I’ll give you my usual rundown of the days events/food and then some of my general impressions of Malaysia.

Got up and took my time getting ready. I have been letting myself get up without an alarm and have made sure I am in bed early. One, because I am on vacation and two, because I don’t want to get burnt out and tired during my days or during this trip. So far this has worked out well.

I ventured out to finish out my self-guided tour of Penang. I started out my morning with Nasi Lemak. It is rice some spicy meet and a hard boiled egg wrapped in a banana leaf. Delicious! Some fresh orange juice to wash it down. The theme of my morning ended up being temples. I saw a Hindu temple (very brightly and ornately depicted with Hindu gods); a Buddhist temple (mostly red, lots of incense and a lot of symbolism) and a mosque (not allowed in, all white and fairly simple on the outside). It was a very humid morning but I enjoyed my two plus hour walk around town. I stopped along the way and bought some fresh cut and ready to eat dragon fruit—just because I could. Not my favorite fruit, but not bad. I ended my walk with lunch of vegetarian stuffed roti, some other Indian bread and a kiwi lassi. I then got a taxi to catch my bus. I planned on catching a 2PM bus, but found a 1PM bus for only $4USD more, so I got on that. The bus ended up leaving at 1:30 and made several stops along the way. We did not get to Cameron Highlands until around 7:45, so it turned out to be a very long trip. It felt long too. The bus inside was very pleasant and comfortable. The bus itself was quite rickety and the breaks were loud. Along the way I, again, had to use the bathroom (not to worry, not a medical issue, just poor planning on my part). I never thought I would see a day where a US gas station bathroom would be a preferable choice. Some of the bathrooms here are squatter toilets. Either google it or use your imagination. There is a lot more I could say, but I will spare you and I really don’t want to relive it.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my hotel had free transport from the bus station (though less than a three minute ride). The hotel is probably the least commercial/traditional hotel I have stayed in. By far the smallest room. But it is clean and I feel safe, so I am happy. I had a bit of a scare with this hotel and the last hotel as I was double checking for wi-fi before I arrived and read in some review that some rooms had shared bathrooms/showers. Not for this girl! I was relived to find out, and I vaguely remember verifying this when I reserved, that I have a private bathroom. The restaurant—aka young girl in a kitchen--made me “pancakes” (two crepe like pieces with banana and honey in the middle) and some mango juice. It was a nice light meal for an extremely long and windy ride.

Which brings me to now, in my bed and going to sleep after this.
So as promised, a few observations on Malaysia and Malaysian culture:

Motor scooters: Everyone rides them. I would say more people own this over a car. Apparently the drivers must where helmets but, especially in Langkawi, babies and young children who usually ride right up front do not.
Burping: Again, in Langkawi, apparently it is acceptable to do in public. Funny enough, the three I heard my first few days were grown women.
Napkins: They aren’t put on the table with your meal. There is usually a stand alone sink somewhere in the restaurant that everyone uses.
Water: They also don’t automatically bring you water at restaurants
Tipping: It is neither required nor expected to tip. I like this.
Money: Everything is so cheap here. A good hearty meal costs $3USD. It will be hard to go back to uber expensive DC.
Muslims Prayer: Malaysia is Muslim country. Muslims here really do pray five times a day (pre-dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, evening). Where I was staying in Penang was right across from a Mosque. Every day, five times a day, you could hear the “call to prayer.” In most of the tourist spots I went to (especially in Langkawi) there were buildings with “prayer rooms.”
Muslim Women: Most of the Muslim women where a head scarf and long sleeve shirts and pants. I have seen at least two dozen wearing a full burka (where only their eyes show).
Other Tourists: Most of the other tourists here are from the Middle East, some from India, and some from China/Japan. There were a group of 5 young germans on my bus today

Well, that’s all for today. Good Night!

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Photos

Buddhist Shrine
Outside my hotel room..