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We got to KL (Kuala Lumpur) and before we'd got off the bus a taxi driver had already claimed us. We got riped off at 40RM (6GPB) but we did get to the door of our hostel. It seemed ok, a little dirty and most of the plumbing seemed to be leaking from the toilets which were also a wet room. You weren't allowed to wear footwear inside for hygiene reasons so going to the bathroom wasn't very nice. We couldn't go to our room as they were in the middle of "pest control". We went for a walk around where we stayed which was well located close to a monorail line though exactly where we were was pretty smelly and dirty especially in comparison to Singapore. KL is pretty hectic (where we were) with all manners of people trying to sell things to you from food to fake watches. As it did seem a little bit more dirty we didn't fancy braving the food stands and so we found a kind of noodle bar (with A/C as it's 34 degrees) that did lots of different meals. The food was really good and still only about 1.50GBP each. We went
back to our rooms to sleep but I was woke up by feeling more bites. Without trying I found and killed quite a lot of bed bugs so we took some down with us and asked to move room. We stayed calm and the staff were friendly and helpful but there were no other rooms left. They did however have a room in their sister hostel a few minutes away. The receptionist walked us round to the hostel to make sure we didn't get lost. It was down a bit of a dodgey looking backstreet but we weren't going to try and find somewhere else to stay at that time (1am). The 2nd hostel wasn't as well kept as the first place with the same plumbing problems but we got to sleep (though I did have to kill a few more bed bugs. At this point I wasn't sure if we'd brought them with us from the first place so we stayed. The next day we visited the petronus twin towers. As you get to that area it becomes more similar to Singapore and it's suprising how much of a contrast it is to the place where we stayed though
I guess at the price we were paying (10GPB a night) we couldn't expect much. Inside the towers complex KLCC all the boutique shops are found which have the same extortionate prices as at home. After KLCC we found our way back to the bus station via the rail system for only 4RM (10 times less than the taxi). The bus station is more crazy than the streets with about 50 different companies trying to sell you a ticket on their coach. We'd heard that not all of these were safe so we went with the national one to get our ticket to Butterworth further north.
As the meal the previous night had been so good we decided to go back but try some different dishes. Again the food was good and i enjoyed Teh O Limau with it (Ice tea with Lime). The previous night I had tried Teh Tarik. Imagine a tea made into a frothy cappuccino kind of drink. I had it ice cold though people also drink it hot. Unfortunately I can't remember the names of the meals we ate but they were Malay dishes as each meal had the flag of the country it
originated from next to it on the menu. That night we found more bed bugs (even more than the last hostel) so neither of us slept very well. The next day we decided to cut our losses and find a hotel. We also decided that we wouldn't bother staying in a hostel in the rest of Asia as we wanted to enjoy ourselves. After walking around near where we ate we found a hotel with a superior room for only 20GBP a night. We moved our stuff to the hotel and then after relaxing for a bit we made our way to Chinatown as many guide books recommend seeing it. Again it was very hustle and bustle with more people trying to sell fakes t-shirts, dvds etc but there was a pretty impressive Hindu temple there and what was either a Chinese school or temple. Having had no stomach upsets we decided for the safe option of eating in the same place again (but ordering different food) and it was nice that even the staff were now recognising us. I stuck with my Teh O Limau and Debbie stuck with her adventurous Sprite!
The next day we got to
the bus station (bot using a taxi) and found our bus quite easily and the trip to Butterworth took 4 hours. From there we walked onto a ferry headed for Penang for a 15 minute crossing and then refusing taxis found a bus heading towards the part of the island where we were staying (Tamjung Tokong). Unfortunately we got off the bus too early (we later found that it went right past it) so we ended up with a 30 minute walk to the hotel. One taxi we stopped still tried to overcharge us so we just walked away while he started to offer a better fare. Hopefully this may teach him to be more honest. We'd booked a deluxe room which seemed huge with a balcony 10 floors up overlooking the sea and everything in the room looked even newer and cleaner than in Singapore and almost half the price. We spent a few lazy days around the hotel and beach (just behind the hotel) and I reacquainted myself with films as there was a movie channel on our tv. One slight annoyance was when Debbie went to the beach on her own a local kept talking to her
interested in "getting to know her better". Though we didn't really do much in Penang we did try out different Malay dishes (though one night we ended up in a Japanese restaurant). The one day when we tried to do some sightseeing in Georgetown it didn't go too well. We tried to find the tourist information centre and one guy "helped" us go to the 65th floor of the komtar tower (at a cost of 15RM each). It was partially our fault as the tourist information centre did used to be in the tower though it's now moved to some undisclosed location. After admiring the view (not much but there are a few temples) we decided to try to get a bus to the botanical gardens. After one guy told us we could get there via a bus once we got on the bus we were told that we couldn't and we'd need to get a taxi. At this point we decided to give up on sightseeing as it seemed too much hard work and got on a bus back to the hotel. We had asked there about tours of the island but they were simply taxis hiring themselves out
for the day with no real guide and were also expensive compared to everything else.
As well as attempting to sight see we'd also been looking into how we'd be leaving to get to the Thai island Koh Samui. It seemed we'd have to get back to the ferry, a ferry over, then either two buses or a train followed by a night ferry and then another taxi. Fortunately we found that we could fly directly from Penang to Ko Samui which would save us a lot of time and effort and would only cost 30GBP each. When we left we asked our taxi driver (who was crazy) to take us to the snake temple we'd read about as it was nearby. Sadly even this was a disappointment as the temple was being renovated so the snakes and shrines had been move to a less well decorated room. From there we went to the airport and thankfully the flight out went smoothly. Our best memories we will take from Malaysia will probably be the food but it was still an interesting place to see. I'd certainly say it's worth spending a bit more on your accommodation here than trying
to do it on the cheap.
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Chris
non-member comment
Goodbye Malaysia
After reading about your latest travels, I can honestly say I'm relieved you are on the way home!! Singapore sounded great but I'm not too sure about KL. Please don't bring any bed bugs home for pets! Can't wait to see you back home. Travel safely. Love Chris xxx