Malaysia Pitstop

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We were not intending to come to Malaysia this time but the rains in Vietnam forced us to push forward a bit quicker than we planned, then the fact that the cheapest way to get to Hong Kong was Air Asia from either Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur. Our choice was clear, we had in 2004 visited Malaysia and we had missed our Penang and Georgetown on the way through so as we had just been to Bangkok we thought why not (serendipitous as Bangkok airport as soon to be closed due to Civilian action).

Georgetown is kind of meant to be paired with Malacca as two of the old towns of Malaysia we were looking forward to trying a Penang Curry (obviously this would just be called curry in Penang) and wandering the streets of the old town. Now i don't know if it was because the weather was a bit miserable or that there was very little similarity between the two, but we did not like the feeling in the place at all.

The streets were pretty empty, everything seemed to be shut, the people we met on the street were not at all like everyone else we had seen so far in the rest of Asia. We thought maybe we had ended up on the wrong side of town, a quick cab ride later to look at the beaches, night market and food area we kind of confirmed to ourselves that we had made a wrong choice. After all of that we couldn't even get a penang curry because we didn't know what they called it and it wasn't too obvious. Maybe it is a western dish. We couldn't even get a Laksa which is a spicy curry soup cos they had all sold out of it.

Early the next morning we decided to ditch Georgetown and head for Langkawi a smaller island a short way to the north for some relaxing on the beach for a few days before we head to KL. The boat trip was uneventful except for the fact that they put on the new Deathrace movie and had the air conditions set to like -5 C and at maximum fanage speed, Shabana had to retreat to the top deck and the sunshine in order to warm up.

We got our own back on the tourist operators for the first time as we used their handy hotel catalog complete with pictures to work out where we should be staying and then managed to organise a cheaper rate than they would have got for us. Result!

Langkawi was a nice place, quiet, lovely sandy beaches and warm water. The water was a little cloudy which might of accounted for the fact that I got attacked by a crab and stung by a jelly fish. We had ripe mangos for breakfast bought from the lady down the road and barbeque fish and chicken in the evenings. Our only let down was a South Indian restaurant that we went into because Shabana was getting curry cravings.

This was also the place where we heard the news that Barack Obama had been victorious in the American election, we were most chuffed along with everyone else we talked to.

A few short days later we were in KL and it's busy malls and shopping. We were under instructions to go to Batu Caves which is an old Hindu temple built inside a cave.

They had a giant golden statue guarding the entrance. You have a climb a steep stone staircase and run the gauntlet of the macaque monkeys feeding off the tribute flowers/coconuts/what ever else they can grab from tourists.

The cave itself has a number of different shrines within tended by the various priest type people, including an old lady with what can only be described as the single biggest dreadlock in the whole world. Impressive, most Impressive.

Off to Hong Kong ... til the next post

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Photos

Langkawi
Our beach

Batu Cave Entrance
That is one big gold dude

THE Dreadlock
I don't know how much it weighed but i know it is heavy

Petronus Towers
KL