I took a Mickey Mouse ride from Penang, Malaysia to Phuket, where things played out quite differently from promised. Well, at least I got dropped off at the "bus terminal" as promised, which was a good thing. As a lazy Lonely Planet slave I aimed to stay at the Thalang Guesthouse but they were fully booked and they sent me to the Old Town Hostel which is under the same management. It was a nice place with nice staff, cheap rooms and a comfy bed. However... there was one HUGE drawback: a wide opening in the wall beneath the ceiling facing the corridor. This was only covered by a mosquito net. So no privacy at all in an audio sense. Of course, only shared showers aswell. I thought this was too bad as I kind of ... read more

I had to go back to KL to get the last of my five shots, doctor's orders, and this was the only reason tho return to this shithole. Great... Now I had four nights here just because I'd left Taman Negara earlier than planned due to the money issue. As I mentioned earlier I didn't want to go back to dirty Chow Kit so I wanted to stay in Chinatown instead. I thought I'd try a place called Wheelers as I'd met a dude from that place, the last time I was in KL, that was quite friendly even though I didn't go to his place. Again I was dropped at an unexpected place and was totally lost. I knew I was in Chinatown (which is a small place) but in a part I had missed ... read more

Leaving Hue with regret I arrived in Danang with some hope of getting my second and third vaccination shot, this being a city of over a million people. I wanted to check out China Beach, The Marble Mountains and maybe some other places of war interest aswell. Maybe it's a good thing I'm writing this a month or so after having been there as I'm very impulsive and moody which has a great influence on my writing. This resulting in posts filled with annoyance and anger over the things that didn't go my way at the time. Having said this I still HATE DANANG! Another one of those cities/towns where everything just goes wrong and you come across shitloads of unfriendly people. This would be the time to mention some wonderful locals operating a pho joint ... read more

I had my doubts about going to the Cameron Highlands as the description in the Lonely Planet didn't sound too exciting. A lot of strawberry farms, tea plantations and a great risk to get lost, great! I could care less about these farms and plantations and I do have a tendency to get lost, but that's mostly in cities without signs. I knew there would be a bunch of walks to do but I had no idea what kind of walks. A limey I met convinced me though that there would be really nice ones. So I made up my mind to go there, even though I met an old Spanish geezer who told me I should skip it. So I got on another really comfortable bus. They did however run a halfhour of some kung ... read more

So I came from the wonderful city/state of Singapore making my way to the next metropolis: Kuala Lumpur. That was sort of a mistake as I will explain soon. First I have to say that the bus from Johor Bahru to KL was the best long distance bus I've EVER been on. The friggin seat was like an easy-chair! No music, no TV and of course AC. A promising start for Malaysia. Unfortunately KL was a disappointment. I was a bit lost when getting off the bus as I'd expected to be dropped off close to Chow Kit where I was supposed to stay. Turned out I had to subway and monorail my ass to the other side of the city center. I chose the Hostel Cosmopolitan as they had WiFi in the rooms and free ... read more