I knew that Penang to Kho Tao was a long journey, but I never knew it would be this long! It all started with a 5 a.m. luxury minibus ride across the Thai border, and then I was rushed into another bus for the rest of the journey north. The driver clearly had some sort of death wish and had a habit of stopping every 10 minutes to try and pick up more passengers. This would have been fine, but what was scary about it was the fact he always overshot, and then reversed up the motorway to get to the [View Full Entry]

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Templetastic I got a bus out of GT up to the Kek Lok Si Temple complex, a veritable tourist trap 30 minutes from the ferry terminal. It is a large and imposing complex, and it is clearly visible on the hillside from the village below. As you near the temple the street vendors get ever more touristy - practical goods like food and drink make way for the more profitable pocket sized buddahs and fake designer clothing. Eventually you break through to the actual temple which frankly I didnt rate. It was big, and complex and there were some nice features. [View Full Entry]

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The Journey As this is being written (but of couse not typed!) I'm sitting on a coach from KL to Butterworth, and from there Penang Island and colonial Georgetown. The scenery has been varied - initially flat and dull around KL but since then we have passed through stunning jungle valleys and hills, all accentuated by rugged rocky cliffs. Busses, beautiful busses On the surface Malaysian busses seem to be superb. Large amounts of legroom, comfy reclining seats and not overly aggresive air conditioning that makes your eyelids freeze open. But this is only on the surface. [View Full Entry]

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I awoke late, which I blame partly on beer and partly on the fact that my room has no windows and therefore is pitch black without the light on 24 hours a day. I spent the day again wandering around KL, this time heading out west where the Bird Park, Gardens, National monument and so on Lie. Scam? As I was walking back to the hotel I was approached by a young (25yr old?) Malaysian woman who started chatting to me "where are you from, how long you here" etc. She asked me if I wanted to have a drink with [View Full Entry]

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It was unmistakable when it appeared out of the bus windows - the KL and Petronas towers indicating that I had reached my destination. The futuristic skyline also serves to remind that Malaysia, and KL in particular, is economically the most developed in South East Asia after Singapore. My hostel was a short walk from the bus station in the bustling fringes of chinatown. My room: just big enough to fit my rucksack in next to the bed, and no more. But thats all I really need. Having listened to the receptionists advice on how I should avoid going anywhere with [View Full Entry]

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I didnt want to get up. I really didnt. But opening my eyes and facing the Kopi Susu was an inevitability. Richard, Junko, Anne, Marishka and myself all arranged to go for a trip around the island. Richard was as suprised to see me awake as I was him, with us having been the ones up til gone closing time at 04:30 last night. We hopped into the speedboat and then we were off to see some more of Tioman. First stop was snorkelling just north of Juara, before we stopped on Juara itself. Juara is the smallest and quietest town [View Full Entry]

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Another day of diving, another two dives. On the first dive we saw a good range of maring life, including a number of turtles. When we were back on the surface I felt a pain in my arm. Sarah, the divemaster said it was just sealice, but when we got back on the boat she realised it was a proper jellyfish sting, and out came the vinegar! Thankfully no one had to pee on my arm tho. My sting was pretty trivial compared to the injuries on board though - two snorkellers had decided to climb on some rocks above the [View Full Entry]

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Nasi Lemak makes a great breakfast. Coconut rice, chilli sauce and crunchy fish make an unlikely culinary delight, especially with the ubiquitous coffee (from a bag) with slug of condensed milk. After brekky it was time to head out for another days action packed diving. First stop was Fan canyon, and the second was around Soyah island. Two very good dives, but somewhat overshadowed by the night dive which was SPECTACULAR. It was the same site as yesterdays afternoon dive, but in the dark. The early part of the dive was nice, but pretty standard. The real greatness came tho when [View Full Entry]

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Despite having spent a week in Bali I never had a real fresh roti at all, but today I remedied that. People seem to really appreciate it when you speak the local lingo, and the chap at the roti stall was no exception. I chatted to him in Pigeon Malaysian while he turned to small fat dough ball into a huge thin disk, then folded it in a fried it up to make the finished snack, served with a hot vegetable curry - a great start to the day. At about 10:15 I went down to the ferry terminnal which was [View Full Entry]

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Duck porridge and Durian Juice I finally managed to track down the elusive textbook, and after a ricecake breakfast I trekked back across town to pick it up praying it would be small and light... and thankfully it was (ish). For lunch I had an interesting (thanks for the tip Chloe) Duck porridge lunch (literally duck and porridge) which was delicious. Its strange that at home we never use porridge as a base for anything other than breakfast, and it actually works very well. It was washed down with durian juice, which while tasty at first soon became too much to [View Full Entry]

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