khta baru and perenthian islands

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well here we are in Kota Bharu by the seat of our pants and i will get to that later. we loved melaka and will have to back there as we did not see it all. the hotel was good though a bit out of town but we found the explorer bus that went past the hotel and that was such good value and ran till quite late so that worked out perfectly. the small streets of china town were wonderful and then we went to the museum, clibed the hill to the old church on the top and without my guide book handy cant remember the name but that is where jan van riebeecks wife is buried!!! so it was meaningful to me as a south african.
anyway yesterday we caught the bus to kl but is was later than it should have been and so we got to the airport with about 5 minutes to closing the gate (very stict on air asia) but we were at the wrong airport!!! international is not what we wanted so it was a slight rush to the domestic termianl in another taxi. (luckily there was an air asia desk there we told them we were coming.) anyway got there and the desk was closed but we got some help and being foreigners i suspect and we genuinely had been at the wrong airport they helped us through and we made the plane. air asia have a 25 minute turn around time between flights so you can imagine the are very strict with the closing times.
so we made it here to kota baru and wandered around the town. staying at the crystal lodge which is very nice i must say. the area is very muslim and i love the many ways the ladies tie their headscarfs. will have to bring one back for lisa!!! we had dinner in the market which was busy. we noticed the people had their dinners waiting for them and they sat around the tables not touching the food till they heard the mezzuin calling at 7 o'clock and then they could break their fast and eat. boy do i know how they feel. lucky for us its not as hot when we fast!!
so today we are off to the perentian islands for a few days and see how that goes. dont know what we are going to find in regards to accommodation and internet access so will keep you posted. bye for now

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