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Published: January 29th 2008
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I used to think that I could walk. And not any specialist type of walking, I'm talking the basic A to B type. But there's something about Malaysia that has made it all go wrong, not just for me but Tom as well.
The number of times we've both walked into ledges, rocks, steps etc is incredible. Sick of it in Penang I declared a "No toe stub day" but I don't have the authority, I just Murray Walker'd it and was double punished with a big toe stubbing and open sewer fall. The latest destination Langkawi had been being more generous until a ledge hit that has left my other big toe an interesting shade of purple.
We arrived in Malaysia without any immediate plan. The big picture is that the flight arrived in Kuala Lumpur and our flight will be back out of Kuala Lumpur at the beginning of June. But that doesn't help when it comes to deciding what to do each day.
So on the first day in KL we went for a gaze at the Petronas Towers. Travel books might tell you it's necessary to be in the queue for
the limited number of skybridge tickets by before 9am, but we must have picked a quiet day because when we went for a midday scout of where we'd need to be the next morning there were still same day tickets available. It was impressive and with the tickets being free not bad value either but as anyone can see by looking at the towers the bridge is a long way from the top, so if it's just height you're after the viewing deck of the KL Tower is higher.
By the following day we were already keen to move on. We took a bus to Melaka, advertised as two hours but a little longer in this case due to the skills of the coach driver earning him a pulling over and a ticket. They're keen on building shopping centres in Melaka (and Penang we later discovered) and it doesn't seem to matter whether there's a demand or not. There was some culture there too but nothing to write home about so I won't.
Pulau Pangkor (Pangkor Island) was the next stop, where we spent four days relaxing, including hiring mopeds and having some fun going back
and forth over the mountain pass on the north side of the island. We stopped that one when some police turned up and started standing intimidatingly in the middle of the road.
Then onwards with another bus journey to Georgetown, Penang. I don't have anything positive to say about that journey. At one stage on the motorway I had to go and have a sharp word with the driver who was drifting between lanes and the hard shoulder in a style reminiscent of the Varkala taxi man. Is it too much to expect the people driving me around to stay awake for the duration of the task? He was worse than taxi man in a way, who could at least drive when he was awake. This chap crunched his way round the gearbox so clumsily even Postman Pat would have been embarrassed.
The main reason for Georgetown was a Thai 2 month tourist visa, since we're likely to be there for more than the one month you are given at the border without a visa and we'll not be in an area suitable to do a visa run. The consulate turned out to have inflexible procedures
for when passports can be submitted and returned. We missed the Thursday morning submission window by ten minutes meaning they wouldn't even take the passports until the next day, to be picked up on the Monday afternoon. After much swearing amongst ourselves we went to a travel agent with an "express service" who for some extra Ringgit were able to acquire the visas for us on the Friday.
Last stop in Malaysia has been Langkawi, where it's been more sand, sun and mopeds. I think that's going to be a common theme for the next few weeks.
In other news, the quest which started in India for chicken of the Colonel's recipe is well and truly over. Success, if you can call it that, was achieved in Australia. In KL I wasn't even sure the meat in the sorry looking burger was chicken. It wasn't supposed to end like that.
The boat is booked to take us to Ko Lipe in Thailand tomorrow, where we'll likely spend a few days before carrying on up the coast island to island. I'm hopeful that with a change of country there'll be a return to form on
the walking front, it'd be nice to be able to class myself as "competent" by the time I write next.
Photos from Penang onwards to follow when I get round to it.
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johnson
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Toes
Hiya Paul and Tom. I decided to see if this problem of yours has occurred before. A philosophical blogger has written on the web at some length because the same thing happened to him. He decided it was good not to be taking one's toes for granted, useful as he now realises they are. I just quote his conclusion, as he does rabbit a bit overmuch, "I began to be grateful for the chance I had to stub my toe and become aware again of how valuable my toes are to me. Every cloud has a silver lining. I am glad that I have found it on this one. So let’s go stub our toes!" I don't suppose you would quite go that far and I hope you manage common or garden walking a little more safely from now on. But in any event I congratulate you again on your blog and look forward to the next exciting instalment. Good photos of the very tall young men in KL!