Relaxing in Malaysia

---

So it was goodbye Thailand (20th November) and to see us off we had a hectic journey down to Penang. We got on and off buses 3 times in the space of 7 hours, first a pitstop at Trang, Hat Yai, followed by the Malay/Thai border at which point we hit a massive tunderstorm that escorted us to our destination. We spent 2 nights on the island in the city of Georgetown west of mainland Malaysia. We had returned to scenaries that resemblemed home, paved roads and footpaths and organised traffic.

Our two days sightseeing in Penang were easily covered by foot, visiting much of the Heritage and Trade trail. One thing that was evident on this trail was that Malaysia is made up of many different cultures and backgrounds all living in harmony. We visited Little India, which is an area full of Indian textile shops, entertainment and the cheap but lush indian food, making us feel very much at home! On our second day we took an elevated train journey to the top of Penang Hill, measuring 830 meters above sea level. From here we saw some amazing views of Penang, Georgetown and managed to visit a Hindu temple sitauted at the top of the hill.

We took a bus to Kula Lumpur (24th Nov) the following morning and the buses beat the ones back home, they had reclining seats and were spacious. On our first night we met up with some familiar faces from Thailand, spending our evening in KL's Chinatown which is full of food stalls, markets and tables full of fake goods. 13km out of KL are the Batu caves, which are limestone caves that shelter hindu shrines dating back to the 19th century, a climb up 272 steps on wet and narrow concrete steps to reach the main shrine. Along the way we had a few close encounters with the monkey kind, at which point we had to question 'are we in India?'
The following day we took KL's skytrain to the Petronas Towers, which meant an early wake up call to ensure we got our first come first serve basis tickets to visit the skybridge resting on the 41st and 42nd floors. At the foot of the towers lies a 6 floor shopping mall which includes a Petronas Discovery Centre, which brought the kids out in us! Malaysian shopping malls are so hightech, we managed to find one, Times square, that had a theme park within it, which included a roller coaster! KL was great apart from the rainy evenings, the huge rats and cockroaches. We were staying in luxury accomadation spending most of our time, relaxing, hanging out with friends and eating.

---

Photos

The Petronas Towers
452m high!

On the 41st Floor
Neelu and Priya on Skybridge of the Petronas Towers

Comments

[Anita]

oooooohhhh, I can just picture you in China town..... it feels like only yesterday I was there. The petronias towers are wonderful aren't they? One of them was built by Koreans and the other by the Japanese. The koreans finished first.... they are so proud to have beaten the Japanese at something!! Did you manage to restrain from shopping? Feels like back home with all those familiar stores huh? Both of you look fantastic in the pictures!!! You look so healthy. I am so envious of you eating all that indian food. I miss it!!!! That puri made my mouth water! Take care and keep on enjoying yourselves. Much love and lot's of hugs xoxo

[Sandeep]

Hey
Hey Neelu, Good to hear you are still enjoying yourself. Kuala Lumpur sounds cool, and that statue at the Batu caves is pretty impressive! The rickshaw in that picture looks just like one I got into today here in Puno - its mad how you can always find a rickshaw anywhere in the world! Anyway, gl and keep the photos coming. Cheers!