Abandoned Buildings: Part 1:1 George Town, Penang

Travel Log 3

 

After Cameron Highlands it was back to KL, where this time I couchsurfed at Milda’s couchsurfing house. I was the only one couchsurfing when I arrived but by the end of the three nights I stayed there Milda hosted me, a South African/Irish couple, an Estonian girl, a Portuguese Malay friend,  a polish guy, a English/French couple (who have spent the last four years cycling across the globe) and four Russian guys.  I also met about 20 other couchsurfers going out with the KL couchsurfing community.

The first night back in KL was quite relaxed sitting in and eating cheese naan, drinking and chatting. The next night was out to meet some CSers to go to a night market where we tried all sort of crazy dishes, one of which was stinky tofu which smelt like sewage and tasted like sewage – and yet there was a queue at the stall selling it.  Then the next night we met up with Nanie a CSer I met last time I was in KL and we went for some food and drinks and met more CSers. Unfortunately compared with food and other drink alcohol is quite expensive out here as a lot of the population are Muslim and don’t drink so the drink is usuakky tea or fruit juice.

After Milda’s house I moved onto Agnes’s house as she was going to give me a lift to Melaka. The first night I was there we stayed in KL and went out with Agnes’s CSing friends for a burger excursion where we ate several burgers at several roadside burger joints. One of which actually had really nice steamed burgers. This place steamed the burgers and then barbequed them. Here I had a double burger mutton and beef with cheese and egg and pepper sauce. It was huge but tasted real good. I reckon it’s probably the best burger joint in town.

On Saturday Agnes drove us down to Melaka where she often goes to visit her family. Here we saw the sights which range from old chinese temples and restaurants to old Portuguese churches and British colonial buildings, unfortunately as it was Saturday the town was packed with school kids out on day trips. In the evening we had Satay dipped in a special Melakan sauce.

         My host Agnes at a Portuguese church

 

After Melaka it was back up to KL for the night to catch a bus in the morning to Penang Island where I am now sitting in the forecourt of an old Colonial building using Penang’s free wifi service which although free is very slow. Here I am going to hire a bike and bike around town, then hopefully go to the beach and also get my Thai visa.

So for now

Toodle loo

Leon  

Travel Log 2

 

Currently I am sitting drinking tea and eating scones with cream and jam in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. Here the British used to come to escape the heat during colonial times – it rains from 3:30 onwards here. There are lots of tea plantations and strawberry farms (very British) and beautiful rainforests. So far all we have done is go to the tea plantation and a Buddhist temple. To get about the villages we hitchhiked; once on the back of a pickup once on an old school bus and once with a middle aged Malaysian couple all of whom were wonderfully friendly.

 

Today I had my first hot shower on my trip – ace. Tomorrow we are going for a hike into the rainforest to hopefully the summit of the nearest mountain.

Prior to the Cameron highland I was in Tamen Negara a rainforest area. Here I went on a trek along a canopy walkway and then a long day trip into the forest with three others and two guides. One of which was a small funny chap who upon finding elephant tracks ran around  the back of a tree and picked up the elephant dung high above his head with a big smile on his face.  In the jungle there are loads of leeches and by the end of the trek I had 15 leech bites on my feet and blood soaked socks and shoes. On the boat ride back we stopped off at an aboriginal tribes home, which although very touristy was interesting and we got to have a go on the blow dart. Unfortunately as we were a large group we didn’t see many animals on the trek only a few monkeys and different insects.

So after a long day trek and losing pints of blood feeding the leeches I moved onto the Cameron Highlands where I am now eating tea and scones.

   

Some pictures of the trekking group

Laters taters

Leon

Strawberries

Travel Log 1

 

I arrived in KL (What the cool kids call Kuala Lumpur) on Monday after a nervous 12 hour flight. I was nervous because the AirAsia check in guy warned me that because I didn't have an onward flight I may have trouble getting into the country without making travel arrangements to the next country. As I was arriving not knowing what the next country I was to visit was going to be I spent some of my flight attempting to figure out where I would go in the next month.

Oh and also although the flight was 12 hours long no in flight entertainment was provided. So I mainly slept, one time when the plane wobbled I lashed out in my sleep and hit the man sitting next to me, I quickly apologised and thought it was time I watched a film on my laptop.

My initial plan was to walk to the hostel from the station the airport bus dropped me off at but having walked all around the station to find only highways with no footpaths besides them I decided to get a cab instead.

I arrived at the hostel at about 11:30 to find that the room I booked online had been given to someone else but they kindly offered to give me a 2 single bed room for the same price if I didn't mind sharing with anyone else that arrived.

 

 The hostel I stayed at in KL

 

My first day in KL was taken up by looking around Chinatown and the central market and also sleeping off the jetlag. Over the next few days I saw most of the sights of KL, which unfortunately aren't really all that. The Petronas tower are huge! The transport system needs updating. Chinatown although interesting; smells. Jalan Alor a food street was good and I had pretty nice grilled swordfish there. Oh and I met up with a CS (What the Couch Surfing bums call a couch surfer) at the KL tower to watch some base jumpers one of which was her friend which was pretty cool.

It seems that KL is used as a hub for South East Asia travellers and there were lots of people in the hostel hanging around topping up supplies and waiting before going off on their next excursion. This may well be what I do in a few weeks time.

Currently I am on the smaller of the Perhentian Islands off the east coast near a town called Kota Besut, overlooking a wonderful bay where I have spent the day swimming in the sea and sleeping under a sunshade. I am not sure whether my body has survived the amount of sun I forced it to take today; only time will tell.

 View from my chalet on the Perhentian Islands

I am probably going to stay here for a couple more days until we get thrown off the island because of the Monsoons and then ... well i'm not sure but I will update in the future probably quite soon as most places seem to have wifi.

 The beach

Ciao

Leon