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We had a very smooth flight into Kuala Lumpar followed by a very slow and smelly bus into the city centre to our hotel. We had a couple of days exploring China Town and Little India, applied for our Indian visas, ate lots of food, and even went to the cinema (which was real treat for us!). On our last day in KL (this time) I was poorly so Lois had an adventure day! She caught the train to the KLCC shopping centre and was very excited as "They had a Topshop and a Nandos." I was amazed she hadn't got lost on her little trip!
We travelled to the Cameron Highlands, about four hours from KL and discovered that Malaysia does some awesome curries…. for the next few days that was all we seemed to eat! In between curries we managed a bit of sight seeing (highlights were proper tea at a tea plantation and strawberry milkshakes from the strawberry farm) and some light trekking in the jungle. The trekking was great fun, climbing over all of the fallen trees took us forever (and we were supposedly on an easy trail) and I almost fell through the bushes as I went sliding in the mud! When I flicked a big slug off me and got Lois in the face with it (by accident) she was not very happy! Hot and sweaty after the hike we were incredibly lucky to hitch a lift back to town with a very nice man with only one arm (only significant because his car was a manual and the roads were very twisty).
We left the pleasant cool of the highlands (we actually wore jumpers in the evening) on an early bus to George Town, Penang. We arrived in time for lunch and went for another curry! The food in Malaysia really is excellent! We spent that afternoon and the next day sightseeing around George Town - visiting British Colonial buildings, Chinese Clan Houses, and Little India. We had an amazing lunch in Little India: before we knew what was happening, and before we'd asked for a menu, we were being dished up various curries onto a banana leaf - and we ate with our hands!
On our last day in Penang we did a tour around the island - a lively 72 year old called John picked us up in his ancient Proton. We had a great day and I can't do it justice in writing. John's stories as he took us around were hilarious and often revolved around sex (on the way back he moved onto the topic of his own sex life!). In between stories, we saw some temples, visited a Batik place, drank awesome fruit shakes, drove through the Beverley Hills of Penang, saw monkeys at the botanical gardens, ate good food, and visited a fishing village. Highlights of the day were seeing crocodile sized iguanas at the fishing village (they were close to 2 metres) and the views from the Kek Lok Si temple!
We said goodbye to John, and to Penang the following morning when we caught the 5 a.m. bus to the Perhentian Islands. From the bus we caught a very fast speedboat (our driver was determined to prove that his boat was the fastest on the water) to the small island, Perhentian Kecil. We'd been told by everyone who'd been to the islands that they were paradise, and we were not disappointed! We spent the next week sitting on the beach (long beach is probably the best beach we've been to this year so far), snorkelling (seeing black tip reef sharks, massive turtles, a blue spotted stingray, the whole Nemo family, and some huge fish that Lois swears were man-eaters!), and eating bbq lobster and various fish on the beach. The place really was amazing and it was a very sad day for us when we eventually left! The only problem is that we'll always be comparing the beach we're at to the Perhentians, and they probably won't be as good (see our next blog on Bali!).
We next headed to Cherating, a quiet little seaside town on the east coast, where we spent a few more lazy days in Malaysia (we felt like it was deserved after the nasty bus driver missed our stop on purpose and we ended up in the wrong town!). In between sitting on the beach and eating more good food, we managed to see loads of fireflies on a river tour and get massages. The highlight though was going to a beach late on evening where there was a turtle nesting! She laid 87 eggs and the rangers let us release some baby turtles!
Back in KL for our last few days in Malaysia we actually managed some sightseeing! We visited Merdeka Square (where independence was declared), the bird park, the aquarium (where we saw lots of the fish we'd seen snorkelling in the Perhentians), the Menora KL Tower (with views over the whole of the city, the Batu Caves (big limestone caves with Hindu temples in them and lots of steps to the top), and lots of shopping malls! It was a good end to Malaysia, and quite busy for us!
We had a great time in Malaysia - the people were friendly, the food was great (as I've mentioned a lot), and the Perhentians were AMAZING! Next stop Bali and Lombok….
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