So I took the train from Singapore to KL. A comfortable ride and I was very fortunate to have the best accomodation I could imagine organised for me. I met a lovely couple in Bangkok at the start of my trip, indians from Canada living in KL. They insisted that I stay in their appartment as unfortunately they were away during my time in KL. What they didnt tell me is that it was a penthouse suite on the 28th floor with a swimming pool overlooking the whole city! Choosing which room to sleep in was a struggle! The view from the balcony was amazing. From there I could see the twin towers, the Kuala Lumpur tower and the blue mosque in the centre of town. The next day I was at the twin towers by 6.30 in the morning, holiday you call this?! Anyway I met 3 guys from india who are now working in Singapore. We went up the towers and ended up spending the whole day together visiting the rest of the city. During the afternoon, the rain poured for a short time and hours later temperatures were in the mid 30s again?? Being fed up now of noodles and rice and rice and noodles, I decided to have some indian food after about 4 weeks of not having had any. I found a great place full of locals in little india making naan and rotlis in front of you. The rest of the afternoon we went to the national museum and ended the evening with some drinks and a photo competition in front of the twin towers (one of the guys insisted he was a better photographer). The night ended and again the guys took good care of me, making sure I got home ok.
The next day I went to the station to get my ticket for penang and bumped into them again. They convinced me to go with them to Genting, an amusement park in the highlands with loads of rides etc. I was in my shorts as it was so hot and laughed at them wearing their jeans. By the time we reached there, they were laughing at me. I was soo cold. We spent the day on rides, being stupid and returned back to KL in the evening. I really enjoyed spending the 2 days with them and its easy to forget that you are travelling alone until you head off in different directions and on to the next destination.
So I arrived in Penang the next day by bus. I spent about 30 mins looking for good standard accommodation. Most had shared bathrooms and the standard was much lower than what I have had elsewhere. I found an ok place but woke up the next morning with 19 mosqito bites on my right arm. I spent the next day sightseeing and went up to Penang Hill which had a lovely view. I wasn't too impressed with Penang to be honest. I had been told it was amazing for food and full fo character but I found the people to be quite rude, the place to be very touristic and even the travellers seemed strange and quite content watching TV all day at the front of the guesthouse.
Anyway so now I am in Langkawi. I took the boat here yesterday morning which only took about 2.5 hours. I met a lovely French couple along the way and enjoyed chatting to them despite not having used my french in some time. They insisted they drop me to the area I needed to go to find acommodation before they headed to their Sheraton Hotel. I found a place quite quickly and soon headed to the beach about a 5 mins walk away. The sea was really warm with a long stretch of white sand. The sea isnt as clear as I'm hoping for in Thailand but i can't complain! In the evening, the french couple invited me for dinner at the hotel. Huge hotel with private bungalows on the sea front.
Tomorrow I am heading somewhere in south thailand, destination to be confirmed! Really looking forward to the marine life at last and would like to find a comfortable hotel for the last 2 weeks of my trip. Can't believe its gone so fast! Ive been moving quickly though and have seen a lot of places. I've also been fortunate to have met a lot of very lovely people along the way and hope that we keep in touch. I am tired from travelling now though and am looking forward to finding a nice island and staying put for a few days. I'm planning on taking a 4 day padi open water diving course so cant wait for that!
That's it from me for now! Sorry its taken me a while to update the journal, its been a busy few weeks! Hope you are all well at home - if anyone wants to join me for 2 weeks in south thailand, give me a shout;)
