Day 50 - 54: enjoying the beach

And thus endeth my warblings... we've been at the beach on Penang for the last few days, and whilst they've been fun for us, there isn't much to write about, so forgive me if I leave it at that.

If you've stuck with the blog throughout the whole of the last two months and seen our progression from hapless innocents to slightly older, more grey, hapless innocents, then you'll know we've enjoyed ourselves a lot, but are now ready to come home.

I'm typing this from a cafe in Bangkok airport, so if all goes to plan we'll be back in Blighty in time for dinner tonight (not that it will feel like it to us after 20 hours of travelling). Thank you for all the nice comments about the blog you've sent me over the last weeks - it is nice to know it was useful :)

Signing off for now,
JQ & JP

Day 49: a mini-adventure to Kok Lek Si temple

We were off to see the iconic Malaysian buddhist temple of Kek Lok Si today. It is a big temple and the image of it is apparently as linked to the image of Malaysia as are the Petronas Towers or the orangutan. Since I hadn't come across it before we came here, I'm not sure I'd agree, but it is definitely worth a visit, so I'm happy to be converted :) It is even on wiki, so if you're curious, here's the link -

We caught the bus there, which always makes me happy and usually freaks JP out. He spent the whole journey fretting about where the stop was until I asked the driver to let us know. In due time we arrived and it was pretty clear as there was an enormous sign pointing the way, plus there were a fair few people all heading up the hill to where we could see the temple. You have to walk through a covered walkway of shops up the hillside, as clearly there is nothing to preclude doing good business as well as keeping the faith. After running the gauntlet of over-eager t-shirt vendors (cheapest ones yet!) we made it to the temple complex. The first thing you see is a turtle pool where people can feed them to atone for sins or ask for good luck for themselves or their family or business. The photo shows JP and a little boy who was very excited at being allowed to feed the turtles.



There are lots of parts to go see, but my favourite was the newest part of the structure at the top, where they are adding a massive standing statue of the Goddess of Mercy under a roof over 100 feet tall. You take a funicular to get up there (unless you're on a pilgrimage, in which case I suspect you probably have to walk).

Once we were done, we wandered back down the hill, just in time for a rainstorm timing itself perfectly with lunch, so we stopped off for a bite to eat. Then it was off to catch the next bus back and our next tourist trail stop, the Khoo Khongsi assembly hall.

We've seen chinese assembly halls in lots of places, and they all follow a similar pattern, but this is the most impressive one yet. Apparently, the original structure was even more impressive, but on the night it was completed, it burnt down, so they took that as a sign of divine jealousy and toned it down on the rebuild. The photo shows some of the decoration and it is still very impressive.

We're off to the beach for our last few days from tomorrow so we enjoyed our last evening in Georgetown by heading down Gurney Drive again to the hawker centre.

Day 48: in which we make it to the museum and eat lots of vegetables

We made it to the museum and learned lots some more about Penang, but after the bright idea yesterday of this being our first call, it didn't really offer much we hadn't seen elsewhere, so no great loss doing it today instead. The one thing I did see which I won't anywhere else is the funicular railway carriage in the photo. We were going to go up the Penang Hill, where the funicular was built years ago, but we found out it is being renovated, so we can't. Sad :(

We then headed out to see Chinatown a bit better. After walking for hours yesterday, when I looked at the map it seems we only discovered the outskirts of the area. An impressive feat when you consider that most of the centre of town is Chinatown! It isn't as distinctive as others in other cities in SE Asia. Georgetown is generally a nice place to be - well-spread out with pavements and spaces to sit if you want to watch the world go by. I like it.

By lunchtime I was hungry and rather than struggle to find somewhere that offered veggie too, we headed for one of the recommendations in the guidebook, a chinese veg restaurant down a side-street. It was tasty as it was a buffet and you picked what you wanted and paid according to options, so we could try out lots of new options, although we have no idea what they were called!

After lunch we visited the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion, which is now a hotel, but does guided tours twice a day to help with running costs. It won a UNESCO award for renovating the property so is a regular stop on the tourist trail. It is beautiful inside and out, a huge indigo blue property. It was built by a phenomenally successful Chinese merchant who was once known as "the Rockefeller of the East". Cue lots of arty photo's from JP and me.

After the tour, we headed back to the ranch to clean up before going out for dinner in the local area. We wandered in search of another food court, failed to find it, but found another veggie restaurant, this one with monks in it, so we ate there instead. Add in the delight of finding the fantastically named drink "Kickapoo Joy Juice" (see photo) and you'll see it was a happy food day for JQ :)

Day 47: exploring Georgetown

JP had a really good idea this morning - let's go to the main museum first, so that we know what we're looking at or learning about when we go round the town. Sounds fab. Only problem - turns out that the museum is closed on Fridays, and guess what day it is today...

So instead, we did a bit of shopping for self-catering stuff, since we're in our own place for a few days, and then wandered, trying to imbibe some culture, but really just feeling exhausted and ready for a nap (in my case at least). We started to get our bearings of where the main sites were, and the sense that the British ruled this island until WWII is pretty clear. The choice of architecture and the layout is very British in feel. There are some really impressive buildings here, such as the Town Hall and the City Hall, which are next door to each other opposite the old cricket ground. Then there is an entire street of mansions, which apparently were built by Chinese merchants and it became known as "Millionaire's Row" - it is just behind the area we are staying so we've been having a look at the houses, and they are, or were, beautiful. Much of the old buildings have been left to fall into decay though, as the fashion seems to be for new high-rise beach front properties. There is one being built at the end of Gurney Drive which is two apartments per floor, each with their own enormous balconies containing an infinity swimming pool. We can't find what they'll cost, but as they have space for maids quarters which aren't even mentioned in the specification, chances are that they are pricey! The maids all come from Inddonesia, and the two governments have been in the news here for the last week trying to agree a payrise - that's how common it is to many Malaysian households. Incredible really, especially as Malaysia isn't yet a "developed" nation - there is still clearly a hierarchy of wealth around here.

So on our tour, we saw the old Fort, a Chinese assembly hall (where we saw the biggest incense sticks ever, hence the pic), before wandering into an area containing the clan jetties. Apparently 6 different villages from China moved here, and they set up their own communities living over the water of the bay on extended piers, which still exist. Mostly they are fishermen's families, hence staying close to the water, but there are temples and food stalls and allsorts. We chilled out on the Lim one for a while, in honour of our friend Jon Lim (who has nothing to do with it except sharing the name!!). They are made up of wooden huts mostly, although you sometimes get a really modern one in amongst all the others, so people are continuing to move in and live there.

Then it was off for a drink - having been to one of the Sarky brothers establishments in Raffles Hotel, we thought we complete the set by going to the Eastern and Oriental Hotel here in G-town. It is very lovely, although it is now on what appears to be a ringroad, with a ridiculous amount of traffic past the front door. Still, the bar is at the back, so here you have himself enjoying a wee snifter before our walk back home.

Day 46: Off to Georgetown

After a happy couple of days in the highlands, it was time to move on, this time to Penang. The last week of the trip is on this island, first in Georgetown, the capital, and then at the beach in Batu Ferringhi.

We caught the bus at 8am, and that was an interesting surprise - it was the cheap bus for locals, and therefore had an engine, some seats and a driver who thought he was auditioning for "The Italian Job" bus drive in the Alps. Two hours of being thrown round mountain cornerson our way down to the flats of Ipoh was not a soothing way to travel.

We had originally booked to stay a night in Ipoh, but from people's descriptions and trouble getting a hotel room, it was pretty clear it was a one-horse town we were best avoiding. So after arriving at the bus station on the edge of town, we set about finding a connection to take us to the ferry terminal at Butterworth instead so that we could be on Penang by evening.

As usual, one of us looked after the bags (JP) and the other went to find tickets (me). I wandered into the bus terminal and looked a little bewildered, until a helpful chap by the door asked me where I was going and pointed out the right row of booths. As soon as he did, the four ticket agents all started shouting at me to come talk to them from behind their booths. I didn't know who to talk to and am not good with ticket touts at the best of times, but I randomly picked one and bought two tickets.

The agent told me the bus number so I collected JP, who'd been laughing his socks off at the ticketing process, and we went to find the bus. The agent wasn't kidding when she said it was a "super-VIP" bus - it was double-decker, with plush armchair seating, only three to a row max, with mock wooden styling on the arms. After the bus in the morning, it felt like we were in bus heaven!

The journey was only a couple of hours and then we were dumped unceremoniously on a nearby roundabout to the ferry terminal. Throughout Asia we've had things like this happen - you get somewhere you think it's all organised, only to find you have to roll with the punches as chaos reveals itself. Thankfully a lovely fellow passenger from our bus helped us to find the ferry in the terminal - you'd think that was easy, but a ferry can be a tricky thing to find.

The view over to Georgetown isn't so very impressive, but as ever, I do love to arrive new places, so here's the view of G-town as we arrived, all gleaming tower blocks. There's lots of investment in Penang especially for tourism and electronics/computing - JP tells me it is the Silicon Valley of Malaysia.

Once we arrived on land, we picked a taxi and headed for our digs, a B&B slightly out of town, in a residential area. We normally pick places in the centre of town, but this one had great reviews on Trip Advisor, and we never ignore the sage advice of TA reviews! We weren't disappointed - it is a really lovely house, now converted to two apartments, and as the owners are away on holiday for a week, we have the run of the place for our stay, as they don't usually book it out but took a chance on us :)

Once settled, we headed out to nearby Gurney Drive (see lovely arty photo by JP of nighttime view over bay) to find some dinner at another fab food court. JP is working through all the available food options and there are plenty of local specialities to keep him happy for the remaining week. Tonight's option was toufu, which is pick-your-own noodle soup, and he managed to spend RM 12.00 on it - to give you an idea, any normal dish is between RM 3-5, so he really outdid himself. In it were chinese sausage, fish balls (ick!), chicken balls, squid plus more, so it was value for money, just a bit grim for the veggie sitting opposite him. The things we do for love... more food tomorrow :)

Day 45: in which JQ discovers the delights of the tea plantation

Today we decided to go explore the area via an organised trip. We'd seen enough DIY trekking action to last us a lifetime, so today's activities were strictly tour territory. Having organised one of the standard half day tours, we were in reception at 9am, ready for pick-up. The itinerary was to take us around some of the highlights of the area, focusing on the agriculture for which it is famed.

First stop was the rose garden. Although there are a lot of roses and other flowers grown up here, these places seem to be little more than ornamental gardens set on the hillside, and for RM 5.00, that's quite a racket they have going. To put it in context, the main museum in Melaka, with four extensions included, cost the same price as this place, so it's easy money from tour groups. It's only about £1 to us, so not a huge expense.

It turned out to be quite a fun place. As the climate is so much cooler, they can grow plants much more like Britain, and as the area is an old British hill station, you can see how places like the rose garden were started. It was quite a big place and in amongst the plants, there were some very odd statues and constructions, hence the photo's here. JP was able to pose with Snow White, whilst I look lovely with two Chinese "weebles".

After the rose garden it was on to see a strawberry farm. This place was a bit odd too, but for different reasons. All the farm offered was a small covered area of four rows of strawberry plants on raised platforms, and then a shop selling strawberry-themed gifts and items. Why they take you there, I'm not really sure, other than to try to part you from more cash, but we dutifully had a milkshake and then it was time to continue our tour.


Next was the butterfly farm. The space allocated to butterflies is tiny compared to the space for the gift shop, or even for the random assortment of creepy crawlies and reptiles. Why there were snakes and beetles in the same place is a mystery, but it was quite entertaining. Again, RM 5.00 was the entry fee, so there is a definite killing to be made if you have a random idea for a tourist sight in these parts.

Onwards to the highlight for me - the tea plantation. This was the real reason I wanted to go on this tour, as transport up here is a bit of a pain, and an organised tour makes it simpler to get to it. We went to the Boh tea plantation, and as Boh tea is like PG Tips back home, this is a good place to see. They had a proper visitor centre and a factory tour, plus a tearoom which overlooked the fields, hence me sipping tea on the veranda :)

After the tea tour we then had a visit to a buddhist temple, a bee farm and then back home again. A very random morning, but entertaining nonetheless. The only other noteworthy highlight was me completing a very difficult sudoku in the afternoon. As I don't usually give the easy ones a go, this represents a major achievement for yours truly and well worth the prestigious award of a photo in the blog!

Day 44: Rumble in the jungle

Hmmm, you'd think I would learn. Two disastrous trips to the jungle and I'm still stupid enough to go jungle trekking today. You may question my sanity after finishing this entry...

We knew that there are walking trails here in the hills, and they start in Tanah Rata so we could easily access them. Before starting out, we read the following instructions on our dodgy walking map purchased from the hotel.

No.1: take plenty of water and food
No.2: tell your hotel where you are going
No.3: make sure you can complete a route before it goes dark
No.4: weather can be unpredictable so be prepared for sudden rain
No.5: wear suitable clothing
No.6: use good judgement and common sense.

I can confirm that we failed on all bar one of these! We tried to find an ordnance survey standard map, but funnily enough they don't do them here. Not every country shares the British enthusiasm for mapping things in the minutest of details, evidently. At this point, my spidey-senses started to tingle in an unpleasant manner. However, clearly our desire to live life on the edge on this trip has been awakened by previous events, as the lack of map did not deter us. "The trails are all clearly signposted" said our hotel concierge, so who were we to argue? We awoke bright and chipper, looked out at the sunny cool day ahead and decided to go for it.

So our hapless travellers set off on trail "no.4: Pasit waterfall", a trail for beginners, only 1km long and likely to take no longer than half an hour there and back. We manouevred past the fallen tree and along the path where the bricks had been long since "reallocated" probably to people's front paths, and found our waterfall in no time at all. It was not a pretty sight, as there is rubbish all over, but somehow I managed to get one nice shot of it.

Having found the waterfall so easily, we wandered on, looking for the next sight on the trail, the Pasit watchtower. It turns out that after a very steep uphil climb for ten minutes, you reach the top of the hill to find that when the sign says that the watchtower is "under renovation" this means it has collapsed and there is no sign that anyone is rebuilding it. We climbed over the debris, and having seen that the trail continued, we consulted the map and decided to continue. After all, it was going so well and it was only 11:30am.

On we wandered, but to our consternation, after another 20 mins or so, we found a signpost for route no. 6. As the Lonely Planet warns not to go near this one as it is often neglected, we were a bit concerned, especially as the only route 6 on the LP map was on the other side of the valley and not supposed to be anywhere near us. However, since it meant going back up a big hill, we thought we'd carry on for a bit, figuring we were in the right place according to dodgy tourist map.

An hour later, we were not so convinced. Hot and sticky, in the middle of a jungle, with a dodgy trail ahead and a long way from our start point, we started to wonder if we were actually still on our trail. To our credit, we stayed calm and after some consideration, we decided that ahead was just as good an idea as going backwards. This turned out to be a good choice, despite the increasingly erratic trail, and the amount of scrabbling up and down hills that was necessary. We eventually found our way back to Tanah Rata after three hours, and never have I been more grateful for civilisation!

The rest of the day was spent calming down again and rehydrating from our adventures. No more jungles for me for a long time!!!