Great to be in a new country again. And I was ready for a city. The journey to Penang took 12 hours; a boat from Koh Bulon to Pak Bara and then a mini bus to Penang with a change in HatYai. The Malaysian border crossing was quick and easy. I arrived in Penang with no Malaysian money, it was dark, it was raining and I was hungry. Luckily I found ...

... today we go to the Kek Lok Si Temple. This was the reason to come here, I need to see the statue of Kuan Yin. She is a Buddhist goddess, 30 meter high and completely made from Bronze. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kek_Lok_Si _Temple Dr T sleeps badly. I have to drag myself out of bed too. I go for breakfast on my own and try again to wake Hub...

And so it was that our three intrepid travellers set off to discover a new land, and in the process, add yet another stamp to their passport. Steph, Jenna and I left Phi Phi at 9am, arriving in Krabi at about 11am where we caught a mini bus down to Had Yai. If you're unaware, the south of Thailand is partly Muslim, compared to the rest of the co...

So, with the roads so good, and the lack of chaos as seen in Indonesia, we decide to get a motorbike the first day in Pinang. We got one for only 15 Ringit/day for our entire stay, which was till the 8th. 15 Ringit is about $4.50 :D. And what a good decision it was! Even though you can pass each other any which way and that, Mathew drove us arou...

Left the highlands for Penang. It is loads hotter. We wandered around the old Chinatown working up a big sweat, which makes it quite difficult to enjoy the sightseeing. However, there were a few good highlights, such as seeing the coffee beans being roasted in an old chinese shop house, and visiting the temples. The lowlight was the last day whe...

We arrived from Butterworth after an overnight train from Chumphon. Chilled out for the afternoon and sorted boat tickets out for Sumatra. Also found a very nice pub, where the Malaysians seemed more British than we did! Only had one whole day here, which we spent out of the city. Spent the morning in the Botanical Gardens, which was lovely and...

Penang was actually rather lovely. The first night we got there, we went up the funicular railway, to the top of Penang Hill, some 710m above sea level, to watch the sunset. However, it was a bit cloudy, and very polluted and we couldn't really see much. It was still nice though.. had a glass of wine (after being told we couldn't have cocktails,...

Having been up at 6am every morning to prepare for the night dive, getting up at 6am again seemed almost normal. We had stayed at a hotel close by the Phuket bus station where we headed to at 7am. The plan was to catch a bus to Hat Yai and then to Malaysia. We managed to get on a 1st class bus for US$10 each and were offered an onward bus to Pen...

First off, Georgetown is a city on an island off the western coast of penninsular Malaysia. That being said, the town itself is much like that of its Malaysian counterparts, in that it is generally cleaner than towns in Thailand, but still a little dingy in spots. Of course the main attraction for many here is the ocean, which I will admit is a...

Well, how busy you find yourself when you are doing nothing! Have been to the Cameron Higlands, a Malaysian island, and now moving on again and haven't had time to write anything up... Firstly, Cameron Highlands. Was a great relief to get out of the heat and humidity for a few days. Think my body was on overdrive after a pretty chilly few weeks ...