My Last Taste of SE Asia Tastes Like India

Trip Start Jun 07, 2008
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Trip End Aug 12, 2008


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Flag of Malaysia  , Pinang,
Monday, August 11, 2008

Forgive me, but I am going to work backwards and be counter-chronological. I AM ABOUT TO LEAVE ASIA! I needed to write that in caps because the reality still hasn't hit me, I thought if the letters were louder and bigger reality would start to sink in, but alas...

So I am in colorful Georgetown, killing time before I need to catch the bus to the airport for my flight to Bangkok, then to Rome, then finally to NJ. I got in yesterday evening, after a rather uneventful 6 hr ferry from Sumatra. I really like Georgetown, especially because I was able to just waltz off the ferry and amble to my guest house feeling completely oriented. I spent a night here before I went to Sumatra, and even though it was less than 24 hrs, the colonial streets and tunnel-like sidewalks felt overwhelmingly nostalgic. Familiarity is way underrated in the "real world;"  a familiar face or place in the sea of new, confusing, and unusual sights is completely priceless when you're on the road Me and a monkey checking each other out
Me and a monkey checking each other out
 . And so, even though I was really sad to leave incredible Sumatra (blog entry to follow), Malaysia was my silver lining.

So I woke up early this morning, partially because its my last day in Asia, and partially because my room was hella hot and stuffy, and decided to loose myself in Little India, a famous cobblestone neighborhood in Georgetown. Granted I have yet to visit India (it's on my to-do list though), but I literally felt transported into a completely different world. Wafting out of the stores were Bollywood songs, Nag Champa incense, boisterous greetings and millions of other stimulants that I just couldn't register- let alone identify. I had coffee and toast for breakfast (I know it sounds mundane, but much to my delight the sweet old man cut my jam and butter toast into nine little squares- three rows of three- and gave me a tiny fork to eat each quadrant with), and then two hours later I had chai, tandoori chicken, roti and some sort of fried potato biscuit. YUM! I wandered in and out of all sorts of colorful shops, and collected thread for my leather pouch. I also visited some used bookstores and the Rain forest bakery and got supplies for the long journey ahead...
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