Border crossing Thailand to Malaysia and Penang
Trip Start
Apr 30, 2004
1
23
88
Trip End
Jan 28, 2005
Penang,
Malaysia
Thursday, July 15, 2004
The only point of interest on the 3 hour journey from Hat Yai to Penange was the border crossing. It was the quickest yet, about 10 minutes and the immigrations officials on the Thai side were sporting all white uniforms, they looked like they'd come straight off the Love Boat.
By 1pm (we've lost another hour and are now 7 hours ahead of UK) we arrive in Penang, our first stop in Malaysia. A one hour, 10,000 mile scouting mission by Rene, has her sweating and us a room in the Olive Hotel in Georgetown, Penangs main centre. Rene picked the Olive by smell, they bake their own bread and the whole place smells delicious. It's very old and full of colonial character, or some might say run down and tatty, but the waft of warm bread gets you everytime. Tan and Mae who run the hotel and small restaurant are warm and friendly and did I mention the smell?
A backpack offload, a sprint down the worn old wooden staircase into the small cafe/restaurant out front and in a flash we've ordered tea and bread products. I have 2 hot Rye bread rolls with butter and jam, Rene goes for the the whole meal bread cheese sandwich. What more could a pair of tired travellers wish for than buttery rolls, a sandwich the size of a housebrick and tea in a pot.
Just 3km offshore from Peninsula Malaysia, Penang lies in the channel of water that divides Sumatra and P.Malaysia, known as the Strait of Melaka. It's the oldest of the British Straits settlements in Malaysia, predating Singapore and Melaka and is known as the Pearl of the Orient.
Georgetown is on the northeastern corner of the island, it's a bustling compact city full of colonial architecture, temples and museums. We're staying in the old colonial district, inbetween the large Chinatown area and the smaller Little India. Time seems to have stood still here, architecturally wise, there hasn't been the usual invasion of concrete, glass and chrome.
It's snack time after a wander round Little India, the aroma of curried potato samosa's is irrisistable, so are the scotch egg like banana doughnuts (forgotten the Indian name). The street vendor spoke good English, we told him, when asked, we were from the Isle of Man, he not only knew where it was, he also knew how far it was from Scotland!
Snack time makes us hungry; we head to Restoran Kapitan which is packed with locals, always a good sign. Tandoori chicken is the house speciality, two huge tandoori ovens fill the corner. The luminous orange specimens hanging by hooks above the ovens, look more like tandoori pigeons to me, but we;re not here to sample the meat, so we just order a vegetable curry and a murtabak, which was an omoellette inside a naan.
Three delicious vegetable curry dishes, a murtabak, 2 naan bread, rice and 2 drinks came to a grand total of 9 ringits, about pounds 1.26. If we hadn't been so full, we'd have cartwheeled back to our room, but we were, so we walked. We saw some wildlife - 2 rats the size of cats, six skinny cats the size of rats and 3 lesser attractive pale legged, velvet fronted, hairy backed, buff rumped tit babblers (Prostitutes).
Expenses (we convert 700 baht to 650 ringit (RM). There are 7RM / Pound)
Bus to Penang 500Baht, Fruit, water and nuts 23 Baht, Lunch RM17, dinner RM18, curry RM9, Internet RM1, Accom RM22, Batteries RM6.90, Water RM 1.80.
Day 72 - Tues 13 July
2" thick toast, butter and jam and a pot of tea, gives the day a bumper start. Rene heads off on the bus to find the Indonesian consulate for visa info. She's also hoping to find some sort of industrial leg waxer or bush cutter, who can deal with the Liana vines growing from her legs.
I'm confined to barracks until I catch up a 10 day shortfall on the journal.
Rene discovers that although the Indonesian visa is now only 30 days and costs $25, you are allowed to leave and re enter, provided you pay another $25
This news gives us many more options for Indonesia.
I'm still scribbling so Rene does a bit of email / internet. She finds the World Service Website and writes down the frequencies so we can listen to the news, always handy when we're close to Indonesia.
The day drifts by on a bread and curry flavoured breeze.
At 01.30am, having nearly caught up, I say goodnight to the mouse who keeps scurrying across the floor and eliminate several fleas who've joined us in bed.
Expenses: Breakfast 13R, Bus 2R, Wax 75R, Accom 22R, Egg custard 0.80R, Toiletries 77.50R, Dinner 11.40R, Internet 3R
