Travel Zulu

I am about to get on a plane to Shenzhen. It is about a four hour flight. I am flying on Air Asia and they fly from a smaller airport away from the main airport in Kuala Lumpur. The facilities are still ok, and they have free wifi throughout the airport.

From Shenzhen it is a twenty hour plus train ride to Shanghai. Beijing is further north, but takes about the same time. My plan is to visit each of the event cities for the Olympics. I like traveling on Chinese trains. They are slow, but fairly comfortable. I picked a few new books to read on the way. My bag was even over the 15kg limit.

I didn’t see enough of Malaysia, but I hope to get back some time soon.

Took the bus from Penang to Kuala Lumpur. The bus had only three seats to a row, and were more like sofa chairs. It also wasn’t busy which is also a plus.

Hotels are more expensive in the capital and budget places are mostly dorm rooms. I wanted to have a good night sleep, so I got a nice room for at least tonight. When I get to China, I will probably only stay in dorms so I might just have a bit of luxury here in KL.

Walking around the streets to night, the atmosphere was pretty lively and looks as though there are some great places to eat. Tomorrow’s mission is finding the Chinese embassy and then I want to check out the twin towers, which aren’t too far away from where I am staying - the golden triangle as it is called here.

I caught the ferry back to Penang today, about a two and a half hour trip. I have been in Malaysia for around 10 days and I really like the place. I always thought that it was more expensive than other South East Asian countries, but it is comparable to Thailand and since the baht has been so strong lately, I think in could be even cheaper than Thailand.

I had a huge bowl of noodles tonight from a street vendor for just 3 ringit (US$0.80). I had heard beer was more expensive, but I went to a reggae bar last night and they were selling Tiger beers for just 4 ringit. The bar had a live band who play every night. They are a great band and the Malay singer is unbelievable. He looks more Samoan and plays percussion when he sings.

It was a little bit sad to leave Langkawi. I had some fun nights going out and it is just a beautiful layed back kind of place. Malaysia is mostly muslim but they don’t seem too strict. Not all restaurants sell alcohol, but there are still plenty of bars in the tourist destinations. For South East Asia it seems to have more order about the place. People actually wear helmets when riding motor bikes.

I know now it is low season and there aren’t too many tourists around, but you just don’t hear about Malaysia as much as say Thailand, Bali or Vietnam. Perhaps it is better to keep it a secret from the rest of the world.

I am still in Langkawi. It has rained fairly constantly the last few days, but I have decided to stay a little longer.

Even if it rains, I can get quite a bit of work done with the free wifi available here. Another guy staying here from Sweden makes his money working remotely, doing programming.

Langkawi has some very beautiful beaches and it is a great place to get away from it all. The whole island is a duty free zone which is great if you like shopping. I don’t like shopping but I do like the cheap imported beers.

I took the ferry from Georgetown to Langkawi this morning. There are only two ferries operating now at 8:15 am and 8:30 am. The later one stops off at another island. It is only a 2.5 hour trip.

I took a look at the beach and the water looks beautiful. The place I am staying is pretty simple and a little walk from the beach, but the owner is friendly and they have free wifi, which is pretty amazing for a cheap bungalow.

I booked for four nights and I think I will enjoy just staying here for the next four days.

If you would like to stay there, you need to book through the internet. The place is called Zachry’s in Langkawi. There are cheaper places to stay, but I have heard of thefts from places on the beach. Zachry also has plenty of DVDs to watch if you just want to chill out watching a movie.

I am currently staying in Georgetown, Penang. It is commercial center of Penang and has a large ethnic Chinese population. There are also quite a few Indians and the city even has a “Little India”. I just finished reading Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure by Triple J radio host, Sarah Macdonald, which has made me really want to go and check out India.

I like Malaysia so far, except that most of the cheap hotels I have seen so far only have shared bathrooms. This is the first country I have been to on this trip where this is the norm, rather than the exception. Nothing worse if you have had a few beers (or an Indian curry) and have to walk around in the night trying to remember where the bathroom is.

I just booked a guesthouse in Langkawi tonight. Langkawi is only about a 2-3 hour ferry ride from here, so I couldn’t resist.

Here are some pictures from my walk today.

Carpenter’s guild - where carpenters come to prey. The temple was built around late 1800s and is on a street called “Love Lane”.

Little India

Tonight’s dinner. Delicious, but I might be regretting it later. Served on a banana leaf which is not only more environmentally friendly than plastic plates, it saves on the washing up.

Arrived in Penang Malaysia this afternoon. Pretty uneventful border crossing over to Malaysia. It is my first time to visit the country. I wanted to come via Lang Kawi, but because it is low season there didn’t seem to be any easy transport options.

I sat next to a Malaysian tour guide on the minibus coming from the Malaysian border. He was going to meet a tour group at the border. He had the right day, but the wrong month. He proceeded to tell me every problem with Malaysia and the government. He was funny to talk to, but I just wanted to sleep. Not sure what it is, but I can now manage to fall straight to sleep as soon as I get on a bus.

It is not so hot, but pretty humid. The hotel rooms I looked at were mostly pretty bleak looking rooms. Tomorrow I am going to spend some time looking for a nicer place. At least there are a few places offering free Wifi.