Kuala Lumpur 18.2.02

I’ve been in Malaysia for the past two and a half weeks and its been a busy old time. Its very hot here and is predominantly Muslim but is a very friendly country for travellers and I have quite enjoyed myself. Here's where I've been and what I’ve done for anyone who's interested...

Melacca 

The first stop on the standard backpacker route after leaving Singapore. I was told that it was 'historic and quiet' which proved to be exactly right! I stayed a couple of days and did all the historic sightseeing that the oppressive heat would allow. It was here I met my new travelling buddy, Pascal from Utrecht. He doesn't drink at all and his friends call him 'Scarecrow' because he always frightens the birds away!  The perfect travelling companion to keep me on the straight and narrow!!! The hostel manageress, 'Queen Bee' as she called herself, was very nice and cooked for us both for free! She also fancied the pants off scarecrow who was terrified - It was very funny!

Kuala Lumpur

We stayed in a hostel right on the edge of the busy night market in Chinatown. The market is a paradise if you're shopping for fake designer T-shirts and watches, copied dvd's and cd's (I bought 6 for a quid a piece) and has lots of weird and wonderful food stalls. We did the tourist stuff as usual, going up the huge Petronas twin towers and the KL tower (4th largest in the world) and visited the giant Batu Caves outside the city. We met a homeless guy who was very friendly and helpful who told us that Malaysia is a terrible place to live in if you are not Muslim. We explored some of the city by foot, bus and the train and hired a taxi to drive us to the best place to get a photo of the city skyline. Wandering around I saw the University of Nottingham, Malaysia which was quite weird, 2 Man United superstores and a Man United bus shelter. Just as I was starting to like the place as well!

Cameron Highlands

The long and winding road that leads up to this place is a bit of a stomach churner but the journey is well worth it. The temperature is so much cooler and provides refreshing break from the heat. I stayed at a hostel called 'Fathers' in an old bunker style nissen hut, now a backpackers dormitory ( Thankyou to Alison Macleod for the recommendation).

My plan was to spend a few days chilling out in the fresh air and watch a few DVD's but that soon changed when I met Inigo, a sports physiologist and marathon runner from the Basque country (that's northern Spain to us but he's quite touchy on this subject!)   Inigo was the pacemaker for myself, scarecrow and Brigit from Seattle on the first of our three jungle treks that we did there. To be honest it was more like forest than jungle ( didn't see any tigers) but it was quite fun if a little exhausting!

We trekked to the top of the three nearest mountains, the highest of which is Mount Brinchang which is the second highest point on peninsular Malaysia at 2031 metres. (Statto!) Our gang, which also consisted of two Danish girls called Louise and Anne explored the local Buddhist temple, rose gardens, strawberry farm, honey farm, butterfly farm, tea plantations and processing factory.  We also played volleyball and card games in the evenings and Brigit brought us all tea in bed in the mornings. We were all 'happy travellers' and this was my favourite place in Malaysia! 

Penang

I managed to shake off the scarecrow and headed for Penang with the Danish girls instead! We stayed in Georgetown for the first night but after I got bitten to death by mosquitoes I left them and headed over to the the beach resort area on the north of the island where my brother Rob and his girlfriend Jane were staying. They had flown out to attend a friends wedding and were staying at a very plush 5 star resort with a huge pool, restaurants, nice beach, sauna, jacuzzi etc; 

In contrast, I spent the first night at a mosquito ridden hell hole run by drunks and shared a dorm with a crazy Italian who refused to have a fan in the room! Once again I was mosquito food! Needless to say I changed my accommodation very quickly and spent as much of the week as I could endulging in Rob and Jane's tourist luxuries! 

In the middle of the afternoon one of the staff brings everyone a chilled towel to cool off with. Its very sociable! So,I escaped the backpacker world for a while and allowed Rob and Jane to spoil me with nice meals and loved every minute of it! We went on a sunset cruise and took a day trip to Langkawi Island to visit the newlyweds at their posh 5 star hotel! After a trip on the to the top of Penang Hill, which takes about a million years on the pulley system train, I offloaded a load of my crap onto Rob and headed back to KL for the....

Petronas Formula 1 Grand Prix!

Cool eh? I joined the 92,000 other people who attended the race at the hot and humid circuit at Sepang. Ray the hostel owner got grandstand tickets for me and him at less than a third of the normal price from a tout. We were in prime position under cover and next to the back of the grid which I thought was fantastic but Ray somehow managed to talk us into the very best seats in the house right opposite the pits!

I enjoyed the experience so much I had to phone a few motor racing fans I know and rub their noses in it!!! It's a good job I bought some ear plugs as those cars are rather loud you know!  For the record Ralph Schumacher won, Montoya second and Michael Schumacher third much to my disappointment after it looked like Jensen Button was going to get his first podium finish! The drivers enjoyed their champagne celebration and I also celebrated with my fellow racegoers back at the hostel with some champagne left over from the wedding Rob and Jane went to!   I'm on the overnight bus to Thailand tonight so I'll see you there...

Rich.