Day 70: Penang: Monkey Beach and Hiking

Today, yet again, it was hot and humid, so I thought it would be the perfect day to go hiking for 4 hours.

I got up before 6am, before the sun to try and beat the heat a little bit, and was at the starting point by 8am, just half an hour after sunrise.

The hike to the lighthouse was insanely difficult, just because of the heat and humidity (30 degrees at 11am) and was about 3 hours of walking all up. The view from the top was incredible though, and almost totally worth it.

I then walked back half an hour to Monkey Beach. There were monkeys, and there was a beach; it really lived up to all expectations. The water was weirdly warm though, which was a bit strange.

I also made "friends" with a middle aged boat driver who wouldn't leave me alone all day and asked me to go out for dinner and to a reggae bar with him tonight. I said my boyfriend wouldn't like it, and he told me think about it anyway and winked.

I will not be going to a reggae bar tonight.

Other than the creepy guy, today was great!!! I am slightly incredibly sunburnt though, with an incredible sock tan. It's been months since I've even seen a beach though, so I'm almost okay with it.

Tomorrow, more hiking, and a temple. xx

Day 69: Penang: All Day Busses

Today I made my way to Penang! It is really beautiful, and even the bus ride was pretty great.

Despite the fact that I miscalculated the commute time by 2 hours (took 6 hours to get here, because we had to stop for petrol and then we somehow lost a passenger at one of the toilet breaks, but oh well), it was nice to see some of the countryside.

There were some beautiful rolling hills, I caught up on some podcasts, and there was even air conditioning!

The ferry ride onto the island was just so picturesque, and as I was walking off, I saw the most half-assed lion dance I've seen for the new year. Can't blame them, because it's a million degrees, but it was hilarious seeing the teenagers take off the costumes half way through for a breather, and getting told off by their instructor.

Tomorrow, hiking, in this heat, like an idiot xx

Day 68: Kuala Lumpur: Indoor Roller Coasters

Today I tried to take it easy but instead wound up at an indoor theme park!!

The roller coaster was an easy win for best ride, with the best go around being when we sniped the front seats from two brothers. 

Props also to the kids we destroyed in the dodgem cars. 

Tomorrow, Penang xx

Day 67: Kuala Lumpur: A Revisit

Today I had a friend I made in Hong Kong come and visit me! He only had a 12 hour layover, so he asked me to show him some of the highlights from my trip. I've really powered through the locations, so I was more than happy to go back to some favourites.

We started off our day back at Batu Caves. It was good being there early, because the stairs were still in the shade, and this time I brought a scarf to wear as a long skirt, instead of having to don jeans, which was a bonus.

After the caves, we headed onto the monorail to get a view of the city from above. There is still a lot of Chinese New Year celebrations going on, and they are all equal parts cool and hilarious!

We went to a park in the centre of town that has incredible views of the Petronas Towers and had some lunch with them looming above us before heading for some shopping.

Watching Jonjo freak out and squeal like a little girl trying to put his feet into one of those foot-eating fish tanks. (I opted not to have my toes nibbled by potentially disease ridden fish).

It is definitely still monsoon season too... the downpours at night are completely insane!! Heaviest rain I've seen, and it pours for hours!

Tomorrow, resting my poor swollen ankle xx

Day 66: Kuala Lumpur: Museums, Mosques and Towers

Today was yet another hot and steamy day, and I started it off with a walk around the local area. Kuala Lumpur is a really beautiful city. Quite clean, bright skies, and lots of trees. 

I headed to the National Museum which was quite cool. They had a model of the whole city set up that had a light and sound show.

I also rescued a small snake that was struggling in the middle of the road. I looked it up, and it was a White Bellied Blind Snake (Typhlops diardii). Completely harmless. It was also only about 15-20cm long. Tiny.

After the museum, I ran into some of the other people staying at the hostel, and together headed to Central Market. There were a heap of cheap stalls, but I didn't want to spend any more money, so we just browsed.

From the market, we went to a big mosque in the area. They were very strict with attire, so we donned some large robes and took a guided tour inside.

While it did help me understand the Muslim faith a lot more than I had previously, I was sweltering under the hood, and can't imagine wearing a Hijab all day. The woman running the tour was really informative and let us ask some quite personal questions though, and it was a a really cool experience.

The group wanted to walk around a park after that, which I was not keen on given my bad ankle, so I headed to KL Tower. It was cool seeing the city from above, even if it was slightly overcast. 

While it isn't the tallest building by itself, it is at the top of a hill, so the view is actually spectacular.

Last night we also went for a walk to a cool club. None of us were drinking, we just went for the incredible view of the Petronas Towers, and the night club swimming pool.

Tomorrow, meeting up with a travel buddy xx

Day 65: Kuala Lumpur: Batu Cave and Bird Park

Today was huge. For a country that is so hot, you would think the public transport would be better so people didn't have to walk around all day, but no.

Once again, I found it unbelievably hot and sticky, made worse by the fact you can't wear shorts to a temple if you're a girl. The only long pants I had with me by the time a realised this were denim jeans, so today was quite uncomfortable.

Beside the mild heat stroke and increased swelling in my rolled ankle, it was a cool day.

I started the day heading to Batu Cave - a temple literally inside a cave. The huge monument out the front was amazingly huge, and the 277 stairs were almost worth it (in jeans, mind you) to see the inside of a cave decked out as a Hindu temple. 

There was a lot of wildlife in the area, seeing as it is slightly out of town, including a heap of monkeys, and a cave tour inside one of the connecting caves, crawling with life, and almost pitch black at times.

After the temple, I tried to seek refuge in a park closer to KL. Unfortunately, there isn't quite the public transport information I need to get around, and it took me about 2 hours longer than it should have. (There are transfer stations that involve walking a kilometer, across roads and down side streets...)

The park was pretty cool though. I didn't explore the whole thing, and I plan on going back, but the highlights has to have been a Bird Park which had a show involving Macaws who knew colours and could follow magic tricks.

Tomorrow, some city sights xx

Day 64: Kuala Lumpur: Hot and Steamy

Today I arrived in Malaysia!! 

The flight was alright, and I found the hostel alright, but oh my god I am so hot and sweaty. I've already had two showers. The lady I'm sharing a room with won't leave the aircon on in the room, so it's 30 everywhere!! And steamy!!!

Tomorrow, a temple in a cave xx

Day 63: Hong Kong: a Day at the Races

New Years Day Racing!! Sadly I didn't win any money (because I didn't place any bets) but it was a really cool day out.

The highlight has to have been getting lost and wandering along a highway and getting picked up in a police car, and dropped straight at the door of the racetrack. They didn't even ask for our names or numbers!!

More photos to come, they're just not loading...

Tomorrow, Malaysia xx

Day 62: Hong Kong: Fireworks

Today was another Lunar New Year celebration day. I didn't do much during the day because I slept in and couldn't be bothered really doing too much.

Somehow, I became somewhat of the leader of our whole group, so it was up to me to get everyone to the waterfront to see the fireworks, and get everyone safely over the river. I succeeded, and we had a great night.

I sprained my ankle though, so we'll see how that goes.

Tomorrow, the races xx

Day 61: Hong Kong: Lunar New Year Parade

Today I had a really quiet day until the night. As a whole group, we headed to the waterfront on the other side of the river to see the annual parade! It wasn't as great as I had hoped, but the group was cool. 

We had some drinks, some Maccas, and are going to go together tomorrow for the fireworks. It was a nice walk home as well.

Tomorrow, the fireworks xx