Malaysia

We left Thailand behind us a week ago and took a very long journey to Penang in Malaysia. It's an island but it's mostly city and very devloped. We spent 2 days there. The first day we did all the touristy things around the city (visited a Chinese clan house, went to Fort Cornwallis, saw the history Museum, went to the Chocolate Boutique and then vetured to a Batik Factory). The next day we went to Penang Hill, where they have an Old Funicular railway that brings you, very slowly, up the 800m to the top of the hill. From there you have a uninterrupted view out over the island. It was wierd to see that some parts of it were totally green and uninhabited whereas others were totally built up with skyscrapers.

Have to say we liked Penang and Georgetown (the city there). Not a bad place to spend 2 days.

We took a night bus over to the opposite side of the country to hit the Perhentian Islands.There are two islands there. We stayed on Puluan Kecil, which literally means Small Island. Yes, the other one is Big Island. It was absolutely beautiful there. Much nicer than any of the Thai Islands. The beach had white sand and crystal clear turqoise waters. It really was spectacular.

Apart from the two main beaches that have accommodation and

restaurants, the rest of the island is nearly untouched.

To walk from Long Beach, where we were staying to Coral Bay on

the other side, you had to walk along a track through the jungle.

It was totally unspoilt.
There were loads of creatures there though.

Lots of these monitor lizards, that can grow to 2m long.

This one was only 1.5m.

Then on the way through the jungle path to coral bay

there were loads of these HUGE spiders.



The sea was full of wonderful stuff too.

You could see these fish just standing waist deep in the sea.

It was brilliant.



We did 2 more scuba dives as well. They weren't as good as the ones we did on
Phi Phi but we did get to see some blue spotted stingray,

bamboo sharks, a coral cat shark and a  giant moray eel.
Other than that we just spent our time tanning up on the beach.
We were sorry to leave it behind yesterday.

Now we're in Kuala Lumpur. Just arrived this morning after catching a night bus. Have already sussed out an Irish bar for the big game tonight though! Just waiting around the guesthouse now because we can't check in until 12 o' clock. Have 2 days here, then it's Singapore for a day and then the flight to OZ. We're can't wait to meet our parents.


That's about it for now,
Jan and Paul.