There are no big buses or coaches going from Malaysia to Thailand. Our only option was a minibus, which always cost more and always have crazy drivers. In Georgetown you can go to the ticket offices near the big white tower and shop around. Most of them are quite rude and not helpful at all. We went with KKKL and they were quite ok. There are no direct services to Trang and a minivan will cost about RM60 per person to Trang. They all go via Hat Yai and a minibus costs about RM30 per person. The journey takes about 3.5 hours and you have to go through customs on…
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Malaysia Travel Guide
I’m not paid by National Geographic, so don’t expect a comprehensive guide which you can use to plan your next 6 week holiday in Malaysia. These are merely my thoughts based on my experiences here in Malaysia. Things to see While there are many attractions and landmarks to see in Malaysia, most of these attract more local tourism than international travellers. Some of the better ones we saw were Kek Lok Si temple in Georgetown, Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur and St. Paul’s Church in Melaka. Must do Snorkeling on the Perhentian islands and riding all around Penang on a motor bike. Can avoid While the Cameron Highlands are nice,…
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Goodbye Malaysia. Truly Asia?
Off to Thailand tomorrow morning! A morning mini bus to Hat Yai, then perhaps onto Trang (apparently there’s some cool caves there). It will be interesting to leave Malaysia, considering its technically our first stop and all that we currently know. I’ve been a bit confused by the country. It’s predominantly a Muslim country, governed by its Muslim rules. At times I’ve felt a bit odd wearing a sleeveless singlet, while Muslim women around me wear hijabs and sometimes, even full burkas. On the other hand, you have some major cities and islands in Malaysia, where people wear next to nothing. H&M, Topshop and Zara stores advertising skimpy skirts and…
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Playing Just Cause 2 – Motorbiking Around Georgetown
After a night’s rest, I couldn’t wait to get back on a scooter and explore the south side of Penang. We decided to do another day with our friends, Audrey and Bastien on the motorbike. Feeling more confident and with the sun out, Emma and I rode ahead on the way out of town. It took less than 5 minutes and we had lost our dear friends. With no phone, map, GPS or clue of where we were, we now started a new mission, “Find our friends”. We asked people and rode around Georgetown, but no sign of them. I was annoyed, knowing our chance of finding them was very…
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Finally, off the tourist trail
To get around Penang and see the island, we decided to hire some motorbikes / scooters. The first guy, sent us away after we didn’t immediately agree to his price so we went to find the mysterious Happy Ken. We were told he roams around a few cafes and the streets. We saw a few bikes with a “Happy Happy” sign. When we found him, he was quite a character. A short while later we had two scooters for 25RM plus 50RM refundable deposit each with no paperwork at all. I hesitated a bit getting on as this would be my first time and we were heading straight into Malaysian…
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Riding a Motorbiking in Malaysia – The day I thought I was going to die.
Let me preface this by saying that yes, I am quite spoilt. I have driven in cars all of my life, gotten an education, and had food in my belly (at all times) but nothing had prepared me for the fear I felt today. Today, we rode on a scooter. With Bastien and Audrey, we hired two scooters (automatic motorbikes) – with the males driving. I wanted to drive too but the Scooter Man, a chap named, Happy Ken (a very, very, happy chappy) just yelled, ‘No ladies, no ladies’ when I challenged him and asked him why I couldn’t drive it. Blah. (Later in a grassy car park near…
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Malaysian Toilets
Malaysia Lots of squat toilets but I had prepared for this by practicing at some Singaporean bathrooms. I was extremely perplexed the first few days as the cubicles usually consisted of a squat toilet, a hose, a bucket, and NO TOILET PAPER!. Due to my mother’s habit of always carrying tissues in her handbag, I had learnt from a very early age to stuff every pocket and every bag with tissues (a godsend during the Melbourne winter months when carrying around a bad case of the common cold), so luckily I was never caught out with no toilet paper, THANK GOD. I had also ‘taken’ the roll of toilet paper…
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Taiping – Getting to Orangutan Island
Eawasin, from the guesthouse, suggested that we do an extra stop between Tanah Rata and Penang. We followed his advice and the four of us took a bus to Ipoh and then to Taiping, a colonial city in north western Malaysia. While the people here were charming, there was not a great deal to do. It rained heavily the first day as we tried to find internet. There is a very nice lake garden, which is worth seeing. However, Taiping is not the reason we came here. We came here in search of Orangutans on the mysterious Palau Orang Utan. It was not easy to find and we worked out…
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Jungle Trekking – Bush Bashing
Went for a mini hike on our second day in the Cameron Highlands. We met a very nice French couple at Orchid Lodge, the night before, and ended up going on a hike with Bastien. He and Audrey had taken Path 1 the day we arrived, and said it was quite a difficult trek, so Lionel and I, being the lazy people we are, decided to tackle Path 10 (an easy, non-challenging trek – some would say, stroll). As it rains every afternoon, and mists over after 11am or so (thus, rendering any view you climb for hours to get to, obsolete), we decided to head up early – 9.30am…
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Beach to Mountains
Today we say goodbye to the island paradise and will move to central Malaysia to the Cameron Highlands. There are not a lot of buses going from Kuala Besut to the Cameron Highlands, only four companies, all mini buses. The cheapest one is 55RM per person and you need to change buses at lunch time. These drivers are a bit crazy. Their overtaking is hair raising and they are constantly texting too. The second guy was falling asleep with both eyes closed for several seconds at a time for half the trip! We decided to stay at Orchid Lodge for 90RM per night. Eawasin our host welcomed us thoroughly! He…
