My flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia was via Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. I had a seven-hour stop over but had plenty of movies to watch and they even supplied dinner for free!! Easy as (and for the price I got the flight for, I could not complain at all).
My first impressions of going out for a walk around KL – wow, I was definitely not in Africa anymore. I could not believe the amount of white people and in particular, how much skin they were showing!! There were people everywhere and a whole lot of touristy souvenirs. This was such a different atmosphere than what I had been used to for the past five months and I was not at ease with it. People were just waving money around like it was nothing. The flashy malls and department stores overwhelmed me and the fact that it was Christmas-time meant the jingles and decorations were everywhere. It was all a bit too much for me.
I struggled a little with the humidity and just missed the simple life in Kenya.
A few of us from the hostel got a bus to the Cameron Highlands which was an interesting bus journey – the scenery again, was very different to what I had been in. I could not help comparing.
After meeting some more cool people, we arranged for a big walking trip through the highlands the following day. Now this was good fun. The trek was 2050m above sea level and pretty steep at some parts, not to mention ridiculously muddy!! We were jumping from rock to rock to avoid the massive puddles of mud.
Luckily we were prepared with ponchos as it started to rain as we walked through Mossy Forest. Got to an amazing tea plantation for a cup of tea and our massive journey back to the hostel – huge day of walking!
Together, a few of us got a bus and then a ferry to the island of Langkawi where we continue by taxi to Pantai Cenang. We found a cheap hostel and set out to the, over-crowded, beach for a beer whilst watching the sun set over the water.
This little island was where I spent almost a week in Malaysia, I had too much time to kill on this island. I was anxious about arriving home for the first time in 2.5 years and it’s all I could think about.
We spent our days walking to faraway beaches and drinking until the sunset having some relaxing times in the sun and just chilling out. One of the days we did a boat tour around the various islands exploring and going swimming at each one.
The street food and drink was great on Langkawi and so cheap!! Perfect as it was the end of my trip and I was very low on money! We drank a lot of Skol (beer).
I made sure I tried to get up early as often as I could going for runs along the beach and watching the sunrise as I sat in the warm sand. Such a great way to start the day.
After many chilled out days I left for my mission of a journey to Penang. I didn’t want to pay a ridiculous amount for the direct ferry (which ended up breaking down anyway!) so I got a smaller ferry to Kuala Perlis and jumped on the back of a local’s scooter (I don’t understand why they don’t do this more – it is a normal transport in Kenya!), who took me via his family home (did start to get a little worried) to pick up a helmet and take me to the bus station for the bus to Penang and then onto Batu Feringghi.
The hostel owners here of LazyBoys TraveLodge were lovely and such a great family atmosphere – I definitely felt at home. They gave me some great recommendations of what to do and where to go. I went to Penang National Park for a massive walk along the coast to Monkey Beach which was beautiful (and of course lots of monkeys around!).
The hostel had a hammock, which I did not move from for a good amount of time, and a television which they put movies on – perfect! It was so hot to do much more! We also made a couple of big meals together which was great – again the awesome family atmosphere.
Bus to George Town (still on Penang) to explore the incredible streets full of food markets! George Town had a great vibe and it was fun to stumble across the various street art. Got a little bored in George Town after doing so much walking and booked my bus ticket back to Kuala Lumpur.
On my last day of my incredible journey, I spent the day wandering around Kuala Lumpur again (my flight was later that night). Again, I had too much time in KL so didn’t really know what to do – there was only so much walking and people watching I could do.
Eventually it was ‘time’. I didn’t make it easy for myself by catching the bus to the wrong airport to begin with and only just making it in time for my final flight. Of course, there were huge storms happening outside and I was lucky my flight wasn’t delayed or cancelled. On the plane and out cold for the overnight flight back to Adelaide.
It was home time..!!
