Selamat Datang Malaysia

Another epic journey took me from the island of Ko Pan-Ngan south of the border to Malaysia. It was just a hop, skip, taxi, boat, bus, taxi, train, minivan...and we arrived in Penang twenty-four hours after leaving the beach at Haad Yao. The midnight train from Surat Thani was delayed by more than an hour but there was good company, nice food and lots to look at during the wait. I listened to Monique, a petite Dutch girl, talk at length about karma, chakras and other things she'd learned at an intense yoga retreat on Ko Pan Ngan. A shy young Muslim man wearing loose white pants, a long white tunic, a white fez hat and a groovy black leather jacket worked up the courage to come over and say hello to Kofi, trying not to stare too obviously at his cool trainers and dreadlocks.

When other trains rolled through the station, young children appeared from nowhere with trays of hot tea and coffee and biscuits, stepping up barefoot onto the train to roam the aisles selling their wares. I couldn't keep my eyes from the rainbow of passengers: after a month in the Buddhist and more Westernized parts of Thailand, it was amazing to see shrouded Muslim women and southern Thais with super-dark skin. Kofi and I were among the few Westerners on our train - most tourists opt for the air-conditioned trains instead of the fan service. When I rose from my sleeper berth in the morning to brush my teeth at the sink at the end of the carriage, I felt many pairs of eyes watching me. Later, when Kofi got up, the stares doubled.

At rooster's crow, we got off at Hat Yai Junction, still in Thailand, to change to the minivan service. It was mosques at dawn, with rotis, curry and hot tea for breakfast.We headed to Georgetown, the capital of Penang, an island off the west coast of northern Malaysia. I need to go south to Singapore for my return flight to Australia and Kofi was doing a visa run at the Thai consulate in Penang. The minivan dropped us in the middle of Chinatown and we quickly found a beautiful room at the stately Old Penang Inn on Love Lane. In the usual way of my travels, my first night in this new destination was a bit more expensive than the others, having been too tired to search for something cheap and dirty. On my second night I moved to Star Lodge and got a cheaper but equally lovely room with a cozy balcony. All in all, Georgetown provided the best accommodation of my whole trip in Asia.

Georgetown is a very walkable city, full of gorgeous colonial architecture and visually appealing little alleys and streets. It was a short walk to Little India, where every meal seemed to be better than the last. For breakfast, more hot rotis with lovely dahl and some hot, sweet tea to wash it all down. The roti has an amazing ability to be sweet, salty, dense and fluffy, all at the same time. I tell ya, them Indians know how to do dough!

I wandered the streets of Georgetown, admiring the sights and stopping for a lime juice from a street vendor on the boardwalk next to the sea. In the evening, I ran into Monique the Yogi and she introduced me to a lovely couple from Kentucky, two English teachers based in Bangkok. I haven't met many Americans on the road but the ones that are traveling have been pretty cool and much more enlightened than stereotyping would have us all believe. Kofi joined us later and we all trooped down to the local sidewalk pub for some open air drinks. It was hard to fend off attention with our group: a petite redhead, a tall skinny blonde, a black man, a large and affable American, and me. There was a constant stream of visitors coming over to our table to chat.

Once we'd had enough of the social musical chairs, we wandered in search of food. A very enthusiastic young woman at the Tourism Malaysia office had told me earlier about late-night eats, saying to look for the big lineup of people next to the Kapitan Mosque. Sure enough, the line at Nasi Kandar stretched to the kerb even at 1am. The food was delicious rice and many different curries, and it was worth the wait!

On my second day in Penang, I hopped on the city bus and ventured to Penang Hill to enjoy the beautiful view of the city and the "refreshing temperatures" - only in Asia is 27 degrees Celsius considered cool weather. Later, I explored the Kok Lek Si Temple, which is really a shrine to the gods of retail. To get to the actual temple, you have to walk up many steps through a gauntlet of shops and vendors. Here, I had the best example of bartering by walking away. With every step I took, the vendor-lady called out a lower price until the tee-shirt I'd examined went from 50 ringgits all the way down to 10. An excellent deal - and thank the gods for that!

It seems to rain at least once a day in Malaysia, a downpour every afternoon. But there are always pleasant ways to pass the time. I was booking my onward bus journey on Lebuh Muntri when the downpour began on my last night in Georgetown. The obliging travel agent/guesthouse owner just happened to sell beer. So I hunkered down with a Malaysian Jaz and chatted with the other travelers waiting out the weather: an Australian teacher on a visa run from Indonesia and a young Quebecois couple traveling with their four-year-old son. We braved the endless rain and scooted down the street to the Red Garden Food Paradise for some amazing Malaysian food.

So far, I've been surprised by Malaysia. I didn't expect much but I found nice company, excellent food, lovely scenes and comfortable food around every corner. My next stop is Melaka - lots of love to everyone back home.