The bus from Singapore to Mersing was OK and despite a 4 hour wait for the boat at Mersing to get to Tioman Island we thought we were home and hosed! However, it took us 1.5 hours to leave the jetty area as the tide was too low and the boat grounded in the silt! Everyone was asked to move to the bows of the boat in an attempt to free the boat - shades of Dad's Army! A scheduled 8pm arrival quickly became 9.30pm but luckily we'd pre-booked accommodation for 2 nights when in Mersing. This turned out not to be too good, so the first morning we found an alternative (better position and cheaper) to move to for the 3rd and 4th nights. We spent our time here relaxing on the beach and swimming in the very warm South China Sea. Evenings began with 'happy hour' - happier than other parts of Malaysia but not that cheap (booze is expensive here). We spent one day on a boat trip to a waterfall (where they filmed the scene from South Pacific 'I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair - you have to be a certain age to remember this!) and snorkelling.
From Tioman we crossed the peninsula to the World Heritage City of Melaka which was conquered by the Portuguese, Dutch and British at various times. We stayed in a very friendly hostel there (the manager organised a BBQ the night we arrived and took us out on bikes to find somewhere to eat on another evening).
We spent the days walking around, going on a river cruise, visiting the Chinese night market and visiting various random museums (education, literature, etc!)
Then it was on to Kuala Lumpur. We were quite disappointed with this city and found very little to do. We spent 2 hours one morning queuing for tickets to go up the Petronas Towers and finally got a slot for 3.30 that afternoon so had 5 hours to kill.
There was an air conditioned shopping mall quite close by (complete with M & S) and we also spent an hour over lunch in Macdonalds - yes, we succumbed. Rice or noodles at every meal was getting a bit much! A McChicken burger, medium fries and a drink cost around 1.40GBP!
From KL we headed to the Cameron Highlands where it was much cooler and far less humid. We hired a scooter to visit the tea plantations and had the best 'cuppa' there since leaving the UK. Unfortunately it rained on the way back to the guest house and we arrived back completely soaked to the skin.
And so we came to Penang, another World Heritage City. We've walked around viewing lots of temples and mosques and also went to a tropical fruit farm. Today (3rd May) we went up Penang Hill by funicular railway. All was well until we started the return journey. Stray dogs on the track didn't move and sadly one was run over and injured. It seems that when this happened the carriage was damaged so we were returned to the station and had to wait about half an hour while the problem was sorted. We finally got back to the guest house in one piece!
Tomorrow at 5am we are travelling to Thailand and going to Koh Phi Phi (an island near Phuket) for a few nights to chill out before we head further north and hit Bangkok!
So, until then, farewell to all readers. With luck the next post will be in around 2 weeks as we prepare to leave Thailand.
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