Epic Mission!

KL was okay but really just another city and I wanted to escape. The hostel was amazing though and met so many lovely people and picked up heaps of travelling tips. Heard a few horror stories too of people getting all their stuff nicked and their consulates doing nothing to help so now I am uber paranoid = uper careful. Met a lovely German lady who had been travelling for years, she was going back to Germany so we did some swapping - I gave her my winter coat and in return acquired a nice pair of flip flops and my bag for her bum bag! The German/ Canadian couple said it was okay for them to take the bag to the school in Indonesia without me so I plotted my escape from KL.

Decided it would be a great idea to take the night bus from KL to Penang- sleep on the bus and therefore save one night's accommodation. Plus by the time I got to Penang I figured it would be nice and light so would have plenty of time to wander round and find a cheap and clean hostel. Reality was a little bit different though!

Malaysians can sleep literally anywhere/ anytime - I, however, cannot. Didn't manage to get a wink of sleep on the night bus and we arrived in Penang at 5am this morning. The bus dropped us off about 15km south of where i was expecting and i made a schooboy error and only had 11 ringets on me. A taxi to Georgetown cost 30. There were a couple of Chinese backpackers that wanted to share a taxi with me but that would only leave me with 1 ringget. Plus at this point I had arranged to couchsurf with someone and had the number to call when i got to Penang but I thought they might not appreciate a call from me at 5am. So I decided to do it proper traveler style and walk to the city center - the taxi drivers thought I was mad; but they would!

So I started walking along the main road - the roads in Malaysia are pretty mental anyways and the pavement ran out. So I had to hop on the crash barrier and walk along there else risk becoming roadkill. I was following the main road signs for the cars to George Town where i was headed. It was still pitch black at this point. Anywhoo... I found a little path along the side of the road which turned out to be a bog. In my mind it was from the rain - I am not thinking about what else it could have been! It was fun though just me and my backpack and as the sun came up you could hear the Muslim call to prayer everywhere. Lush.

I eventually stumbled on a cash machine that had an ATM and a toilet!!!! That was pretty amazing. The people there were lovely and told me how to catch buses (I was determined not to get a taxi and do it the cheap way)! So I stumbled across a Tesco (yeah) at about 6:30am after hours of walking and not having slept and lo and behold there was a bus. The bus ride was 2 ringget (peanuts) and was so beautiful. Saw all sorts going on - typical Asian things like people doing Tai Chi in the park at 7am. The driver shouted at me when it was time to get off so I was in the backpacker area.

The decision was; do I wait for it to become a reasonable hour and ring the couchsurfers or look for a hostel? I decided it couldn't hurt to have more of a wander seeing as though I'd walked miles anyway. Also I wanted to practice my cheap but clean hostel finding skills! Went around about 10 hostels asking about prices and looking in the rooms. No-one would give me a room cheaper for just a couple of hours. So after contemplating over a coffee I have checked in at (something like) 'Happy Hostel'! And who do I bump into? Only two girls from Brighton, literally just down the road from where I lived.

Anyway I am now showered and have met a Finnish lady who is getting the ferry to Langkawi tomorrow so I'm going to join her as it's on my way and I've heard it's beautiful. Don't really think much of Georgetown and don't have the balls to hire a scooter to see the good bits of Penang. Keeping moving is good as it means I get to see more. So tomorrow Langkawi and hopefully beautiful beaches and relaxing times. After that, Thailand!

It's midday here now and I've been awake and missioning for 27 hours so I think I am justified in pressing 'Publish Post' before I proofread!