The following four days on Koh Lanta blew my mind. I spent most of the time reading, wandering aimlessly and spending my evenings with Suzi, Tijen & some lovely thai guys from a hostel called The Sanctuary- next door to where we were staying. Every night they would dust off their instruments and sing us off to sleep. I don't think I have ever felt so relaxed as I did during those last few days in Koh Lanta. My send off was superb although the 12 hour bus ride to cross the border in to Malaysia the next day wasn't too pretty after a night of no sleep. I said goodbye to Suzi who I had been travelling with since Chiang Mai, Norhtern Thailand- although it appears we just cannot stay apart as she is sat behind me right now.
I headed straight for Georgetwon, Penang, which is pretty much the food capital of Malaysia. There are influences from all over- India, China, Japan, Thai, and obviously Malaysia. I have forgotten what it feels like to be hungry and every meal is accompanied by my new favourite drink- a sweet ginger tea. One night after I had arrived- I got a message from Suzi saying she was heading over to Penang so we reunited... Over the last few days I have been visiting the main historical buildings of Penang- which are all really elaborate British colonial buildings, having a look around the museums and exploring-as much as I can, my favourite place- Little India.
The atmosphere in Little India is incredible. Music shops are pumping out Bangrha dance music and the air literally tastes spicy. Tempting food stalls line the streets and Indian tailors are hard at work sewing sahris. After decorating myself with a henna tattoo at an indian beauty salon we headed up Penang Hill to watch sunset. A pretty dubious, vertical railway chugged up the hill for about 30 minutes. The view from the top over Georgetown, accompanied by some tapioca crisps topped the day of nicely.
Saturday, 23 May 2009
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