It was a typical Malaysian town with loads of rats running around by the river. The change in food was more than welcome after Indonesia. I soon figured out that the town was only good for a quick stop off (I was the only westerner there) and headed north to the small beach town of Cherating.
My guide book described the place as a big time party town. Whatever happend there I obviously missed it as the place looked like a ghost town. It was full of tourist shops but they all seemed completely empty. The beach stretched as far as the eye could see but you could easily count the number of people on one hand.
I did at night hear loud music and followed it to a local bar which seemed the only place that was open. They had a live band on and it turned out to be one of the best nights out I had for sometime. I met an Irish person who had arrived with the same expectations as I did. Most of the people there were Malaysians holidaying in their own country.
The second night I was going to go bed early but after having several massive cockroaches drop onto my bed I figured I need to go out for a serious drink to stand any chance of getting sleep!!!!!
Next stop was Kuala Terengganu and unlike the cockroach infested dump I had came from this time it was a clean modern hostel. Unfortunately it was empty and there was no one to talk to at night, had a day exploring the town, had a another uneventful day making the most of the free internet then headed on north.
The final stop on the east coat was Kota Bharu which at the time was the most Islamic place that I had been to. I had another nice hostel which for once had other people in there to talk to. I remember getting up in the early hours of the morning to watch the champions league final.
Again it seemed to be just another functional Malaysian town. It was obvious I had seen the best of Malaysia on my previous trip in 2006. It could of course been all different if I had arrived at a different time of the year.
Since I had last been to Thailand the visa rules changed so that you only got a 15 day visa if you entered by land, you still got a 30 day if you arrived on an international flight. So to go to Thailand I had to go back to Penang and fly with the cheap airline firefly. That in itself was a nightmare as the direct buses were all booked up. In the end I took a nightbus to Kuala Lumpur then had to wait ages to go all the way back to Penang.
On the way up I seen the end result of a nasty road accident with a pair of legs sticking out from under the wheels of a lorry. I was glad to be going at high speed so I didn't get a longer look...
I had 2 nights in George Town, Penang before the flight. Most of it was spent enjoying the great food and recovering from that long bus ride.
A group of us went out to watch the football and one of them turned out to have cycled all the way from Scotland and was going to Australia. He has since made it.........what a great achievement!!!!
His Blog
His Route map
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