Day 22 - Langkawi to KLIA

It's our last day in Langkawi, and the day before we head home, and I realise I've made an inconvenient miscalculation in the planning. I've booked the latest flight of the day out of Langkawi in order to give us, in effect, an extra day here. But what I didn't count on was that check-out time of the hotel is 12 noon and we'll have 6 or 7 hours to kill before our flight. We don't have car, don't really have time to visit anything and our luggage needs to be stored somewhere. And where do you freshen up before the flight.

It seems we've either got very early morning flights or late ones and either way it's inconvenient. I call Malaysia Airlines and ask if we can catch the 3:40pm flight out of Langkawi... sure they say... for an extra 300 ringit. That's what the original flight costs! So me accept the reality that we are gonna have to wait in the hotel bar for 5 hours and at least we'll have somewhere for the bags and we can keep relatively cool. But we ask Reception about a late check-out and they graciously let us have the chalet until 3pm without any additional cost. Loyalty does count sometimes.

So we stay cool and watch a little TV before packing and checking out at 3. We grab a taxi to the airport and have a coffee and muffin and Liz does some shopping... it's all duty free here but we're not gonna carry bags of booze and other stuff down to KL.

We arrive at KLIA right on 8:30 and I message Ben and Rahmat who have planned to meet up with us for a late dinner. Together with Zol (who has the flu but makes the effort to be there because he said he would), all have travelled a couple of hours to be here on our last night and we really appreciate the efforts they make to see us off before we leave.

I haven't seen Ben for the 3 months he's been here so it's great to catch up with him even though he's heading home on Saturday. The others soon arrive and we grab a couple of tables in the food court and Ben orders some Malaysian dishes for us. As usual with this crowd, there are lots of laughs and bagging each other, notably Zol who has bought along his Nikon D1... Ben and Rahmat are Canon men and I'm a recent convert to Canon but my main cameras are my Panasonics. I think the other guys secretly think they are toys but they have paid for themselves in the prizes have won with photos taken with them.

We have a great time and it's hugs all round when we finally bid them farewell and jump onto the Pan Pacific Hotel buggy... with the group standing there waving and laughing as I clown around. What a great bunch of new and old friends. It couldn't have been a better send-off.

We check into the Pan Pacific, where we were the same time exactly 3 weeks ago, only to find we have been upgraded to the Club Floor. This is a 5 star hotel and we have to admit, one of the best we've stayed at anywhere. Unfortunately all our stays have been one-nighters, either going somewhere else or coming home.

Although it's 11pm, we need a cool drink so we head to the Travellers Bar and Grill where the cute Asian duo belts out some golden oldies while a large group from the Italian MotoGP team noisily share the next table... I hope they are not riding tomorrow because they are ordering jugs of Carslberg like it's going out of style.

As we leave for bed, the group performs a pretty decent rendition of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall. Then it's up to level 9 and we watch “The Artist” win Best Picture at the Academy Awards before turning in for our early 6:30am wake-up call. Our last night away on what has been an arduous trip bit one which we have enjoyed immensely.

Day 21 - Langkawi

Today is a "Pool Day" so after breakfast Liz heads for the circus... I mean Pool Area... while I catch upon on some reading and stay cool in our air-conditioned chalet. I remember last time we were here and the air-con broke down and for a few hours we had nothing but the ceiling fan... bloody unbearable!

Liz returns about 3pm and we have decided that tonight, our last night here and, except for our night at KLIA before an early morning flight Tuesday, we will have dinner tonight on our little balcony and watch the sunset from here. We'll order room service dinner and of course a few cold Tigers and we'll be set. Besides, we don't have to get dressed up and travel far so that suits us.

I grab the G2 and tripod and get some final shots of the resort and the view of the bay and islands... it is bloody hot out in the sun so I don't linger but get some nice bright sunlight shots. Nothing to write home about and more snaps than anything else but they will do to remember the warmth of Langkawi when the icy cold winter arrives back home.

Liz's eagle eye watches me from our balcony to see that I don't slip and fall in to the water... in light of my bad record with water features and cameras! It's nice just sitting on the balcony and soon enough I arrive back and dump the shirt and cool off again.

The view from balcony where we will have dinner tonight... providing the mozzies and other bugs of the night take the night off... actually we haven't noticed many mozzies or bugs here but where there is rainforest, there will be bugs. Should be a very romantic end to our stay in Langkawi.

Our dinner is delivered promptly at 5:30 and the guys set it up on the balcony table for us. There are several restaurants at the resort but none has the view that we have from our dining room. It is sheer magic sitting here, with delicious Malaysian dishes and of course, a couple of Tigers. Doesn't get much better than this.

Dinner at our chalet with a million dollar view.

A few minutes after we finish dinner, I go inside to grab another Tiger when Liz calls out... a family of monkees clambered down our balcony post. Both Liz and the mother monkee with baby onboard were startled... both got a fright before they jumped to the palm trees and then climbed a tree across the road where the family of four fed on berries. 

  

Not many restaurants here where you get a floor show like that! 

Day 20 - Langkawi

We wake to another brilliant sunrise and  head to breakfast just a short 200 metre walk from our chalet. We are really lucky being so close to the lobby... some of the chalets are hidden away over half a kilometre away up in the rainforest. The trolly busses regularly run around the resort so you don't have to walk but sometimes the wait can be quite long.

Today is an "Out" day.... Liz reckons every second day is her "Pool Day" when I catch upon the Blog and have a read while she heads for the pool only to find that the smart ones have already staked out their claim to a couch by putting their towel on it as soon as the towel guy opens his stall. Still, she manages to find a spot amongst the "Pink Brigade"... they haven't heard about skin cancer and like the ad back home says... there are a lot of skin cells under extreme stress here. Madness! 

Liz wants to head back to Pantai Basir Hitam (Black Sands Beach) because the stalls there have some cheap clothes... the 747 will definitely need a trailer on the flight home! Guided by the reliable TomTom it takes about 25 minutes, wheeling through pretty kampongs and rubber plantations. 

While Liz hits the stalls I head down to the beach for some shots of an amazing cloud bank hanging over the Ko Tarutao islands to the north. Lot of other visitors walk down to the beach and it seems they all want a photo so I am kept busy taking shots of them using their cameras. Most are Arab tourists and can't speak a word of English but they are polite and thankful for the photos.

I meet up with an Australian couple enjoying their first time in Langkawi. They have been up in Phuket but they reckon here is better... they like the unspoilt villages and less crowds. They try to take a shot of themselves with their heavy DSLR so I grab their Canon and we make sure we get the islands and scenery in the background. We discuss the political rubbish happening back home and agree that our country has become a laughing stock. They are staying at the same hotel so we might meet up for drinks.

A couple of local lads from the nearby kampong are flying their kites and keeping cool in the water. They speak no English but are keen to have their photo taken so they ham it up and pose for some shots. 

It turns out they are from the local fishing village which is called Kampong Yu... about 300 metres away towwards the cement factory. I've been here once before and it is tucked away down a side road so no tourists go there. It is very picturesque so we drive around and manage to capture some of the magic. 

These small fishing villages are the soul of the island... they are generally unkempt, with rusting engines and other gear laying about and the smell of fish is ever present, but they are fascinating places with so much character. Seafood is a big part of the local diet both here and on mainland Malaysia so these villages are kept busy.
 

We head back to the hotel for a quick shower and freshen up... it seeems a waste of time... step outside the air-conditioned hotel room and you break a sweat almost immediately.

We then head out to visit Dr Abdul Hussain, Rahmat's brother, who lives on the other side of the island. He's retired but is doing research into herbal medicine and he conducts tours of his herb garden called Dr Ghani's Herbwalk and even former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir (the one who crossed swords with Paul Keeting) is a friend of Dr Hussain and has visited.

We enjoy cups of tea and some Malaysian sweets while sitting under the trees in the garden and Dr Hussain tells us all about his work and family. He has nine children... 5 with a former wife and 4 with his current wife! As the sun sets over the rainforest, I can already hear squadrons of mosquitos warming up in the nearby mangroves, preparing for their nightly sorties to cause havoc amongst the human invaders. 

Time for us to go so we bid the Dr and his family farewell and we decide to dine at the restaurant owned by Tun Dr Mahathir and recommended to us by Rahmat, The Loaf at Perdana Quay, right next to the Mare Blu where we dined a couple of nights ago.

We score a table right next to the marina overlooking the expensive cruisers and yachts moored just a few feet away. These two are both over 100 feet long and we find out that the weekly charter rate is 280,000 ringit (about $85,000!)


The end of another interesting day... tomorrow is "Pool Day" so Liz will soak up the sun... and get a little more pink before we head home on Monday.

Day 19 - Langkawi

Gerry Seinfeld does a skit on one of his shows about travelling and being on the road. He observes that the most frightening human experience is when you go to the bathroom and flush... and the water comes up. Well... this morning that's what happened!!! 

No there will be no further descriptions and definitely no photos Ian... but needless to say, we ended up having to dial "1" and a polite young man arrived shortly after and disappeared into the bathroom. He emerged shortly after and scurried outside (I assume to be sick!) to return soon after with some tools familiar to plumbers. All in a days work I guess, but just in time for Liz who was heading out to the pool.

So the blog is up to date... the sun is shining, the birds singing, the monkeys swinging.... and the toilet back in service... more later!

... Later...   

Liz is back from the pool and sports a little redness but she says a lot of the English and Eurpoean guests down at the pool are like lobsters! Crazy stuff... they obviously haven't heard of skin cancer.

After a shower and freshen up we head off in the little Banger... which I have discovered is a Perodua Myvi... never heard of them but a nifty little car... and we're on our way to Kuah Town where Liz wants to get something at the Mall and then we'll have an early dinner at Wonderland, our favourite restaurant in Langkawi and very popular on TripAdvisor.

Sure it's a street side restaurant like the thousands of others over here in this part of the world... it has plastic chairs and tables, there is a tepid waterway running right behind it and the occasional street cat wanders through every now and again... but it is famous for its excellent food and cheap prices. We came here last trip and vowed we would be back.
 

Our favourite dish here is the grilled Tiger Prawns and these babies are BIG and delicious. We order a plate of Seafood Fried Rice, Baby Kailan and Assam Prawns. We are not disappointed ... they also serve ice cold Tigers and Diet Coke so we are happy campers.
 

The staff run around as the tables start to fill... this place doesn't get going until after dark when it is hard to get a table.


It is still light and I'm hoping we might be able to catch a little sunset before it dips below the horizon. We drive back to our hotel and the sunset looks fabulous again but we're not going to make it to a beach with palms in time so we stop along the way, where the road runs amongst the rice paddies and coconut palms, and perching the TZ20 on top of the car, I shoot the last of the sunset....
 

It is spectacular as always and the scene seems to linger... with each passing second the colours change and I keep shooting... it is magic to watch. 

Day 18 - Langkawi

I don't know what has happened to our body clocks on this trip... I'm up at 7am and the sun has not yet popped up from behind the mountains to the east so I grab the tripod and head down to the rocks just 50 metres away.

Already people are on the beach for their morning jog but there are several with cameras ready to catch the sunrise. It's pretty spectacular and up here it seems to take on a whole new light not seen back home. That's not to say we don't get good sunrises but it's different.

After breakfast we organise a rental car like we did last time here. We go for a small car and end up with a tiny box-like car and I wonder if it will make it up Gunung Raya, which is the highest mountain on the island at 881 metres, and which has a lookout and a hotel on the summit.

We head off for the day and immediately fall in love with our little banger... it has plenty of up and go and plenty of room... it will suit us fine and is all we need for exploring Langkawi. We rented it from the guy at the hotel and while it may be a little more expensive than the flock of car rental places at the airport, the cars are in good condition and reliable.

First stop is the shopping mall at Kuah, the island's largest and only real city. Amazingly this must be the only shopping mall in South East Asia that Liz hasn't visited! I need some socks and she discovers they even have a Big Mens store... what a think to say!!! But I'll come back and maybe get some shorts which are easier up here in the heat.

We then head towards Black Sands Beach, the TomTom leading the way across the roads which criss-cross the island. Of course I stop every now and again for a photo opportunity while my pretty assistant holds the cameras and scouts the map for other possible sights.

While driving through small kampongs (villages) and rubber plantations, we are reminded that most of Langkawi is untouched by tourist development. The main tourist place is Pantai Cenang (Cenang Beach)... it's as if Surfers Paradise has been transplanted... very touristy and gauche... not my cup of tea at all.

We head up the 12 kilometer climb up Gunung Raya and the little banger (I don't even know the make of this car!) zooms upwards with no trouble... passing rainforest and monkeys along the road until we reach the summit where you can see the whole island and Thailand to the north.

It's pleasantly cool up on the top of the mountain and we enjoy the views before heading back down and stopping to try and take some shots of the camera-shy monkeys who gather in groups beside the roadway as it winds through the rainforest.

We arrive at Black Sands Beach where I shot some scenes at the fishing village during our last trip. Liz was at the pool that day so this is the first time she's been here and as there are beachside stalls she investigates. But her pressing need is a toilet and after finding only squat ones she decides to wait until later. It's a girl thing!

I see some potential shots along the beach front so that's me sorted for the next 20 minutes and then I punch the airport into the TomTom where there definitely will be western toilets for Liz. 

I really want to get some sunset shots this trip... last trip here it was overcast every day so I missed out but I am determined to get them this time. So we head to Pantai Cenang Beach... absolute bedlam and Liz comments that even though some of the top hotels on Langawki are located here, the crowded beach and main street don't appeal to us. We are more than happy with the Berjaya... it is out of the way but no crowds and a better outlook. We scout for potential sunset shoot locations and make a mental note of a boardwalk at the northern end of the Pantai Cenang.

I recalled seeing last trip some advertising saying the best place to see a sunset was from the Lighthouse Restaurant, a couple of kilometres north so we drive there and find that the beach is not as packed as Cenang but there are 2 or 3 parasailing outfits operating along this stretch of sand. 

The front deck of the Lighthouse Restaurant does indeed look inviting... maybe we'll have dinner there one night... but Liz is content to sit on the sand and watch the antics of the parasailors who come dangerously close during someof their landings... while I set up the G2 on the tripod and fire off a shot every few minutes as the sun works its magic on the clouds and water.

A couple of young guys from Dubai ask if I can take some shots of their impending parasail flight... they have more guts than I do... there is no way I'd harness up and take off one one of those contraptions after a 5-minute instructional chat! 

But I get some fabulous shots as the towed-parasail passes across the face of the sun... I even manage some burst shots of their less than delicate landing and they seem thrilled with the results.

 

I'll email the photos to them... who knows, they might be Arab oil billionaires who might treat us to an all expenses paid holiday in Dubai... well, we can but dream eh!

As the sunset really starts to get going and the colour in the western sky becomes a golden glow, I continue firing shots... it all looks amazing and hopefully I'll get a couple of good ones from the batch. It is hard to process the images in Lightroom on the small screen of my notepad so I'll wait untilI get home before working on the shots. It will be a tough job picking the best... in the LCD, every shot looks amazing. 

We couldn't have wished for a better sunset... it all just fell into place. I'd love to come up herefor a shoot with The Jolly Boys + One... we'd get some amazing shots here boys and girls.


We had planned to eat at Wonderland in Kuah, with it's amazing grilled prawns which are almost 12 inches long, or according to TripAdvisor, the best restaurant on Langkawi, the Priviledge at the new Perdana Quay. Perdana is just a few minutes from our hotel whereas Kuah is 19kms in the other direction. So, we give the Lighthouse a miss for tonight and head to Perdana Quay. 

Liz reminds me that we've been out and about all day and we both probably stink from the perspiration... maybe the Priviledge won't let us in... she is dressed for the beach but I'm wearing smart casual (probably still reek a bit). When we finally find the restaurant, they tell us that without a reservation they have no room... Liz reckons it's because we looked and smelled like a couple of strays! But the maitre de recommends Mare Blu down on the boardwalk and it too looks packed but they find us a table. 

We overlook the marina and there are some seriously expensive cruisers moored here... not much change out of quite a few million for these Big Boys Toys. And they hail from ports all over the world... maybe the Dubai guys own one!  




We are hungry, having skipped lunch which we tend to do while on the road... breakfast is big and it's too hot most of the time for lunch other than a cool drink. Liz grabs a G&T and I order a mug of icy cold Carlsberg... bloody beautiful, and cheap too. The food here is good too and you tend to forget that side dishes here are bigger than the usual postage-stamp-size dish of sauteed muchrooms etc at home, so we are swimming in food which we cannot finish. My duck breast is simply delicious and Liz's salmon equally so.

Big sheets of lightening light up the whole mountainside and marina, but the tropical storm heads out into the Andaman Sea and we crash into bed after parking the banger in the carpark and walking back to our chalet.   

Day 17 - Langkawi

 

We had intended sleeping in this morning... we've been on the go for 2 weeks and with some early mornings, we needed a rest. Liz has been slow to get going most days... maybe jet lag catching up as she's normally up and about at home around 6am ... but I'm up this morning at 7am and the sun's not up yet. I let her sleep as I try for some sunrise shots from the balcony of our chalet. It's a nice view to wake up to... very hard to take!     

This is our chalet amongst the rainforest just as the morning sun's rays light up the resort. All the chalets are in the rainforest ... either single ones like ours or double ones and then there are the ones on the water... maybe we'll get one of those next time.

The breakfast restaurant is packed at 10am and there is a wide variety of different foods to cater for the different nationalities here. The Egg Station cooks are working overtime as they wield their spatulas like white-hatted sword-fighters! 

Liz heads off to the pool and finds it hard to stake her claim to a poolside chair... apparently many of the guests are from Russia or Germany or thereabouts... her assessment is they should not be wearing bikinis! I'll have to head down and check them out... Before she headed for the pool I told Liz that I would volunteer my services as a Bikini-Line Technician but she reckons it would be a tough job even for me!

Liz has booked a manicure and pedicure for 5pm and then we'll have dinner at the Beach Restaurant. In the meantime, the blog is up to date and I'm gonna chill out and catch up on some reading.

Liz's indulgence went ok so we get ready for dinner at the Beach Restaurant just down from our chalet. It's still hot and humid at 8:30 but there is an occasional cool breeze as we look out on the twinkling lights of the other resorts and enjoy a western meal for thefirst time in 3 weeks... pizza and pasta. I so miss the Vietnamese food...

We head for bed as the sounds of the rainforest which surround us helps us drift off to sleep.  

Day 16 - Penang to Langkawi

We need to send another parcel of souvenirs and other stuff we don't need back home so we are not hauling a load of stuff all over the place. We've come to use the mail system to lighten the load during our trips... with airlines cracking down on baggage weight limits it is cheaper to  send excess items by post rather than get a surprise at the airport and have to pay excess baggage fees. As it is we have already off-loaded about 12 kilos of items.

So we ask the front desk at the hotel for a cardboard box and they come up with the perfect one ... an A4 printer paper box. Perfect size and you can stash quite a bit of stuff. The next problem is to find packing tape and brown paper. They have some rule over here, all parcels for postage must be wrapped in brown paper. So the hunt is on... where to get them in the middle of Georgetown? The hotel manager suggests a little Chinese shop hidden amongst the hundreds along Chulia Street... Teng Bee, about 200 meteres down the street.

We join the morning mix of bikes, traffic and people on the street and manage to find Teng Bee, a very small shopfront almost hidden by hawker stalls outside. We edge past two old Chinese men sitting by the entrance and enter Aladdins Cave! We immediately spot packing tape, rolls of brown paper, small scissors and black feltpens... everything we need for the task.

Back at the hotel, we fill the box and wrap it ready for postage. Now is the time to rationalise our baggage and check the weight... 20 kilo limit for checked baggage and either a 5kg or 7kg cabin baggage limit (depending on the airline) and they are now weighing cabin baggage at check-in so you need to be on the ball.

We check out at midday and with our trusty TomTom to guide us, we ask it to lead us to the nearest Post Office. After a few missed turns in the heavy traffic, we manage to find one down by the ferry terminal. Another 8 kgs of stuff on its way home.. with what we've already sent that's like another suitcase we don't have to lug around! Got me stumped what it all is but there's quite a few souvenirs, gifts (as if Amelia needs any more clothes!)... and items for the scrapbook (The Woozie Book... long story.)

We've a few hours to kill before our flight to Langkawi at 7pm and no visit to Penang is complete without lunch or dinner at The Eastern and Oriental Hotel... E&O, or as the expats call it "The Eggs and Omelete". We stayed here with Charlie back in 2008 and it was very luxurious with a lot of history (Kipling, Somerset Maugham, Noel Coward and other famous people have stayed here) but is also very expensive.

They have done quite a bit of work on the building and the original restaurant the rich and famous used to haunt, Sarkies Corner, is now a la carte and the buffet is in a refurbished part of the hotel. We head for the buffet and it is as spectacular as we remember it to be when we were here last. The food, all different culinary specialties, is presented and prepared to perfection. Liz chooses freshly cooked to order Kwai Tao and I go for Hokien Mee... freshly cooked after I chose the ingredients. It's not Pho but it'spretty damned good. It allgoes down well with a couple of Tigers. If you ever get to Penang, you absolutely must do lunch at the E&O... it's a very pleasant experience. 

We spend the rest of the afternoon exploringsome of the fishing villages on the south side of the island near the airport. Batu Maung is a traditional old Malay fishing village and the only give away is a row of new townhouses facing the beach. From here though you can see the new bridge between Penang and the mainland under construction. It is going to be a very long bridge... the current one is 11 kms long, the new one will be 24 kms and it is a pretty impressive sight.

We drop the car off early and do all the check-in, security and waiting thing before our departure to Langkawi right on time in an almost empty Firefly Airlines ATR 42-500. We climb out over Penang as a spectacular sunset lights up the clouds and the Andaman Sea below. Liz is giving her new camera a work out but it's hard taking sunset shots out of an aircraft window... but she's enjoying the view and it does look spectacular.

No sooner are the wheels up and we cruise for about 5 minutes than we start our descent into Langkawi... a total flight time from takeoff to landing of 25 minutes. We see the twinkle of lights on the islands and soon enough we touch down.




We grab a taxi voucher (24 ringits or $7) and drive the familiar route to The Berjaya Resort on the western side of the island. There is a new hotel at Telaga Harbour and, according to TripAdvisor, the best restaurant on the island... we'll give it a try one evening.


Arriving at the hotel lobby, it is hot and humid but the ceiling fans are pleasant in the lobby lounge which we plan to come back to very shortly. As we check in we are introduced to the Duty Manager who welcomes us back to the Berjaya... these people really do their homework ... after being escorted to our chalet set amongst the rainforest, a young lady arrives with a cake ... "Welcome Back". 

It's a nice touch and says a lot about the way the tourism industry here in Asia wins points for service... a lesson the tourism industry back home should take note of. "Service"... what is that?

Our chalet is about 50 metres from the water and overlooks Burau Bay. We're getting closer to the chalets on the water with each trip! They have refurbished the rooms since we were here 2 years ago and they now look like a room transplanted from Traders in KL. Everything is new whereas the old rooms were functional but a little rustic.

A Tiger and a snack is in order so we wander through the resort to the Lobby Lounge where a trio is performing some oldies... for some oldies...  and there are a lot of people enjoying a cool drink and just relaxing in the ambience of the lounge. We grab a snack and then head back to our chalet... a long day and we're glad to hit the sack and maybe have a sleep-in tomorrow. 

Day 15 - Penang

Today we decide to check out the fishing villages on the northern side of the island and to visit the Tropical Spice Garden which we've missed on every previous visit. It was recommended to me by my good friend Ed Emmerick who was here a few months ago.

With the TomTom guiding us through the hectic traffic of Georgetown we finally hit the north side and hit is a good word. The road here hugs the coast and is very windy. On a previous trip we almost had a head on with a bike as he came around a blind corner on the wrong side of the road. These morons will also overtake you over double lines and on blind corners so you need to be careful. Sure enough, one idiot on a bike appears in front of us on our side of the road and we both veer left to avoid a head-on!

But we stop every now and again so that I can get some shots of the small fishing fleets which pepper these pretty inlets. They are postcard shots... very pretty but very cliched of course. 


We arrive at the Spice Garden which is set on the hillside amongst the rainforst, and opposite, right on the beach is a roadside restaurant, so we decide lunch would be nice looking out over the water. Liz asks if they have cold beer and the answer is no so, as it is so hot and a cold Tiger would be an absolute necessity... we decide to find something at the Spice Garden... and lucky we did.

We ask at the entrance kiosk and they say there is a restaurant up the hill called the Tree Monkey. Up the hill? In this heat... you have to be kidding! But the need for a cold Tiger is greater than the struggle up a steep walkway so off we go. Finally reaching the restaurant amongst the rainforest with a deck overlooking the forest and the sea, we are glad the other place didn't serve beer. It's like an oasis in the middle of a green, lush desert.

Inside the restaurant is another entrance to the Spice Shop. Liz goes to investigate while I wrestle a Tiger or two and she comes back to tell me that they have every spice known to man and the aroma is out of this world. I'll investigate shortly.

In the meantime we check the menu and decide on Satay and a couple of seafood dishes. The waiter tells us that the Satay sauce takes six hours to make and when we taste it, we can see why. It's simply the best Satay we've ever had! And the prawns and rice... just wonderful and this restaurant is definitely on the must-visit list when in Penang. Thanks for the tip Ed.

We then go treking through the rainforest trails and every plant, flower and tree is described but I can't pronounce any of the names! But it's interesting all the same and the trail is hot and humid under the canopy of the rainforest. We finally make it back to the small lake near the entrance where a bridal party is getting set up. Seems to day is wedding day as we come across several groups on the beaches.

The heat is really tough to take so we head back to the hotel via a few more side tracks... one of which leads us to a beach where a group of local guys are catching small crabs on the beach. They wander along the beach break with sieve boxes and scoop some wet sand. Any crabs or small pipis are caught on the mesh. 

Back at the Yeng Keng we sit in the shade and down a coupleof G&Ts and are joined by an English lady named Chris who is also staying at the hotel. She only has a few more days here before heading back to the cold weather in London. We are keen to try an Assam Laksa so we ask the waiter for a recommendation and he ngives us some vague directions. It's about 500 metres away... I should be able to make it so we invite Chris to join us and off we go into the bustling crowded Lebuh Chulia and head for Penang Road.

It's almost 8pm and the traffic is still bad... it seems everyone here goes out at night to eat in the relative cool of the evening and they park wherever they can. Most of the streets in this area are dotted with hawker stalls and the array of dishes and the aroma is amazing. People sit on plastic chairs around plastic tables and hook into whatever it is they have chosen for tonights dinner. Usually it is a little bit from a number of dishes... it's a great way to eat and everyone gets involved passing the dishes across the table.

We get a bit lost but finally find the place... it is called The Famous TeowChew Laksa and there are photos of celebrities on the wall to prove it! They speak little English but we order three Assam Laksas, the dish they are famous for, and bottles of cold water. They have NO TIGERS!!! What a bummer but hopefully the Laksa will be worth it.

Shortly three steaming bowls of Assam Laksa arrive and the three of us look at them with a little trepidation. Liz and I love our Laksa from Chinatown but that is Laksa Lemak from down south of Malaysia... it's made with coconut milk and, while spicy, is the food of the gods. The Assam Laksa they do up here in Penang is a different dish... it is sour and made with fish paste and tamarind. It will be an experience but at least we can say we've had one.

We all find it is surprisingly good and Liz especially commented that it wasn't as spicy as she thought it would be and really liked it. Chris insisted on a photo and then we ventured out into Penang Road to find our way back to the hotel. Once you get your bearings here it's all pretty easy to get around the town and walking rather than driving is the way to go.

We make our way through the traffic of Penang Road and then via the dark alleyways and backstreets to the beacon of our hotel... where the hawkers of Lebuh Chulia are just starting to pack up for the night. It is still hot and humid so we decide a drink before bed is in order so the three of us sit in the courtyard and sip cool G&Ts. I wonder what the rich are doing?

Day 14 - Penang

Last nights storm has cooled the weather... I think it's down to a bearable 28 degrees when we went to breakfast.

Our plan for the day is to drive around the islandand try and get someshots of the fishing villages on the western side which is largely untouched by tourist development.

The GPS gets us out of Georgetown with no problem and we start to run along the coast between Georgetown and Batu Feringhi. Each little cove is a postcard picture of large boulders sticking out of the water and spread along the ends of the beaches with the rainforest tumbling down the hillsides to the water. Even here though, they are still building large resorts and high rise developments on the sideof the hill which comes right down to the sea.

I give Liz heart failure as I stop and park beside the narrow windy road and dart across (well dart may not be the right word... amble is better) the road to get a shot of a picturesque cove or a lone fisherman on the rocks. I found my best friend is my keen sense of hearing... listen for the approaching sound of bikes or busses on the blind corners and when it's quiet... go!

We pass through Batu Ferringhi without  with themstopping... we may come back for the night markets tomorrow night. They are always fun to watch and I might even pick up a genuine, real deal, fair dinkum, fake Rolex or Brietling! Liz will be looking to add another 500 bracelets to the 5000 she already has at home!

Just past Batu Ferringhi we drive down a dirt road and come to a grassed area where they keep the horses they use to take tourists along the beach. 

A family of locals have set up a picnic under the trees and I wander along the beach and get some shots of the small fishing boats in the next cove. The locals invite us to share their lunch which is a very nice jesture but we've only really just finished breakfast so we chat for a while and leave them to it. 

Parked on the grass is a big Magirus-Deutz truck set up as a campervan. It's a rebuilt ex-German Army truck. Now this is a van! The English couple have been on the road for just over a year and have driven overland from The Czeck Republic through Iran, Nepal and  India! No kids but a bigdog which they tell us has caused a few problems with quarantine etc. We can't imaqging traveling with young kids let alone with a dog! Can you imagine Toka on a trip like that!!! 
 
We climb the mountain roads before reaching the flat area on the other side of the island. I've a habit of driving down any little side roads I come across, there might be a shot at the end, and here is no different. We drive through small villages and jungle before finally arriving at a fishing village which we suspect has not changed for hundreds of years except for the cars parked along the dirt road. There is a dirty looking narrow waterway with sheds and old wooden buildings lining the banks and colourful fishing boats lay alongside, with nets spread out drying.

We drive as far as we can down the dirt road... Liz reckons it'sonly for bikes it is so narrow... and she is correct as a couple of locals look at us a little strangely as they gingerly ride past. I reverse out anddo a 10-point turn and head the other way and come across trays of fish drying in the hot sun.

The locals are friendly and wave as we drive by and many are just sitting in the shade to get out of the searing heat. We get back to the main road and come to the fishing town of Teluk Behang which I have been to many times before. It has changed with the influx of tourists and you can no longer walk out on the long jetty and get a close-up view of the fishing fleet in the harbour.

It's bloody hot and we need a cool drink so we stop at a famous Teluk Behang eatery, The End of the World Seafood Restaurant. Other times I've been here it's always been closed but today the Tigers look invitingly chilled and there are fish, crabs and lobsters in the tanks along the walls... all just begging to be sampled... NOT!

We splurge and decide lobster thermidore and grilled tiget prawns would go down well. Back home lobster costs a furtune and while it isn't exactly cheap by local standards it's a bit of a holiday indulgence.

The cold Tiger goes down well and refreshed and fuelled up we head off to finish our island circuit. There is a lookout on top of the mountain range from where you can see the whole western side of the island but as it's Sunday parking is packed so we cross the range and head down and back to Georgetown.

Dinner tonight at the Yeng Keng Hotel Restaurant which, the 2nights we've been here, has been packed. We grab a table in the courtyard and invite an English lady traveling alone to join us and we share some excellent Haianese dishes ... a few Gin and Tonics and a Tiger or two. Around 9 o'clock it starts to spit rain and there is lightening so we call it a night. Once again the rain is torrential and we hit the sack after another day in this hot but fascinating place.