2 weeks in Malaysia (written by a dangerously tired traveler)

I guess that now is as good a time as any to blog, considering I have been stuck in either a bus terminal or airport for 5 hours now, and its finally 6 am! I board my flight to the Philippines in a little over an hour, and yes I’m excited to get there, but this moment I am most excited to take a little napper during the flights! Needless to say I am very tired after a full day in Kuala Lumpur, so excuse any craziness or boring-ness in the following…

After our amazing scuba diving on Ko Tao, Leah and I had to book it out of Thailand because our visas were about to expire! We headed off the island on the most interesting overnight travel yet- a 9.5 hour boat ride, well suited for backpackers on a budget, or (more likely) the transport of cattle!!! The pictures on my facebook tell it all, sweaty strangers spooning in cramped little spaces… I’ll just say that it was hot, dirty, and miserable, and after laughing about it for a good while, I literally medicated myself into a deep sleep!

Our first destination in Malaysia was Langkawi. This island turned out to be much like a Malay Virginia Beach. There were too many nice hotels and tourist activities for our liking, but we managed to find our nitch in a chill backpackers’ guesthouse, and a cool reggae bar on the beach. We spent almost a week in Langkawi, with minimal western backpackers and whole lot of Indian, Malay, and Middle Eastern vacationers. A single motorbike and sense of adventure took us to the north of the island a couple times, which was a different vibe and provided some fun, a breathtaking sunset, and a nice long nap at a waterfall. The proper and organized roads of Malaysia challenged my motor driving skills, and I hit a speed of 105km/hr on the highway without hitting a monkey!! (Seriously, I was actually terrified of being attacked by monkeys on the way home at night, they are just all over the place and do not like to be messed with. We witnessed one dumb white guy instigating them on the side of the road and if I wasn’t so afraid of them turning on me, maybe I would have stayed to tape and you-tube a monkey fight, in which I would have been rooting for the monkeys!!)

After Langkawi, Leah and I traveled inland to the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia’s tea capitol, with an elevation of 6,000ft. It was beautiful! Rolling mountains covered in tea or fruit and vegetable greenhouses, chilly temperatures, relaxed atmosphere, a lot of Malays on their vacations, and of course a whole lot of tea!! (FYI- Tea is basically one of my most favorite things in the world!!!) This is my first time to visit a Tea Plantation, and it was stunning. We went to a factory, and as they were fermenting and drying the tea the aroma was spectacular, I wish I could bottle that scent! Overall, the week was just about as relaxing as it gets, with lots of hanging out with some cool and interesting people. I was tickled that our neighbor was a 70 some year old female solo traveler who would inform me of the international news each morning when I woke up! How cool is she?!?! We also got to know the crew at our favorite Indian restaurant, and even though the food made me sick twice, we still went back day after day because forming relationships with the people there was more filling than the food in a lot of ways!

Leah and I parted a couple days ago, (to be reunited in the beginning of July) and I took off to the capitol of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. I stayed at a friendly hostel recommended by friends, which basically feels like being at home, and then I explored the city on my own for 2 days. It is kinda crazy how many random people I had conversations with over the past 2 days by myself. My favorite moment though was when I was stuck in a Chinese tea shop during an afternoon down pour, and learned the art of Chinese tea! I have now realized why they drink out of such tiny cups, and will be sure to practice this charming ritual once back in the states!!



Alright, my life according to Blogger is officially caught up, and I can no longer handle the scent of fast food in exchange for free internet, so it is off to find my seat on a plane, and wake up to the Philippines!