Cameron Highlands

We left Ipoh and made our way to the Cameron Highlands, an area of Malaysia that was at one time a popular retreat for British colonizers escaping the heat of other parts of the country.   As the hours past and we continued to wind our way up the unforgiving pitch and around one treacherous corner after another, we had a difficult time imagining what it would have been like to make the journey 200 years ago.  The terraced mountainside housing strawberry farms, flower and tea plantations made for excellent scenery that certainly made tackling the road worthwhile.   It felt like we were in the middle of no where but when we reached the “village” where we would spend the night, the large Starbucks sitting in the middle of town told us otherwise.  We enjoyed cooler temperatures as well as wonderful tea and baked goods at a tea plantation before heading off to KL. 

On the Road Again - From Sub Par in Penang to Loving Life in Lipe With Lots in Between, stop one, Ipoh

It has been nearly a month since an update!  I am not so good at this so apologies to anyone who has been curious as to our where abouts.  We are alive and well and...I promise to do my best to provide more regular updates in the future.  We would also love updates from anyone out there!

Our month in Penang did not turn out exactly as we had planned but we are getting used to the unexpected twists and turns that have been a part of our journey since we left Victoria in September.  Rob, Eric and I ended up spending most of the last two weeks at the apartment in Penang in bed feeling pretty miserable.   We were glad we were not all confined to one hotel room and we did not have to try to move from place to place.  We are still not sure what we came down with but whatever it was, it was very nasty and it bit us like we have not been bit before.  Fearon managed to escape the wrath of the virus and he did a marvelous job of keeping himself amused and us cared for.  Fortunately, we started feeling better in time to vacate the apartment and, much to the kids chagrin, hit the road again. 

Ipoh

We left Penang and headed towards Kuala Lumpur, taking some excellent detours along the way.  The first stop was Ipoh, an ancient city nestled between towering limestone cliffs that were as picturesque as just about anything we have seen.  We went to a park that somehow successfully combined being an eco resort, natural hot springs, zoo, caves, water park and museum.  The mixture sounds kind of odd but it was amazing and we all loved it.  The setting was spectacular and the combination of having a blast on the water slides, being able to see cool animals, learn about the history of tin mining and wander through some caves made for a great day.  This was the start to the celebration of Fearon’s 14^th Birthday.  We knew we would be “in transit” on his actual Birthday but we wanted to at least do some particularly fun things around the actual date.

Ipoh is known for its many cave temples and Rob and I visited one of the largest ones.  The coolness of the cave was a welcome relief from the heat of the day but the relief was short lived.  It did not take long for temperatures to rise once we got through the cave and started to climb the cliffs to take in the view.  It also did not take long to realize that the previous couple of weeks spent in bed had taken quite a bit out of us.  We were huffing and puffing as though we were doing a major hill workout.

Waiting out the floods in Batu Feringgi

With a vehicle at our disposal we have been able to really explore the area and (when we aren't fighting with the kids about school work) the days here have had a pleasant rhythm consisting of school work for the kids, sight seeing and relaxing by the wonderful pool that is part of the complex we are in.  It has also been a treat to have more than one room as a living space.  

Haven't managed to escape grocery shopping for the full year and was actually glad to be stocking up our own fridge.

These didn't make the cart.  

These didn't make the cart either!

Kek Lok Si, Temple of Supreme Bliss  - another beauty

A few of the 10,000 Buddhas at the temple

At the summit!

The Giant Buddha of Kek Lok Si

We are getting used to these guys.  They can get pretty ornery so you have to be careful not to pay too much attention to them!

At Penang National Park

Joining the monkeys at the park

The kids still think the snakes at the snake temple were fake....not!

Fit in a fun run and got a taste of Malaysian running events.

The Kebun Bunga Charity Run Champs!

Orang Utan Island is a rehabilitation island for - yes, Orang Utans.  The animals have free run of the island and the human visitors are the ones to watch through the cage.    

Although the claim is that the animals have free run of the island, it seemed to us as though they were confined to a small area so as to ensure the visitors could view them..   

At the Nature (?) Park

Getting to the water park Malaysian style.

View from Penang Hill

Nearly every night we have had incredible electrical storms and sudden, thundering downpours.  The light shows have been spectacular and a few times, a little frightening.

Unpacking in Batu Feringgi

We spent another night in Georgetown and then headed for a guesthouse in the suburbs, in the beach community of Batu Ferringi.   I had been in contact with an Australian family living in Penang who host a great family travel website and they had given me the name of a guesthouse a few doors down from them.  We stayed for two nights with a very friendly Malaysian family and we also got to know the Australian folks who have been incredibly helpful in many ways. 

A combination of factors led us to decide to extend our stay in Penang.  The flooding situation in the direction we had intended to travel was remaining unpredictable and to go in the opposite direction, to Indonesia, would mean that we would be travelling there just as their Monsoon season was starting.  The boys were also getting really weary of frequent hotel changes, they wanted to unpack and to have a little space of their own....

The Aussie family helped us find a super apartment and helped us set up a good deal on a car rental so here we are hanging out in Penang until the end of November when we will fly to Hanoi, Vietnam. 

We have already had a few small world encounters during our trip.  When we were on the beach in Koh Phanang we met a Canadian who is living in Laos. He asked us if we might happen to know his dad who lives in Victoria…yup, Rob knows him quite well and had heard all about the son, who we were chatting with on the beach.  We are looking forward to connecting with him again when we get to Luang Prabang.  The other small world encounter happened here at the place we are staying.  As we were crossing the street after having first looked at the place, we ran into a French/British family with whom we had spent time in Koh Phanang.  They were staying here as well.  The boys have had a great time doing things with their son, Kes.  We have all enjoyed some lovely meals together and getting to know each other.  The kids have even had a chance to practice a little French.  They moved on to Bornea a few days ago and we will miss them but hope to see them again some where some day.

The kids have certainly enjoyed their daily PE classes.

The view from our home for a month in Batu Ferggini

Sandrine, Kes, Dominique & Kate.  Our new friends from Paris. 

Georgetown

After the marathon of travel I thought I would sleep at least until sunrise but just before dawn I had one of the most beautiful wake up calls of my life.  The Muslim call to prayer reminded me that I was somewhere that was certainly not familiar.  In spite of the challenges of the day before, I was excited to discover what Malaysia had in store.

After a pretty relaxing breakfast we set out to explore Georgetown.  What a place!  I certainly never expected to see an area as diverse as this in Asia.   Racial and religious tensions are apparent in various areas throughout the country but you would never know this in Georgetown.  Temples, mosques and churches sit side by side with little India, China Town, street markets and hawker stands. Old seems to blend harmoniously with new and the architecture of both is gorgeous.  The beauty doesn’t stop with the buildings but extends to the people as well.  The warmth and helpfulness of the Malaysians is evident in every encounter.  The Thais were not unfriendly but we certainly did not experience the warmth that we have experienced here.  Perhaps it is that Malaysia has not been as jaded by tourism as Thailand has been or perhaps it is because the British influence here has meant there is less of a language barrier. Whatever the reason, the smiling faces of the Malaysians and the hospitality they show is amazing.

This is the Benggali Mosque that the prayer call was coming from at dawn.

The colours and intricacies of the Chinese temples never cease to captivate 

Rob and I got out for a tourist jog before the kids opened their eyes and we enjoyed quiet alleyways and a city just about to come alive.

The colours and the conservation of the heritage buildings in Georgetown are outstanding 

Not what we are used to seeing in the middle of the road in Victoria!

I had been having computer problems and had to get my MacBook to an Apple centre for repairs so in the evening we decided to leave the old part of the city and find the Apple store.  There are not a lot of these in Asia and the proximity of one was one of the reasons for our visit to Penang.   When we got to the mall, for the first time since we left home, we actually felt as though we could be in North America.  Many of the familiar chain stores were present and the generic nature of the monstrosity we call the mall was the same.  It was a relief to be getting the computer looked after and we enjoyed the familiarity of the whole mall scenario.  We were also happy to take in cheap movie (no complaints with $2 tickets to Johnny English).

Thanksgiving – Definitely Not the Victoria Marathon!

Thanksgiving day turned out to be our most grueling travel day to date.  We left our hotel at 5:30 AM and for most of the next 17 hours, seemed to go from one uncomfortable form of transportation to another.  The ferry was fine but after that things went down hill. 

Thailand houses many expatriates who live in the country on short term visas and who have to go to a neighboring country every couple of months to get their passports stamped and visas renewed.  Various tour operators organize “Visa Runs”, shuttling folks in and out of the country for visa renewals.  Our trip to Malaysia was part of one of these runs.  The place we had booked through had guaranteed us that we would be on a full sized, air conditioned bus and we had even been shown a picture of the bus.  This was not to be.  Once we arrived on the mainland from the ferry we were shuffled to a minibus that was crammed from front to back with people and luggage. It was a far cry from the bus in the picture we were shown.  The four of us, legs and luggage on top of ourselves and each other, were squished into the back row for the next 7 hours.  When it came time to switch vans the transfer meant running with our luggage across a busy highway and through a few streets to catch the next packed minivan.  Throughout this it was in deed an effort to find our happy places.  I tried to teleport to the Mickelberry bus and enjoy the comforts of that vehicle but I must need additional training as I stubbornly remained where I was.  In spite of the discomfort, the boys were amazing throughout the day and we didn’t hear a single complaint.  I actually think they enjoyed the free rein that they had to entertain themselves with electronic gadgetry.

Three mini busses and two immigration points later we entered Malaysia.  Although it was already dark, the contrast from Thailand was readily apparent.  Malaysia’s highway infrastructure seemed much more developed and single scooters with entire families on board seemed to disappear as did the battered pick up trucks loaded down with humanity.  In the dark, the cityscapes and road network could almost pass for North America. 

The bus dropped us off in Georgetown, Penang, a UNESCO World Heritage City. As we watched a rat scurry through the open sewer, we were reminded that this area was definitely not North America but as we looked around it was easy to tell that neither was it Thailand.  We were looking forward to exploring but it was really late and we were pooped so we were glad to find an absolutely beautiful hotel and to call it a night.

Our traditional Thanksgiving day usually consists of participating in various ways in the Victoria Marathon and hosting or being hosted by wonderful friends after the marathon.  Boy were we missing this.  I would love to have been cooking a turkey and getting ready for friends rather than jammed into minivan after minivan – BUT – missing home is part of the travel package and you have to take the good with the bad.  We were all thankful for the richness in our lives and we didn’t really need a turkey to remind us of this.

Koh Samui Take Two

Having had two weeks of relative tranquility we thought we might be ready to check out the busy side of Samui for a few days before leaving Thailand all together.  We left Koh Phanang and headed for Chaweng, the beach to which most Samui tourists flock for the famous stretch of white sand.  We were in for a bit of a culture shock that was nearly as severe as the culture shock experienced when we first landed in Asia.  Chaweng’s stretch of beach is in deed beautiful but the scene that awaited us was more than a little different from where we had been.  Every inch of sand seemed to be taken up by beach chairs and bars, restaurants, sea doo stands, hawkers and crowds.  We were certainly in the middle of the action.  The streets above the beach were as busy as Bangkok.   The place hummed night and day and although we were glad not to be staying there for long, it was pretty neat to watch the party on the beach once the sun went down and the lanterns were fired up and floating in the sky.

The return trip to Samui served its purpose as we got our last immunizations and figured out what our next step would be.  We were originally planning to travel north through Thailand and into Laos but with flood waters threatening many of the areas we were planning to visit, we decided to head to Malaysia and wait for the water situation to improve.

Not quite Serious Coffee but somehow we are getting used to this.  

Fearon and Eric were happy to see Ronald in Samui

Just one of the sites on the beach in the evening.

This was pretty early in the morning so the chairs weren't filled yet.  The white sand did in deed stretch as far as you could see.

There was quite a stir when Rob came across this guy after his morning swim.  The folks from the restaurant were quick to scoop it up and start to prepare it for the evening menu.