Where did days 17-30 go? Well, sitting in the “draft” box of this blog.

Well I admit I’ve been slacking!

I started this post on May 3rd, so you see I’ve been procrastinating.

My intention was to journal each day or leg of my travels through SE Asia, however, 2 weeks have past since my last post and I am now back in Thailand.  So where did I leave off?  Oh yes- Saigon,Vietnam.

Petronas Towers- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Rainforest B & B- the most charming place I’ve stayed in SE Asia

A short flight across the Gulf of Thailand from HCMC to KL and an even longer shuttle ride from the KL Airport into the city.  The KL Airport really seemed that it was in the middle of nowhere among several palm trees.  Upon arriving into the city, I was dropped off at KL Central which is the transportation hub for both buses and the entire KL train system.  I took a monorail to a stop close to my B&B and hopped off into the sweltering heat with my fully loaded backpack ready to find my destination.  Luckily, it wasn’t far and I was able to check-in early.  The Rainforest B&B was by far the best place I’ve stayed in my travels thus far.  It was so charming and centrally located to almost everything, I highly recommend it to anyone heading to KL and wanting  budget friendly accommodations.

Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, is a bustling metropolis.  I’d venture to say the New York of SE Asia with soaring skyscrapers, a shoppers paradise, pockets of cultural neighborhoods and FANTASTIC food!  OMG, I did love the food.  I could have ate my way through the country easily.  I spent 5 days in KL and loved every minute of it.  Venturing to the amazing Petronas Towers, spending an afternoon shopping at the mall, watched my first English movie, (The OZ) since I’ve been away from the US, wandered around the Central Market, enjoyed several great meals and daily afternoon thunderstorms.  I will definitely return for another visit or two when I’m not on a backpacker budget and can really shop.

After my days in KL ended I returned back to KL Central to hop on a night/sleeper train headed north to Penang, Malaysia.  The train departed at 22:00 hrs and I quickly crawled into my lower berth bed to attempt getting some sleep.  We would arrive at our destination at 06:30 the following morning, so I set my alarm to ensure that I wouldn’t miss my stop.  Well, really there was no need to do that since I hardly slept.  The several stops and constant rocking combined with the notion that I could easily roll  right out of bed made it difficult to relax and fall asleep.  Nevertheless, a couple of quick snoozes and several hours of my IPod  later, I was exiting the train at Butterworth, Malaysia.

British Colonial Beauty

Firehouse- Penang, Malaysia

I’m still standing after all these years.

Butterworth is on the mainland and my destination was Penang, a small island across the harbor.  I exited the train station, walked to the jetty and boarded a ferry at 7am for Penang.  Penang is one of the most charming, British influenced towns I have ever stepped foot in.  I fell in love with the quaint streets, colorful architecture, Indian infused foods and friendly people.  I spent four lovely days in Penang before I boarded my overnight train to Bangkok.  Just a mere 22 hour train ride and I’d be back in Thailand and then another 6 hour bus ride until I would be home.  So after almost 30 hours of travel, I returned home to Kamphaeng Phet so that I could begin teaching the following week.