The train journey was lovely although eight hours on a train is a long time, especially when the bus takes five hours or less to make the same journey. Still, it was lovely to watch the world going by, to look out at the jungles of Malaysia and the beautiful oriental houses going by.
We arrived in KL at night, about nine twenty or so, and got a taxi to our hotel. Taxis are cheap in KL and all of the taxi drivers we got were friendly and chatty. Our hotel was amazing, I got it on wotiff, it was a 'secret hotel', one of those deals where you reserve a room and only find out which hotel after you have done that. It was called times square and it was a really nice place with an excellent complimentary breakfast, a pool and spa, and the room was a full suite. It only cost 15 dollars more per person than the hostel from the night before. We wandered around the area that evening for a little while, got some food and went to bed. The next day we went to the hospital and got travel shots and anti-malaria pills after an unsucessful attempt to get doxycycline in a pharmacy which only had malerone. If you really don't want to go to a doctor, you can get anti-malarials in most pharmacies in Malaysia without a prescription but it costs about 20 dollars to go to the doctor and Malaysia has some of the best doctors in the world so its well worth it to get travel advice and if you can't find Doxycycline in the pharmacy.
A side note, with anit-malarials. There are three basic types for asia: Malerone, Larium and Doxycycline. Malerone is by far the most expensive (60 dollars for 12 pills). It has slightly less side effects and its real benefit is that you can stop taking it after coming out of the malaria zone. It is under patent by glaxoKlineSmith until 2014 (glaxoKlineSmith have invested heavily in Ireland and so I can't dislike them!). Larium is to be avoided. Doxycycline is the best option if you are on a budget. You have to take it for four weeks after you come back and there are a few mild side effects but these are similar to Malerone (increased photosensivity being the main one – I am so photosensive as it is that it's just better for me to cover up and avoid direct sunlight). We took Malerone for our first hike though asia and Doxycycline on our second one and we didn't find any discernable difference except for the price.
We went for smoothies: orange juice and star fruit, and hung around in our hotel for a while. I got a massage in the excellent johoba spa and Paddy surfed the net for a while. We headed to chinatown for dinner in a little outdoor eatery and wandered through the market where I bought some 'raybans' for 25 ringett.
This morning we got up at 6.00 and headed to sentral station for the early train to Penang. Now, as I sit on the comfortable train about to enjoy some banana bread and a game of cards, I watch the country side of this exotic place go by and I look forward to the historical and 'beachy' island of Penang which promises to yield a dispirate package including ancient temples, incense calmed snakes, beautiful beaches, colonial mansions, forts and french cafes.
Penang was a strategic location for the Brittish and so it's a mismash of colonial houses and British build forts, ancient temples and modern buildings. I am really excited about this part of the journey as we will take the train all the way to Bangkok. This is completely new for us both so we have no idea what to expect!
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