Country number 5... Malaysia
The following day we visited Fort Cornwallis - the original building of Georgetown - and it's all full of panels of info to read - we found the aircon units in the museum more interesting in the midday heat and sun! We then attempted to visit Penang Hill - 850m above the island with pretty spectacular views. After getting on the wrong bus full of school kids and sitting in traffic for an hour and three quarters, we were a bit reluctant to head up the hill, but thought seeing as we had come all that way... So we waited for another 3/4 hour for the funicular to come down the hill, spent 1/2 hour squished into the funicular carriage and finally made it to the top 3 hours after we'd left the city... gah. We spent 1/2 hour on the hill before getting freaked out by the giant spiders (Orb spiders we later learnt) and spending another 2 hours getting back. The views were nice, but so not worth it. 
We caught an early morning bus (which we nearly missed as we forgot to change the alarm clock time when leaving Thailand...ooops) and headed 4 hours south and east to the middle of Peninsula Malaysia and the lovely coolness of the Cameron Highlands. The area is beautiful (but marred by awfully designed hotels and apartment blocks) and famous for tea and strawberries as the climate is a lot cooler and drier than the lowlands. We've spent the last 3 days trekking in the jungle (thankfully as it's high there's no mosquitoes or leeches) and visiting tea plantations, strawberry farms, butterfly farms and eating scones! It's been a great retreat from the heat and the bustle of Georgetown and tomorrow's journey to Kuala Lumpur. 
We left Thailand a few days ago (have no idea what day it is today let alone what day it was then!) and headed to Georgetown - the capital of Penang island off the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia. We had a mammoth journey with the usual numerous changes of minibus in random towns on the way, and finally arrived at 10pm knackered and sweaty and then had to find a room... We eventually found an old colonial building converted to a hotel in the 1930s and looks like the people who work there and the decorations haven't changed since! But it was the largest room we've stayed in for a long time and had a bath! After a few weeks of cold showers, having a bath was heaven :-) Across the road from our hotel was a food court selling all manner of Indian, Chinese, Japanese etc etc food all for a couple of pounds. And whilst consuming our random plates of food (our friend Amanda's plate consisted of pineapple, chicken, mashed potato, gravy, carrots and spaghetti bolognase with a mushroom soup starter...), we were serenaded by semi-professional karaoke at full volume. It was brilliant! Somehow it all worked together to create a great atmosphere and we had a great time and went back there each night :-)
We spent the next couple of days exploring the city and looking for new shoes for Chris as he left a bag on a bus (fortunately with nothing too important in...) so the shopping mall was first stop. It was all a lot more civilised than most places we've been so far but still very asian and so many shops packed in and lots selling pretty much the same items. I splashed out on a £1.20 watch and £6 shorts!
After a surprisingly good shopping centre meal, we headed back into the heat to walk the heritage trail - Georgetown became a UNESCO site last year. There is a great mixture of architecture - lots of old colonial buildings and small houses mixed in with mosques, chinese clan houses and hindu temples. It's pretty much like all of Malaysia culture - mostly Chinese and Indian with some proper Malay thrown in. Georgetown was the asian outpost of the East India Company back in the 19th Century and there's lots of British influence, not only in Georgetown but all across Malaysia (and everyone speaks good english which is pretty helpful!).
The following day we visited Fort Cornwallis - the original building of Georgetown - and it's all full of panels of info to read - we found the aircon units in the museum more interesting in the midday heat and sun! We then attempted to visit Penang Hill - 850m above the island with pretty spectacular views. After getting on the wrong bus full of school kids and sitting in traffic for an hour and three quarters, we were a bit reluctant to head up the hill, but thought seeing as we had come all that way... So we waited for another 3/4 hour for the funicular to come down the hill, spent 1/2 hour squished into the funicular carriage and finally made it to the top 3 hours after we'd left the city... gah. We spent 1/2 hour on the hill before getting freaked out by the giant spiders (Orb spiders we later learnt) and spending another 2 hours getting back. The views were nice, but so not worth it. We caught an early morning bus (which we nearly missed as we forgot to change the alarm clock time when leaving Thailand...ooops) and headed 4 hours south and east to the middle of Peninsula Malaysia and the lovely coolness of the Cameron Highlands. The area is beautiful (but marred by awfully designed hotels and apartment blocks) and famous for tea and strawberries as the climate is a lot cooler and drier than the lowlands. We've spent the last 3 days trekking in the jungle (thankfully as it's high there's no mosquitoes or leeches) and visiting tea plantations, strawberry farms, butterfly farms and eating scones! It's been a great retreat from the heat and the bustle of Georgetown and tomorrow's journey to Kuala Lumpur. 
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