Asia Travel Diary

Today we fucked up. I set off my 6:00 alarm on John’s request. However, he successfully eliminated his one before it could wake up anyone! The thing is, our room does not have any windows at all. That strikes out the daylight effect. To my surprise, morning prayers from the nearby Mosque were not loud enough to wake us up either.

We get up at 10:30 am as a result. Well, at least we can still have the hotel breakfast. I drink two cups of coffee, hoping to awaken my brain cells. Today’s plan is to visit a Snake Temple. We chose a longer route through the north of the island. During the journey, John got excited at the “Nutmeg factory” sign. It is a factory processing one of the local fruits. So we sign in for an excursion, of course, including tasting.

We buy a few things we don’t need and continue to the original destination. Our luck with the weather runs out. It starts to rain. John says he is hungry. How dare you?! We passed by a nearby restaurant. Confident in my abilities, I made a fast U-turn in traffic, simulating pedestrians in the wrong direction and waiting to rejoin the right lane. The problem is they drive on the left-hand side of the road, and I need to check up in the opposite direction I am used to. The local Muslim girls screamed at me wildly as I was joining the traffic. I hit the brake. The bike slides and leans toward the tarmac. Fortunately, it is a light scooter. I stop the fall just in time and pull it back to the straight position. It was a near-miss collision.

Everyone is okay. Well, I got a little scratch on my legs. Frightened from the experience I decided to to have a break. I buy myself water and breathe out what just happened. I am not hungry, nor do I have a taste for food. Once John is finished, we continue to the Snake Temple. The rain intensifies. We stop and cover ourselves with raincoats. As we arrive, I succumb to the temptations of the local barbecue smell at a Chinese stand. The rain stopped, and suddenly, it became too hot.

Eogh! Snakes, who would expect them in Snake Temple, right? But those are the big ones. I have no doubts they would not hesitate to kill and eat me once they had a chance. Nobody can tell me this is harmless! It is just too big! I did not spend more time than was necessary.

Enlighten by the Sun, I buy a new sunglasses for $3. I am not sure if I am more happy with the price or the fact that I would finally see something. The ride is entirely a new experience! We take the long circuit back to the Georgetown. We have a plan to board a ship to Langkawi tomorrow. We chose our favorite budget hotel since it is within walking distance to the harbor and rental place and dropped our luggage there.

After that, we set up for conquering the Penang Hill. Soon after, we got hit by a rainstorm. Jackets or raincoats are not much help. We stopped with locals under a bridge, waiting for the rain will ease. It is the epitome of boredom. We breathe in and out and decide to fight the rain. In the end, we are not made out of sugar. In the meantime, the rain was weakening and stopped by the time we reached the place.

This time, it looks different! We had to arrive from the other side. Guess what? I missed it and passed by. A local traffic officer even whistled at me! Against my nature, I choose to respect the authority and park in a suitable spot. We look around. They have cable cars! We buy our tickets and let the machine do its magic.

We are about 800 meters (±2600 feet) above sea level. The atmosphere is magnified after the rain. The visibility is not the greatest, but I took a few pictures. One thing that blew my mind was three buildings practicing completely different religions sitting peacefully beside each other.

We walk towards a Monkey Cup exhibition surrounded by monkey families. Do you know what is a monkey cup? I didn’t. They are literally plants that monkeys use as cups for drinking. I need to document this! I fell in love with a plant that eats rats. They offer us a coffee. I hope it can be done without sugar. Oh dear! This is the best coffee I had during our trip by far! To get back, we jumped on the deck of a Toyota Hilux pickup truck as proper gangsters.

We wait for the cable car. It didn’t take long, and we sat again on the bikes in their final journey. We need to return them by 8 pm. I got stressed a little by the tight schedule. But in the end, we managed to be there in time. It was a time when most of the shops closed.

We bought the boat tickets for the next day and sat for dinner. Finally, I tasted the local satai specialty. Yummy! I must try it at home. I make a list of Langkawi places and put them into a map. I finish my diary and collect the courage to have a cold shower.