Heading Home

So on Wednesday Mum and I spent the day hanging round the island before getting a flight to Kuala Lumpur and then a 13 hour flight straight through to Heathrow. I didn't manage to get a single wink of sleep.  We landed at 5:05am UK time on Thursday morning and were picked up by a taxi and dropped home around 7:30am. Dad was up and ready for work and it was lovely to see him. Leila also popped round. Then at 8:30am I went to the doctor and she referred me to the hospital.  I spent 11 hours there answering the same questions over and over again, hanging about, waiting for various tests to be completed. In the evening around 6pm I had an MRI scan and I fell asleep in the machine as I was just so tired. We eventually made it home around 9:30pm, having to go back today to collect a prescription and check results. Now I'm just waiting for an appointment at the first fit clinic.

I've had the most amazing 5 months travelling and I'm so gutted it ended like this, but whatever will be will be. I'm just lucky I got the chance to do the travelling I did. Thank you for bearing with me and reading my many posts, and thank you for all your messages and comments.

Not Quite The Ending I Had Planned....

Apologies for the delay on posting. On 11pm on Friday night I woke up to see Irene, the hostel manager, and some grown men staring at me. Apparently I had been unresponsive, having a fit, with blood coming out of my mouth. Irene had called an ambulance after being alerted by Amy, who was on the bunk bed above me, as the bed was shaking like mad beneath her.

I was taken in ambulance to Langkawi hospital. Amy came with me. The paramedic was really nice and started following me on instagram (lol). I had a CT scan and a chest x-ray

Amy, who came with me, was great. Unlike the British NHS I had to pay upfront for the scans, the ambulance and being admitted. She went off and sorted those for me while I lay on a bed. I couldn't remember actually having the fit at all. All I could feel was a very sore tongue, presumably from where I'd bitten it during the fit, which lasted 20 seconds or so. The doctor who looked at my brain scans first said there was some swelling but the latest the blood tests were normal. This doctor then asks again what happened and Amy described again what she saw. When she described the shaking bed the doctor asked if I was definitely alone.

Around 3:30am I was admitted into the ward and had a drip fitted, and Amy went home. It was very painful to talk and swallow at this point and I sounded very strange. I manage to fall asleep for about 3 hours. When I woke up I was given green hospital clothes to change into and I sat on my bed alone, next to 3 other patients who all had their family with them.

At some point during Saturday afternoon, I had another fit. I'd woken up covered in blood and noticed I didn't have a cannula in my hand anymore but wasn't really aware of what happened. Later on when going to the toilet, which was just a hole in the floor, I saw myself in the mirror and saw I had cuts on my face and neck. Not really sure how helpful a hole on the floor would be for some people in hospital but oh well. 

I spent two days in hospital in total before I was discharged after my mum arrived. I was given pills which seemed to be preventing the fits. I was discharged on the Monday and we checked into a little place on the island for the night. We found a place to have dinner; (I only had soup as my tongue still wasn't healed) and then retired to bed.

This morning we got up and packed our stuff and ventured out to find breakfast. We found a little place with a pool that did breakfast and I got pancakes and mum got eggs and toast. After breakfast we moved to a hotel near the airport, and from there we headed to Langkawi's sky bridge. We got a cable car up and wandered about and then a cable car back down before gate crashing a fancy hotel resort for visiting the beach and having dinner.

After dinner we had a drink before heading back to the hotel for the night.

Goodbye Georgetown

I woke up before my alarm that was set for 6am. I'd had 2 and a bit hours sleep. I'd woken up several times paranoid about sleeping through my alarm after what happened in Kuala Lumpur. Thankfully I didn't. I hadn't done any packing as I had been planning on doing it yesterday evening, not thinking I'd be out. I had to very quietly just shove things into a bag and take all my stuff outside the room so as not to disturb anyone. I left the hostel at around 7:40am and got a taxi to the port. It wasn't really that far but I couldn't be bothered to walk in the heat. I got some food at the port as I was pretty hungry despite yesterday's midnight snack. We boarded the boat around 7:45 but it didn't leave until half 8, right on time.  I've really enjoyed the past few days in Georgetown. It's a nice little place full of cafes, bars, amazing food courts and awesome colonial architecture. The people I've hung out with have also been pretty awesome. But it was time to get away from the cities and back to the beach.

We arrived at Langkawi just before half 11. The journey had been long and boring and not particularly comfortable.  As you can see from the photo I had a great view. As we approached the plans the weather out the front windows looked grey and miserable but I was pleasantly surprised to find when I got off the ferry that that was just an effect the windows created. It was boiling and blue skies. I walked towards the arrivals hall of the pier and could see the queue of taxi drivers all lined up ready to pounce. It was kind of helpful that they were as apparently there is no public transport on the island and I needed on to get to my hostel. It was a 35 minute drive to the hostel. The driver dropped me off at the end of the road (which was more like a dusty concrete track) and I wandered down to find the hostel, which is actually a guesthouse.

When I arrived I was too early to check in so I just dumped my bags and went and got some lunch. I ate more fried rice than is reasonable for one person to consume. Then I went back to the hostel and hung round for a bit before changing into my bikini and heading to the beach. The nearest beach is about a 2 minute walk from where I'm staying which is nice. It has quite white sand but the water is kind of murky. I went in anyway. The second time I went in I stood on something sharp that felt like I was standing on a hedgehog.  I have no idea what it was but I didn't go in the sea again after that.

I returned to the hostel around half 4 and got a shower and then I was invited to go with a couple of people from the hostel to the nearby food market. It was like a bigger version of the one at the Cameron Highlands, selling all the same sort of stuff. I got a chicken kebab which was really spicy. As we drove home we could see the sun setting. It looked like a giant red orb. It was kind of beautiful. Unfortunately it was gone by the time we got back to the hostel. I spent the rest of the evening chilling on my bed. I'm looking forward to getting a good night's sleep tonight.

Penang Hill

This morning I met Kerrin at 10:30 outside my hostel and we walked to find a bus stop we had been told was on Union Street, outside a fancy church. We found Union Street no trouble, but there was no church. We asked a couple of people who have us varying directions and then set off down a street. We saw the number bus we want go past down the street so went to the nearest bus stop a couple of metres down the road. We weren't really sure which direction we wanted to go in but it turned out the side of the road we were on was the right side to be. The bus driver was quite grumpy and was getting stressed at us and others about the lack of small change we had, but eventually we were on the bus heading in the right direction. We chatted to an Australian couple on the bus who were also headed to Penang Hill.

After around 30-40 minutes we arrived at the last stop, which was the lower station of Penang Hill. Kerrin got a student ticket first and then gave me her student card to use, as student tickets were half the price. The ticket guy, who was the same guy that Kerrin got her ticket from, looked at the card for an awkwardly long time before sort of signing and giving me a student ticket. Then we got the train to the top. We sat at the back of the train on the way up, looking out the window at the view as we went. It was a short ride that offered us glimpses of the view we'd receive at the top.

When we got to the top we took pictures and wandered round looking at the view. From the top of the hill there was a really good view of Penang Island, although it was an tad hazy. After a while of admiring the view we got the train back down the hill and then wandered along the road to find food.

We reached a little food court type area and got some lunch. I had Wanton Noodles, which was very similar to the Wan Tan Mee soup I have last night,  only less broth. It was pretty nice. We sat for a while eating and discussing everything from politics to elephants, before heading back out to get the bus. As we started walking towards the station we saw the bus coming and hailed it down. We just so happened to be at a bus stop so it pulled up and on we got, back to Georgetown. We arrived back in Georgetown around half 3, heading to our separate hostels with plans to meet up for dinner, as Kerrin wanted a nap. I went back to the hostel and showered.

At around 6:30pm, Kerrin and I, along with an Irish girl called Tara went to the Red Garden food court, where I had dumpling and satay. Then we ventured out to a few bars. At one of the bars, we were sitting enjoying live music from a dude with an awesome afro and his guitar, when a whole load of people in army uniforms turned up at the bar we were army at and handcuffed three of the bar tenders, before leading them out. We were told they were immigration. Apparently it happens quite often. We felt bad for them arrested guys as they had been so nice to us and helped us escape from a creepy drunk dude earlier in the night. Tara got chatting to some Malaysian dudes who were up from Kuala Lumpur for work and they offered to take us for food. So the 3 of us, plus some dude who tagged along squeezed in the back of these guys car and they drove us to a food place that was still open at 1am for pork soup and rice, before they dropped us off back at our hostels. Now it's gone 3am and I have to get up in 3 hours. Tomorrow will not be fun.

(Sorry for the late posting, WiFi issues!)

Street Art and Street Food

This morning I checked out of the hostel I was in and checked into a new one. The first hostel was a party hostel and they played loud music and had people coming in drunk and noisily at all times of the night (not that I'm innocent). I had known this when I booked which is why I hadn't booked 4 nights there despite planning on staying in Georgetown that long. The new hostel was literally just down the road so I went and dumped my bags at reception as I couldn't actually check and went and got a cream cheese bagel at the place I went yesterday morning.

Then I followed the map to the places that had street art marked on them. There was one road that was meant to have loads of pieces on but I was having trouble finding them all. I found a few but apparently my powers of observation are lacking. There was one of two kids riding a bike. I thought one of them looked terrified but I'm told they're screaming with joy. I quite liked it though. Some seemed to be original and we're marked on the map, some to have been edited (see pictures) and some I think had just randomly appeared. There were different pieces in different styles. There was a particularly interesting 3D anti-smoking one.

On the way round I made a visit to Chew Jetty which was a collection of wooden huts and shops. It was quite cute but looked like it might collapse at any minute.  After the jetty I went back down the road with all the street art and still couldn't find any more. I was very hot and sweaty by this point so stopped for a drink.

After having a drink I walked to the northern end of Georgetown as it was marked as a beach on the map. It was not a beach at all. There was a good view of another part of the island though with a whole load of skyscrapers.

I returned to the hostel around half 1 and checked in. I chilled on the bed for about 2 hours and then went out for a snack. I got a bag of crisps and sat on the church steps to eat. It was in the shade as semi-peaceful which was nice. Then I returned to the hostel to shower.

At 7:15 a group of us from the hostel went on a street food tour, led by a Mexican guy from the hostel. It wasn't very informative. He just took us to different stalls to try different food. First was a dim sum stall where I had two pork dumplings. Next was a stall that made a noodle dish similar to Pad Thai. I didn't have any. Despite being starving when we left the hostel, two pieces of dim sum had left me pretty full and I'd had Pad Thai many times.

At the next stall I got Wan Tan Mee Soup. It was basically pork broth, with noodles, sliced pork and pork wontons. The guy recommended sharing between 3 so I was awkwardly sharing a bowl of noodle soup, using chopsticks, with two strangers, as we awkwardly took it in terms to lean forward over the bowl to shovel noodles in. The last place was in Little India. Most stalls were shut but there was one open still. It sold vegetable curry and freshly made chapatis. I was too full. My stomach has started hurting whenever I put food in it and I didn't want to tempt fate so passed on this course.

The last course was dessert, which was Durian ice cream. Durian, for those who don't know, is a fruit that absolutely stinks. I've not actually smelled it myself but it's been discussed on many occasions and other people in the group has tried. The taste is also strange apparently but I figured if I was going to try it, having it as ice cream would be the best way. It did not smell good and the taste was even worse. I had one mouthful and then gave it to someone else to finish. The taste lingered in my mouth and made me feel slightly ill.  After this, around half 9, we returned to the hostel and I just relaxed on my bed.

Not sure this is how the piece was originally....

A lazy day in Georgetown

Today has been a fairly relaxed day. I met up with the girls I was at the bar with last night for breakfast at half 9. I had a really nice cream cheese bagel. We sat and chatted for a while and then around 10:45 we split off as people have places to go and people to see.

I stayed with Hollie and Izzy, who I went on the longtail boat with on Phi Phi, and we wandered round the town a little bit. It was very hot. We saw a very white church and a fort, before stopping at a cafe for lunch. I just had some chips as I wasn't feeling great and just wanted some carbs. Then I said goodbye to those two as they had to go catch a flight.  I wandered back to the hostel and chilled on the bed go about an hour.

Around half 3 one of the other girls, Kerrin, messaged me and invited me to go and hang out at the hostel she had its started volunteering at, as she was just sitting round doing nothing. I went over there and we chilled for a while before heading to a food court type place called Red Garden to get dinner as Kerrin hadn't eaten all day. Only we got there at half 4 and it didn't open until half 5. So instead we did a tour of the chocolate factory next door, which wasn't really a tour or a factory at all and tried some free samples in the shop. That killed about ten minutes. So we went to a cafe and got a drink and sat and chatted until half 5.

At half 5 we went to Red Garden and got food. We had dumplings and crispy duck. It was delicious. Then we went back to our separate hostels. I had planned to shower and then join in with the socialisation downstairs, and Kerrin was going to come for beer pong but I ended up just chilling on my bed to give my purse and liver a rest.

Arriving in Penang

Today I got the bus from the local bus station to Aman Jaya at 9am.  I arrived just in time to get the 9:30am bus to Butterworth. It took about 2 hours.  I was the only passenger to get off at  Butterworth. I walked over to the ferry which took about it 15 minute to get across from the mainland to Penang island. It was just a car ferry with seats in the  middle.  When I arrived I got a taxi to the hostel. 

I went for a short wander and saw a little of Georgetown, which is where in Penang I am staying. I had lunch at a noodle cafe and had some really nice chicken in black pepper sauce noodles. They were really spicy though and made my nose run. 

I spent the day alternating between the hostel and wandering round. It was so so hot. I went to a cafe round half 6 and had chicken satay skewers for dinner. I wasn't really that hungry. 

At 8pm I went down to the hostel bar to get the two free drinks offered to all guests each night. Some of the girls I was hanging out with in the Cameron Highlands came and joined me and we spent the evening at the bar. We entered a beer pong competition and won the first game but were beaten in a close game in the next one. I eventually went to bed around 1am.

I apologise to anyone who read this post previously. I have no idea what I was on about....

An afternoon in Ipoh

This morning I got the 9am bus from the Cameron Highlands to Ipoh (pronounced like 'hippo' without the 'h', not like ipod). It arrived around 11 at the AmanJaya terminal,  which is quite far out of town. I got a local bus, number 116, to Medan Kidd bus station which was only a five minute walk from the hostel. The bus was absolutely rammed. There was no room for luggage so I had my rucksack in front of the seat and my hand luggage on my lap. My legs were at a really uncomfortable angle on a vain attempt to give the old lady next to me enough room. I don't think she appreciated how uncomfortable it was.

I arrived around 12:45 at the hostel and was able to check in straight away which was nice. It's called 'Bed and Bike Backpacker Studio', and it is like a studio. The living room is separated from the dorm room by a curtain, as is the private room. It's alright though, if you ignore the spots that look suspiciously like blood drops all over the floor near my bed.

I went for a wander, through the little India neighbourhood towards the Chinese neighbourhood. I stumbled upon some of the street art I'd heard Ipoh had so much of. There were some very artistic, detailed paintings but the large majority were in need of some serious maintenance. I haven't included all the pictures as it would be ridiculous but if you want to see more drop me a line. 

I chose a Chinese restaurant at random and ordered lemon chicken and rice. It was really nice. Then I headed to the Japanese Gardens. These gardens were quite small and came about as a result of a twinning type relationship between Ipoh and Fukuoka. Apparently the gardens are meant to make you feel Japanese. They were nice but I didn't feel that effect.

The edge of the gardens was next to the riverfront and a supposed river walk. The path seemed to be shut off but I went over a bridge and walked on the other side back down to the main road. I headed towards the tourist info and expected it to be shut as it's a Sunday. It was about 4pm by this time. The opening times indicate it should have been open but it wasn't which was annoying. Thankfully the information I had gone to get could be found on a plaque on the other side of the road.

I was looking for information on the street art and the art walk. Opposite the tourist info was piece number 1 and a map of all the others. Only 7 pieces were marked on the map which was confusing, as all the stuff I had seen earlier wasn't on there. I followed the trail anyway and found (some with difficulty) the 7 pieces of work. Again I've not included all the photos but feel free to message me should you want to see them all. The 8th piece was down a street that had rows of umbrellas hanging above it which was pretty cool. I took some photos and headed back to the hostel.

I made it back to the hostel around 5:30 and got a shower, chilling on my bed for a while before going to a cute little cafe for a light snack as I was still stuffed from earlier. Then I came back to the hostel and chilled on my bed. It's been a short but sweet visit to Ipoh.

Trekking for Tea

Today pretty much everyone I've been hanging out with in the past two days either checked out and went to Penang, or was going on the half day tour I did yesterday. I hung round the hostel for a while, as the volunteer staff suggested, to see if a hiking partner would surface. In went for a brief wander round the village for a drink and a snack and then returned to the hostel. No one had surfaced; there wasn't many people left at the hostel. I decided just do short trek by myself and set off for trail number 10. I was a bit wary as there had been robberies and assaults on lone female hikers in recent weeks. It took me a while to find the beginning of the trail as it was through some little garden and wasn't well signposted. An older woman was also looking and we eventually found it.

I walked for a while on the narrow path through the forest. I was almost in the bushes; it was quite overgrown.  At one point I had to squeeze between two large boulders that were either side of the path. The path was like an obstacle course. I was going over tree roots and under fallen trunks and up and down on the uneven path. Eventually I turned round and returned to the start. It was nice to get out, get some fresh air and stretch my legs. 

I was very hungry when I got back to the village so I went to a restaurant and got a fried noodle dish called Koteow Goreng. They were big noodles and there appeared tofu and chicken and some green veg in it. It was quite nice. After lunch I returned to the hostel. It was around 2pm (maybe).

The hostel manager asked if I'd been hiking and if I wanted advice on where to go. He suggested a 4km walk to a tea plantation. The map said it was 10km but he assured me it wasn't. After doing it I'm not even sure it was 4. It took me around 50 minutes to go the walk. It was downhill all the way along the busy main road. I got lots of funny looks from drivers. But it was worth the walk I would have to do back. The plantation was owned by a company called Cameron Valley tea and it was massive and so scenic and beautiful. It was so green. I took some photo and just took in the view for a little bit and then made my way back up the hill. It didn't take as long. Maybe I was walking faster, but not sure how that would work. I was a bit sweaty when I got back so jumped straight in the shower.

The hostel manager got food for everyone to try so I went upstairs and sat and chatted to a couple of other guests. I tried some spring roll type things and some rolled up thing that tasted like a plain pancake and then I went to the market and got some chicken skewers and an freshly made cheese naan bread.

I returned to the hostel to eat the food and two of the other girls said they were going to go to a weekend market and invited me to tag along so I did. We walked to the main road and tried to thumb a lift. One of the girls was quite aggressive about it, leaving right into the path of the car as they went by. It seemed to work though. We weren't waiting for very long when a young guy pulled over to give us a ride. It was only about ten minutes in the car but it would have been a long walk. The market has cooked food, toys and clothes, and for the first time in ages I saw stalls selling whole raw veg. There were also many stalls selling strawberries as they are grown round here.

 We were only at the market for about 15 minutes. The two other girls bought strawberries and one bought chillies and then we went to hitch hike back. We were waiting less than two minutes when by huge coincidence that exact same guy pulled over and gave us a lift back to Tanah Rata. He dropped us off and we returned to the hostel, where I packed my stuff and relaxed on my bed. 

Tea and Trees

This morning I got up at half 7 to go on a half day tour. 6 of us were picked up at 8:15am from our hostel. Two of them were at the bar last night so they were familiar friendly faces. The other 3 were 3 really nice guys who are studying medicine at Dundee University. It was raining, but thankfully I had been aware of this and had my raincoat on. We were picked up in a land rover by our guide Appu who was really nice.

We drove towards the mossy forest, stopping for photo opportunities on the way, at which point Appu turned into a photographer directing a photo shoot. As we drove Appu told us some stuff about the Cameron Highlands, like how 40% of the tropical forests will probably be gone in 5 years. Apparently there's a lot of development going on.

The mossy forest was our first proper stop. Appu claimed it is the oldest forest in the world, older than the amazon. Apparently most of the trees have medicinal properties and there are 80 species of wild orchid, including the rare white orchid in it. It sits at 1800m above sea level and there no mosquitoes and no leeches, unlike other forests in the area. And of course, as the name suggests, all the trees are covered in a thick moss. We walked through a small section of the forest on a wooden platform, zigzagging over state lines. We were the first people to arrive and it's good we arrived when we did, as there were many many cars there when we left. 

Next we drove down towards the tea plantation cafe and factory. We stopped at the side of the road for a beautiful view over the fields where the tea was growing where we had another mini photo shoot. Appu told us all about the tea and how it's made, the process it goes through. 

Apparently it takes 6 months and only one type of tea plant makes black, white and Chinese tea; it just depends on the oxidisation process. It apparently takes 6 months for the tea to be ready, and this tea is better than others as it's grown at a higher altitude. It's picked these days using a machine, as the new generation of Malaysian workers refused to work for the tiny wage being offered and immigrant workers were too slow. We saw some people using the machine, kind of like a hedge trimmer, on the way to the cafe.

The tea cafe was part of the Boh Tea company. You could order different types of tea; I didn't have one but the other guys did. We had a very quick walk round their deserted factory as well. Not sure if it was  one they still use, as there were no workers but plenty of machines.

Our final stop on the tour was a strawberry farm. Here you could do pick your own strawberries. We didn't but we had a look at where they were growing and got some strawberry milkshakes. They tasted kind of like petit fílous yogurts. I didn't drink all mine and gave it to one of the Scottish dudes who loved his.

Our tour guide then dropped us off in a town where we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant before heading for a hiking trail back to the hostel. It was an optional hike but everyone took part anyway. We hiked for around 2 hours and 30 minutes through the forest, climbing over and under and round tree roots, until we got back to the road. I was surprised I didn't slip over or hurt myself at any point. It was quite hard on the uphill parts but the rest was good, although the views were limited; all we could see were trees.

We made it back to the hostel around 5 and I got straight in the shower as it had been hot hiking through the forest. I got dressed and then one of the girls from the bar last night came and asked if I wanted to go with them for dinner. About 13 of us went to an Indian restaurant for dinner where I had a buffet meal, before we returned to the hostel to get ready to go to the bar.

A group of us went around half 8, where we met the boys from the tour in the morning, and we were later joined by more. We stayed until midnight before heading back to the hostel and retiring to bed.

Quite a few of the people I've been hanging out with the last few days are leaving tomorrow which is a shame. Maybe I'll catch up with them in Penang.

Going to the Highlands

So last night I set my alarm for 7:30am. I went to bed around half 4 this morning and slept right through it. I woke up at 9:35. I had a bus to catch at 10:15, I had to be there 30 minutes before, I hadn't packed and it would take me like 45 minutes to get public transport there. I grabbed all my stuff, shoved it into my bags and got a taxi. I missed the bus anyway. I arrived at the bus station as 11:00. The next bus was at 12 so I got a cheese bread roll and sat and waited. Thankfully the bus tickets aren't that expensive.

The bus left promptly at 12pm and the seats were really comfortable. They had leg rests. The driver put a film on and we drove for almost two hours, stopping at 13:45 for a half hour break at a little Indian cafe. I got some chicken and rice and a curry sauce of some description. No idea what it was. It was a self-service buffet and nothing was named so I just picked one that looked the the least spicy. It was alright but a bit cold.

We set off again and drove for around an hour and a half down a windy road. The last half hour of the journey had some beautiful scenery but I didn't manage to get a photo. 

I arrived in Tanah Rata, the village I'm staying in, and walked about 2 minutes to the hostel. I checked in and went to my room, showered and almost immediately got invited to go to the food market by the girl in my room. She was going with a few people and then the two guys in our room also joined. There was about ten of us in the end. We went down just after 6 and we all got food from various stalls. I got some potato cake things,  which were delicious and a thing which looked like beef in pastry but I think it might have been egg or had egg in it. I ate it anyway. It was OK but nothing special. Probably would have been nicer warm.

After we got food we sat at a table to eat and then returned to the hostel. Around 8:45 I started getting into my pyjamas to just chill when the guys in my room said they were going to a bar. The others had mentioned something about it earlier. I decided to be social and go and I'm so glad I did. I had a couple of drinks (nothing drastic) and we played games and I laughed so much. It was a really nice relaxed evening. There was at least 12 of us and everyone was chatting and joining it. It was great. The one other English girl was actually one of the girls who Lauren and I hired a long tail boat with back on the Phi Phi Islands. Small world.....

Around midnight everyone headed home and I got ready for bed, eventually retiring about 1am to sleep under the sofest blanket I've ever experienced