Long Trip South Pt 2 of 3

In Kuala Lumpur (they call it KL) I decided that I didn't have to go back to Ubon so soon so I began to head north again. Here is the path I took of this leg of the trip:



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KL-->Cameron Highlands-->Penang (Georgetown)-->Langkawi-->Kota Bharu

Cameron Highlands:

This very well may be the most beautiful stop in this trip. It was only worth a few hours unless you are a big hiking person. The hills and mountains here are covered in tea bushes. All over the whole area.

 

 

 

Bee farm.
 

Not easy to get pictures of the butterflies of the butterfly farm. They were everywhere!

Strawberry farm.

Chinese Buddhist temple.

Rose garden:

Almost all of this I saw during a half-day tour of the area.

Right after the tour all of us took buses to another city since there is nothing much more to do here.

Penang:
I got in pretty late and bought the ticket for the ferry to Langkawi the next morning.

Langkawi:
 This is the major tourist destination of Malaysia.

Malaysia has a lot of rain forests of the world, but they have a little problem with...purposely burning it down for the sake of development. That is the case in this picture.




My first panorama shot.

I thought i got away from the giant shrimp when I left America...I guess not.
 

I explored on a rented motorbike for a while. This was a nice spot.

This and other pictures are taken from a cable car that is coming down a mountain from an observation point.

I would have just taken pictures at the observation point, but this is how it looked. Unfortunately the cloud began just below this point. I waited at the top for hours for my picture but alas.

At the bottom.

   So yes, relatively pretty beaches. A nice place to be. 

Langkawi-->Kota Bharu. This leg took forever. The ferry took me nearish to Alor Setar. But I had to either find a bus or take an expensive taxi each way. Fortunately the bus worked out but I had to hang out near the bus station for EVER. The bus would arrive in the middle of the morning (like 5am) so I called a guesthouse in advance. 

Kota Bharu:
 Arrived but for once didn't check the Lonely Planet copiously enough so I ended up with a cab driver who didn't know the first thing about the guest houses here. The city isn't that big but it took the guy literally an hour of searching and talking to the owner of my guesthouse several times! Again, we woke up the guesthouse owner for this. I thanked the owner and slept when we arrived. I had some good conversations with a couple of Malay guys there. And there is a tremendous night market within walking distance. This city is probably the most devout muslim city I have ever been to. I really enjoyed it--especially getting some extra attention.
 

 I could comment, but I don't think I need to.

On the right is one of the guys from the guesthouse. This is a beach we went to briefly, where I probably received more attention than anywhere.

 

 A friend of theirs house. Looks like Apocalyse Now back there.

 Purple chilis. Who knew?

 The guy on the left is the one I spent the most time talking to. His English was tremendous and he was very informed. He was always willing to learn more.

 "Sleeping" chickens. At the mustached guy's house.

Thats me not having shaved in a while.

 This is me with a lot of kids next to the mustached guy's house. My friend told me to introduce myself. A few of the children when they shook my had they would press their forehead to my hand. Interesting. My friend said it was a sign of respect. Also, it is interesting to note that here many Malay people will combine the Western handshake with different gestures each with a different purpose. Things like touching the chest before or after the handshake.


This was a very nice city to be in and I really enjoyed it. Of the places I went, this is certainly the most welcoming. I do hope to return again someday.