Voyage , Voyage

After checking my bags and clothes 253 times I had to catch my plane from Chiang Mai to Singapore. Two and a half years ago I already travelled Singapore & peninsular Malaysia, this time I wanted to spend some time in the most pleasant places, as a warm-up for Indonesia.

I arrived in Singapore around midnight and eventually found a bed in Little India. After a short night and a good sushi on the Esplanade I took a bus to Melaka (Malaysia). This used to be a popular harbour town for the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English in the old days. My guesthouse was an atmospheric place with a mainly Malay clientele, very helpful every time I (tried to) read my 'Malay for Everyone' study book.

When I returned to the guesthouse after a stroll in Chinatown I was immediately recognized by a man sitting on the couch. It was Franco - he was running the guesthouse where I stayed during my previous Melaka visit. Unfortunately, he had to give up his business and the building had to be sold for commercial purposes. We sat on the balcony, overlooking the ugly newly-built shopping malls. Franco smoked a cigarette and sighed. 'Things have changed since the last time you were here' he said.

When I left the guesthouse I promised to come back and left some belongings behind so I could (hopefully) pick em up later. For a cool retreat I went to the Cameron Highlands. For five days we toured and hitched and hiked our way through the beautiful tea plantations and the jungle trails. And despite the daily thunderstorms, the temperature was so pleasant that no-one wanted to leave.

I jumped off the travellers trail by taking a bus to Kota Bharu on the east coast, a strict Muslim area (which meant no pork and, even worse, no beer). Two years ago I stayed here at a family so I decided to pay them a visit. They were very surprised and thought it had been a couple of months - well you can make it a couple of years! Also spend some nights in laid-back Kuala Terengganu, but as the monsoon was about to come all was quite deserted - perfect for learning the language though.

Longing for a pint of beer I moved back to one of my favourite cities in the world: Kuala Lumpur (no joke). KL has it all: delicious food, intriguing mix of old (read: dirt) and new (read: Petronas Twin Towers), and bustling nightlife. Combine this with an excellent hostel with heaps of good folks and you get a place you would like to stay forever.

But I won't do that as Indonesia is calling! My next posting will be from there so 'sampai jumpa' everybody,

Sander