It was delicious to wake up on 24th May and find positively chilly air in the room which wasn’t caused by air conditioning. After an early breakfast Katie and Sonia appeared, and before long, the 3 of us were ready to go for a hike in the nearby hills. We went to the centre of the village of Tanah Rata then up a forest trail.

The girls had been to Hong Kong and as we hiked they told me why I should go there if I had the chance. It is nowhere near where I really expect to go, but it is always good to hear about places first hand, rather than try to figure out from a guide book where I might consider going.

After a pleasant uphill hike we reached the summit of a hill – Gunung Jasar – at 1700 m (5565 feet). The sun was warm but it felt so much more pleasant than the sticky heat at sea level.

That turned out to be about as much hiking as Sonia and Katie wanted to do so after looking at the view through the trees, we headed down. We reached Tanah Rata by a roundabout route and had a late lunch. Then it was back to Bala’s for an lazy afternoon, catching up on letter-writing. Sonia felt ill, and claimed it was altitude sickness, but I thought we were nowhere near high enough. She stayed at Bala’s, and Katie and I went into the village for dinner as the cloud drifted down into the valley.

The morning of 25th May was perfect and I was sad to have to say goodbye to the highlands, but I wanted to reach Penang today otherwise I will have no time to see anything in Thailand before my flight out of Bangkok on 1st June.

I missed the first bus by 5 seconds, but was soon on another and after a couple of hours was down near sea level at Tapah once more. I was lucky enough to get an air conditioned bus for Butterworth and Penang. It was a 4 hour trip and a little dull, but I had plenty to read. I also had plenty of time to think more about my plans for the rest of this trip. Though I’d felt obliged to continue north this morning, I’m becoming increasingly doubtful that I will really want to fly out of Bangkok on 1st June to India. The only reason for that air ticket was to fly over Burma.

Going overland through Burma would be so much more interesting. Though the country has been mostly closed to tourism for many years, one or two people have said that they have heard that it’s possible to get a visa for Burma as an independent traveller, but nobody seem to know anything about crossing to Bangladesh. The practicality of going through Burma is probably not something I can really know for certain until reaching Bangkok and making more careful enquiries. I have heard that Burma is like Thailand was, before it became a popular destination. It would be wonderful to be able to get there…

From Butterworth, I got the ferry over to Georgetown on Penang Island, where I checked into the City Hostel – a backpackers’ haven. I was directed to a particular dormitory, and barged in to find 2 rather scantily clad young ladies in there! Seeing my embarrassment, they assured me that it was fine, that it was a mixed dormitory, and that I was in the right room! They were Yvonne, from Ireland, and Jane from the UK. Soon the 3 of us headed out for a Chinese meal and some beers, in the lively streets near the hostel, then I headed back for an early night.