Sunday, August 11, 2013

Malaysia Ends, MalAustralia Ensues

Day 7 26th - Into the Jungle /  Day 8 Saturday July 27th /  Day 9 Sunday July 28th?
I'm tryinna keep a date
with my little girl that was back in the states
I?m standing in the jungle
I?m afraid of it all?

On our last day we had a choice between Penang Hill and the National Forest at the end of the island. We opted for the latter, which required hopping a bus and riding out past Batu Ferringetti (however it's spelled), and near the end there was some confusion (I had some trouble with the guy's accent) about where to get off, which the bus driver finally ended by telling us we were"at the end of the world."  This we understood, and decamped. Outside the park there was a line of touts, each trying to sell a boat service to somewhere, and we decided to arrange it so that we could "trek" first, and then get picked up by a boat to return.

The "trek" actually turned out to be such a thing.. a walk through some densely overgrown jungle, scrambling up muddy bits, down roped bits, and across tangles of roots. The most exciting thing we saw as a gigantic, as in four-foot long, lizard, which I took an absolutely impenetrable picture of.

It's in there, and it's TERRIFYING!

After a bit more slogging we got to the beach. There was a little inlet we had to cross which turned out to be much deeper than it looked. It was a good thing I had shifted my iPhone to my backpack or it would have been drowned. The beach was named "Monkey Beach" and true to its name had a monkey, just the one, who was dispiritedly tearing old potato-chip bags apart and licking at the salt within.

Then there was the beach.




It was clearly off-season, so there was nothing to do but suck down a coke, watch the waves crash, and stare longingly at each boat that came ashore, hoping it was finally ours.
Finally, ours did come, and we were away across the water, which was nice and refreshing? Here is Yvonne enjoying the moment (Note the noble mien!).

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Then, after a slogging and sweaty walk towards the tourist area of town, we stopped for a bite and were "befriended" by two cats who wanted our food. One of them was quite amusing -  it would swat with its claws if you were brave enough to try and touch it, but oh could it meow piteously if it thought you had food.



NEXT MORNING
The next morning, we got up and got ready to catch the bus to the airport, but Yvonne made a command decision, so instead we got the hotel service, which left us at the airport about three hours early.

and there we waited. Generally speaking, a boring day.

IN TOWN
The next day is no less boring, as I stayed in the hotel room working on blog posts and Yvonne meandered into town, this time managing to avoid gambling houses or friends in Itaewon (you?d have to be a mad reader of this irregular blog to understand those references, but so what? Reading is fundamental)

The big move is tomorrow!




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