Penang Island, Malaysia

From: Julian (backpackers@vee-tv.com)

To: VEE-TV

Subject: Hello from Penang Island

We are on Penang Island just now. We caught the bus from Kuala Lumpur to Lumut last night and today we had to book the boat ticket from Penang to Langkawi Island. From there we will fly to Phuket, Thailand! Yep, it will be a long journey! Boat bus boat plane bus!!!! For two nights! The flight cost me £60, which is not bad!

Finally we stayed in the hotel near the beach – the first time we’ve stayed near the beach since we landed in Singapore! That’s why Fiona got a bit tanned, which is unusual for her. Poor Rob, he still is white as a ghost!

Kuala Lumpur is not a friendly city and we were glad to see the last of it as we were a bit unhappy there and spent too much money! We were supposed to stay there for two nights but we forced ourselves to stay for two more because we had to sort out the transport to Thailand. We smiled for the first time for a long time when we saw the beach – women with bikinis and men with shorts (for you, gals!).

We plan to stay here for more than a week, so we can save lots of money as we just lie on the beach and have a swim! Also we’ve got a small kitchen so we can cook breakfast and it will save a lot of money!

Take care

Julian

From: Robert (backpackers@vee-tv.com)

To: VEE-TV

Subject: Tough times in Paradise

Yesterday we all relaxed on the beach and swam in the sea. I took the opportunity to go for a nice long jog, but I found it hard work running on sand as the surface keeps slipping away from your feet. Anyway, after three hours of messing around by the sea I found myself with very bad sunburn. At first I could only feel it on my face but then eventually I could feel throbbing pains all down my chest and back. Right now I don't feel too good, very... tender! It has also brought on a cold. I think my body is now finding it hard to adjust to the hot temperature, so I've spent the whole day in bed today while Julian and Fiona have gone into the local town for a bit of sightseeing and to post something home.

We have eaten Chinese most nights here for dinner and I still haven't got the hang of using chopsticks! It really turns eating into a difficult task, but I am enjoying it as it is something different.

When we leave here we will then head further south down the coast to another island, Pankor, where we will stay for Christmas. Apparently it has the best beaches on the west coast, and the resort we are staying is ranked at 4-star! After that we have to travel back north by bus and boat to catch our plane to Thailand. The only thing we haven’t tried travelling on is train, but hopefully we will get to see how much better the trains are here compared to UK's Railtrack.

Bye for now

Rob

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