Goodbye Singapore and hello Kuala Lumpur

My last full day in Singapore was spent at the zoo. I'm not a great believer in zoos but I'd been led to believe that the S'pore one is special.

And so it turned out to be, a great environment for the animals, lots of space and greenery plus thoughtful attempts at recreating their natural habitats. I didn't decide on a favourite area as there were too many from which to choose, but I did decide on a least favourite: the 15:30 Elephant Exhibition. I've never agreed with these magnificent creatures being trained to 'perform' for the oohhing and aahhing audience. But that's just my personal view.

Then it was back to the Gardens By The Bay for a final mesmerising Light Show complete with Opera accompaniment, a very special way to end my time here.

The journey here, which I had done by train 45 years ago, was made by coach. The ability to seamlessly travel between Singapore and southern Malaysia has not existed for several years. Now the easiest option is the coach. I picked the 'executive' company with plush reclining seats and on board refreshments as 7 hours on a bone shaker did not fill me with enthusiasm. Easy journey, no problems through customs and passports, and an early arrival.

Now settled in my 'treat to myself' accommodation, a 27th floor serviced apartment with incredible views over KL. will later explore the gym, the indoor pool and the rooftop Infinity pool, although with my head for heights I might be better avoiding that one.

A few photos from the zoo to follow, didn't take any on today's journey as mile after mile after mile of palm tree plantations isn't that interesting or photogenic.

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Over energetic followed by under energetic!

For my first full day in Penang I decided (for reasons that still escape me) that a trip to the Botanical Gardens was in order so that I could tackle the climb up to the Penang Hill Station. I read up on it and it mentioned that the first 1+km was steep. Ha, I laugh in the face of steep, I bet it's not as steep as they say! It's not, to be fair, it's considerably steeper than steep. I should have been alerted to this from the very beginning as each 100 meters warranted a distance check. I cannot remember ever in my whole life having to stop several times in each 100 metres and I'm not going to justify this by telling you that the heat was unbelievable even though it was. I'm not sure at which stage I made the decision that being intrepid was all very well but my heart rate seemed to be climbing even more alarmingly than I was and I was rapidly running out of water. Enough I thought, I'll turn back at 2.5km. Turning a sharp corner at 2.35km put paid to that ...

Sometimes it's better to remember things as they were

Today my goal was to revisit Batu Caves, just under an hour outside KL. these caves are considered a major tourist attraction as well as being the sight of a very important Hindu shrine. From my last visit what I remember most is the all encompassing blackness of the Dark Cave, the most extreme lack of light possible according to our guide. As someone who has always been afraid of the dark it is this aspect of Batu Caves that is most imprinted in my brain. Now the Dark Cave is closed for the foreseeable future, no reason given but I wasn't planning on going back in there anyway, once was more than enough! But I remember the massive cave shrine kindly, and I definitely recall that my companion and I were the only ones there the day we visited. Today the hoards were there en masse. The first shock comes in the walk from the train station to the entrance to the caves. There is an overwhelming stench of excrement and urine, and the hawkers and stalls and piles of rubbish do nothin...

And so it begins: the long journey home.

It didn't take me long to pack, I'd brought just the basics with me and left my suitcase stored in the hotel in Penang. This meant that I had plenty of time to have a good final stroll around, this time heading east as I'd covered all the other directions during my time here. I walked through the gardens on my way to the ferry terminal, having one last look at the Eagle mascot, then headed up the hill towards the eastern shore. I passed a pretty row of coloured houses (are you allowed to call them that any more?) and carried on for about another 1.5 km until I was stopped by a security guard at what amounted to a road block. It turned out that this was the entrance to the Westin Hotel and only hotel guests are allowed to pass! So this is a proper road, the shore is to my right, I have no other way of progressing along this road other than here, is that right? Yes, I'm told, private road, no passing, not allowed. This was repeated several times until it was obvious th...

Flashpacking 2020

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