Malaysia - the end... and the beginning (K)

We took two overnight trains from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur (KL). In between we had a few hours spare to take the ferry out to Penang island and potter round the old colonial town of Georgetown and admire the cultural melting pot that contains a mosque, a church, a Hindu temple, a Chinese temple, and a less ethnically-defined Buddhist temple within five minutes' walk of each other. This is also represented in the choice of food: we went for Indian and sampled a fine range of breads, rotis, puris, and a massive (but paper thin) dosa - see below.

In our one day in KL we thought we'd take advantage of our early morning arrival and go up the Petronas Towers. We arrived at 8.30, which is apparently when the ticket office opens. Unfortunately, several hundred people had beaten us to it - we should apparently have started queueing at about 6am to be sure of getting two of the days' tickets. So we went instead to the elegant and impressive Museum of Islamic art. The restriction on figurative art imposed by a theological rationale that is a little beyond me does at least make for some very attractive abstract designs. Plus Arabic lends itself very well to patterns incorporating calligraphy.

We headed back towards our hostel to get some food and got lost in a huge mall sufficiently large to incorporate a small funfair, including roller coaster inside its walls, before 2 nights of train travel caught up on us and we flaked out in our room. the next morning we caught a flight to Melbourne.

Thus our journey came to an end. We traveled for 111 days, through 11 countries; stayed in 42 guesthouses, hostels and hotels, but also spent 29 nights on the move in trains or boats; a distance of 26,000km between London and KL, less than 400 of which were by plane. Some of you will know that I am a bit of a trainspotter when it comes to UNESCO world heritage sites - well we managed to fit 29 of them in en route. Some highlights:

Favourite large city: Beijing

Favourite small city/town: Luangprabang (Laos)

Favourite village: Grebbestad (Sweden)

Favourite beers: Kriek, Beerlao

Favorite food: smoked shrimps in Grebbestad, King Crab in Norway, beef strognaov in St Petersburg, 4 season beans in Beijing, mapo tofu in Xi'an, spicy peanut mix in Xi'an, caramel beef rolls in Hanoi, Fanny's ice cream in Hanoi, spicy beef patties in Luangprabang, etc. etc.

But the end is also the beginning - of our new life in Australia. You can read about that on my new blog, whilst Adrienne will continue here. Thanks for reading!