Gapang Beach, Pulau Weh, Indonesia 25-30 Sep

Travelling back to Penang was without any occurrences worth mentioning. I stayed one night there and then made my way to the airport the following morning.

At the firefly check in the lady told me Indonesian immigration would want me to show them a return ticket or an onward flight. So I hurried to the Air Asia counter to have my confirmation printed. Of course nobody asked me for that confirmation.

The flight to Banda Aceh was different from what I had experienced before. The ATR 72-500 holds about 60-70 seats, is equipped with a propeller and just two cabin crew members serving the guests.

The ascend and descend was much steeper than any commercial flight I have been on before. I tried to take a nap as soon as I boarded the aircraft and usually I am not bothered by the take off procedures but with such a skyrocketing climb I couldn’t drop off.

Procedures at the Indonesian immigration are straightforward. In June this year “Visa on Arrival” was established in Banda Aceh and so you just hand over 25 USD and get into the country without any hassles.

I took a private tuned cab with a massive sub-woofer in the trunk to get me to the ferry terminal. The ride over to Pulau Weh was nicely air-conditioned and not a bumpy one at all.

Once again a taxi drove me over to Gapang Beach where I finally arrived after a taxi to airport, flight to Banda Aceh, taxi to ferry, ferry to Pulau Weh, taxi to Gapang Beach-trip.

The dive shop was fully booked and so I had to look for accommodation someplace else. The rooms are cheaper next door but you don’t have a proper shower. So I just showered at the dive shop and saved the money.

In the evening I went for dinner with my fellow divers. Apparently there is one restaurant down the beach all the divers always go to. I had fish curry which was either amazing or I was really tired from a long trip. Anyway, it tasted great.

Diving pics of Pulau Weh, Indonesia

My dive buddy on the first beach dive had a camera and he kindly shared the pictures with me:

banded mantis shrimp

Meyer's Butterflyfish

Langkawi, Malaysia, 21-24 Sep

Langkawi consist of 99 islands about 3 hours north of Penang and with its lush rice paddies and tax free status a beautiful and cheap place to stay a few days.

I took the morning ferry to the port of Kuah and from there it is a 35 minutes taxi ride to Pentai Chenang (Chenang Beach) on the western coast. I reckon this is the first time that I choose the accommodation that was lonely planet’s pick.

Gecko Guesthouse - nice, shady place to hang out

George Town, Pulau Penang, Malaysia 18-21 Sep

I took the boat to the mainland after paying the usual 2RM rip-off and this time I got a seat further back. Unfortunately the minibus to Peneng was already fully booked and so I had to take a detour via Cameron Highlinds, which took about 2-3 hours.

After 12 hours on a boat, in a bus or waiting for either one I arrived in Chinatown of George Town. Peneng is an Island on the north western coast and easily accessible via a 4-lane-highway. The lonely planet claims there is the best food in Malaysia and it was in fact delicious. If you ever get your hands on Chicken with plum sauce you definitely wanna try it.

After my nice bungalow just off the beach I checked into a guesthouse this time. The rate was 40RM including air-conditioning which is a real bargain. Apparently I pushed the a/c too hard and so I have a cold now. Hope it will get better soon, I currently cant equaliz.

smallest room I ever had on my trip

Pulau Kecil, Perhentien Islands, Malaysia (13-18 Sep)

It was pouring cats and dogs when I bid KL good bye and got into my bus to the LCCT in order to fly to Kota Bharu on the north-eastern coast of Malaysia. As always the flight with Air Asia was delayed and I don’t know why I still bother to book their flights. Oh wait, I just paid €30 for the flight ;-) I didn’t get what the problem was but getting bored in the departure I talked to a Norwegian couple who happens to be on its way to the Perhentien Islands, too.

There was just one conveyer belt for the luggage in the arrival hall for domestic flights. Seems like Kota Bharu is not the most popular town in Malaysia. We shared a taxi to Kota Besut where our ferry departed. It was quite a bumpy ride although the sea was calm. I didn’t pay attention and so I took a seat near the bow. Of course it is going to be rough there, what a stupid mistake.

Pulau Kecil (which means small island) is about 35 minutes from the mainland by speed boat with 400 hp. You could walk around the entire island in a few hours but most of the beaches are separated and there are no paths to other beaches. Also there is no jetty, thus a small boat has to come from shore to pick up the passengers. Of course that service wasn’t free and so we were charged 2RM each for 8 minutes of work. Nice rip-off

Beach of Paulau Kecil

Kuala Lumpur 08-13 Sep

(Post for Singapore is now complete including Sentosa Island)

Early morning flight with Air Asia in an A320-200 from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately the aircraft had a puncture and apparently there was no spare tyre in all of Changi Airport. So we had to wait 4 hours for a tyre to be brought in from KL. We got a free lunch for compensation but that doesn’t really improve your mood.

Having arrived at the LCCT (low cost carrier terminal) in KL I took a bus to bustling chinatown. The streets are cramped with people, cars and scooters and so it took us ages to get there. In chinatown is a myriad of hawker stalls offing all kind of food for 1-2 Euros and the food is really delicious. Eating rice all day I really become a fan of it.

Being on a tight budget I took a room with no air-condition and just a fan which proved to be a big mistake. No a/c on the beach is fine but in a city the heat really gets to you. It was probably the smallest room I had so far with nothing else than a bunk bed, some shelves and a single chair. Being modest it was enough for me.

You see Malaysian flags on every building. In this case even all over the building

Singapore (01-07 Sep)

I got up and took a taxi to the airport for my 1 pm flight to Singapore (translated: Lion City) with AirAsia. After passing the security screening, the gate opened but the aircraft was delayed. Not sure why they let the passengers in that tiny hall when the plane isn’t ready. Anyway, after waiting 30 minutes for the crew to clean up, we were allowed to board the vessel. It was a A320 and I must say I had expected it to be much worse. Nice leather seats and sufficient rooms for your legs. Well done for a budget airline.

Around 4pm we landed in Singapore and had to wait ages for immigration but at least entrance was free of charge. Since we had waited so long my luggage was on the conveyer belt already.

My accommodation is in the city center but I am not sure I will stay here. Although the sleeping room is air conditioned and there is free WIFI, I have to share the room with 19 other people and it is quite crowded in there. The rate is 18 Euro and I am already longing for my private room on Bali which was also 18 bucks. But that’s the way it is and so I don’t complain.

In Singapore you need to have British power converter or just fumble your plug into the socket. So far I got along fine but not all of the sockets will fit my plugs.

I might be wrong, but I experience it to be hotter than in Bali. Probably because in Bali I didn’t have a/c at all and here you come out of an air conditioned room or store and the heat and humidity hits you pretty hard.

Clark Quay, just next to my hostel