Malaysia

We arrived safely in Malaysia after about a four hour flight from Hong Kong. It was getting pretty late, by the time we got our backpacks and went through customs, so we decided to stay in the airport (with many other fellow travellers) until morning. At about 6:30 we tried a bus to train to bus to bus route by passing Kuala Lumpur to get to Melaka on the southern west coast of peninsular Malaysia. It was worth the trip south. Melaka is a colorful town with a myriad of cultural influences. Cheng Ho the famous Chinese explorer landed in 1405, the Dutch set up camp in the 1500's, the Portuguese in the 1600's and the British in the 1700's (if I remember correctly). All of these groups along with the Sumatra Indonesians just across the water, have influenced Melaka. Today it is a booming tourist town with the majority of tourists coming from nearby Singapore.
As with all of Malaysia there is a mix of people living there. Mostly Chinese (Buddhists), Malay (Muslims), and Indian (Hindus). It is amazing to see such a swirl of cultures mixed together harmoniously.
We walked around the streets of China town marveling at the old beautiful architecture. Our guesthouse provided free bikes to use, so we went for a cruise around the town. We even caught the newest Bond movie in the local theater (which I don't recommend unless you like great action with no plot) for 6 Ringgit, roughly $1.75.
We headed out after two nights for the Cameron Highlands in the interior of Malaysia's mountains. We are staying at a cheap hostel with lots of noisy guests as I speak, and will be heading out for Penang, the island on the northwestern coast tomorrow morning.
The Cameron Highlands is at the top of a mountain range the runs north-south through the interior of Malaysia, a little closer to the west coast. The area is famous for beautiful views, cooler weather, and tea farming.
Yesterday was sunny, and beautiful, about 80 degrees (Melaka was probably 95). We walked around, seeing the nearby town and realizing that the bus system is quite inadequate and that we would need to find some transportation or go on a tour if we were going to see anything.
So, after seeing the prices on the somewhat overpriced tours, we decided to rent a scooter the next day (today). Unfortunately today was grey and rainy. We went anyway, got wet, and had a blast. This was Camilla's first time on a scooter, she was a little scared at first, but by the time we were through, we were talking about maybe getting one in China. It was my first time driving on the wrong side of the road. Camilla had to keep reminding me to stay left! I guess I have to get used to it, since we plan to rent a car in Australia.
We rode to the Boh Tea farm. I guess it is the most famous tea brand in Malaysia. They had a great tourist facility set up, with a little tea factory exhibit. (There are tons of tourists, everywhere we go, we finally found out, its because it is a school holiday now.) Despite all of the tourists, it was a nice place, but the rain made it so we couldn't walk trough the tea fields :(
We saw a temple and a few other things and called it a day, since we were cold and wet, and the hostel had hot showers.
I'll update more when we get a chance. We might be heading to Thailand afterall, just to go to the southern islands, since the political situation seems to be resolved for now. Unfortunately, we already bought a ticket from KL to Laos, thinking we would stay in Malaysia.