Burnt Money and Circus Monkeys

I'm in Malaysia! I took the train from Chumphon across the border to Butterworth Malaysia and then the ferry to Georgetown on Penang Island. The train was fun ... Dining car, upper birth, staring at the stranger across from you for hours on end ... but it was long 16 hours. However ending up in Georgetown was a nice surprise. As a former colonial hotspot, it is an interesting mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures, and it is artsy and bohemian. Wandering around I came upon little India with Bollywood music blasting, Chinatown with raging street fires of burning paper money, a black and white Malay movie projected on a garden wall and Chinese theatre on the street. A very picturesque and culturally rich place to spend a couple of days. From Georgetown I took two buses and a ferry to get to the westcoast island of Pulau Pangkor. It's fascinating being on the beach in a Muslim country. Again, a total culture shock from Thailand. At first I wasn't sure if I'd be able to wear a bathing suit on the beach, but then I found the "foreigners ghetto" bay and saw bikinis. However, none of the restaurants serve alcohol, and although beer can be bought at the mini mart and brought personally to the beach, it's pretty expensive. It's actually a refreshing change to consider what fruit juice I would like with dinner. This island is full of aggressive food stealing monkeys and hornbill "birds." Within the first 15 minutes of being here I saw a monkey riding a motorbike - no joke - the owner drove while the monkey jumped up and down! Okay ... ?

I'm staying at a quiet little chalet, and randomly, the owner was a former Malaysian diplomat in Burma. When he found out I was in Burma, and had worked with Burmese refugees, he went crazy. After an hour chat, he called me back out of my room, and said I'm sorry to disturb you but I'm just so excited, look at these paintings I bought in Burma 10 years ago, and read this article in today's paper about rohingya refugees in Malaysia. He said I'll add you on Facebook, and we can keep in touch, and then we can open a guesthouse on Ngapali Beach. I said, "ok, sounds good to me." I hope we're on the same page about who's funding this endeavour. Love it! The people in Malaysia have been quite kind and it's a nice place to chill out before coming home. I'm definitely not looking forward to returning to life in Regina, but I am ready for a travel companion ...