One of the wonderful things about Thailand is that, upon entry, people of most nationalities are granted a 30-day visa free of charge to romp around the country. One of the annoying things about Thailand is that you only get 30 days. With mine expiring on October 6, Nathan and I are enjoying a brief holiday in the wonderful country of Malaysia.
A Malaysian man I met in Laos couldn't figure out why more people don't come to his country. He informed me that it's cheap, it's beautiful, and everyone speaks English. So far that all seems to be true. Even though the ferry terminal on Pulau Langkawi happens to be right next to the yacht club, and the large resorts on the pristine beaches cost more than my 6 month budget, in between there are still rice paddies, green hills, and women in head scarves serving up plates of rice at little road side restaurants.
Somehow our timing today was such that as soon as we approached the beach the clouds rolled in and rain started pelting down, and the minute we left the sun returned. The extremes in weather rather reflected the variety of tourists strolling through town. For every tanned European filly falling out of her bikini there was a completely covered Muslim woman walking down the beach with her family. Wandering around the Underwater World (Malaysia's largest aquari, or so it claims) the people watching was just as fascinating as the rock hopping penguins and technicolor sea horses. Brochures were offered in Tamil, Arabic, and Chinese, in addition to Malay and English, and there were definitely more languages floating around the watery halls.
Sadly, this visit will remain brief as Nathan and I hop the ferry back to Thailand tomorrow morning to continue our grand adventures. We've got a week left before he flies back to Montana, and I continue on to Vietnam to await the arrival of my next travel buddy, who also happens to be my mother.
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