Much was left to see and do in KL -- and I know I'll be back because it has become one of main hubs for airline travel in SE Asia. This morning it was time to move on up the coast. Just for perspective, my entire journey from KL to Bangkok (
depicted here) is the rough equivalent of traveling between Portland, Oregon and San Diego, California. Choices abound for places to stop and how to travel -- and in my way of traveling, it all falls to me. Airline ticketing is the easiest -- especially when using
http://flights.google.com -- and there is plenty of online guidance for train travel as well -- especially here:
http://www.seat61.com/Malaysia.htm -- but all of it takes study and risk. So it is particularly satisfying when I find myself on the right train at the right time with the right kind of ticket (not everyone accepts electronic copies yet). And that was the success of the morning as I caught a train out of KL enroute to Butterworth, Malaysia -- a place I'd not even heard of just a few months ago but that is now a crucial change point to grab a ferry to Penang Island and the historic, world heritage site/town of Georgetown.
The trip was comfortable as I watched the lush landscape speed by -- and it got interesting about half way through the trip when a man got on the train and took his assigned seat opposite me, and initiated conversation with me. Turned out he was from India, and a practicing Hindu who works as a lawyer - headed to Georgetown for a family celebration. Conversation flowed easily for the remainder of the trip including onto the ferry for the 15 minute crossing to Georgetown.
When he bid farewell, he gave me his business card and suggested we have lunch next time I pass through KL.
As far as my time in Georgetown -- I mustered strength to do a little walking each day -- and took an hour long tour on one of the many pedal-powered
trishaws:
And by my last day (May 3), my appetite returned and I enjoyed some great noodles. But in fairness, I'll need to return someday to Georgetown because I didn't explore it as much as I would have liked. For now it will be remembered as the city in which I recovered from the flu!
