Langkawi Island

I still had a little over a week from when I left Melaka until I needed to go be back in Thailand to meet my Aunt Margie!! I was planning on heading back North to meet up with two of my British friends Holly and Kat who I had met in Laos, seen again briefly at Full Moon Party, and ran into again in Koh Tao. We origianlly wanted to meet in the Perhentian Islands off of the North East coast of Malaysia. But unfortunately, monsoon season had just arrived causing the islands to close down and push all tourists to the West Coast. That left the Duty Free island of Langkawi! Holly and Kat had already been there for a few days by the time I arrived early in the morning after a two bus, ferry, and very expensive cab ride journey! I was so excited they had waited for me to get there to rent motorbikes and explore the island!! We started with taking a cable car too the highest viewing point on the island 700 meters above sea level to take in the incredible views...

Next stop...Lubuk Sembilang Waterfall...

Holly and Kat!

 

and some random stops at beaches with boats...

I still had about a week to kill when Holly and Kat left the island on their trek to Singapore to board a flight to Australia! I spent the next few days relaxing on the beach, reading A Thousand Splendid Suns (By Khaled Hosseini; Highly Recommend!), going for runs, and much needed detoxing! But that can only last so long, and I eventually broke down and threw my "no new friends" rule out the window and spent my last few days laughing, playing cards, and having a few nights out with a great group of people!

Emma and Leo at the Traditional Indian Restaurant

Me with Hysterical Leo!

Alone in Melaka

After such a sad good-bye in KL, I vowed not to speak to anyone the next two weeks of my trip as to prevent myself from making new friends and having to eventually say Good-Bye to them as well! Being quiet and unfriendly is not exactly one of my strong suits. But thankfully Melaka isn't exactly a big backpacker hub, and I actually enjoyed the few days alone getting some rest, catching up on my journal, and exploring the quaint seaside city...

The entire city is declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Melaka River Path where I sqeezed in a few jogs

 

Overlooking the Strait of Melaka

St. Paul Hill

St.Paul Cathedral

Musician at St.Paul Cathedral

Strolling through the streets of Melaka on my last day I found myself in a conversation with an Irish Bar owner, and before I knew it I had told him that I would come back that night for the live Jazz music. So after dinner, I strolled back down to the cute little bar on the river. Still feeling a little anti-social I ordered a cold beer and found a nice little spot in the corner to enjoy the music. I hadn't taken two sips before I was sitting at a table with an eccletic group of people from all of the world. A self proclaimed "Citizen of the World" whose name I can not remember for the life of me had come over and told me that he never lets anyone sit alone and that I had to join his group. It ended up being an incredible night. We had people from France, Australia, The Netherlands, England, Spain and even Alabama, who all took turns passing around an acoustic guitar while everyone else chimmed in singing a huge variety of songs. I obviously kept my singing to a bare minimum! I was on my way out of town the next day so there was no time to get to close and start to dread the inevitable goodbye. So I sipped my beer, enjoyed the music, and got a little dose of home reminiscing with my fellow southener! The next day I headed out of Melaka, taking my second case of Bed Bugs with me...

The last stop for the 3 Stooges...Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur would be the last stop for "Three Stooges." Natalie and Ryan had purchased AirAsia flights from KL to Vientianne, Laos to avoid the flooding in Thailand. I somehow managed to withstand the peer pressure to go back to Laos, and would remain in Malaysia for another 2 weeks before returning to Thailand! We spent the next 2 1/2 days seeing the sights of Malaysia's Capital city...

Petronas Towers

The pose you had to get down to to get the whole tower in the picture

Petronas Towers Night View

Menarea KL Tower

Shopping in the Markets...

Central Market

First taste of Rambutans

 

Climbing the 272 stairs to the top of the Batu Caves...

Natalie and I in front of the Batu Caves

Ryan and Andrew

Stairs to the top...

Batu Caves

Batu Caves

Trying to avoid the thieving monkeys!

Acting like 10 year olds in a Theme Park housed in a Department store...

Our friends for the day!

 And spending our last night together in true form...Experiencing the Night Life!

My Love!

The 3 stooges

Kuala Lumpur

Many people think that being away from home, friends and family, or language barriers are the hardest thing about traveling. False...the absolute worst part of traveling is saying Good-Bye to amazing friends you meet along the way! I met so many incredible people on my travels, and it's very easy to get super close to people you meet on the road. Ryan and I had been traveling together for over a month and had been with Natalie for about 3 weeks. I was sooo sad to see them go and it was a very tearful Good-bye! They were off to Laos and I was stepping out on my own for the first time in months...