Backpacking SEA: Part 4 - Penang, Malaysia

After our stay in Luang Prabang, we headed to Vientiane and stayed there for a night until our next flight for Kuala Lumpur. Since we were out of budget in Vientiane, we just stay around and walked around the area near our hostel. The capital is a laid-back and walkable city.

And then we're off to Kuala Lumpur. This is our second time for the trip to land in KL, but this time we head out to the city. We took train from the airport to KLCC and head to our hostel. We decided not to stay in the city and set for Penang, Malaysia.

From KL, we took a bus to Penang. It was a long trip, almost 8 hour-trip. We arrived by night time at Georgetown and stayed near the Little Indian area. Most of the food we ate were Indian food. Georgetown is a very walkable place and it will be hard to get lost.

What to Do:

1. Walk, walk and walk. It is by walking that you get to know a place better. We never took a taxi or bus in the area while touring around except when we went to the bus terminal for the SG trip, but realized that it was also a nearby area.

Downtown

On the street

At a nearby park

2. Museum, museum and more museum! My friend and I have agreed on the same thought that Georgetown is a good place for students and learning as there are many museums to visit! We did not go to every museum though for lack of budget! But we enjoyed on those we have visited: 3D museum, Camera museum and Chocolate museum though I don't have a picture :(

My first 3D museum experience :)

My friend fantasizing!

Camera museum!

3. Street Murals - There were many art works within Georgetown, but alas, I was not able to see them all. I only spotted two while walking.

A child

Old man on a boat

For three days, we just explored Georgetown by foot, ate around and enjoyed this small town. So if you plan to visit Malaysia, drop by Penang. It was worth it!

Next stop: Yogyakarta (I'm skipping Singapore!)

Backpacking SEA - Part 3: Laos

Our third SEA country on the list: Laos.

As I have mentioned in the previous entry, we went to Chiang Mai and from there, we crossed Luang Prabang, Laos. But we were surprised because we did not know that it was such a long journey. Given that we did not research, we just enjoyed it and we were able to meet an awesome couple who traveled with us in Luang Prabang.

We booked our trip from the hostel where we stayed. We paid something like 1, 450 baht. It includes all the transfer plus an overnight accommodation with breakfast. We left at 8pm from Chiang Mai via van together with the Brazilian couple. At around 1am we arrived at the hostel where we have to spend the rest of the night before crossing out of Thailand. In the morning around 7am, we were picked up for breakfast before heading out of  Thailand border.

At the border, you will be processed. Then back at the bus going to the border of Laos. From there, there will be another van that dropped us at the bus terminal going to Luang Prabang. We arrived at the terminal at 11am not knowing that the bus trip will not be until 6pm that day. So it took us almost two days before we reached Luang Prabang.

We first check our hostel booked via booking.com. The price was good and we loved the room. It looked so traditional from the bed until its ceiling. Next stop is finding place to eat. In general,  food was okay but not so cheap.

Luang Prabang, a quaint Asian destination was great, clean, safe and laid-back. You can breathe fresh air! Here are some photos:

Found it while we are on our way to Kuang Si Falls!

a very clean street!

Where to go:

1. Mekong river. You can catch sunset here!

Mekong river

2. Mount Phusi
You can climbed this short hill for 2usd. The view is amazing and you can meet monks along the way!

At Mount Phusi

The friendly monks!

4. National Museum and Library

5. Kuang-si Falls

Kuang-si Falls

What to Buy: 

If you are into textile and fabric, I highly recommend that you buy their fabric. They have rich selection and the price was not so expensive!

Take note: There is no night life in Luang Prabang. Most stores closes before 12midnight. We were locked out even though we came back before 12 midnight.

What are you waiting for? Explore Luang Prabang now!

Up next: Penang, Malaysia