Today was a day of information gathering and ticket buying – first we went back to KL Sentral to find out about trains…. it was so easy to get there, it cost about 1.20 RM each for Gavin and I (free for Tehya), it was just six stops from our hotel and it takes literally 10 minutes to get there. The train was a very cheap option about 20 RM each for Gavin and I and half price for Tehya (£8 in total) – the down side was it left at 9.00 am which would mean getting up extra early to make it through rush hour traffic to then spend 8 hours on the train.

So we hopped into a taxi for 10 RM and sped off to the bus station that deals with buses going north… the driver was a crazy Chinese man who was completely silent the whole way and drove like his life would end if he did not make it there in under 5 minutes. The buses are not like the ones in the UK – Malaysian buses are luxury….. and three tickets cost us a grand total of 75 RM (£12) and the journey is only 4 1/2 hours. Another important point for us was that they don’t leave until 10.45am…. so we don’t have to leave to early!!

The rest of that day was spent trying to get back to the hotel in heavy rain as it started early!! We spent a quiet evening with hot baths, room service, packing and an early night.

The next morning went like clock work…. after a reasonable nights sleep and a quick breakfast, the hotel arranged an over priced taxi to the bus station – but when you have a 7 foot surf board who wants to argue!! We arrived there twenty minutes early with time for coffee and toilet stops before throwing our luggage onto the bus and setting off. Tehya was as usual her beautiful self and behaved like a dream child all of the way. She gathered many appreciative looks from lots of the other passengers and was pleased when she was given a packet of crisps. We arrived in Penang on time and of course this is where our troubles began….

Try taking a surf board into Penang and what you end up with is a troop of the most brainless taxi drivers trying to rip you off, make silly suggestions and generally wind you up. In the end Tehya and I got a taxi further down the road and away from the fools at the ferry crossing and Gavin followed us by foot with the surf board bag – he made it in good time arriving only five minutes after we did. We felt glad to arrive at Star Lodge and say hello to the happy and helpful staff there.