Going solo in Penang

10th of July
After freezing for hours in the extreme air conditioning (why have I not learned to take a jumper?), our bus crossed the impressive 3km bridge from mainland Malaysia over to Penang and dropped us off in the middle of some nowhere. This was fairly expected and makes taxis the only real option for people like me who have no idea where they are so I wandered over and haggled down the price to Georgetown with a guy who insisted on speaking through a microphone. 15 minutes later, a couple of nervous questions from the driver regarding whether or not I have swine flu and I’m outside my chosen hostel where Jimmy, the Malay owner who remembers my name from our phone call the day before, welcomes me and gave me a little tour of the place before letting me settle into my mid range double room with shared bathroom (£3.50). I soon ended up on the balcony swapping stories with a young French guy and a Canadian in his 50s (I’m guessing) or to paint a more accurate picture, French and I listened to the Canadian’s stories, which required no input from anyone else and were based mostly on crap (I’m guessing again). Still, as much as we could do without hearing about numerous ex wives and insane girlfriends, how you’re statistically more likely to die in a Glasgow kebab shop than in a war and how you can’t joke about being a Nazi or a terrorist due when entering America, I do have a level of admiration for someone who is still full of enthusiasm after decades of travels. All the same, I sneak off at the earliest opportunity and take myself out to dinner in my brand new town.

11th of July
Having never done any solo travelling and not knowing a lot about where I am, I have no real expectations. But the sunshine I took for granted and waiting out the rain that has been going all night makes it a little hard to sit here on my own and not compare it all to being in a group of friends and living it up in Thailand - but that’s not the way to do it. This town is moving off the regular trail and although it’s by no means remote or primitive, backpackers are fairly rare so the journey can be somewhere between exclusive and solitary. Thailand, on the other hand, makes it easy for travelers, a lot exists purely because of them but as Alex Garland says in ‘The Beach’, you end up doing exactly the same as everyone else. Fair call, we bumped into people we met 2 countries ago, but you can’t just skip the tourist sites in fear of being the same so perhaps places like this are how you strike a balance and make it unique to you. But hey, even if it’s not all you thought, it sure beats 9 ‘til 5.