Волшебная страна Wonderland

We chose for a long time where to go, so that the flight would be easier without a visa, and the weather would be better, and in the end we settled on Malaysia. I read a lot of reviews, and, frankly, I did not know what to expect from the country, but decided to take a chance. 40 minutes from Singapore JetStar or AirAsia for $150 round trip ticket for two, good service, comfortable new planes, then 50 minutes by taxi ($20) and we are at the hotel. Our room was with a partial sea view - it's a pity that without a balcony, but the view from the window was extraordinary. Sunsets could be admired every evening for several hours, which many tourists did. From the window we watched the monkeys - there are, it turns out, a species that feeds on leaves - right under the window they jumped on the trees and ate. But it's all right. The hotel is located right on the beach of Batu Ferringhi - in a very good place, there are not very many hotels, the beach is narrow - 2 meters in total, urban, but there are no locals on it, because you can enter it either through the territory of the hotel, and this is not just from -for protection, or walk for a long time along the ocean, the water is muddy and everywhere there are warnings about jellyfish - not fatal, but able to burn, so there were few swimmers, although the water was very warm. You could sunbathe on the territory of the hotel under umbrellas and palm trees on the lawns or near the pool, there are 2 pools in the hotel, quite large - there was enough space for everyone. The room is comfortable, nothing to complain about, although some tourists say that the rooms are a bit old - in fact they are not new, but in such good condition that the word "old" does not occur. Very clean, the floors smell of incense and cleanliness. The breakfasts are delicious and varied, freshly squeezed juices, fruits - pineapples, papaya, watermelons, a large selection of food, some complain about the lack of bacon - but we didn’t care - we didn’t go so far for bacon. The only drawback of the hotel is the mosque nearby, and rather loud prayers early in the morning, but behind closed windows after a couple of days you do not pay attention to this. Malaysia is a Muslim country, and one must be prepared for this. We didn’t drink or eat at the hotel, except for breakfast - we had lunch at Cool Bananas once - it seemed unreasonably expensive and not very tasty - mediocre. If you live in a hotel and pay in cash in bars, then be sure to call the room number - then you will be given a 20% discount, but the staff somehow did not hurry to inform us about this. We paid immediately everywhere, because we did not want to leave a deposit at check-in. Near the hotel there are many places where you can have a bite - a huge Thai restaurant, for example, where you choose your favorite seafood and cook it for you. But most often we dined at the local Long Beach cafe - a 10-minute walk from the hotel - the place is not distinguished by sophistication and cleanliness, and I did not dare to try the local cuisine there, but in the depths there is a seafood corner, everything is cooked on the grill and served immediately , crabs are still alive, shrimps and fish on ice. My husband and I traveled the world, ate in different countries and restaurants of different levels, but we never tried such deliciousness as a simple Chinese grilled - like Bulgakov's - he realized that he was eating something unusually tasty, and most importantly unusually fresh . A crab cost $6.7 king prawns $10, a whole fish $8. We ran there for dinner like two excited kids, not because we were saving money, but because it was really delicious. On the one hand, we were lucky with the weather - it was common almost all the time, we didn’t burn out, and looked around the neighborhood with pleasure and without sweating, on the other hand, we weren’t lucky - we almost didn’t tan at all. To see the island, we turned to several travel agencies, but we didn’t like their prices and excursions, and then we just agreed with a taxi driver near the hotel - for $ 10 per hour he drove us to all the places we wanted to see - to Georgetown, on the hill of Penang , to a butterfly farm, to a Chinese mission, to temples. We looked at everything with pleasure, I can’t say that the sights were super-unusual, but absolutely everything worthy of your attention. The funicular to the hill is temporarily not working, so I had to take a jeep with a driver at the foot of the hill - 15 dollars a car, regardless of how many people go, fed the monkeys, drank coffee in a restaurant on the hill, admiring the Peneng bridge from a height, looked into the Indian temple - as if visited another world - a world of silence, tranquility and peace. You can describe the trip for a long time and in detail, but in a nutshell - Malaysia turned out to be a country that you want to return to, which penetrates the soul and heart and leaves a memory of the beautiful, unrealizable and pure. And if the question arises what to choose Malaysia or Thailand for the next trip - I will answer without hesitation - only Malaysia with its beauty and slowness.