Malaysia - Panang

We spent another day back in Kuala Lumpur on our way back through towards the border between Malaysia and Thailand. We had been trekking for a while now with heavy packs and when faced with the slightest temptation of relaxation we caved. I had heard about the fish spas and wanted to try it. So this is how it works. In the spa there is a little fishpond that snakes its way through the front of the spa and it's about 2 feet deep. Along the sides are cushions. You take a seat and they wash off your feet and then dunk them into the fishpond. I think these fish were trying to get back at me for the Singapore appetizer but as soon as I put my feet in the water HUNDREDS of inch-long fish started nibbling on my feet! Now I'm not one to keep composure while being tickled so it took a lot of willpower to keep my feet in there while being tickled on every bit of my skin. They were wriggling and squirming while trying to get a good foothold and I was almost wetting myself. It looked like I was wearing boots made of fish, fishboots. It didn't hurt and after the first 5 of the 20 minutes I got used to it so I could relax a little... except when one would slip between my toes, that really tickles! By the end I had super-smooth feet and the fish had full bellies. Symbiosis!

(Through the miracle of technology, I've lost this picture while trying to upload it. I know, I know. I'm just as bummed as you are)

Ok. We made it to Panang and stayed at a beautiful guesthouse called Hutton Lodge. It was built in the English Colonial time and has been refurbished to be a guesthouse/hostel. The people were friendly and the place was clean.

We went to visit the Botanical gardens with our new friend Kate. Turns out all I took pictures of were the monkeys and a frog. Oh, and the sign that I just couldn't stop laughing at.

On this trip I brought a few credit cards as backup. Just in case. They turned out to be more of a pain because all 3 of them were stolen in Panang and thousands of dollars were charged up on the cards! At times like these I'm grateful for the credit card companies that have checks in place. The cards were stopped and I wasn't held responsible for any of the charges (whew!). I guess we all live and learn. I'm just lucky it wasn't my passport or something. We met some people in Singapore who planned to stay there for a weekend. They had their passports stolen and two weeks later they were still waiting for replacements.