After my first two months onboard SV Millennium, Nate gave us two weeks off but I had no idea where to go or what to do. Candice and I decided to travel together but planning anything so last minute and on a budget proved difficult and frustrating. Instead, we decided to do a little experiment and let the trip plan itself and call it the “Path of Least Resistance”.
We set some guidelines that we would only go where it felt easy or cheap and we couldn’t plan anything in advance, just one step at a time. So, the day before we were scheduled to leave, Candice looked at flight options from Langkawi. The easiest and cheapest flight was to Penang, an island to the south, for just $10 per person. I had never before booked a flight this cheap and we half expected it to be a scam until we showed up at the airport that night and picked up the tickets.
A short 30 minutes later we landed in Penang and made our way to the hotel. Although, yes we could have stayed in a hostel or some other budget accommodation, after two months in a shipyard, a private room with clean sheets and a hot shower sounded amazing. After arriving we fell fast asleep, with no plan of what to do the next day other than let the universe guide us.
The next morning we woke up and I found us cute breakfast spot within walking distance. Although both Langkawi and Penang are islands off the western coast of Malaysia, Penang has a bridge connecting it to the mainland allowing for more tourism with a greater selection of restaurants and shopping. It felt strange to walk around such a large and modern city compared to where we had just come.
We continued to walk and found ourselves at the clan jetties, structures built above the water where Chinese immigrants settled when no other land was available to them. In general, Penang has a higher population of Chinese compared to Langkawi which is mostly Malay. I would soon come to find out that traveling with Candice comes in extra handy because she can speak Mandarin and Cantonese which opened up a whole new world of restaurants and shops to me.
It was starting to get hot so we took a break and sat down to talk more about where we were going to go next, after Penang. Even though it was difficult to pack for a trip when you don’t know the destination, we both packed bathing suits and snorkel stuff in hopes of doing some diving. Candice had the idea of messaging dive resorts to see if we could volunteer for a week or two in exchange for free scuba diving. One of them messaged back right away, asking for our experience level and availability, saying he could use two more volunteers if we could be there in a few days. The resort was on Tioman Island, on the other side of Malaysia. Candice did some quick calculations and figured we could get there for around $50 including flight, hotel, bus, and ferry (domestic travel in Malaysia is very cheap!). It felt easy and cheap so we tentatively confirmed we would be there in two days. What luck!
We still had the rest of the day to see Penang but it was getting hot and everything else we wanted to see was a ways away. So, we found a cat museum called the Meowseum and enjoyed some AC while looking at cat art. While inside, we met two guys, Shak and Yun, who were students at the university and just finished class for the day. They asked what we were doing in Penang then offered to take us out to lunch and drive us to see some sites. Although my initial reaction would be to never accept this kind of offer from a stranger, it felt easy and was much cheaper than renting a taxi, so we accepted. I did take a picture of the guy’s and the license plate just in case.
Shak drove us to lunch at an area with several food stands, then drove us to a Buddhist temple with a spectacular view of the city. Afterward, we drove to a snake temple and then had some small dishes at another local eatery. It was interesting talking with Shak about what it was like to grow up in Penang and was shocked to find out about the level of racism that exists in Malaysia. The country is divided into three racial groups: Malay, Chinese, and Indian which are printed on their identification cards. Although Shak was of Indian descent and his family had been in Malaysia for more than five generations, the odds were stacked against him and getting into college was quite difficult. About 70% of university spots were reserved for Malay and the rest was split between Chinese and Indian. For this reason, Chinese and Indian children often have to outperform their competition to secure spots in universities overseas. Which, in turn, secures them a better future and further cement the racism against them by their own government.
It was getting late in the day so Shak dropped us back at the hotel and Candice finished planning our trip to Tioman Island. The following morning, we had a few hours before our flight left that evening so we visited Penang Hill, an outdoor hiking area. The area felt like Disneyland but for hiking with a funicular that takes you up the hill with manicured walking areas. We purchased a ticket to a separate area called The Habitat which has a long suspension bridge and scenic viewing platform over the UNESCO Biosphere. Since this is one of the top attractions on the whole island, I was surprised to see that Candice and I had almost the entire place to ourselves. I asked one of the employees why it was so empty and he said we just happened to be there at the right time during Ramadan and on a Friday (which is like Sunday for Muslims). The Habitat was beautiful and the perfect way to end our short time in Penang.
After just 36 hours into our Path of Least Resistance, Candice and I seemed to be having great luck! Things seemed to be happening easily and just planning themselves. I couldn’t wait to see what the rest of the trip could hold!
