I started the day off at 9am leaving to take a train 45 minute to KL, where I was then to wait an hour and a half until I had to take a 5 minute train ride to the bus station. Sounds easy, right? The first part of the journey was quite simple and went very smoothly. We arrived in KL where we ate lunch and sat at Starbucks to use the internet and to enjoy a nice cup of coffee. At 12:15 we left to catch our train, where we waited until 12:40 to catch the train to our 1:00Pm bus. We arrived in plenty of time to catch the bus…the only catch was that we had no idea of where the bus station was. We asked for directions, and were given wrong ones. We walked up and down steps for what seemed like hours carrying our heavy packs. Finally, we found where we had to go and it was 1:15-our bus was gone. We were told that we would have to wait until the 3 or 4pm bus and that it would cost more money. “Great” I thought, “I am sick and tired, and the last thing I want to be doing is sitting here for 3 hours.” God must have heard my complaints because at 1:40 a women comes in and says that our bus to Panang is here and that it wouldn’t cost any more money (even though it was supposed to).
We were on that bus for about 2 hours and then we had to transfer to another bus, a double decker bus. Have you ever tried walking up a stairs in a bus with a 90 degree turn while carrying a 22 kilo backpack and a daypack on your front? I can tell you it is quite hilarious to watch as you will certainly get stuck and will need a friend to give you a push from behind. Being the person stuck isn’t as much fun. Once I made it up there, I was lucky enough to have two seats to myself. I say myself, but the one seat had all my belongings in it so I was crammed in next to the window. Driving down the highway on the top of a double decker bus was an amazing ride. All around me there were sublime cliffs with shear faces and green trees blanketing the top. It looked very familiar to New Zealand and I couldn’t peal my eyes off of the scenery. The roads meandered through the hills of Malaysia and although most of the scenery was similar, it was also quite different. The forests switched from dense deciduous forests to forests of palm trees neatly planted in rows. I took many pictures, but I am sure they will not do it any justice. Mom and dad, the whole time I was wishing you were there to see it because I know you would love it. And I am sure, dad, that you would be dragging me up all the “mountains” to stand on the most dangerous precipice.
We finally arrived at the bus station in Penang and found out we were at the wrong spot. After finding out it would be a while for the right bus to come and take us back to the mainland we were told that our contact would pick us up. Praise God! We got delivered right to our house and didn’t have to bother with any more transferring of belongings. The twelve of us are living in two rooms and for the first time since I have left home I am sleeping in air conditioning! It is great to not sweat to death at night or have to deal with a million insects eating away at me.
Although the day was long, uncomfortable and quite frustrating God’s glory shown all around us. He came through and provided everything that we needed. He provided us with alternative transportation, beautiful scenery to lift my spirits and to show me how much he loves me, and much more. So thank you God for getting us safely to Buttersworth.
