Hello Malaysia!!

After reluctantly saying goodbye to our visit, we had to leave Thailand as our visa was about to expire. The next destination was Malaysia!!

I had very little knowledge about Malaysia in advance, but I had heard a lot of positive things about it. This time, we even took the train across the border. The border crossing turned out to be easier than we thought, as we now have some experience with land borders=) When we arrived at the border post, the entire train had to disembark and go through a building, first to get stamped out on the Thai side, then to get stamped in on the Malaysian side. Luckily, we were quite far ahead in the line. For Malaysia, you don't even need a visa, and the entry is free. Once we were done, the next train to Butterworth departed soon. However, it was more like a tram that took about 3 hours. In Butterworth, we took the ferry to Penang Island, to the city of Georgetown.

Here, we experienced the full force of the sun again, it was incredibly hot!!!! Unfortunately, this time we didn't book a hostel in advance for the first time, so we marched through the heat with our backpacks and just took the first one we found=)

The city of Georgetown is a beautiful city, if not one of the most beautiful ones on our trip through Asia. Here, all different cultures and religions live side by side (Malays, Chinese, Indians, Muslims). The city is colorful and full of art. On the walls, you can see painted pictures everywhere, and many Asians want to take photos everywhere. The country is not as touristy as Thailand and it's a relief for us to wander through the narrow alleys and shops without being approached directly.

But suddenly, everything changes again on this evening. For weeks, I knew that my godchild Emil's condition was getting worse again and his chances were diminishing. I thought long and hard about whether I should interrupt my journey for a second time and how everything will continue, as it always involves a huge financial and organizational effort. Nevertheless, on this evening, a switch flipped in my head and I wanted to go home! Immediately!!

Until late into the night, we discussed for a long time how everything should continue and made a plan: we will fly home together over Christmas, I will stay in Germany for now, and Jonas will fly to South America alone. We wanted to spend our last few days together in Kuala Lumpur and booked a flight there for the next day. I'll tell you more about why you shouldn't book flights in the middle of the night in the next entry=)