We moved on again later the same day, catching the early bus to Penang (which, incidently, left after the late bus... work that out!), and arrived at Love Lane in Georgetown at night to see some of the scariest-looking working girls I've ever seen. I'm surprised to find prostitutes working the streets in a Muslim country, but prostitution/trafficking of women and girls is a very big problem throughout Asia – even in Muslim countries (If you're interested in learning more, read http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sex-Slaves-Trafficking-Women-Asia/dp/1860499031" rel="nofollow">β€œSex Slaves: The Trafficking of Women in Asia”, by Louise Brown). The hostel room I eventually find is roomy – in fact it only has three and a half walls! One wall doesn't reach all the way to the ground and the window is missing, so I spent another night rat-watching... thankfully it isn't malaria season! The next morning I moved elsewhere in Georgetown, and part company with Kerri and Jeremy who are returning south via the jungle of Taman Negara back to Singapore.

I make the mistake of getting an air-conditioned room (as a Christmas treat), but the air intake backs into the toilet block area... clever. My parents loved Penang when they visited, and recommend Penang Hill, but I wasn't impressed – although this wasn't helped by the other Aussie I had the misfortune of sharing the cable car trip up the hill with, who thought it would be funny to loudly insult the work ethic and organisational skills of Malaysians and the cleanliness of the country in a cable car filled with Malaysian families on holiday. Embarrassing. The Air Itam temple complex, which is nearby to Penang Hill, is well worth a visit, and great for photos (some photos can be found http://penangpage.com/airitam/" rel="nofollow">here).

The foul air in my room made me feel increasingly seedy – not helped much by the number of rats roaming outside (and sometimes inside) the restaurants on the main strip, which didn't exactly help my appetite. So I spent a miserable, smelly Christmas contemplating my next move.