It’s departure day from Pangkor Laut. We have another great breakfast. I’ve grown especially fond of the Indian bread. It tastes like a sapapilla. After we drop off our wi-fi hotspot at the front desk, we walk out to the dock, and board the boat back to the mainland. Our driver is waiting for our 4-hour drive to KLIA (airport). Our driver/guide was a former history/English teacher in Malaysia, and I had a chance to ask lots of questions about the education system, and pretty much anything else I was curious about. One of the most interesting topics was the impact the two Malaysian Airlines tragedies have had on Malaysia and it’s tourism industry.

The “juicing” area of the breakfast buffet. Just put what you want on a plate, and they’ll mix it.

It’s hard to leave!

Back on the mainland. It’s a long drive to KL

We had a long wait at the airport so our guide offered to take us to two interesting sites we missed when we first came to town. We drove to a huge Hindu shrine and the destination of a yearly pilgrimage for over a million people (over a 3-day period). Thank goodness it wasn’t going on when we were in town. The second site was a Chinese temple.

Now that’s a statue!

A newly married Hindu couple, celebrating their wedding at the shrine

A hindu temple on the site. Check out the figures on the roof.

The KL Chinese Temple.

At the airport, we checked in and made our way to our gate. This flight seems about half-full. I’m surprised since China is in the middle of a holiday, and a big four-day holiday is beginning tomorrow in KL. Our six-hour flight arrives in Beijing at 1:00 am. We make our way through immigration and customs (we’re much too familiar with this procedure) quickly and get a taxi to the apartment. Back home, we’re unpacked and “lights off” at 2:30. It’s been a fun trip, but the flights on both ends of this trip were tough, due to departure and arrival times.