On Pangkor Island, the town was
really small and the people were mostly Muslim. I was afraid to go
swimming in just my bathing suit because all the other women were
walking into the ocean with all of their clothes on. I felt exposed just
wearing shorts. The beach was nice with great sunsets and few other
westerners.
The reason I keep mentioning the
lack of other western tourists is because that was the main reason we
hated Thailand. There were just way too many westerners there, so you
felt like you were in Australia or Europe, but not Asia. The profusion
of foreigners seems to have jaded the Thais. We got the feeling that
they viewed us as giant walking money bags, and that any friendliness on
their part was only a bid to get their share.
But in Malaysia, there are few
western tourists, probably because the beer is expensive and the skin
trade is nearly nonexistent. Its nice to be treated like a normal
person again.
