The trip to Malaysia from Koh Lanta started out just like all the rest: with the Lonely Planet map.

The overland route down the Thai/Malay peninsula was pretty much an all day adventure starting very early in the morning.

I don't think any of us were too excited to be in a van this early in the morning.

Within about 15 minutes of hitting the open road we went from being able to stretch out comfortably to having every available space in the van crammed with people and baggage. Photo by Alex Iams.

To reach the mainland from Koh Lanta we had to catch a ferry in the van.

Steve pulled out the trusty Yahtzee to try and make the day go faster.

Here's the Yahtzee that has traveled over three continents--it's still running on the same AAA battery that it came with (note sample score on the screen).

About five hours into the trip I think all of us were getting a little road weary. Photo by Alex Iams.

At the Thai/Malaysian border, Steve made a quick visit to a small food stall to get us some food.

Getting something to eat seemed to make the trip a lot more bearable.

The end of the road was Penang, Malaysia, where we finally got out of the van we had traveled in for ten hours.

We chose to stay at a guesthouse in Penang's Chinatown because of the good food and cheap places to stay.

The Stardust Guesthouse had a pretty good review in Lonely Planet , so we went with it for one night.

Our room overlooked the street outside, but was air conditioned and quite clean.

To get to the room, you had to climb the steepest set of stairs that I think I've ever seen.

For dinner we abandoned the guide book and just walked around. Not far from the Stardust we found the Teik Seng Rice Stall that was completely packed with local people so we took that as a good review and walked in to get a table.

The menu at the Teik Seng was pretty diverse, with fried frogs mixed in with braised sea cucumber. We ended up picking a few chicken, beef, and fish dishes and sharing them. Photo by Steve Iams.

Since we were so hungry from traveling, we didn't spend too much time deciding what to eat, we just got the order in.

This little fellow was at the table next to ours. Photo by Steve Iams.

Our waiter was really friendly and seemed to be in constant motion throughout the Teik Seng.

For some reason the Carlsberg logo on the sign for the Stardust was bigger than the ad for the guesthouse itself.

Here's another perspective on the steepest set of stairs.

For breakfast we hit a local dim sum restaurant. Photo by Steve Iams.

Dumplings were the order of the morning, and we filled the table with several different varieties. Photo by Steve Iams.

Since we were already full from the dim sum breakfast, we passed on McDonalds' "Ringgit McSavers".

In search of a travel agent who could help us get to the Taman Negara rainforest, we headed towards this towering building that reportedly housed the government run tourism office.

All buses to the Taman Negara ran through Kuala Lumpur first and we had the option of the overnight "Super Nice" bus...

...or the slightly less luxurious "Extra Nice" that also somehow earned an "Excellent" rating.

In the end we decided to abandon the Super and Extra Nice options and rented a "somewhat nice" Proton car so we could come and go as we pleased.

Before we left, I ordered what turned out to be the worst meal of the trip at the Stardust. I thought I was getting fish and chips, but I got what turned out to be fish flavored fried bread with some soggy fries. Should've tried out the Ringgit McSavers I guess...