"I was thinking of doing that too, do you want to go together?" The words tumbled out of my mouth before I realised what I was doing. Moments earlier, I had been checking into my hostel with no real plans for the day, as a German girl (Ramona, I found out later) asked how to get to the Botanic Gardens to climb Penang Hill. A few minutes later, I was heading out the door ready to repeat yesterday, this time with company.
It turns out the walk up to Penang Hill involves a whole lot of steps, steep sections of road and some slippery paths (if you take the "longer, more risky route" as it was described to us by some locals). If I had been alone, I don't know how far I would have got before I gave up. I certainly wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. All three of us agreed on that point.
"Wait" I hear you cry "three of you?!". Yes three of us. Half way up the first lot of steps, we met Braidon, an American, who tagged along with us. Together, fighting against the heat and the slopes, we chatted about travelling, about politics, about the differences in our cultures, particularly our school systems.
After getting to the top (the views were worth it), we headed back down on the train and bus to Georgetown. We grabbed food (we introduced Braidon to samosas, his mind was blown), and an hour later, I was in a Buddhist temple, learning about meditation - the obvious way to end the day. Ramona had read about the lesson online and wanted to go. After the success of the day, I was more than happy to continue the adventure with my new friends, so all three of us went. (I'll leave my thoughts on Buddhism for now, this blog is about new friends, not religious debates!)
I have no idea what I would have ended up doing with my day had I not said those words at the start of the day, but I can say with 100% certainty that I would not have laughed as much, learnt as much or been as happy as I was with my two companions.
I need to start saying these words more often.
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