Well today we are moving on from Penang to the Pehrentian islands in the eastern state of Kedak. The islands have been rated as one of the top destinations in Malaysia and possibly South East Asia. We will see when we get there. They consist of two islands, the smaller Kecil and the other being Besar. We will go to the smaller island being the more popular. Getting there from Penang is a long bus ride to Kuala Besar via Kota Bahru on the coast and then a boat ride. More on that later.....
So what have we been upto recently. Things have been very tricky as Shiera is homesick which is understandable, as she has never been away from home this long. It has caused much argument and to top it all, her youngest sibling was in hospital recently due to being given an overdose of the wrong medicine. Don't ask too many questions, as it is a long story. It will all get better. I love Shiera and want it all to settle down.
Saturday 17th July marked the annual Japanese Bon Odori festival. set on the Esplanade field in Georgetown, it was a nice event with some traditional dance performances, and a group of young drummers. The Japanese community were out in force dressed in their traditional Kimono costume and parading around proud of it. Was lovely and colourful to see. Some rain happened almost coincident with the opening of the show at 7:30pm. The
timing couldn't have been worse! they had flown in a nationally known singer to perform throughout the evening. Very much the Japanese version of Frank Sinatra with some Tai Chi and Kung Fu moves thrown in to make his otherwise sombre tones more dramatic.
Over the next couple of days we took a trip down the island to the 'Snake temple'. Known for its dazed Pit Vipers and wide collection of snakes. They are apparently hypnotised by the fumes from the Joss sticks. The main temple is free entry of course, but there is an
additional RM5 for the snake farm, where a young assistant was happy to life the lid on some cages to let me take better photos. A nice sign on some of the more dangerous cages read 'Don't let your finger be kissed by the snake...it might be your last kiss!
I am now going to ramble.....
The more i wander around the streets of Georgetown, the more i adore the variety of life there and the harmony with which it all co-exists. The history books couldn't be more interesting. Influences from British, Chinese, Burmese, India, Indonesia, Arabic etc blend to make it one of the most varied places on the planet. The food reflects this in offering the gastronaut the chance to indulge your tastebuds to their limits. Nothing better than a great Indian meal washed down with a mango lassi, and finally a banana and kaya roti washed down with a cup of hot masala chai...my mouth just died and went to food heaven! Fried Keow Toey done by a street stall or curried Tom Yam. The list goes on...yummm.... And the crazy thing is that a more than adequate meal for two complete with drinks might only set you back 20 ringgits...howzat for value!
Being a country with mixed religions from Muslim/Islam to Hindu to Buddhist to Taoism to catholicism to.... Means that the trends vary widely. You can walk from one place where they cannot serve alcohol through their belief to next door where it is perfectly ok. One place where the Burka clad ladies barely reveal their eyes and nothing else to the westernised fully exposed perfect bodies on display. I often wonder what the covered up ladies think of the ladies baring it all? Clothing is as multicultural as the people and the food...the whole world in one place almost. One thing is common amongst all of this...harmony! It all fits together seemlessly. And through it wander the casual onlookers....us, the tourists. We photograph it...ask questions about it...smell it....buy the clothes so that we can even wear it! And the hospitable folk they are, courteously smile and help us along the path of understanding. I am in love with Penang. It is like a
drug and i hope it doesn't wear off. To be fair though...i wouldn't want to live in Georgetown long term. The reason....i don't want its effect to wear off. So it is a place i will want to keep coming back to....again and again. Like Melacca in the south which has a smaller but similar effect...you have to have your places on this earth which offer you a fix of whatever turns you on. For me, i need culture, good food, nice people, happy
atmosphere, easy travel and wide streets that don't close me in too much, plus some nice budget accommodation options. A comfort zone where i understand enough to live, but with enough in reserve that i don't understand to keep me coming back to ask more questions. To date, Penang has those ingredients much like Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, Luang Prabang in Laos, Singapore, Ubud in Bali, Boracay in The Philippines. The list goes on (Shanghai in China, Kyoto in Japan, Cape Town in South Africa). Sorry i need to stop now as i am getting hungry to return to these places! I hope the list will continue to grow!
It is interesting to view culture from different persectives. I grew up in a normal working class environment where nothing was ostentatious. All was just ordinary. I dreamed of things exotic and not ordinary. I dreamed that one day i would live in a not ordinary house, and live a not ordinary life. Something snapped in that ordinary life that made me want the not ordinary life at all costs. That snapping is a difficult move to make. I see the world and its fascinations through the eyes of someone who has dreamed of it and can now have it. It is a never ending thirst to learn about it and understand it. To make the jigsaw peices fit together in my head. To bridge the gap in my earlier ignorances. That journey is a very personal one. It becomes very obvious to me now that i am travelling with my wife. She is Asian, and has grown up in Asia, being taught about Asian culture through her school days. Living an Asian life in her earlier years. Having parents and grandparents who did everything the old way...until modernisation came along and they then wanted to ditch the old way in favour of the more modern and more aesthetially cleaner way. She is only young and lives in the modern world of chat forums, westernised clothing instead of traditional clothing and ranting popular music and diabolical horror movies on the buses and tv. The world where not many people strive to understand the world they live in. They just need to be fed with endless streams of data through a keyboard and youtube to make them laugh. We can walk through the awesome ostentatious entrance of an equally ostentatious temple and for the umpteenth time my heart goes...wow....whilst she will probably not look at it in the depth that i do, waiting for me to finish taking photos and then leave. I leave with an experience and some more questions. Different worlds and different needs for understanding. Some people are happy to walk through this world with their eyes, hearts and minds closed, whilst i want mine to be wide open.
I remember years ago in a past life going into a shop to buy some cutlery for the special occasions when people came to dinner. I made a line for some beautiful design that caught my attention. My partner made a line for the most plain design they had on offer. I looked at it and thought...boring. She looked at mine and said...it is too fancy. The people who will use it will think it's too fancy, and that we are fancy people. I said to her....well at least they will notice it and not think its plain and we must be boring people. I lost and to keep the peace we bought the boring plain stuff. Not one person ever commented at dinner that the cutlery was nice. I rest my case!
So nowadays i yearn to buy fancy stuff that at least i appreciate and that i think others will appreciate too. Why not indeed... Anyone for dinner?
By the way isn't it funny when you have to ask the bus driver to stop at the roadside for a pee. Easy for a guy...not so for a female....happens alot to some people mentioning no names!
So, on with the ramble...
We were woken up seemingly as soon as we fell asleep and dumped outside the watercolours agency at some ungodly hour. The rest of Kuala Besar was still closed up. We weren't alone, as other travellers had also been dropped off by other buses. No idea how long we were to be kept waiting, but after a while we learnt that we were to catch our boat between 7:30 and 8am. Time to stroll around the village and take breakfast at a cafe. There is an RM5 Marine park conservation fee for everyone going to the Perhentians, and that is paid at a counter near to the jetty. Asked where we were going and then pointed to the relevant boat to await departure. Slightly bumpy crossing and then pulled up at a
beach...off we got along with two girls complete with our luggage and then turned to see the boat disappear with the other passengers. Didn't think anything more about it....until it became apparent we had been dropped off not only at the wrong beach, but at the wrong island! We wanted Perhentian Kecil. Instead we were at Perhentian Besar. What else to do but stay and check into a chalet on the beach at the Fauna Chalet resort for RM55 for a
fan bungalow. They would be fully booked on Saturday, so we can only stay for 2 nights here, but that is ok.
An aside....did you know that the early settlers who arrived in the Philippines wanted some milk, so they made some gestures towards their chest and said 'Susu'. To this day, the word Susu in the Philippines means tits/boobs, whereas in Bahasa it means milk!
After only one night in Fauna bay on big island we decided to move over to small island (Kecil). The taxi boats have it sorted here with high prices. Cost RM25 each for what is a fairly short journey. Got dropped at Long beach, the most famed of the beaches on the eastern side of the island. After a brief look around i got a chalet at the Matahari resort, which was set back from the beach and in a nice garden setting. The downside was
the incessant noise from the generators. Some resorts run their generators part time and others all day. After a couple of days i could stand no more. nice place but shame about the noise. The thumping noise from the bars add to the cocophony until about 3am and we got almost no sleep. It is a shame as it spoilt an otherwise lovely location.
A highlight of the stay was hiring snorkels for the day (RM5 each), and just swimming close the the northern end of the beach. Stunning fish in crystal clear waters as warm as a nice bath. For Shiera who isn't a confident swimmer, it was perfect as the depth is below 2metres for most of the interesting sights. Beautiful emperor fish, parrot fish, barracuda, sea cucumber, urchins and numerous that i don't know the name of.
There is a path through to the western sunset side of the island at Coral bay. Used to take 10 minutes walk, and now, due to a new paved path, it only take 5 minutes or so. What is a shame about Coral bay is a massive ugly concrete pier that has been built into the bay, that almost obliterates the sunset from the beach. Whoever designed and agreed to it should be shot (figuratively speaking only), as it has destroyed what i imagine to have been a nice location. There was an interesting coastal path that we took from coral bay that lead to a deserted resort. It is a manageable island and interesting for a few days. The sand is sugary and white in many places, and the food options ok.
The generators....well that just got to us and after a couple of sleepless nights we decided to leave and head back to the mainland and the Kelantan capital of Kota Bharu. From the jeti at Kuala Besut there is an occasional local bus, but we shared a taxi with a French couple and paid RM50 total to be dropped at the Central bus station. From there we only had a short walk to the Cerana Guest House (RM40 aircon/private bathroom, RM35 aircon/shared bathroom ++(6) 019 960 6734. Ceranakotabharu@yahoo.com), where we stayed for 3 nights. Excellent place and really quiet. Very knowledgeable owner and helpful staff.
Straight out to take a look around. We were lucky with the timing of our visit, as there was a Thai culture festival at the Culture Centre along Jalan Mahmood. Plenty of nice snacks to be had and a demonstration of Muay Thai boxing.
Kota Bharu is a really nice city. Easy to see the main cultural sights on foot and plenty of good food options. Some of the highlights....
The main market (Pasir Siti Khadijah) is awesome. Three levels surrounding a central food market. Beautiful produce sold by cross-legged beautiful Malaysian ladies in their typical colourful islamic clothing. A great buzz and an overdose of colour. The problem is that we ended up with loads of questions unanswered, as most speak no English. What is this, what is that, what do you do with this...etc etc...They have a clever system for small marketholders, with a roller-shutter box that have only been in use for a month or so. They cost RM2 to hire per day, as opposed to RM2.7 for a space in the main central market area. Another neighbouring market is for clothing, another one for crafts.
The next day was spent locally around the cultural sights. Istana Balai Besar, Museum of royal traditions and customs, the state mosque (Masjid Al-Muhammadi), Kampung Kraftangan (Craft museum). All close to the central Padang Merdeka which commemorates the Independence from the British in 1957. A nice day and plenty of quality things to see.
On our third day we decided to visit the infamous Wat Mai Suvankhiri...otherwise known as the Dragonboat temple, in the Tumpat area. There are a few wats that are spread around the Tumpat area...close to the Thai border. A taxi would charge 40 or 50 ringgits to do the ciruit around the most famed three of them, but we wanted to try the local bus. Only cost RM2.6 each way on bus 43 from the central bus station to get there. Admittedly, we didn't
see all of the sights, but it was a comfortable way to get out there. The main temple sits within an ornate boat with dragons featured along its length of about 50metres.
On the way back we hitched a lift from the Dragonboat wat to Tumpat bus station to get the bus back to Kota Bharu. Funnily it was the same driver who brought us out.
Tuesday 27th July - With just under a week before we fly to India, and finished in Kota Bahru, it was decision time again...where to go next and how to get there and also how to get back to Penang at the weekend. The final choice was Stong National Park, in the Kelantan region. Its main claim to fame is for having the highest waterfall in South East Asia. There are a few ways to get there from Kota Bahru, but i wanted to take the train to Dabong. Taxi from KB to the train station at Wakaf Bahru. Train 83 would leave at 14:27 and arrive at 17:45, costing RM4.60 each. From there we could take a minivan to the park Headquarters....or so the theory goes!
Arriving at Wakaf Bahru early gave us plenty of time to read and have lunch. Good food on offer and a relaxed place. Train 83 was due to arrive at 14:27....at 14:21 a train
quietly arrived, and without any warning we had to grab our stuff and launch onto it. I quickly asked if it was the right train and as expected, nobody understood me and had no option but to jump on it and hope for the best. A mere 60 seonds later, it pulled off the platform.. I had taken a photograph of the station list from the timetable, so i knew what stations were coming up before our disembarkatiion at Dabong. Here's something hilarious....The first station after Wakaf Bahru is called 'Bunut Susu'...this has the literal interpretation in Tagalog (not Bahasa i need to add), of.....Show us your tits! I wonder how that came about?
The journey is rural for most of it, with plenty of jungle and some short tunnels. We arrived in Dabong just before 6pm. Naturally we went out of the station in search of some transport to get to the park and after a while of asking around found that we had gone the wrong way. The village of Dabong is sweet, with a great friendly people and children. A group of boys were playing an old game using a ball made like a woven rattan using their hands and feet to get it over a net. In both Malaysia and the Philippines this game is called Sepak Takraw. With no luck in finding transport, we headed Back to the station to find the correct direction we should have gone was to cross the track after the train had
left, where there is a parking area. From there we paid a guy 10 Ringgits to take us to the park headquarters in his car. No obvious taxi or minivan as we had expected.
The park is called the Stong park resort, indicating that it is more than just a park. The options for accommodation are chalets (family or superior), which run at RM100 per night, or dormitories for RM15 per night each. Turned out that we were the only people staying and so we had a whole dormitory building to ourselves, so why pay any more for a chalet? Well...the dorm washing facilities are dire. The water had to be switched on/off with an outside tap or else it kept ushing from the broken fittings non-stop. The toilets were all broken too. Most showers had no heads on them, just running water out of a pipe, and no locking doors. The restaurant was closed, but fortunately, the really nice guy in charge conjured up a menu of Malay dishes for us to choose from. He later delivered our choice to our room. Think he had to go and get his mother to make it for us somewhere away outside the park! The staff were lovely to us, being rare beasts in these parts... Foreigners that is! The staff leave the site at night apart from a small group of the guides who stay by the entrance. It is the first time ever that i have had a the feeling of being in a national park by ourselves. A very quiet place with just the cicadas chirrupping away to send us to sleep. Tomorrow's plan is to climb the Stong mountain to the top of the seven-tiered Jelawang waterfalls, reputed to be the highest in South East Asia at 303m. Should take about 2 hours each way. There is a further option to stop at Baha camp at the top of the falls as a base camp. The next stage would be to trek to either the top of the Gunung Stong mountain (1,433m) in 4 to 5 hours, or the highest peak in the area at Gunung Ayam (1,504m) in 6 hours from Baha camp. Shiera being a lazy sod (joke Shiera !!!) and panicking at the thought of that much exercise, we decided to go for the easier option of just doing the falls. The more strenuous options cost RM15 each for the tent plus the necessary guide, which you must hire for RM100. There are meals available at the camp site if you order in advance, or else take your own food.
Wednesday 28th July - After a good night's sleep we asked Affy, the guy in charge for some breakfast...only Nasi Goreng and other standard Malay dishes available, and as with last night he had to disappear off site on his motorbike to get it. Some simple cold drinks are available, but nothing hot. A lady traveller on her own wanted to join is for the trek upto the waterfalls, which was nice. It turned out that we lost the track to the top and it got too difficult to navigate, so we returned down to a lower level for a swim in one of the mountain pools. Having been to many waterfalls over the years, I rate Trewangan falls as one of the better ones to visit. Even though it isn't peak flow when we went, it was enough to appreciate its beauty. Once we got down to the headquarters Affy had arranged the homestay for us and ordered the taxi from Dabong to colllect us. We had enough time for a shower before heading off to our homestay. RM30 for the fare to Kampung
Bukit Jering. The Malay Tourism Authority has set up Homestays across the country which are monitored for quality and experience. Our chosen homestay at Kampung Bukit Jering, south of Jeli cost RM100 per night (RM50 each), including all food and drink and anything else you need like laundry facilities. We were dropped off at a playing field in the village center and the English speaking Fowzi came and met us. The homestay was with an
old lady Zabida...of unknown age, and supposedly her son who we didn't see at first, as he worked at the library. This would make a nice connection between our visit to Stong
State National Park and catching the bus to Penang from Jeli on Friday morning.
After a nice lunch of local fayre and some tea, we played football with some children on the playing field and then headed off for a walk around the village. Everyone was so sweet. The children adopted us and followed in convoy everywhere like the Pied Piper of Hamlin. Sampling all the local fruits that are freely available was a must, some of which we had never seen before. One of the great experiences when you are a foreigner in a Kampung like this is the interest they have in you. So easy to just walk upto someone and be invited into their house, or just sit with them. Not much communication as they just
smile at you, but you get the idea. It is such a happy commmunity. Zabida was continually in the kitchen cooking something or making tea, or cake. She dressed Shiera in a traditional Muslim head scarf, which was lovely...such a gracious lady. And dressed me in a Muslim male smock type shirt and cap. Throughout the day the Muezzin called from the village mosque, calling everyone to prayer. An unmistakable part of their culture...almost like a clock running their lives. Not much to do, but then again, it is all about absorbing the athmosphere and observing their life, and learning the simplicity by which they operate.
The evening was a test of communication and i think Zabida got a headache trying and failing to get her messages through. Even with some similarities between Tagalog and Bahasa, even Shiera had no success in basic communication. Fowzi never came back, and so we had no interpretter at all, making it impossible to get anything answered. We couldn't even find out her age...something really basic. Everything just greated with a smile, a
giggle and no more. I think it is funny when communication is a problem, as the answer seems to be an incessant supply of food and drink as the only way of occupying Zabida's time and ours. She did take delight in seeing our wedding photos on the laptop and we set up our tripod and camera to take some group photos. At 9:30pm Zabida departed for bed and all was locked up and quiet.
Thursday 29th July - Who needs an alarm clock when you got the muezzin call at some silly hour of the morning, plus roosters, plus every other noise to make sure you don't get back to sleep again. Life in the kampung is like anywhere. It all begins early and finishes early. We heard that Zabida's Son was in fact a daughter. She appeared home some time after we had gone to bed and did speak some English. We now know that Zabida is 65.
With a full day to occupy, we set out for a walk. No sooner had we reached the main road past the village and a lady at a gasoline station began talking to us in English. Turned out to be a Filipina lady from Pangasinan, which made Shiera very happy, as they had
something in common. She was so hospitable and invited us back in the afternoon when her husband was home from his work as a lumberjack, so that we could go to the river for a swim. She had arrived here some 16 years ago and used to run a homestay herself before their other businesses got too much for them, so they gave up the homestay. Other foreigners have been to her before and she used to even act as a guide, and was happy to have her details passed on. (Jamilah Milagros. Bukit Abdulla, Kampung Bukit Jering, Jeli, Kuala Balah 17610. Tel: 014-8426372).
Further along our walk and more free fruit. Shiera's favourite Lanzones, and my favourite
Rambutan...everywhere, like weeds. Some other unknown ones as usual. With plenty of time spare, we were able to avail of the homestay facilities and get our laundry up to date and dried in the sunshine.
In the afternoon we met with Jamila and her husband Ali to go swimming at the Chennai river. A large area of falls and pools. Many people go fishing there, and after
Rammadan it is a meeting place for the Muslim communities to celebrate. The area is lucky to have wild Elephants and Tigers too. We heard that yesterday an Elephants was shot and the guy got a reward of 1,500 ringgits from the farmer. The elephants cause lots of destruction and are classed as a pest, so they kill them. This seems terrible to anyone concerned about conservation, but this is the real world of survival for the farmers.
When the sun goes down it is time for a walk outside away from the daytime heat. Just sit by the park and listen to the evening chant from the mosque and see the bats flying around. Some of the children came over for a chat too. I had earlier played football with them again, so they have become really friendly towards us. At first they were very shy, but not now. Later in the evening after dinner, some more of the family appeared. Another one of Zabida's daughters, who is a tailor, plus her son, who is studying to be an architect near to Kota Bharu, plus two of the grandchildren. A lovely time of taking photos, swapping contact details and conversation, as they spoke some
English. All smiles when we went to bed.
Friday 30th July - The plan was to take the Mutiara bus from Jeli (also spelled as Jelly) to Penang leaving at 10am. I had pre-booked seats and the booking office in Kota Bharu told me to arrive at the bus station in Jeli at 9am to collect the tickets. Jamila and her husband agreed to collect us at 8am and take us there. Before we left the homestay Zabida gave us a lovely gift each. Apparently it was a traditional honeymoon gift we later learnt. So wonderful of her and the experience had been a wonderful one. On the way to the bus station we had a brief tour of Jeli. Only a small place and not much to see. Some discussion when we arrived...the Mutiara bus had already left... At 8am and full! So what are Mutiara playing at by asking us to arrive at 9am to get our tickets? It was so annoying. The ticket counter guy said the only other bus was at 11pm this evening. A re-think was required as we wanted to make it to Penang today. A local bus to Grik leaving between 10am and 10:30am seemed our best option, hopefully followed by a bus from there to Butterworth, but will see...
Before we left Jamila presented us with a bag of goodies....some food, TYT Mosquito repellant, Anti leech soap, itch cream. The hospitality was so touching. Everyone had been so kind to us. The gifts alone filled a large bag. We had a few kilos of fruit for the journey too! The bus arrived at 10:20 and departed 5 minutes later. Only RM12 to get the Grik each. A comfortable Cityliner with good leg space. The route crosses the beautiful
Titiwangsa range on its way to Perak state, arriving at 1pm. No direct connection to Butterworth from here, so we had to get another bus to Baling (RM7.30) which left 10
minutes later. Arrived in Baling with 20 minutes to spare before hopping on the final bus of the day to Butterworth (RM7.7). Fortunately there was a KFC opposite the bus station, so we ran over, used their toilets and ordered a take-out in just enough time before the bus left....phewww....Take note of the mathematics. So far we have spent RM27 instead of the original Mutiara bus, which would have been RM38 direct!
So here we are again...like coming home...ferry from the bus terminal aross the Melaa straits to Penang (RM1.20). Indian music playing in the background. The predominant
Muslim headscarfs have gone, to be replaced by more Saris. Komtar is in the distance. The most dominant landmark in Georgetown. Arrive on land at 5pm. Not much different than if we had come direct from Jeli by the Mutiara bus. Cool sea breeze to dry up the sweat,and glad that we had made it. Straight onto a bus to Lebuh Chulia and it didn't take long to find our final resting place of the day at the Red Inn on Love lane. A new place only open a few months. A bit more expensive than normal, but clean and a change from the usual Star lodge....
After a great Indian meal at our favourite Jaya Indian restaurant, back to the lodge and got my guitar out to entertain the folks out in the street for a while. Just as is typical here, something unusual happened when a Chinese guy across the road was performing a ritual with flame torches and rubbing them over his body whilst chanting. Not sure what he was celebrating, but there have to be easier ways to attract attention!
The next journal will be posted from India...Can't wait as I love the country. Spent a long time there a few years ago. This time we plan to spend almost 6 months.
Bye for now folks
