Just nipping through Malaysia
Another sweltering day, another country, and if you've just spotted a big Tesco sign then you've arrived in Melaka (also known as Malacca), our first port of call in Malaysia. [Note to Ric - were you responsible for that??].
Obviously the heat is not going to let up so let's have a quick wander around the town anyway. Careful now, there's no pavement, the traffic is 'enthusiastic' and those large uncovered drains look pretty deep.
So what can we see? A beat up old Church, a big red Church, guys on flowery bike taxis, a chinatown, a modern air con mall, portuguese towers, old chinese temples,
and massive fruits hanging in the garden.
They're Jackfruit apparently. We thought for a little while they may be the famous Durians, but they didn't smell so bad and were about the size of a guys head. Obviously a guy with a very very big head. Like on It's A Knock-Out.
Anyway, what is there not to see? I'll tell you what... the little buggers that bit me on the first morning - 29 times on my left calf and 19 on my right. Naturally I'm very tasty. And naturally I have a massive allergic reaction, itch like the billy-oh, and grow red welts thereby looking like a leper and putting paid to any skirt wearing for the next few days. I do have a photo of this taken 3 or 4 days after - but I'll spare you because I'm sure you want to eat sometime today.
Anyway, it's just a quick stop in Melaka. Time to get on a bus to Kuala Lumpur, the capital, where the traffic and people lurch at you from all directions and of course, it's sweltering.
Getting around Kuala Lumpur proves to be dead easy, the sky train and LRT trains are well labelled and have a/c which means its tempting to just stay on them all day. If you want to alternate between grotty alleys with cheap tat, and Designer Labels in posh Malls then KL is the city for you. It's got them both, and not much in the in-between price range. It's fascinating and shiny and bewildering and every now and again there's a foul smell which is either drains or durians. Or both.
The most shiny, most pointy and most tall of all places was the unmissable Petronas Towers with the glass walkway. Which we missed, by visiting them on a Monday, the only day of the week they don't do tours. Still they look good with the blazing sun behind them...
Right, next, hop on overnight bus to Kuala Besut (pronounced bee-soo) sort of top right of the country. It's a nice big comfy bus, not too many of the little cockroachy things (which love buses), free blankets and a/c. I manage to snatch a few hours sleep and mostly dream I'm hurtling along on a bus about to crash. Hmmn. Hop off in the early hours. Hang about a bit then hop on a small and BOUNCY boat (a leetle overcrowded perhaps, 24 people, 16 lifejackets, thanks for counting them Col) to the Perhentian Island of Kecil. There's nothing like a good bounce in the morning to wake you up I say! It's just getting light, and our private little bay of D'Lagoon looks gorgeous, and we are the only ones to get off there, so that's nice.
And it IS nice. So nice in fact that we decide to stay for a few days to laze about; snorkelling, swimming, sunbathing and living in a tiny 'bungalow' on stilts. The sea is shallow and full of coral and the water is so warm, its like swimming in a big bath. A big bath full of neon coloured tropical fish mind you. I FOUND nemo! And here's Col finding a leetle shark....
pic 05 - Just a sec Jen. Don't mind me, I'll just be censoring this piccy. How about one of a big red church instead. Much more suitable for family viewing than me in my swim shorts...
OK, carry on.
So, lying in the hammock, tummy full of fresh coconut, hearing the waves lapping 25 foot away, I wonder... Does life get any better than this?
Yes it does.
There's a 'nest' of Green Turtle eggs right next to me, and they have just started hatching. I'm currently a mother of 5 :-)
Cute is an understatement. They didn't know how to use their flippers yet. The D'Lagoon owner will look after them for a few weeks until their shells harden and they have a better chance of survival. There's a lotta predators out there. A lotta predators. And here's one lot of predator....
That's Eddie (the Monitor) Lizard. He's 6 foot, his hobbies are swimming, early morning walks on the beach and fresh water puddles.
Now. It has been brought to my attention that we're having far too good a time and look incredibly happy in all the photo's. Fair enough, you have a point Helen. So just for you I'm trying out a new look. It's called my 'Oh god not another coconut' look. Not as famous as the 'Blue Steel' look of Zoolander, but here goes....
hmmmmn. I think it needs some work.
Anyway, try as I might to be not too incredibly happy, it's just not meant to be. We're woken up the next morning with a knock on the door and cries of 'Turtle on the beach, turtle on the beach!'. Yes another mommy turtle had come to lay eggs. Right there in front of us. It was like living in a wildlife documentary. I thought I might faint with delight.
Gorgeous isn't she? She took hours to dig her hole, lay 100 ping pong balls and then fill the hole up again. It's a shame it was such an effort for her. Plus the guy took all the eggs before she covered them - he's going to dig a safer hole further up the beach cos the silly thing chose a spot which will be under water come the monsoon in a couple of weeks.
ooohhhh. Just realised I am in a public place waving my arms back and forth imitating a giant turtle digging in sand. I think I'd better hand over to Col for a little while. Whaddya say Col?
Hello. Sorry, but I've been watching the footie. That's football, the magnificent game, for all you foreign types. And Liverpool won, so that was nice. Not sure if that's why Jen's waving her arms about or not. Maybe it's another mozzie attack...
OK, so we went to Malaysia. Oooh the hardship (right Tom, nudge nudge). Getting woken up at seven in the morning - Seven! Can you believe it. Just to watch a turtle laying eggs. Like I've never seen a nature documetary before. And the service at the restaurant was terrible, it sometimes took minutes for those fresh fruit shakes to arrive. We only stayed a week.
Despite the fact we'd pretty much reached Thailand at this stage, we decided to head back south to the Cameron Highlands, which is the major tea growing area. Not surprisingly, the land is quite high here - indeed, up to 6666 feet at Punkat Brinchang, the highest accessable road in the country, or so our guide said - which means less heat, which means less sweaty and more freshy. Or so the theory goes.
It looks like this....
And it was roasting. Not the tea, silly, the weather. But the guides still insisted on taking us on a tour of the plantation, explaining to us all about how the tea leaves go from being on the bushes, to sitting forgotten at the back of your kitchen cupboard, because let's be honest, everyone prefers coffee, but you have to have a pack of emergency teabags at home in case your mum visits. Except my mum drinks coffee as well. But Jen's mum drinks tea - come on, she's a northerner - and Jen seems to like the stuff too. But she probably just drinks it to be different or northern or something. (You should have a cup of tea and a lie down Col)
Then they made us go for a walk in the forest (seriously Tom, they MADE us, no arguments, and this was no walk in the park, it was like a walk in the...errmmm...forest...). It was a mossy forest I believe. Which meant we were actually walking on a thick layer of moss rather than on the ground. It was all explained to us at the time - five types of forest (or was it seven?), three of them in the highlands area, lots of long names, sorry I can't do better than that but we'd hit information overload by this point - as were various ways of doing away with unwanted acquaintances using just the local plant-life. That seemed to get everyone's attention back.
How about another pitcher...
Did you notice the little pun there. Well that's as good as it's going to get...hmmm, I guess you've realised that after 9 months of this rubbish. A picture of a poised pitcher plant (five times now, quickly) ready for it's next feed. There were thousands of them. That was one of the better ones.
So, promised tales of hardship and woe. I'm afraid I'm struggling a bit here. There was the golf I suppose - lovely course, but the play was shocking. And high tea afterwards at the hotel over the road would have been a little more relaxing if the king (?) hadn't decided to turn up in his helicopter and land it in the middle of the back nine. Awfully distracting. We'd been wondering why the police had been hanging about outside the clubhouse as we waited in vain for a taxi. And then there was the Steam Boat - the local dish, you cook your own food at the table in a large heated soup bowl. What do we think of that Jen?...
Yeah, don't know about you, but I generally go out to eat because I can't actually be bothered to cook myself. It was a classy joint though, there was a No Spitting sign on the wall.
(I'm floundering here Jen, take over again)
Again an example of my 'Not another coconut' look. I can't take my eyes off the 'No Spitting sign'. I mean. It's in English. Are the British THAT badly behaved abroad?
So, a quick paragraph about traffic. The rules of the road are a little different. In England they drive on the left. In France they drive on the right. In Malaysia they drive in the middle. Humpback bridge, bend in the road, brow of a hill - are all good spots to overtake. Larger vehicles have right of way over smaller vehicles. And if the police set up a road block and want to raise money - they will keep you on the side of the road until they can think of something to fine you for (in our case it was having 3 people sat in the 3 front seats of the minibus, all wearing seatbelts. obviously). I must say however, Malaysian road crossing signs are fantastic. The little green man is actually an ANIMATED green man - running. He's brilliant. (check - yes, i'm doing an impression of the running man - must stop). Also, theres a countdown timer above the traffic lights so you can tell how long you've got before the lights change. Genius.
So that brings us to the end of our jaunt through Malaysia. It was supposed to be a few days but it turned into a fortnight. Lovely country, could have stayed longer, but onwards and upwards as they say. Need to hop on a plane to Thailand now, see you there.
xxx
Obviously the heat is not going to let up so let's have a quick wander around the town anyway. Careful now, there's no pavement, the traffic is 'enthusiastic' and those large uncovered drains look pretty deep.
So what can we see? A beat up old Church, a big red Church, guys on flowery bike taxis, a chinatown, a modern air con mall, portuguese towers, old chinese temples,
and massive fruits hanging in the garden.
They're Jackfruit apparently. We thought for a little while they may be the famous Durians, but they didn't smell so bad and were about the size of a guys head. Obviously a guy with a very very big head. Like on It's A Knock-Out.
Anyway, what is there not to see? I'll tell you what... the little buggers that bit me on the first morning - 29 times on my left calf and 19 on my right. Naturally I'm very tasty. And naturally I have a massive allergic reaction, itch like the billy-oh, and grow red welts thereby looking like a leper and putting paid to any skirt wearing for the next few days. I do have a photo of this taken 3 or 4 days after - but I'll spare you because I'm sure you want to eat sometime today.
Anyway, it's just a quick stop in Melaka. Time to get on a bus to Kuala Lumpur, the capital, where the traffic and people lurch at you from all directions and of course, it's sweltering.
Getting around Kuala Lumpur proves to be dead easy, the sky train and LRT trains are well labelled and have a/c which means its tempting to just stay on them all day. If you want to alternate between grotty alleys with cheap tat, and Designer Labels in posh Malls then KL is the city for you. It's got them both, and not much in the in-between price range. It's fascinating and shiny and bewildering and every now and again there's a foul smell which is either drains or durians. Or both.
The most shiny, most pointy and most tall of all places was the unmissable Petronas Towers with the glass walkway. Which we missed, by visiting them on a Monday, the only day of the week they don't do tours. Still they look good with the blazing sun behind them...
Right, next, hop on overnight bus to Kuala Besut (pronounced bee-soo) sort of top right of the country. It's a nice big comfy bus, not too many of the little cockroachy things (which love buses), free blankets and a/c. I manage to snatch a few hours sleep and mostly dream I'm hurtling along on a bus about to crash. Hmmn. Hop off in the early hours. Hang about a bit then hop on a small and BOUNCY boat (a leetle overcrowded perhaps, 24 people, 16 lifejackets, thanks for counting them Col) to the Perhentian Island of Kecil. There's nothing like a good bounce in the morning to wake you up I say! It's just getting light, and our private little bay of D'Lagoon looks gorgeous, and we are the only ones to get off there, so that's nice.
And it IS nice. So nice in fact that we decide to stay for a few days to laze about; snorkelling, swimming, sunbathing and living in a tiny 'bungalow' on stilts. The sea is shallow and full of coral and the water is so warm, its like swimming in a big bath. A big bath full of neon coloured tropical fish mind you. I FOUND nemo! And here's Col finding a leetle shark....
pic 05 - Just a sec Jen. Don't mind me, I'll just be censoring this piccy. How about one of a big red church instead. Much more suitable for family viewing than me in my swim shorts...
OK, carry on.
So, lying in the hammock, tummy full of fresh coconut, hearing the waves lapping 25 foot away, I wonder... Does life get any better than this?
Yes it does.
There's a 'nest' of Green Turtle eggs right next to me, and they have just started hatching. I'm currently a mother of 5 :-)
Cute is an understatement. They didn't know how to use their flippers yet. The D'Lagoon owner will look after them for a few weeks until their shells harden and they have a better chance of survival. There's a lotta predators out there. A lotta predators. And here's one lot of predator....
That's Eddie (the Monitor) Lizard. He's 6 foot, his hobbies are swimming, early morning walks on the beach and fresh water puddles.
Now. It has been brought to my attention that we're having far too good a time and look incredibly happy in all the photo's. Fair enough, you have a point Helen. So just for you I'm trying out a new look. It's called my 'Oh god not another coconut' look. Not as famous as the 'Blue Steel' look of Zoolander, but here goes....
hmmmmn. I think it needs some work.
Anyway, try as I might to be not too incredibly happy, it's just not meant to be. We're woken up the next morning with a knock on the door and cries of 'Turtle on the beach, turtle on the beach!'. Yes another mommy turtle had come to lay eggs. Right there in front of us. It was like living in a wildlife documentary. I thought I might faint with delight.
Gorgeous isn't she? She took hours to dig her hole, lay 100 ping pong balls and then fill the hole up again. It's a shame it was such an effort for her. Plus the guy took all the eggs before she covered them - he's going to dig a safer hole further up the beach cos the silly thing chose a spot which will be under water come the monsoon in a couple of weeks.
ooohhhh. Just realised I am in a public place waving my arms back and forth imitating a giant turtle digging in sand. I think I'd better hand over to Col for a little while. Whaddya say Col?
Hello. Sorry, but I've been watching the footie. That's football, the magnificent game, for all you foreign types. And Liverpool won, so that was nice. Not sure if that's why Jen's waving her arms about or not. Maybe it's another mozzie attack...
OK, so we went to Malaysia. Oooh the hardship (right Tom, nudge nudge). Getting woken up at seven in the morning - Seven! Can you believe it. Just to watch a turtle laying eggs. Like I've never seen a nature documetary before. And the service at the restaurant was terrible, it sometimes took minutes for those fresh fruit shakes to arrive. We only stayed a week.
Despite the fact we'd pretty much reached Thailand at this stage, we decided to head back south to the Cameron Highlands, which is the major tea growing area. Not surprisingly, the land is quite high here - indeed, up to 6666 feet at Punkat Brinchang, the highest accessable road in the country, or so our guide said - which means less heat, which means less sweaty and more freshy. Or so the theory goes.
It looks like this....
And it was roasting. Not the tea, silly, the weather. But the guides still insisted on taking us on a tour of the plantation, explaining to us all about how the tea leaves go from being on the bushes, to sitting forgotten at the back of your kitchen cupboard, because let's be honest, everyone prefers coffee, but you have to have a pack of emergency teabags at home in case your mum visits. Except my mum drinks coffee as well. But Jen's mum drinks tea - come on, she's a northerner - and Jen seems to like the stuff too. But she probably just drinks it to be different or northern or something. (You should have a cup of tea and a lie down Col)
Then they made us go for a walk in the forest (seriously Tom, they MADE us, no arguments, and this was no walk in the park, it was like a walk in the...errmmm...forest...). It was a mossy forest I believe. Which meant we were actually walking on a thick layer of moss rather than on the ground. It was all explained to us at the time - five types of forest (or was it seven?), three of them in the highlands area, lots of long names, sorry I can't do better than that but we'd hit information overload by this point - as were various ways of doing away with unwanted acquaintances using just the local plant-life. That seemed to get everyone's attention back.
How about another pitcher...
Did you notice the little pun there. Well that's as good as it's going to get...hmmm, I guess you've realised that after 9 months of this rubbish. A picture of a poised pitcher plant (five times now, quickly) ready for it's next feed. There were thousands of them. That was one of the better ones.
So, promised tales of hardship and woe. I'm afraid I'm struggling a bit here. There was the golf I suppose - lovely course, but the play was shocking. And high tea afterwards at the hotel over the road would have been a little more relaxing if the king (?) hadn't decided to turn up in his helicopter and land it in the middle of the back nine. Awfully distracting. We'd been wondering why the police had been hanging about outside the clubhouse as we waited in vain for a taxi. And then there was the Steam Boat - the local dish, you cook your own food at the table in a large heated soup bowl. What do we think of that Jen?...
Yeah, don't know about you, but I generally go out to eat because I can't actually be bothered to cook myself. It was a classy joint though, there was a No Spitting sign on the wall.
(I'm floundering here Jen, take over again)
Again an example of my 'Not another coconut' look. I can't take my eyes off the 'No Spitting sign'. I mean. It's in English. Are the British THAT badly behaved abroad?
So, a quick paragraph about traffic. The rules of the road are a little different. In England they drive on the left. In France they drive on the right. In Malaysia they drive in the middle. Humpback bridge, bend in the road, brow of a hill - are all good spots to overtake. Larger vehicles have right of way over smaller vehicles. And if the police set up a road block and want to raise money - they will keep you on the side of the road until they can think of something to fine you for (in our case it was having 3 people sat in the 3 front seats of the minibus, all wearing seatbelts. obviously). I must say however, Malaysian road crossing signs are fantastic. The little green man is actually an ANIMATED green man - running. He's brilliant. (check - yes, i'm doing an impression of the running man - must stop). Also, theres a countdown timer above the traffic lights so you can tell how long you've got before the lights change. Genius.
So that brings us to the end of our jaunt through Malaysia. It was supposed to be a few days but it turned into a fortnight. Lovely country, could have stayed longer, but onwards and upwards as they say. Need to hop on a plane to Thailand now, see you there.
xxx
posted by Jen & Col at
9:55 pm
1 Comments:
No, still not enough hardship for my liking. When I'm sitting here watching the rain and wondering whether it might continue for the next four days to extricate England from its 173 all out hole at the Oval, the least you can do is not eat more coconuts, have your own private David Attenborough turtle birth moment, show pictures of deserted beaches, play golf and have high tea at a hotel which is so posh that it has a helipad. Come on, play fair.
Excellent writing and photos as ever!
By
Tom, at 4:51 pm
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