Travel around Malaysia – part III

The landscape kept its charm that is dating way back to the colonial age. The drive was long, but the bus was comfortable and the highway allowed us to reach the foot of the mountain quite soon, but the road uphill up a narrow and windy steep road, took a while. Surrounded by unspoiled nature, we slowly ascended towards the top, passing local inhabitants that still live in accordance to ancient rituals, with primary means of finance being selling fruit at the side of the road. After a few kilometers the hills started opening up, covered up with tea shrubs and an unforgettable view spreads across the green tea plantations. Just a few more turns and we’re in the town of Tanah Rata. A hostel with a small and simple room (with a bathroom) is located just a few steps away from the bus station. We quickly settle down and went to the nearby Chinese restaurant, and then for a three hour hike around these beautiful landscape. The weather was rather moody and it looked like rain, which is quite usual for this place, hence it’s recommended to have a mackintosh with you, to protect you from the elements. With five other tourists and a guide we started exploring in a small van. We started with a flower garden and walked among the numerous flowers and cacti. Next was the butterfly farm, where they also keep many other animals, especially reptiles (such as snakes and lizards), but they also had turtles, grasshoppers, and many more. The snakes, wrapped around branches, exposing themselves to the artificial lights, and rested undisturbed, while their homes were being cleaned (for we just arrived during cleaning time). Every now and again one of them escapes, but they quickly recapture it with a long stick. They are very fast and swing their head swiftly making it an unpleasant experience for a visitor that isn’t a snake lover. Just as we visited, one of the snakes has escaped and zagged between our legs, which was followed by our mortal fear, panic and loads of laughter from the caretakers.

The tea factory was next on the agenda and a whining road between huge tea plantations gave us a feeling of being in a fairytale, where beauty knows no bounds. These images will stand firm the test of time and will not allow faulty memory to erase them. Due to bad weather and lack of time, we didn’t walk among the tea shrubs, but this only gave us an excuse to return to this magnificent land. It’s always to your advantage, if you have somebody to show you around the sideways, not known to tourists, unfortunately we couldn’t enjoy this luxury this time, still there were many great photo opportunities.

After a quiet night we woke up early in the morning, to go to a four hour drive away island of Penang, the most important tourist center with many temples, mosques and a rich history. The small country of Penang is an island and the smallest part of the Malaysian peninsula. Both parts are connected with a 13.5km long Penang Bridge, which is among the longest in Asia. Penang’s capital Georgetown is a meeting place of traditional and modern and a true Mecca for shoppers who fancy traditional things. Since the bus station is on the other part of the island, we had to take a taxi back to our hostel Naza, right on the coast in the town of Tanjung Bungah. I’d like to recommend it, for its comfortable beds really surprised us. A sea view dining room next to the swimming pool and a comfortable lounge are great for relaxation and surfing the web. And all for just 20€ per night. The hostel is a member of the international chain of hostels and is a great addition to the association. Since we had half a day left, we looked around Georgetown by local city bus. Then we hired an elderly man, who took us around the city with a rickshaw. He was very happy when he saw, we wanted to hire him, because the modern transport has endangered this traditional means of transport and only tourists still use rickshaws. Every driver wants to attract as many tourists in their own way. It was interesting to listen to him as he in his special kind of English explained the sights of the town, although its quite unpleasant to see a tiny body of a man peddling away, pushing us in his interesting version of a bicycle. A short storm caught us and afraid we might run away, the driver quickly covered us by a small plastic roof. We stopped at the tourist information office to arrange the next day. Our rickshaw waited for us and then took us to the fishing village where we all walked around the wooden houses. The entire village was made from wood and placed on pillars above sea water. Then we saw an Indian temple, full of colors and small statuettes. Before entering the room they gave us the third eye on the forehead. After this we went through Chinatown with numerous shops and reached the large market place, with over 300 merchants offering their specialties. Again we got confirmation that in Malaysia food was raised to an art form. After the meal we had a desert of fruit in all possible colors, after which we returned to the hostel, for a well deserved rest. 

Next day a small grey gentleman from the company awaited us in front of the hostel. With an old and unlike most other cars, without air conditioning, we went exploring the island. We soon find out this was a very pleasant gentlemen, who enjoys his work and has a very cheerful way of showing the life of the island to the tourists. We decided take a longer route around the island, to see more interesting locations, among other also the beach of Batu Ferringhi. I have to admit the beaches of Malaysia can not compare to Croatian beaches, but they have their advantages well worth a visit, but the famous beaches, with bodies lined up in the sand, did not convince us. A short stop among the fishers in the company of our guide, turned out to be a much more interesting experience. As the tide was coming in we went to the docks to see the numerous small vessels that the tide will take out to the open sea. We saw a lazy iguana, bathing in the sun and decided to try and find some more, sneaking around the coastline. Unfortunately there weren’t any, but we met a fisherman preparing bait for crabs. In a circular trap he was placing poultry heads and threw it all in the water to gain a few extra coins, or to have an additional meal for the hungry children. Most of the fishermen were cooling under a big fan in a local cafe, watching TV together and waiting for the tide, with some resting in hammocks. Onward and inward we reached the national parka Penang and slowly ascended a whining road. Next stop was the Tropical Fruit Farm, where we saw the plantations of Asian fruits. They are raising all sorts of fruit typical for Asia in the park and accompanied by an experiences farmer we walked among the trees learning many new things. The ticket also meant we got to taste as many sweet fruit as we could at the cold fruit buffet. Next for some freshly squeezed juice and forth to the plantations of durian a foul smelling but excellent tasting fruit. The smell of this fruit is so annoying it is prohibited in any closed spaces and there is a sign in front of all hotels or shopping centers stating you may not enter with this fruit. We drove and watched the trees and strings hanging down from branches which were there to catch the fruit. Once it’s ripe it falls off the tree and the shell breaks upon hitting the ground, so they tie them to the strings, which catch them in mid air, preventing the damage making it possible to sell the fruit. We stopped at the street market, where we got a quick lecture of local medicine and saw a fruit from which several ointments are made. We then went on to the giant temple of Kek Lok Si, the most renounced Buddhist temple in Malaysia that got the name after the Thai king Rama VII, who placed the base stone for it. The Pagoda is also known as the Pagoda of 10000 Buddhas and that’s where I bought three small statues that proudly sit on my TV station protecting me from evil and misfortune.

With the sun high in the sky and people hiding from the heat in their homes, it was very difficult to find a place to eat; still we manage to find a small, but homely, place with broken tables and a giant kitchen among several residential buildings, where we satisfied our hunger. Although a bulky dark man with a woolen cap, sitting and watching something on an old TV receiver, didn’t seem too convincing, as he came to our table to take our order, we were soon happy to realize, he prepared a delicious meal for us with all the professional curtsey, although we had the feeling like we were in his own home and not in a restaurant.

After a few hours of rest we went for a walk along the beach near our hostel and met a group of boys playing volleyball in the sand and a few people who were dipping their feet in the warm sea. There were also some crabs, hiding away in the cracks and a few romantic couples, enjoying the sunset. We gathered a few shells that we cleaned and brought home with us. As we were shell-hunting the night darkness fell quite rapidly, so we returned to the hotel, and sneaked past the reception with our muddy feet, not to let everybody know it was us, who made this mess.

The next day was reserved for a visit at the national park of Penang, the heart of which you can visit on your own, not needing a guide. You only need to register at the entrance and specify where you plan to go, so they can send out a search party if you do not return on time. There are two paths and we took the longer one, leading through a dense jungle, to some beautiful sand beaches, where (if you’re in luck) you can see the turtles. The path started off along the coast, but turned sharply and steeply up hill, where we only met three other people, so we were more or less alone. The humidity started showing on our clothes and the thirst was enormous as we were making our way past and over numerous creeks through a dense forest, reaching our destination after an hour of going up and down hill. The long beach was a welcome and stunting site, where we took off our footwear and walker barefoot along the sand, with gentle waves washing our footsteps off the sand behind us. We enjoyed the sounds of the sea as we were getting closer to a dock, where a young boy was tranquilly resting on a porch. As we asked him about the turtles, he smilingly opened a huge black crate, where countless day old turtles swam restlessly one over the other and gently bumped into the wooden sides of their enclosure. He told us we’re in luck, for tomorrow he’ll release them back to the sea and this crate was their way of helping the cute small critters to survive their first days, while they were the most vulnerable. It is a memory we’re very proud of having. It was slowly time to make our way back, because a dark cloud started rolling towards us, indicating a heavy rain that is about to pour down on us. While making our way back through the forest, the thick raindrops were hitting the leaves above us, but luckily the treetops were so dense none of the drops reached us. Another thing that happened on our way back, was less pleasant. A small snake crossed our path and gave us quite a fright, but fortunately we scared her about as much as she did us, so she ran and hid and we started laughing after a few quiet minutes that followed our immediate reaction to the encounter (which you can imagine for yourself). Next we saw a small iguana, climbing a tree, and watched it for as long as we could. The four hour hike made us tired and hungry, so we quickly got aboard a bus to a delicious lunch and have spent the rest of the day in our room, listening to the sounds of the rain.

In the wee hours of the next morning, before the first rays of light shone down upon us, we took a taxi to the airport and had to pay a double fee to the driver (because of the early drive), which surprised us, but left us with no choice but to pay. Flying back to KL we planned to continue to the historic town of Melaka, a simple fishermen settlement that used to be an important harbor for international trade, back in the colonial days. The importance of this port is indicated by Portuguese conquest in the 16th century and a later Dutch invasion in 1641. It was Napoleon who gave it up to the English, who remained there until Malaysia became independent. Due to this European influence the town resembles an European town much more then an Asian one.

Unfortunately we missed a bus for Melaka and would have to wait three hours for the next one, so we decided to skip this town and instead “invaded” Kuala Lumpur, where we had two more days to spend before our return flight back to Europe. We decided to visit the water park in the Kuala Lumpur City Center, where you get to enjoy the world of sea animals in this new city full of concrete and Europeans. In this water park sharks will swim above you and scats will surprise you from left and right, while you watch the turtles with their hard shells slowly relaxing in the warm water. And we also found out something about our own country :) Did you know the oldest fossil of a sea horse was found in Slovenia?

Our journey was slowly coming to an end, so we spent the time shopping and eating Chinese, before Bessie drove us to the airport. Full of lasting impressions of this beautiful land we took our farewells from Bessie, with some sadness in our voices and hearts, and went back to cold Slovenia, where the snow had already whitened the hills.