Malaysian moments
Trip Start
Dec 28, 2005
1
25
55
Trip End
Sep 01, 2006
Malaysia,
Malaysia
Thursday, March 30, 2006
We didn't spend long in KL as we had so much to fit in and no money to shop with! So the next day we made our way to Pulau Penang. Checked in to our hostel, which had such sweet staff, then went out for a very hot meal in Little India! Ended up laughing/crying over the inevitable parting of our tremendous twosome! Went out for some consolation drinks afterwards in a bar playing loadsa 90's tunes ("Floating like a butterfly...") and Bob Marley! Needless to say we enjoyed a good sing-a-long!
Ventured to the top of Penang Hill the next day and stayed there until sunset for some great city views. Decided it was a good idea to get Henna tattoos done and quickly changed our minds when we saw the end result - went straight to the toilet to wash them off
01 Petronas Twin Towers
! Unfortuantely bumped into the artist on our way out of the toilets - felt so bad! Visited the mosque, temple and restaurant at the top also - all very nice! That evening we had a little wander around Georgetown and tried out Rotis - savoury and sweet. They're just like pancakes -delicious!Headed for the Cameron Higlands the next day - best coach drive ever! Comfortable seats with loadsa space and the best scenery I've seen so far. Cameron Highlands probably rates the highest for me on the beauty stakes - it's just so dramatic and stunning, just unbelievable - really wanted to stay much longer there. On our first evening we went for a Chinese and a cocktail with Sean and Kyla, who we met on the coach.
The next morning we went for a Walk to the waterfall and the lookout tower. Then in the afternoon we signed up for a tour with Kumar. We went to visit one of the village tribes (Orang Asli Village ), which Kumar has been helping over the years - only our hostel goes on this trip. As we wobbled over this rickety bridge all these children with huge smiles came running over to say "hello"; they were so adorable. We gave the Chief some gifts that we picked up on the way (Caz and I gave oil and sugar!) and then had a look around at their village - all these houses built on stilts with chickens running around and children everywhere. Then the Chief invited us into his house and Kumar and him showed us their games, musical instruments and hunting devices. They also gave us herbal tea and this potato type snack. After looking at these, we went outside (where it was pouring rain!) and had a go at shooting arrows from this blow gun gadget - you basically have to seal your mouth around one end and blow (believe me, you wouldn't want to inhale too hard!) We were aiming at a 'dartboard' (a flip-flop nailed to a piece of cardboard on the side of the house) and you might not believe me, but I actually got it pretty much dead on centre every time - impressive, hey
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! We were also shown the plants that they use as medicine and even tasted a few of the leaves - I remember one that made our tongues go numb - think it was for tooth ache! After leaving the village we went for a walk through the jungle stopping to look at big momma spiders (which Kumar insisted on picking up because her "loves" spiders?!) From there we drove through these incredibly beautiful tea plantations stopping at great lookout points and for fascinating facts from Kumar. It really was a brilliant day!That evening we had a big meal at the hostel,drunk some beer (I still hate the stuff but it was the only thing to drink!) and played cards - never played cards with such a big group - there was about 10 of us, good fun though.
The next day we headed for the Perhentian Islands (Kecil beach in particular), which are literally the other side of the country! Got to the harbour and waited for ages before boarding a cool little boat. Arrived at Kecil and went trekking along the beach to our hostel with our huge bags on our backs, feeling very sorry for ourselves! Finally got there to discover our door didn't really shut and was held to by a wimpy-looking hinge and lock and that we had two ant nests in our 'bathroom'! After my previous ant experiences I was somewhat wary - luckily the manager came and had a good spraying session. (Caz did point out that no one had probably stayed in the room considering there were ants in the bathroom - wet conditions aren't really ant breeding grounds, but oh well!). We went out for a meal and met many friendly locals and travellers - our waiter even came and sat down with us after we finished our meal for a little chat and orientation tips! We then went to the only 'bar' for some drinks and a little dance - and again the guy collecting the glasses came and had an innocent little chat with us at our table
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. It was so friendly, we quickly realised everyone pretty much knew everyone. Everyone smiled and tried to help where possible and it was so relaxed, people were so laid back they were practically lying down! It was great! Spent the next day being very lazy - eating, sunbathing, swimming, eating, sunbathing, swimming! We did, however,impressed ourselves by getting up for sunrise. Our room was practically on the beach, so we wandered out in our pyjamas, watched it rise then went back to bed for another few hours of sleep! Went out again that evening and got chatting to various locals and travellers, drunk monkey juice (I think it's a type of rum?)on cushions on the beach, danced and went to bed. Blissful day! Oh, apart from a visit from two cockroaches - bought cockroach control spray and gassed out our room with it before going out - still smelt when we got back at 5 in the morning! At least we can assume the cockroaches were dead!The next day we had an early boat and a flight to KL. Had to hang around in Kota Bharu for awhile - not much to do there - just wandered around some markets which mostly sold strange and somewhat smelly food. Arrived in KL and attempted to carry on straight to Singapore, but all the trains were full, so we did a spot of shopping at the train station markets and then found a hostel for the night.
Left to return to Singapore the next morning...
