Multi-cultural Malaysia
Trip Start
Jan 10, 2008
1
13
22
Trip End
Jan 20, 2009
Melaka,
Malaysia
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Finally we have said good-bye to Bangkok & Thailand & I have to admit I've left with a thawing within me. Helped along greatly by a Sunday afternoon spent horse racing Bangkok-style, leaving us 180 Baht up. Thank you 'Mongkol Lert', chosen specially because it was wearing "lucky" number 4 & red, white & blue silks - who ever said there was no science to horse racing! My list of thanks also goes to the very helpful man at the post office who custom made a box to fit perfectly our bamboo & elephant dung photo album, to the staff at the snake park where an impressive 8 foot long rearing King Cobra, one of the worlds most venomous & deadliest snakes, was placed only feet away from us, as only the Thais would dare. Lastly, because of a 5 hour cycle ride around the twisting, unrideably narrow & bustling street markets of Bangkok. This turned out to be one of our most memorable cycle rides to date, unfortunately at the expense of the Dutch lady in our party. Who along the widest, straightest & most relaxed part of our ride, veered sharply to the right. Watching stunned & amazed as she cycled off the path, effortlessly into thin air, exactly like a Mary Poppins sketch but only this time gravity took hold & down she plummeted into a small canal. Emerging, thankfully uninjured, but soaked & covered head to foot in mud & water hyacinth. Local ladies rushed around caring & compassionate, gathering her up whilst useless bank-side flip-flop fishing 'farangs' were gently pushed aside & friendly locals delved in & took control of operation bike, flip-flop & bag recovery, successfully.
Snorkeling the Perenthian Islands!
10 minutes passed & our Dutch lady was returned looking dazed but sparklingly clean. And now we are in Malaysia heading overland towards Singapore. Swapping Wats, Buddha & free will for Mosques, Allah & head scarves. But what a nice surprise Malaysia is.
We've enjoyed
- Snorkelling coral reefs, witnessing the 'biggest' green turtle glide up confidently feet from us in his bid for a gulp of air & then back down again whilst the one below munched on sea grass
- Soaking up the rays & relaxed atmosphere of the picture postcard Perhentian Islands, how we imagined Thailand may have been 10 years ago without the 'Blackpool' element
- Watched fire flies flash like strings of Christmas tree lights in complete darkness along the Selangor river
- Trekking in Taman Negara tropical rainforest. 130 million years old, having avoided the ice age & all geological disasters. But the pressures of man & especially palm oil (Malaysia's biggest export) is easily evident & saddening. What is NOT so great about rainforest's is the LEECHES! OMG. I managed to collect 4 whist Michael escaped with 1. I have to admit, the 1 that caused me to reach out & squeeze a generous hand tightly, thanks again Jess, was the one that stealthily crawled all the way up my trousers & kindly attached itself an inch below my belly button! And the cure for a bleeding leach wound-cigarette ash, kindly flicked on & held in place by the locals.
Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur!
Now leach savvy-very tight fitting pair of long socks, trousers tucked into & a salt shaker at the ready, we headed for an over night hide in the dense jungle trekking past 2 tone ferns, ants, ants & giant ants (as big as your thumb) & towering ancient trees that flared into the ground. 3am provided us with a lone Tapir.Secretly glad to leave behind the exhausting humidity, millions of outsized creepy crawlies & mud that gripped our walking shoes like it didn't want to give them back, we headed for some easy big city living - Kuala Lumpur. Never has hot water felt so joyous. We've filled our time dinning & successfully blowing our daily budget in true style at 276m above the city at night, watching KL live & breath below us, been VERY lucky in getting 2 of the 1400 tickets for the Petronas towers skywalk - 170m above KL, dinned street side with clay pot chicken & great company, & we've discovered that Michael is a natural with the blow pipe!
And now we are in Melaka, relaxing & readying ourselves for China whilst feasting on the famous 'chicken rice balls'. Heading for Singapore tomorrow.
Can't wait to see you all,
Lots of Love
Suzy & Michael
xxxxx
