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Published: November 21st 2006
Back to the beach this week, our first and only beach visit in Malaysia, on the island of Pangkor, off the country's Western coastline. We arrived as everyone else was leaving, a spot of genius really, as the population of KL descends like a plague of karaoke-singing locusts every weekend - so we arrived Sunday night! After a bit of bargaining we managed to get a beach bungalow with air-con and cable TV for a knock-down rate and proceeded to do... not a lot really!
The beach was probably the best one we've seen so far, quieter and cleaner than the ones in Thailand and the sea was crystal clear and unbelievably warm. Despite a few showers on the first few days (we spent our time watching HBO in the room!) we spent our time swimming and lounging in the sun. As you can see, we've unintentionally recreated some James Bond style scenes in our photography, we must emphasis this was NOT intentional! The only decent restuarant on the island was a place called AJ's which served up cheap local dishes and we'd recommend this place to any travellers planning to stay on Pangkor, but don't expect fast service -
James Bond
Even before seeing Casino Royale, James had it spot on!it took an hour and a half for our dishes to arrive after ordering, no joking! Not really a problem when you have nowhere to be though.
The only form of transport on the island is provided by a fleet of candy-pink mini-vans, which ferry visitors to and from the port in a pretty camp fashion. The locals seem to be oblivious to the image they give off to westerners and the drivers try to out do each other by 'camping up' their vans in what, to them, is a very manly business.
After nearly a week doing nothing on a beach we got itchy feet and made a move in the direction of the historic town of Melaka. This is a town with a lot of history, the majority of it the doing of various foreign intruders to the area, first the Portugese, then the Dutch and finally the British. All these influences have created a very cool mix of architecture and culture. Where else would you find an old Portugues Catholic Church across from a Dutch/Anglican one, rubbing shoulders with Chinese shops?
It really was a very pretty place, and for such a small place
Dr No
Joanna recreating the infamous scene... judge for yourself! it seems to have plethora of museums - including the imaginatively titled 'Museum of Enduring Beauty' - which we didn't dare step inside, but appeared to be some kind of social history museum. The ones we did venture into were very good, including the Maritime Museum and one about Melaka's history, which we've forgotten the name of, but was situated in the old governers house. Basically the Portugese, the Dutch and then the British were pretty shitty to Melaka - that's the theme in a nutshell to save you the admission price. We do feel a pang of guilt everytime we read about British colonial badness - at least the other invaders left nice recipies and architecture, fish and chips doesn't seem to have a legacy here!
The saddest part of our visit to Melaka was (and this is bringing tears to our eyes as we write this) the dying of various items of clothing BRIGHT YELLOW thanks to a particularlly high temperature wash on the part of our hostel and thanks to our cheap Thai sarong. The pain. Joanna's new pants from Topshop in KL now have suspicious yellow stains. James' only light coloured t-shirt went so toxic
Starfish Spotted
Ever the gymnast - not quite as elegant as the previous picture! we had to bin it for the sake of passers-by. Ooops! Ah well, we're currently shopping for some nice replacements and there are lots of cool clothes here for not much money, so we are eternally tempted and can actually afford to buy some now!
We're back in KL for a few days and then we will be catching the train to Singapore for Joanna's birthday. Then we'll be flying to Perth at the end of the month, so there will probably be one more blog entry before we exit South East Asia - how strange and what a scary thought! Speak to you soon.
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Alex M
non-member comment
Hello!
Hi guys, so glad (and so jealous!) you're having such a fab time!! Everything is grand in not so sunny Newcastle. Was at Vindolanda today and nearly froze to death!!!! Me and Marty have bought a Jack Russell puppy and he is a little terror!!! Will keep in touch and Jo - FYI - not a peep from that darn man at Pearey House!!!!! Take care! Alex x