A River Of Milo, A National Park

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It was early, it was cool, I had slept poorly and I had an insufficient amount of caffeine in my system when the shuttle van pulled into the parking lot. I put my bags in the back and climbed into the van. There were 5 people in the van plus me and the other guy who were just joining. One girl, a Malaysian girl named Evelyn, began asking us questions followed by talking in circles, joining questions, statements and facts. My oh my I thought only 6 more hours of listening to this girl, should be a grand ole day.

As Evelyn yielded her travel advice, questions and random outbursts, the others got to join in. In no time the van was filled with laughter, smiles and a promise of this transportation becoming a positive experience. The van climbed, declined and rocked it's way through the mountains making great time and weazy stomachs of us passengers. It was a good mix inside our van, the German couple Felix and Mel, a Belgian girl named Inge, Austrian Paul, Malaysian Evelyn, Canadian/Syrian Abdulah and me We stopped in front of a small building, not much else around, this was our stop. We had 3 hours before our boat was to depart.

By this time our little group was becoming friends and roles were being adopted. Evelyn not only loved to speak, she loved to plan for everyone also. This caused friction with the stereotypical organized Germans. Paul, Inge and I had the same idea of let's just see what happens. We all did explain to Evelyn that this was a vacation and we were unlikely to sweat the details. We used this speech many times over the day and half we were together, it seemed to keep her cool for short periods of time but ideas and plans were always on the horizon.. We were waiting for the boat ,we had food and drinks to enjoy, we were not looking to sort out accommodation.

While eating and chatting with the group I noticed that the only boats to be seen, were old looking, wooden, long, with little aluminium roofs on them. I was a little nervous about another boat trip (I did say no more boats, but have been on a few since that Phnom Penh boat). But once we were packed on board, sitting low and moving along my nervousness passed. It was actually fun motoring up the brown river (we named it the Milo River as it was the colour of the chocolate drink Milo). We chatted, shared food and stories. Evelyn slept most of the way, giving us a much needed break. The trip took around 2 ½ hours before we pulled up to the floating restaurants and shops that was the centre of this little town.

Finding a place for 7 proved to be easy but made difficult by the fact that 7 had to agree. So four of us left to return to the first place we visited, the others followed us back down the hill later. We had a group meal that had Evelyn carrying plates and playing waitress while the restaurant was busy. Evelyn had some strange behaviours but a big heart so we tried laughing about her scenes as much as possible. Her numerous explanations of what we should eat, what we should do. We kept reminding ourselves that she meant well and didn't mean to be so annoying. Word does travel and word was bringing bad news that this was an alcohol dry zone. After questioning some locals we got the low down about one hotel that had beer for sale. After a wander we did find the little gift shop with little cans of goodness in their coolers, the price near double what we usually pay. Most of us bought one can, the one can was more expensive then our dorm bed for the night. Paul happened to have a bottle of Jameson Whiskey in his bag that he was willing to share. We got cups, the guitar and sat ourselves on the little porch of the hostel. Seemed like all the locals played guitar, so the guitars were passed, requests were made. We drank, we laughed and we sang some songs poorly, with a kaleidoscope of accents, to the delight of everyone. During our drunken conversations of the evening we made a plan to rent hiking gear and spend the next night at a hut in the jungle.

The next day we did a group wake up, followed by group breakfast. Some friction began as everyone had a different plan for all of us. We ended up hiking to the canopy walk together then splitting our group to the people doing the all day trek and the people who were going back to the village. The canopy walk was a big surprise to me. As I took my first steps onto the suspended bridge, it began swaying under my feet, I looked down to see tree tops and my knees weakened. I forgot about the unpleasant feelings associated with heights. I did regain my composure and did a good job of completing the walk without any profanity outbursts or causing of any scenes. Austrian Paul and I were on the same level, we drank too much whiskey last night, we were both tired of sweating and were thinking of hot food and cool drinks. Evelyn, who was in a hiking attire of booty shorts, sandals and a t-shirt, went with the group for the afternoon. This girl cracked me up all day, here we are walking down a muddy jungle path and she is on her mobile phone, her sandals sliding through the muddy path wth the bottom of her two little bum cheeks hanging out of her shorts. It had been raining for days and we had tucked our pants into our socks as a preventive measure for the amount of leeches that were to be around. Fortunately nobody collected any leeches, even Evelyn, surprisingly.

Paul and I had some food and watched the dark clouds roll in. When it rains here it downpours. In no time the streets were becoming fast moving creeks. I started talking about catching the night train south and the ferry to Tioman Island the following day. My time is running short so I should keep moving on. Paul had a similar plan except he was headed north on the night train then to a different island. We got some info and realized that we both had long journeys ahead. It was explained to me that I was to walk to the little bus stop on the corner and wait for the local bus to drive me the two hours to the train station. I was then told that sometimes the bus doesn't come but there is a shuttle van service that should be around. We were at the bus stop at 6:30pm after a long goodbye from the locals at the hostel of handshakes and hugs. The van came first and we decided to take the sure thing van then wait for the unreliable ghost of a bus we had heard about. The man was reluctant to take us, he said it was expensive and it was compared to the local bus. He either didn't want to take us or didn't want to rip us off. We paid the man and jumped in. We arrived around an hour later, now what to do til 1am. We noticed a Pizza Hut on the way into the town and walked around town with our bags to enjoy some pizza and kill some time. We followed that up with shopping at a little shop with loads of used clothes and some great rock shirts. I picked up a few t shirts and an autumn coat for around $10 (I am leaving soon so now I can finally add a few things to my backpack). Then to the market, then to a cafe for coffees and beers while we waited for the time to pass. Now Paul is a cool guy, if I had time I would have likely joined him for a few adventures but that’s how travel goes. We went to get our tickets but one problem, it was school holidays and they had no seats left on my train. I could get on and pay 15 ringgit to stand plus a 10 ringgit penalty. I went back to talk to the ticket man once the queue had finished. He was much more helpful this time around and got me a seat on a train at 1am but I would have to switch stations at 4:30am and get on another train at 6:30 am (for 20 ringgit). I would arrive around 8:30 am then follow that up with a 2 hour bus trip followed by a 2 hour ferry trip to Tioman Island. We were followed around the train station by a little boy of about 8. He was fascinated by us and full of questions. He even ran onto the busy train to shake my hand one last time and say good bye. The first train was packed with people sleeping on the floor and I had the luxury of a large man who slept while his fatty rolls were protruding over and under the armrest and had rested themselves on me. The train chugged through the jungle, it was warm and with a new layer of fat resting on me I was overheating. I was excited for my break at 4:30 am, fresh air and the lose of my train seat buddy. I slept on some chairs and surprisingly the 6:28am train arrived on time. This train was less busy but the air conditioning was much busier. The first train was too hot, the second too cold, maybe if there was a third one it would have been just right. It was 9am when I got up to exit the train waking the kid who had fallen asleep on my shoulder. A short cab ride and I was waiting for the 9:45 am to the town of Mersing. 2 hours on the bus that travels through narrow jungle roads with monkeys waiting where the shoulder of the road meets the jungle.

It was near noon when I arrived in Mersing in the pouring rain, some of the streets in town had been lightly flooded as it had rained through the night. I had a decision to make. Go to an island in the pouring rain for only 36 hours or so before I had to start the trip back to Kuala Lumpur due to my upcoming flight. I have said no more boats on this trip and the thought of 2 ½ hours on a boat in the ocean twice had me edgy, along with the edginess due to my lack of sleep and nutrition. I decided to stay in this little town for the day and take a bus to KL in the morning, that would give me plenty of time to gather some warmer clothing and get ready for my flight to England.

So now I sit in Kuala Lumpur complaining about the humidity. It's laundry day so I am wearing long pants and avoiding direct sunlight. All is left to do is somehow make the new editions fit into the the little pack and take the bus to the airport. Another adventure ends and very soon another begins. I’m amidst the period of reflectively living your last moments in a place you may never seen again. Walking the streets trying to enjoy the moments but the colours seem grey as my mind switches between the remnants of adventures completed and the anxiousness for the next leg of my trip to begin. Malaysia is a special place, I'm glad Vietnam was a flop and I gave this country a couple weeks. I gotta go, I got a few last meals to enjoy.

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Photos

Tooth Brush Party In The Shower
We had no sink, just a little tap in the shower.