Laying low in Malaysia

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KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia's Capital City) - Sat 12/05 to Mon 14/05

After going through all the border paperwork from Singapore to Malaysia which included a severe warning on our entry cards in big bold letters that 'DRUG TRAFFICKING CARRIES THE DEATH PENALTY', we were back on our bus. We arrived in Kuala Lumpur about 3pm on Saturday, we didn't have any hotel booked but since Chinatown was pretty good in Singapore we decided to try it out again in Kuala Lumpar. We walked to Chinatown with our big rucksacks on our backs and found a pretty good hotel at a reasonable price. When we walked through Chinatown there were a few stalls at the side of the street selling fake T-shirts, watches etc. Once we checked in and cleaned up we decided to go for something to eat - when we came out onto the street it was unrecognisable, a very changed place - it was thronged with stalls everywhere selling everything and anything - you could hardly walk through it, it seems Chinatown comes to life at night! So we had something to eat, then had a wander around the stalls and then called it a night.

Kuala Lumpur is a really nice city, parts of it seem quite wealthy and then other parts are totally run down but it's so vibrant and full of life and we liked it! We heard that if you get to the Petronas twin towers before 9am you can get free tickets to visit the 41st floor where you can walk across the bridge joining the two towers. The Petronas twin towers were the tallest building in the world until 2003 when the Taipei 101 (Financial centre) was built, they are 88 stories high & one of the towers houses Petronas - Malaysia's state owned petroleum corporation. So Sunday morning was an early one for us - well it should have been earlier but we couldn't drag ourselves out of bed! However, we managed to get to the towers by 9.30am - lucky enough we still managed to get free tickets for a 4.15pm visit. So with our tickets in hand we headed off to sightsee for the day!.

We visited the Colonial district, Merdeka Square, the natural history museum, the business district and pretty much walked the feet off ourselves before heading back to the Petronas towers for our 4.15pm slot. The visit was short and sweet, we got to see a 5 minute 3D video all about Petronas and then you get to walk on the bridge on the 41st floor for 10 minutes and that's your lot.

That evening we decided to try some Indian food, we walked the feet off ourselves again trying to find a restaurant recommended in the lonely planet, we found it but to be honest it wasn't up to much and after looking forward to a bit of Indian it was a disappointment.

Monday, our last day in Kuala Lumpar before our night bus we walked the stalls in Chinatown looking at the wares and made a few purchases.

KECIL, PERENTHIAN ISLANDS (South China Sea) Tue 15/05 to Fri 18/05

That night we got a bus from Kuala Lumpur all the way up through Malaysia arriving in the very north in Kota Bharu at about 5.30am on Tuesday morning. We were heading for the Perhentian islands for some well deserved R&R. We needed to get to Kuala Besut to get a ferry over to the islands. After being plagued by tons of taxi drivers offering to take us to the ferry we decided to have a coffee and a think before making any decisions.

After tough negotiations in the coffee shop with the guy next to us we managed to get the taxi fare down from 40 to 28 Ringitts (about €5.50) for a 50 KM trip. So we set off to try and make the 7am ferry, but our friend in the coffee shop wasn't the taxi driver at all he was contracting the service out to his friend. We got into the taxi and headed south, out 1st junction was a roundabout, he had a look to the right and kept going, my heart was in my mouth - how on earth did he miss the huge bus that was coming for us, he slammed on the brakes and just about swerved the car out of the way, we were so lucky !! We stopped for some diesel along the way, he put a whole 5 Ringits (€1) in and we set off again. He had to be the worst driver I have ever come across - he liked to keep his options open and drive in the middle of the road. I don't believe that he could physically see motorcyclists, overtaking them with only a cm to spare. The final straw came when we were driving on the wrong side of the road and a car with no lights was heading straight for us, I couldn't help it, I was sure he had problems with his sight so I let out a little yelp to warn him and thankfully we made it over to our own side of the road within an inch of our life!!!

Anyway, our poor taxi driver (or us, I'm not sure) was having a really bad day, the car started to chug, oh no we were out of diesel, it was 6.45am not a chance we'd make the ferry. We happened to pull up outside what looked a bit like a scrap yard and our driver went looking for help but at 6.45am, there wasn't a sinner around, he seemed very anxious and I thought it must be for his car rather than us. After a lot of looking around and smelling of tanks in different cars/vans our driver stopped beside a van with an empty oil canister and a dirty tube in hand (which he obviously found in the garden). He proceeded to syphon diesel from one of the vans sitting in the driveway - it was disgusting, he sucked up the diesel and by the looks of it got a fair dose of it in his mouth. Anyway, with a healthy drop in the cannister he filled up the car and with a couple of turns of the engine and a few tweaks under the bonnet we were off again. It was about 3 minutes to 7 and not a chance we were going to make it for the ferry or so we thought. He took off at 90, Maurice kept reassuring him 'no rush' but it didn't matter, he put the foot down and we arrived around the corner into the ferry terminal on 2 wheels at about 2 minutes past 7 with the taxi driver blarring the horn which I believe in Malay means 'hold that ferry'. So we made it onto the ferry!! When I look back now I reckon our taxi driver was so anxious to get the car started for fear that we wouldn't pay him his 28 Ringitts, anyway after all our bargaining down we ended up giving him 35 Ringitts cause we felt so sorry for him.

We had decided to visit Kecil - the smaller of the two Perhentian islands, we really didn't know where exactly on the island we wanted to go so we decided to get dropped off at the biggest resort - Long beach. Kecil island is a small island with many beaches and in the centre it is covered in Jungle. There are no roads, the only means of transport is walking or water taxi. There are some hotels/chalets and restaurants but no shops - it's largely undiscovered and is a pure paradise. When we arrived on Long beach we had some breakfast and on talking to some people at breakfast we realised that Coral Bay on the other side of the island was a little more relaxing than Long beach so we decided to stay there. Maurice left me at our breakfast restaurant and walked the 10 minute walk through the jungle to Coral Bay to find some accomodation for us. All accomodation was surprisingly full but he managed to get a nice spot for us. We put our bags on our back and I attempted to walk through the jungle but having read the lonely planet in Maurice's absence and the warning to 'watch the monitor lizards' that can grow to 3 meters I just couldn't do it. My head wanted to but my feet wouldn't move so we settled for a water taxi to take us around instead.

Our accomodation was lovely (a posh spot pricewise by Malaysian standards) we were up very high in the jungle with a beautiful sea view from our balcony. Once settled in we headed to the beach for some relaxation, it was an overcast day but nice for relaxing. Having been so hectic on our travels up to now and never having a minute to spare, I found myself wondering what we were going to do on this island for 3 days!! Nonetheless I battled through and read my book and relaxed on the beach for the day.

That evening we got cleaned up and showered just in time to go down to the beach and have a beer and watch the sun set. We met some people that had been on our boat travelling to the island and we got talking to them, they were 3 French girls - Natalie, Claire and Marie and one Austrian guy - Elias, they became our dinner friends for the next 3 nights.

There were about 6 restaurants along Coral Bay, a lot of them serving a BBQ with a variety of fish on offer such as, Blue Marlin, Sting Ray, Spanish Mackerel, Shark, Barracuda etc. The first night the 6 of us decided to go for the BBQ, Maurice had Spanish Mackerel and I had Blue Marlin. As Malaysia is a mainly Muslim country, alcohol is hard to come by and expensive when you do, however, we did find one spot that was serving 330ml cans of Chang beer for 8 Ringitts apiece. As there were 6 of us we decided to use our buying power and start some negotiations. It was tough going at first, it seems that's not their culture but we did manage some larger pieces of fish for the BBQ and beer at 6 Ringitts apiece, not bad eh!! So we had a lovely evening with a great dinner and some beers.

Next day we unfortunately had to move from our posh spot to more reasonably priced accomodation (still a nice spot though, approximately 20 seconds walk onto the beach). After we were settled into our new place we decided to take a kayak out to see some more of the island. There were prices for full day and half day rental, but since their idea of a half day was from 11am - 6pm, sure why would we bother with a full day! So we got the kayak and headed off, it wasn't long before we found a secluded beach with not another soul in sight, we decided to pull in to read for a bit - pure bliss - we parked up the kayak and just relaxed.

After about an hour we decided to get going, we paddled on but something wasn't right, every time we paddled, the boat rocked something awful, I thought I was going in, it also seemed very low down at the back and was letting in a lot of water. It was a struggle paddling to the next available beach but we got there, once we got her to shore we had a look underneath - we had a hole and were letting in water. While emptying her (which took about 30 minutes) we relaxed some more on the beach. Before we headed off we went up to a restaurant for a cool drink. We were on another resort on the island, and we got talking to the lady running it, she told us it was really quiet and there wasn't another tourist in the resort. Maybe that's why the locals were amused by us and one guy climbed up the coconut tree like a monkey to knock down some coconuts for us. They cut a hole in the coconuts, stuck a straw in the top and handed us one each!! This was definitely a first for me, it was more watery than milky and only had the slightest taste of coconut from it - nice though!! Then we also got to taste the coconut meat - very different to what I imagined - more jelly than bounty like - but I think it was young coconut which is very different from 'old' coconut.

Anyway, we figured with a leaking Kayak it was best to head for home so we set off, it was fine to begin with but before long, it was starting to weigh down again so we had to stop to empty her!! Lucky enough, after pretty tough paddling, we made it back to base about 5pm - it was a pity the boat was leaking but to be honest it didn't take away from a great day. We thought we might take a kayak the next day again (a non-leaky one) to explore the other side of the island.

That evening while Maurice was getting cleaned up, I was sitting on the balcony and heard some rustling in the bushes, I looked over and there was a monitor lizard about the length of me just sauntering around doing that awful thing they do with their tongues!! Well I nearly jumped out of my skin and when I shouted to Maurice he didn't give me a second thought and just ran for the camera. He was so big and fat and long. Anyway it seems that wasn't the only wildlife on the island, Maurice told me once we were well and truely on dry land that on the first day he was walking down the steps from our chalet, there was a snake in front of him and he had to do a lot of banging with his feet to ensure it was gone before my arrival. I'm so glad he chose not to tell me that one at the time or we would have been on the next boat off the island.

That evening just by chance we met up with our friends again although Coral Bay is such a small place it's hard not to bump into people again and again. We agreed to go for dinner and chose a different restaurant this time for a BBQ again.

Next day we had a nice lie in and with sore arms after our efforts from the day before in the kayak, we decided against hiring one again!! Instead we found a nice spot on the beach to read our books. It was so safe on the Perhentians and it was so nice for us not to have worry about security for just a few days - we could leave our belongings on the beach and take a dip in the South China Sea every now and again to cool off without having to worry about them being stolen. The water however, was so warm it wasn't very effective at cooling us down but nice none the less.

That evening again we met up with our friends for a BBQ (this was becoming a bit of a ritual), it was a quiet night on the beer for us however, since we had an early start and long day the next day. On our third and last night on the Perhentians, I found myself regretting that we weren't staying longer, I had really started to get into the simple, laid back way of life on the Perhentians, but all good things must come to an end I guess.

Next morning, it was up early and we caught a boat back to Kuala Besut at 8am. The return boat stops out at sea and to get onto it you must get a water taxi at 2 Ringitts each (really just a gimmick to make money). Another couple joined us on the boat - however, once they were safely in the return boat they refused point blank to pay the water taxi driver the 2 Ringitts each saying they didn't have any small money, the guy of the couple stated 'I don't care if we stay here until 9pm tonight I am not paying'. There was a bit of a stand-off but alas in the end the water taxi driver never got paid. Anyway when we found out they were going our way we agreed to share a taxi to the Thai border. BTW, when they were paying for the taxi we noticed loads of 2 Ringitts notes in their wallets - it was all lies, just didn't want to pay their way

We arrived at the border with Thailand and had no hassles although we were a little anxious about travelling through the South of Thailand with all the trouble that is going on with the Muslims there.

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