Malaysia revisited

After leaving Indonesia, I returned to Malaysia for the second time during my trip. It was almost a year ago to the day and it was pretty cool to be back in Kuala Lumpur, walking around the same streets remembering all the good times. I had 6 days before my brother Richard came to meet me and had a lot of fun meeting new people and playing lots of pool.

But since I'd already seen most of what I wanted to see in KL (nice not to be bothered with too much sightseeing sometimes), I planned on visiting the city of Melaka for 2 nights. So after a few days in KL I hopped on a bus for the 2 hour ride south and spent the day walking around the city. However, after 5 hours of wandering about Melaka, seeing the sights, and taking lots of pictures, I didn't feel like staying at all. My guest house sucked, I was the only
one there and there was a midnight curfew, so I decided to bounce and head back to KL the same night. Melaka is a really cool city, but there was nothing to do at night and I just didn't feel like sitting by myself. And the fact that I had met some really cool people in KL made me really want to go back there and hang out. Turned out to be a great decision because I wound up having an absolutely crazy night.

Then my brother arrived. I got up while it was still dark to meet him out at the airport at 6:45am when his flight landed. Obviously it was great to see him for the first time in almost 18 months. I guess the long winter in NY kept him inside a lot, because he was pretty white looking... and very excited to get a nice tan in some hot weather, sun, and beach. We stayed in KL for 2 days, I took him around to some of the sights, and of course the Reggae Bar along with a couple more of my new haunts around the city. Ate some good strange food, met people, and had a great time catching up.

After KL we took a 5 hour bus ride north into the Cameron Highlands to see some of the countryside and hike through some jungle. I had skipped the Cameron Highlands on my first
visit so I was really happy to be able to check it out this time. The temperature is much cooler there due to the high elevation which was a welcome change. I got a recommendation for a great guest house there, which turned out to be one of my favorite places I've stayed during my travels. They had nightly bonfires where everyone would sit around and talk, and one of the guys who worked there would play guitar for everyone. Not a great voice but good enough and certainly entertaining. During our two days there, Richard and I went for a hike up a mountain through the jungle with our friend Anna Marie from Montreal. It was only a 3.5
km hike, but lots of climbing. All was going well until the sky opened up and it started hailing, and the ice was large enough that we had to hide under whatever branches we could until it let up. Problem is, after the hail stopped it turned into torrential downpour. I made the decision to push us forward through the rain rather than wait it out, and we finally made it to the access road at the top just before the torrential downpour turned into something more along the lines of a monsoon. Freezing cold and soaked to the bone, we still had 9 km to walk before we got somewhere we could catch a taxi or bus. But after a while of waiting, a jeep rolls up and a couple travellers from England get out. They'd hired a driver for the day to take a tour around the highlands, and kindly offered us a ride. After seeing how Anna Marie
was bugging out they couldn't really say no anyway. Turned out to be an awesome couple and we had a good time talking. So we went with them to a tea plantation where we tried to warm up, then headed back to the guest house.

I would have loved to stay another night or two, playing pool and drinking and hanging out by the bonfire, but the island life was calling. Next stop was the Perhentian Islands. I'd been there last year, and considering it is perhaps my favorite beach I've ever been to besides maybe Fiji, I just had to go back. So we took a 7 hour minibus ride and an hour boat ride and wound up back on Long Beach, in Pulau Perhentian Kecil. It was so crazy being back there, staying at the same place, and everywhere I looked there were so many incredible memories. But of course, the next 8 days wound up being filled with new amazing memories and it was so good to be back. Richard was amazed that a place like this even existed. Pure white sands, crystal clear water, no roads, just beachfront bungalows and bars and lots of
people hanging out. We quickly settled into the routine of waking up (usually right as the fan went off after the electricity shuts at 8am every day), claiming a beach hut, and sitting and talking and swimming and reading all day, every day. Until we all showered and went to dinner. One day we took a snorkel trip around to five sites where we swam with sharks,
turtles, and sting rays. The sharks were definitely a bugout but apparently these are not really aggressive types and there's never been an attack on a tourist so I felt fine about it. Richard didn't, but he enjoyed it anyway. A couple days later we went on a banana boat ride where I almost killed myself I think, hitting the water after a certain speed is along the lines of hitting a brick wall. But it was good fun for sure. We ran into the English couple who saved us after our Cameron Highlands hiking disaster which was so cool. What a way to meet somebody, especially since we had no idea they were heading that direction, and we wound up hanging out with them a lot during our time there. Same with a couple German guys who I met in Kuala Lumpur, I had no clue they were going to the Perhentians either so it was quite a surprise to see them again.

Then our 8 days on the island were up and we went back to the mainland to stay in Kota Bharu for a night, ate more strange food, then took a short flight the next morning back to Kuala Lumpur. Hung out at the hotel pool for a bit then it was back to the Reggae Bar
where we ran into a French couple we met in the Perhentians so it was good to see them again. So we stayed up too late, and went back just in time for Richard to grab a couple hours sleep before he had to catch his very early flight home to New York.

So now I have one more night here in Kuala Lumpur then I have to say goodbye to Asia. Tomorrow I fly to Vienna, Austria to start a couple months of travel around Europe. It's been real.

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