Malaysia: leave your manners at the door

I have never been so disgusted with mankind as I have been travelling through Malaysia. My journey began on the wrong foot as I took a bus across the boarder into Johar Barau. A girl on the bus asked me if I was travelling alone, and then informed me that JB was the most dangerous city in Malaysia and it was too late in the evening to catch a bus out. I was stuck. She told me to find a hostel and stay there the whole night (skip dinner, no sightseeing...). As soon as my passport was stamped I was at the whim of the taxi drivers, from all angles. "where you want go? I take you to KL for pretty price, my cab safe..." I kept my head down and just repeated no over and over until one cabbie said "I'm just trying to help you, no need to be rude" I told him I wanted to go to a hostel for the night, he said he'd take me to Footloose, a backpackers hostel. I took out a couple ringget from the ATM and we were on our way. En route he tried to convince me to let him drive me 2 hours to the next town of Mersing for 200 RM (a bus is about 10RM). Once I declined, with a "no thankyou, I'd just like to go to the hostel" he told me that JB wasn't too dangerous, if women treated men nicely they would be treated nicely in return, if women were rude men had the right to do whatever they pleased with them. Cringe. My taxi ride was 20RM, far too much to be driven around the block. The hostel was dingy with no sheets and cockroaches under the bed, but it was late and I was not about to go searching for another place to stay. I spent the majority of the night huddled up in my room (with no door) reading my guidebook. Footloose is the only hostel which lonely planet has recieved a letter stating a female traveller was assaulted there. I didn't sleep that night.
The next mornign I was on my way to Mersing, gateway to Tioman island. I was happy to see two british backpackers on the same bus as me and we both got ripped off by the tour agency in Mersing together, paying 20RM too much for ferry tickets to the island. I managed to find a nice place to stay in Selgeng, only 30RM with a nice hostel owner who showed me around the island and treated me kindly. Dinner did not go well, I asked for one dish, Hailam, and the cook pretended not to understand me (it was a Malaysian word with one pronounciation, how hard could it get) so he brought me three different dishes totalling twice as much as the one I asked for. There were very few travellers on the island and the local guys entertained themselves by calling after me and inviting themselves to follow me. The first night there was a big storm and around 4 in the morning someone tried to get into my little chalet. Fortunately I've adopted the habit of locking all the windows and doors and shoving all of my stuff against the door just in case. I think I caught about half an hour of sleep that night. The following day it rained from dawn to dusk. Two weeks after Chinese new year it always rains in Malaysia. There's a story that it's the lady dragon coming back to find a lost slipper after the party. Well, the dragon was back and she was not happy. The waves off shore (which usually are non existant) were surfable and the loud spatter of the raindrops sounded like a freight train. I spent the whole day sitting in the cafe playing chess and writing in my journal. Even sitting quietly writing in a corner the men of the island wouldn't leave me alone, always sitting too close, asking inappropriate questions, like they were trying to make me uncomfortable. The next morning I had had enough and planned to leave the island at 1pm. The rain had let up so I walked the beach at low tide and climbed a few rocks. I met two Iranian men along the way who asked if they could take a picture with me. I said sure and stiffened in disgust when one threw the other his camera and grabbed me and kissed me, what kind of a world is this?? He smelled of terrible BO and was edging on 40. I excused myself to go use the internet (and puke a little) and no longer enjoyed the beach views. Even before I caught the ferry when I was sitting on a log,writing, one of the guys who worked in the cafe would not leave me alone until I agreed to sit with him until my ferry came. I was so happy to see taht boat round the corner. On the mainland the situation wasn't any better. I arrived at 4:30 and my bus out of town didn't leave until 8:30. Since it got dark around 6 I decided to just hang out at the bus station rather than risk roaming around town. Everything was fine at first until all of the girls sitting around me caught a bus and I was surrounded by Malay guys. One took the lead by sitting too close next to me and trying to start a conversation even though he didn't know english and I wasn't about to try to understand him. Keeping in mind the taxi drivers comments I entertained his attemptas at simple talk - how old are you, what's your name - until he pointed at his lips, pointed at me and said "present?" I had learned this trick from previous nights and played dumb, asking "is there something wrong with my lips?" rubbing my mouth feverishly and excusing myself to go check in the bathroom, with all my luggage. I hate this game of hide and go seek, me hiding from the wrold and desprately trying not to be found. Finally my bus came and I was on my way to Kuantan. Unfortunately the only bus I could get arrived in Kuantan at midnight, but I had met a guy from Holland on the island who was able to reserve a room for me at a nearby hotel. I got lost trying to find the hotel (I'm not impressed with Lonely Planet at all) and asked a teenage girl for help, but her three male friends elbowed their way in instead. They seemed to have good intentions though and told me vaugly how to get to where I wanted, not a ton of help, but some. I walked down the street a little until I passed another person who I tried to confirm the directions with, but one of the guys from up the street had pulled up on his motorcycle and said "it's not far, I'll take you across the road, don't worry". I should never assume people have good intentions. We found the hotel and passed it with him saying "no, there's better" amid my requests to stop. Too far away to walk back he stopped because of the rain and eventually started a broken conversation which led to "kiss?" and the whole pointing thing. I had to physically grab him around the neck (choke him) with one hand and cover my face with the other saying "no" too many times to count. Not understanding he asked why, I said I had a big angry boyfriend who doesn't like me kissing other people (I don't want to isn't good enough for Malay guys). I've been rotating between I have a boyfriend, I'm married, and I'm a nun. None of the excuses work brilliantly because I'm white and a westerner so I must be a slut, so why won't I kiss them. I finally got back to Hotel Makmur where I was charged 55RM for my room. I found out the next day that the room that had been reserved for me was only 28RM. Another rip-off, big suprise. I caught a bus to Terangganu (couldn't go to the jungle because of the rain), the rich oil capital in the hopes that a higher socio-economic standing would make people act with a little more civility. You can take a pig out of filth, but you can't take the filth out of a pig. Even though I've not worn shorts or skirts since I've left NZ, and have been wearing a long sleeved sweater everywhere (which is boiling) I can't stop this harassment. I hate this country, it's a civilized nation with uncivilized people.

On a lighter note a few things I like about Malaysia:
the food is amazing
the women are very nice and beautiful
the virgin jungle comes right up to the city
the ocean is a magnificant green

and a joke I read in the front cover of a book in Footloose:
Q: cats or dogs?
A: cats with rice, dogs with noodles, of course.

That pretty much sums up Malaysia, I can't wait to get out of this hell hole.

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