Advertisement
Published: March 15th 2009
Bathtime !
Nath lounging around in a rock pool at the top of a waterfall in LangkawiUp until the day before we were due to cross over into Malaysia, we actually had no idea where we were heading or how !! However we bumped into an ozzie guy (who was just about the only other person camping on our deserted beach in Thailand!), and he happened to be getting rid of a Malaysia, Borneo and Singapore guidebook ! Result !!
So, with a map in our mits, we managed to get ourselves to a border crossing where we could catch a boat over to Langkawi, yet another island ! It wasnt without mishaps though, as we went through immigration, it turned out that on arrival in Thailand, the Thai officials hadnt taken into account our visa and stamped Nath with a date that was now overdue and therefore invalid ! So the mean lookin guys wanted a whole loada cash to let us though. After being taken into an interview room, (he still hasnt properly spoken of what happened in there...poor lad...!), they decided that we weren't in the country illegally afterall and that someone had infact stamped the worng date, and finally let us through with minutes to spare !!
Langkawi was very different
Langkawi
One of the beaches we stopped at on our drive around the island to the islands we'd just come from ! Is very civilised ! And very busy, and more expensive ! We eventually found a cheap room by literally stumbling into an English girl working in a new guesthouse, this was after spending a very hot and sweaty hour or so being turned away from everywhere, and even being called obscenties by a local guy after we wouldnt follow him into his guesthouse !! nice.
This place was a touristy, beach town with the usual souvenir shops and a whole lot of duty free stores as this island is tax free and therefore attracts a lot of people on booze and fag runs ! (Particularly as we later discovered the alcohol in Malaysia aint cheap!)
We stayed on Langkawi for about 3 nights before heading out to Georgetown on Penang Island.
Georgetown is a really cool little colonial town, however the budget accommodation has to be the very worst we had ever come across on the trip so far ! Then one day, whilst taking a colonial stroll around the city, we stumbled across the Eastern and Oriental hotel, founded by the same Sarkies brothers as the famous Raffles hotel in
Little India, Georgetown
This was on the island of Penang in Malaysia, where I had the yummiest samosa yet....for breakfast !! Singapore ! They even had concierge dressed in full colonial gear, complete with long socks and sun helmet ! We werent even expecting to be let in through the doors what with our filty thread bare clothes and sweatiness, let alone called Sir and Madam as we walked through !! So we spent a while wandering around and soaking up the grandeur that we could never ever afford (the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Rudyard Kipling frequented this place!)...until Nath decided to ask how much it actually would cost to stay in a place like this..... After haggling on an already crazy promotional offer, the next day we found ourselves rocking up 6 hours before check in and being showed into our very own sea facing suite ! ha ! It was incredible. We had a corridor, a bathroom with his n hers sinks, a bath !! 2 massive beds, a living room, 2 tv's, a walk in dressing room and even a butler bell !! We hadn't even had a hot shower for weeks !! Amazing. Actually, the first thing we did was to wash all our manky clothes in the super hot water in the bath !!! Sad
A couple of colonial numptys !
Inside Fort Cornwallis in Colonial Georgetown. Nath insisted on us wearing these hats and musket for the perfect photo opportunity, as you can see from my face, it wasnt as high on my agenda....!! but true. The place had stuff drying off everything within minutes ! ha ! Seriusly though, I dont think we stopped laughing the whole time we were there (and we didnt check out until the very last minute...!) it was hilarious, Nath even had prawns and avocado for breakfast ! (I had about 20 mini muffins...yummy....!!) Usually we'd be lucky to even get a greasy egg on some toast !! All in all it was definitely a much needed and lovely stay, though their faces were a picture when we hoisted our backpacks on and trudged out through the doors towards to the bus station the next day !
Our next stop were the Cameron Highlands, towards central Malaysia, where we arrived after a super long and windy bus ride. It was dark when we got there, and also the Chinese New year, and therefore very busy. We'd been so caught up in our posh hotel stay, we hadnt even thought about booking ahead. Oops... However, when we arrived we were lucky enough to find a guy there waiting for the bus in the hope of filling his last 2 available dorm beds ! Result. Naths eyes lit up
The Eastern & Oriental hotel, Georgetown
Now this place, is the nuts. Founded by the Sarkie brothers in te late 1800's, who also started up the famous Raffles hotel in Singapore ! Far too expensive for the likes of us...... when we got to the hostel, as all the rooms are in old WWII bunkers ! It was really quite cold up here in the highlands, and the first day we were there it absolutely threw it down ! So we thought we'd spend the time trying to familiarise ourselves with this new and strange cuisine they had going on in Malaysia. As the country is very multi-cultural, there are allsorts of different foods here, Indian, Malay and Chinese being the main. They have hawker stalls everywhere, selling cheap eats, and in the Malay places the menus are never in English, so it was always fun choosing something to eat in these places !! Well, more so for Nath..I however, am a wuss so I quickly learnt the Malay words for chicken, rice and noodles !!
The Indian places were different, they always had food out buffet style, which neither of us were all that keen on actually. It was always nearly cold and full of bones. It was fascinating watching them cook the naan breads in the massive clay pots though, they stick the dough to the insides of this red hot pot, and then after a minute
Now this, is a hotel room.
....or is it!!??!!! ha ! We actually have a corrider in our hotel room !! This place was amazing, and we managed to get it at a ridiculous cut price and so had a day and night of pure luxury ! A MASSIVE difference to what we have been staying in thats for sure, I dont think we stopped laughing the whole time we were there !! or so, peel off a perfect naan ! Another part of the Indian dining I couldn't get used to was the way the locals ate it, always with their fingers. All of it. Shovelling curry and rice into your mouth with fingers?? Yuck !
The following day the weather cleared up and so we managed to do some hiking through some of the trails around the highlands. It was really pretty, and we even came across a guitar playing butterfly catcher on top of one of the hills ! The area is famous for its tea plantations and strawberry farms, you can see them for miles dotted around the hills, particularly at night when all the rows in the greenhouses are lit up.
Today was Chinese new year too, so it was absolutely rammed full of locals on their holidays, and we could hear fireworks going off all throughout the night ! Is very different to our new year celebrations. For one, they dont drink ! Is all about the food, and they just seem to let off fireworks wherever and whenever they like ! The celebrations go on for days after the new year as well, we were
Lord of the Manor
In the living area of our suite ! We even had 2 tv's....and a butler bell....and someone who delivered fresh fruit on a little tray in the mornngs ! haha ! constantly coming across dancers and people in costumes with drums and instruments celebrating in the streets for at least a couple of weeks afterwards !
From here we travelled back to the Western coast to catch a ferry over to an island called Pangkor. Mainly because thats where mum and dad would be staying in a few weeks time ! Was a funny little island, they have these bright pink taxi vans everywhere as soon as you get off the ferry ! We shared a taxi with an English guy we'd met on the boat, and headed to the most 'lively' part of the island. It was a small area, by the beach, with a few guesthouses, Malay food stalls and restaurants and souvenir shops ! We did find somewhere really cheap to stay though, a place owned by the most genuinely helpful guy ever! Again we were lucky as it turned out this place is very popular for local Malays and chinese to holiday, particularly at this time of year. They were funny to watch though, hundreds all over the beach, playing and swimming in the sea, fully clothed. Us and a few other westerners would hide at
WWII bunkers, aka our room in the Cameron Highlands!
The guy who owns this hostel actually has pictures of these bunkers back in the 50's when they were used by the British Army, very cool ! one end of the beach in our beach stuff feeling practically naked !!
We hired a motorbike for the day and drove around the island, it took about an hour ! There is some incredible jungle in the centre which the road wound through, but one really sad thing we saw, and kept on seeing throughout Malaysia, is the amount of rubbish all over the place. The Malaysians just dont seem to have a clue about rubbish ! Its awful, whatever they've finished with, they just throw on the floor. Bottles, packets, everything. And the worst thing is its all over the beach and floating in the sea, and they dont seem to even notice let alone care ! It got us really angry in the end, its such a beautiful country ! The ironic thing is they're much richer and more advanced in Malaysia than other places in SE Asia we've visited, yet they seem clueless about this !
We did find the hotel mum and dad were gonna be staying in though, and (once we'd talked our way past the guards!) it was lovely ! With its own, CLEAN, beach !
After a few days we headed
Cameron Highlands
This is the view from one of the hikes we did around the Cameron Highlands, towards central Malaysia. on down to Kuala Lumpur, we both really loved this city. Actually it was really nice to be somewhere almost civilised !! I have to admit as well, the first place we headed for dinner here was Maccy D's....shameful really....we were just craving some kind of Western crap though !!! Its obviously a lot more expensive here being the Capital city, so we were quite chuffed to find a cheapish private room in a seemingly clean guesthouse which even provided breakfast ! Until we went to go to sleep the first night. Just before we turned the lights out, I spotted a familiar looking creature scuttling along the wall, looking suspiciously like a bed bug. (Familar care of my previous backpacking work experience in Oz !) We thought we'd got rid of it and turned out the lights. I got paranoid and insisted they be turned back on (!) where we then find the walls literally alive with the horrible critters ! (Which actually are a lot bigger than you think, Nath bless him was mortified to find they were actually real and not just something you warn off before going to bed !!) We moved rooms although were told
A hollow tree !
Its a lot cooler in the highlands than on the coast and it was really nice to be able to get active and do some hiking, its so pretty here too. to leave everything we have behind so as not to infect the other room. Well, it seems the little blighters had more than enough time to get into my sleep sheet and down my pj's as I was completely savaged by them (in places you really wouldnt wanna be bitten either!). I have never experienced anything like it. Nath however, didnt have a bite on him !!! It seems I am his personal insect repellant !! Needless to say we moved hostels pronto, only to find from the owner there that the previous place is known for having bed bugs ! Great.
All in all though, we really liked it here, there is real hustle and bustle, as well as really posh malls, as well as streets full of food stalls, and those towers really are as spectacular as they look in all the films !
Next stop, (jeez I'd almost forgotten quite how much we did in Malaysia ! Stay with me peeps !) was Taman Negara. The oldest rainforest in the world. We took a bus most of the way and then hopped in a little boat which took us 3 hours down river into the rainforest.
Local Village in the highlands
We emerged from the forest into this village ! We walked right through all the huts and houses with all the kids shouting hello to us along the way ! I love these villages Was beautiful ! Definitely the way to travel ! We stayed in a remote little place where the only way to get into the village was by boat, and spent a day hiking (and sweating profusely!) around the rainforest. We got so hot and sweaty, that we (and some Canadians we'd bumped into) jumped fully clothed into a river as soon as we reached it ! There is meant to be some amazing wildlife around this area too, however we had to head off after a day as we'd decided on flying to Borneo for 10 days before mum and dad were coming to meet us in Singapore !! Wo hoo !!!
So our last stop on Peninsular Malaysia before flying to Kota Kinabalu in Borneo, was a really sweet little town called Melaka. It was colonised by the Dutch and Portugese in the 1500's and you can still see the influences in the buildings all around too. Is a really pretty and interesting place ! Chinatown was probably the nicest we'd seen (and every city has one!) so far, it was full of arty shops and cafes, with chinese lanterns hanging all over the streets. We also managed
Pretty highlands !
View from our bunker to catch the weekly night market there too which attracted hoards of people and the atmosphere was great ! We wandered about and ended up in a bar (as seemed to be the trend the night before we were travelling on early, we were terrible at that !) with several beers just watching the people go by !
We actually managed to pack in a lot in the few weeks we had here in Malaysia, and we didnt even get to the East coast ! It is such a diverse place, and although there is the litter problem I was ranting about earlier, the people really are so friendly ! We both really enjoyed Malaysia, and are suuuuuper excited about Borneo !!!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.042s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 9; qc: 26; dbt: 0.0185s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
alex
non-member comment
wonderful
I have to say you DID have a good idea in deciding to leave rainy England and go travelling for a while....what a series of amazing places you are visiting....thank you so much for rememebring me and ... keep going.... are you planning of ever coming back? Why should you?????? lots of love Alex xxxx