Malaysian Quickie

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At the end of April I took about 10 days to work my way down to Singapore from Thailand. As I knew I would be spending two months in Malaysia while at Sepilok, I didn't leave myself much time to explore the western portion of the country. It was a quick, but fun part of my trip.

After spending some time enjoying the beaches in Langkawi (and swimming with the sharks, per my last blog), we headed to Penang to officially start our trip towards Singapore. It was a great introduction to the diversity of Malaysia and to the food (see more discussion about that in my soon-to-be posted Adventures in Food blog on Malaysia. Gotta love when you can shamelessly promote two other blog posts in one paragraph). It was an interesting city to see, but we spent less than 24 hours there and it was more than enough time to explore the city's sights and be ready to move on.

The next destination was the Cameron Highlands. The scenery of the Highlands is stunning and lived up to every expectation that had been set for me. The tea fields were ridiculously pituresque, and I had a lot of fun going on a mini-trek into the rainforest to see the giant Rafflesia flower. I really didn't expect to be as excited by seeing the oversized flower as I was, and it was well-worth the journey as it really is massive (compared to other flowers). While on the trek we also tried the fresh water that bamboo trees filter and store, and got to try blowing poison darts (which was surprising easy, if you ignore the need for good aim). Overall it was a great day of exploration, and definitely my highlights of Peninsular Malaysia.

While the above is what I expected from the Cameron Highlands, what I didn't expect was the traffic. The area has one real road that snakes its way through the area, and there are street stalls selling food, souvenirs, and anything else you could possibly need right up against the road. It creates a traffic jam like nothing I have ever experienced. It took us over 2 hours to go 8 km, and our guide for the trek said that was the norm. The street stalls are so bad (and bribe so many officials, according to him) that to avoid getting splashed when there is rain, many will put planks of wood in the road to force cars to slow down (sometimes seriously damaging cars in the process). He opened up to us in one of the many long traffic jams about how frustrating it has become, and that the municipal government does nothing to enforce their own rules because of bribery and corruption. I don't know if this is true, but the stalls are way too close to the road and the traffic was the worst I've ever seen. I can't see why an area so focused on tourism and agriculture would allow traffic to get so bad unless it was benefitting them. Despite this, it was a lovely place and I got sucked into the Boh tea mania and have been carting around several tins of tea to bring home with me since the visit.

From the Cameron Highlands, we headed down to Kuala Lumpur. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by KL. It was not one of the cities I was really eager to see (Beijing, Hong Kong, and Singapore were the ones on my list), but it is a city I would definitely want to visit again. What I love about it was that it was such a diverse place and there was such a variety of things to do and see. I never knew how ethinically diverse Malaysia was, and KL put that diversity on display in an excellent fashion. It was fun to explore the different neighbourhoods (and try the foods that came with each). Of course, the Petronas Towers were stunning, and the diffent neighbourhoods had such life to them but my favourite aspect of the city has to be how green it is. They have done an excellent job of promoting trees and other nature throughout the city and I really must commend the city planners for doing such a good job of it. Being in KL was a really refreshing change of pace, and it came at a perfect time as I was apprehensive about going to another big city after Bangkok (a city which I have a unique distaste for), as while it was big and bustling it didn't overwhelm me. It is definitely on my list of places I would considering working, if the opportunity arised (this is how I judge how much I like a city - would I return for work. If I say yes, you know I like it a lot).

The last stop before reaching Singapore was Melaka. It is a picturesque town that is a great pitstop on the way to the city-state. It's got some beautiful old architecture, and you can see the Portugese influence in the old churches and overall feel of the city. Its got a lot of great little restaurants, and I had one of my favaourite meals of the trip our night here (another shameless self promotion for my next Adventures in Food post). The town also has the greatest sculpture ever (in my humble opinion), of a former Mr. Universe that calls Melaka his hometown. I'm going to assume it's an exageration, but the bulging muscles of this man would put Arnold Schwartzenager to shame. The randomness of the statue made it one of my Melaka highlights, and if you are ever there I suggest seeking it out to see the statue to basque in all of its rippling glory.

To be honest, seeing penninsular Malaysia wasn't on my "must do on this trip" list, but I'm glad I took the time to get a taste for this part of Asia. It really showed the future-focused, cosmoplitan aspects of the country, and had a veyr different feel to the time I have spent in Sabah. I think if I return to Malaysia I will want to spend more time exploring its coasts as I only got a taste of them with my trips to Langkawi and Mabul (yet another blog post I can plug in this entry!). KL will also be high on my list for Asian city pit stops, as it really is a fantastic place.

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