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Published: August 5th 2009
We are finally en route to Pulau Kecil on the Perhentian Islands off the East Coast of Malaysia. We're staying the night at some skanky backpacker place (tonight only) which actually has a very friendly crowd and lots of tiny kittens running around.
We're in Kota Baru, a small Muslim town near the coast and for the last hour, we have been sitting in the backyard listening to the sounds of evening prayer which echo throughout the town. This afternoon, we walked through a market that was such an orgy of smells: fish, spices, fruits, fried food, pastries, all kinds of stalls with Muslim women in full Burka garb. I took lots of pictures (yes, I am totally culturally insensitive), my favorite so far is of a young Muslim woman giving me the peace sign. As I write this, I am trying to upload my photos onto flickr, but it seems to be taking forever so not sure it will work.
Pulau Kecil is supposed to be absolutely breathtaking with worldclass diving; I'm very excited about both of those things and in general to be back on a beach with a hammock and an afternoon breeze. We've been doing our research and have heard quite a few sketchy things about Kecil, the main issue is that there are no ATM's on the island and credit cards aren't accepted anywhere. Subsequently, everyone is walking around with a ton of cash, which makes everyone a target. Apparently, theft is a big issue, but it's all passive, meaning they'll steal whatever isn't nailed down in your room but they won't attack you per say. We plan to carry our valuables with us, and think we should be ok this way. Outside of that, the Perhentians are supposed to be one of the most beautiful spots on earth and I've always had a desire to go.
Some funny quotes from the last few days:
Last night, Sarah and I were at the night market in Siem Reap trying to buy a pirated copy of The Lonely Planet Malaysia. She was bargaining with the shopkeeper who was a very cute little Cambodian woman. The woman thought Sarah was lowballing her and she said, "Oh my Buddha, you want to cheap me."
(Get it, Oh my Buddha, as in Oh my God).
Today, Sarah and I were wandering around trying to buy a memory card for my camera. We went into one shop and they didn't have the one I needed. The guy said: What do you need to take so many pictures of, it's only Malaysia.
Sarah said: But Malaysia is so beautiful. We take pictures of the sea, of the land, of the people, of the food.
Guy: You want food? I have food for you. You come to my restaurant.
Sarah: I am a vegetarian. What kind of food do you have for me?
Guy: Vegetarian: yes. We have fried vegetable meat.
Me to Sarah: I think he just said 'fried vegetable meat'.
Sarah: No, v-e-g-e-t-a-r-i-a-n...means NO meat at all.
Guy: Yes, fried vegetables. Fried pepper. Fried onion. Fried meat.
OK!
Other than that, it is likely that I won't be able to update the blog until I'm back on the mainland on Aug 12, as I'm hearing that internet on Kecil is very expensive. Wish us luck!
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Melissa
non-member comment
Alternate Universe
Enjoying your posts, Pam. Traveling like this really is an alternate parallel universe. Maybe less so now that the internet is so prevalent. I love reading about your adventures as it really just puts life in perspective. I mean, I spend all day long (and evening, apparently) in front of a computer, doing this somewhat meaningless tasks, pushing bytes around, talking to people on the phone to make virtual stuff happen. Meanwhile, in a completely different dimension, you are negotiating all sorts of amazing and perhaps equally inconsequential (or not) interactions. Woah. That was way deeper than I intended. Anyhow, safe travels to you. You're missing all of Meat Stick Melissa Month on the calendar, btw.