Craziness of renting cars in countries where you should not - Malaysia part 1 - July 2014

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So after our couple days in Singapore (we felt like we were in New York pretty much) it was time to really start exploring Asia. Next stop Johor Bahru - just across the border in Malaysia. After exploring many options as to how to get there we settled on a bus. We read that taxis are pretty popular too, but it sounded expensive. When we travel I always look for the cheapest, best option available. That allows us to spend money on other things. So we were up early and off to the bus station. The locals helped us and soon we were on the bus after paying our $3 fare, packed in with the rest with 2 big bags and many other side bags. Some of the locals were not happy with our arrangement. We definitely got told a time or two that we need to make plans with our bags to create space so they can sit (fair enough, but not sure what I am supposed to do). We made it to the border where we were the last to get off. How it works - you get off the bus, go through customs and on the other side catch the bus again. The big question for us was - do we leave the luggage in the bus? Why would we not? We catch the same bus again - right? Luckily we took our luggage. After braving a very long line and seeing the masses run for position to get in line we finally made it through. And so the wait started on the other side to wait for the next bus (not the same bus). Finally we got on the next bus and crossed into town. We were herded through the bus station and there we were - Malaysia here we come. Was this the best option to rent a car in such a foreign country?

As usual we are the crazies who rent a car. Just what we do and what gives us the most freedom. But this was the first time we rented a car in a small town (ok it was fairly big, but the airport was tiny) through the internet. I figured (as always) that renting from the airport would just be easiest, because every airport has a rental car agency - right? So we got into a cab and 30 minutes later we got to the airport. We booked the car for 10 that morning and probably did not get there until 11. No car rental agencies. What the heck? Panic set in. What now? I went to information. I pulled up the info and called. No answer. I called again and finally got an answer. They told me they have been waiting since 9 and that the guy who delivered the car probably left already. My first question was why would you deliver a car? And then I got a reality check. This is a tiny, tiny airport. Why would there be a car rental agency. It would make more sense for it to be in the city. So they just bring the car to the airport because that is where I booked it for. Long story short - we finally located the guy and the car. After another 30 minutes of photocopies and back and forth we were finally done. Wow. Talk about stressful.

Well this was also before we joined T-Mobile (free international data) so our way of getting around was taking pictures on Google maps whenever we have wifi and that was our navigation. For this trip we were doing the EAST COAST PENINSULAR TRUNK ROAD which is in one of our books. It goes on HIGHWAY 3 FROM JOHOR BAHRU TO MERSING and then from MERSING TO KUANTAN. The whole route consists of FORESTS and FISHING VILLAGES. We stopped on the way and bought mangosteens (a litchi like fruit). There is also an orange variety that is really good. Early on we saw a big group of MACAQUES MONKEYS and we were more than happy to share some of our fruit with them to get some good pictures. The BEACHES AT MERSING was our first stop. Really not that pretty a beach. Black, rocky and not attractive at all. Next up was ENDAU FISHING VILLAGE. This trip was during Ramadan so towards mid-afternoon the RAMADAN MARKETS were up and running and so were the smells and the sounds. We are adventurous souls so we immediately started eating. Grilled chicken seemed to be the most popular so that is what we started with and it was delicious. During Ramadan it seems like everyone and his mother makes something that they sell on the side of the road. Soon after leaving town we were at it again. I found a lady in a stall next to the road in front of her house. English was non-existent. It seemed like chicken wedged in between a couple sticks. It tasted like chicken, but who knows that it really was. Payment was made with a show of fingers for the amount. It was dirt cheap so I tried to give her more money, but she would have none of it. Right next to her were two young girls selling something that we had no idea what it was. It looked like a small quiche (little bigger than bite size) and it was soft. The first one was green and definitely pistachio. The second was yellow and was definitely chicken. One of the girls spoke a little bit of English. They were really, really excited to see me and talk to me. The chicken was a little undercooked, but it was still really good. The pastry stuff was a pleasant surprise. Next KUALA ROMPIN TOWN. Not much there so on we went. Next up was our final destination - Kuantan.

We booked a hotel the night before. I was really torn on what to book. The choices were few and the prices were cheap. Cheap usually means run-down or less desirable neighborhood. I settled on the Hyatt Regency Kuantan Resort. What a surprise. Located right on the beautiful TELUK CEMPEDAK BEACH this was an unexpected winner. Clean rooms, really nice hotel, and awesome beach. All for less than $80 a night. We quickly unpacked and hit the pool to catch the last rays. I really wanted to go off the property to explore local food (driving into town arriving we saw so many food stalls), but we decided on a quiet night at the hotel where they prepared quite the spread. Station after station after station of food. The food was pretty good and the variety was unbeatable. I would say it was definitely a very local experience (very unusual for a hotel, but this was Ramadan after all).

The next morning we were up really early to watch the sunrise over the water. One of the things we experienced during our entire time in Malaysia is that it never felt like the sun was fully out. There was always this haze around. We had breakfast and hit the road. We try and pack in as much as we can and this trip was no different. Next stop - after a couple detours and wrong turns and dirt roads we found - the SUNGAI PANDAN WATERFALL. We parked and started following the little stream upwards. After a bend in the stream, and many "little fish" that more than happily will suck and nibble on your feet, we saw a gorgeous rockface with water coming down all over the place. We hung around for an hour or so and just had a lot of fun taking pictures and climbing all over. There were many signs with danger signs and even what looked like poison signs so it was definitely a little nerve-racking. Oh the joys of foreign countries.

Well this was only a quick stop before our final destination for the night - A NIGHT IN THE RAINFOREST. The TAMAN NEGARA NATIONAL PARK is in the middle of the country and oh is it a pain to get there. It seems like there is only 1 road going there and this road was as far away from us as it could possibly be. The road - well quite possibly the worst road I have ever driven on - and I have driven on many roads in many countries. It literally looks like it was 200 degrees celsius and the road just melted with bumps everywhere, at times some massive bumps the size of speedbumps. Then in certain sections the road is just completely missing. It twists and it turns and on top of all of this you pass many, many trucks with huge logs of palm trees. It's like the final destination scene just kept replaying in our minds every 10 minutes where these trees come off and smash through the front window. And then we finally hit KUALA TAHAN. A small town. We made it to the river and... Now what. We could not find the hotel (the Mutiara Taman Negara) which we booked that morning. I have to say the hotel booking the first 2 nights we were in Malaysia was pretty hard. The first night everything was just so, so cheap that I was almost scared to think what we are in for and for this night there was only like 3 options. We made it down to the river and finally at long last figured out that the hotel was on the other side of the river. I would have to say we were more than surprised on what we saw on the river. Just a hodge-podge of activity everywhere. Almost looked like an extremely busy port with boats just coming and going - in and out. Looked like what I would imagine a scene out of Vietnam (just had that vibe to it).

For a Malaysian dollar the boats will ferry you back and forth. On the other side it is a very steep climb so they have this pulley/ funicular type thing you put your luggage in. We were welcomed and checked-in and took the loooooooong walk to our cabin. These cabins are very spread-out and it took forever to get our bags delivered, but the cabins are nice. We finally got our shoes on and off we were exploring. First we needed to get passes to go into the park as well as a camera pass to take pictures (whichever way they can make money right). You always need to have these on you. We started exploring the area and followed the wooden paths through the forests. There were plenty of BIRDS and some crazy big TUALANG TREES. We eventually made it down to a river. Absolutely surrounded by JUNGLE we walked around and explored. Absolute silence except the jungle sounds. Water slowly flowing - every once in a while you will hear something move somewhere, but otherwise it is just bird sounds and nothing else. It was a pretty special hour being able to spend it in absolute isolation away from everything else. We made our way back to the hotel and saw some MONKEYS on the way. We took a boat across again to eat on one of the floating restaurants - Mama Chop Restaurant. The lady was nice and we started off with some mango juice and lime juice (on this trip we just constantly drank fluids to replenish all the sweat we lost). Nikkie got the vegetable/noodle stew/soup which was good and I got the curry chicken w/ rice (good). Right across from the boats there was a little island for backpackers and really seemed like they totally roughed it. I guess there are other alternatives. We went back to the hotel and had a couple drinks which was very, very, very overpriced (always just angers me when you get charged completely unreasonably just because "they are the place in town").

That evening we booked an evening tour with Danz Travel. Complete rip-off if you ask me. First let me just say what our our expectations were of the jungle (completely unreasonable obviously). We thought jungle, big game, tigers, etc. Yes - we were a little naive and yes - who in their right mind wants to walk around in a jungle with free-roaming tigers. Anyway - the tour is in the back of a pick-up truck with a couple wooden benches which is extremely uncomfortable and they pack you in like sardines. They take you through the palm plantations and you see a couple animals here and there (they promise you a lot so you agree to buy a ticket). A bat here and an owl there. Honestly nothing to get even remotely excited about. Just not something I would recommend. Yes I know this is their living and they could not care less whether I was comfortable or not. Just not something I would recommend.

The next day was breakfast at the hotel which in some instances had some authentic food, but otherwise it was just pretty normal western food. We went across the river again to see if we could get a tour booked for a cruise up the river. Nothing available but the guy was able to call a kid who was going fishing so we kind of just tagged along with him. Up the river we went through narrow and shallow little areas. These guys know this river like the palm of their hand. He eventually dropped us off (major communication gap here) and just pointed us in the up direction. Well the drop-off point seemed like an old abandoned hotel with villas. We walked around a little bit and saw some signs for hikes (these looked like fairly long hikes and we did not plan to be here all day). So we walked around and discussed what we would do if we actually happen to see a tiger or some other large animal (conclusion was the headline in the paper would be "Dumb American tourists killed in Malaysian jungle"). After an hour or so we walked back to the dock and no sight of the boat. I walked and played in some mud a little ways off and we finally saw our guy fishing out there in the river. He came back, got us and dropped us off at the orang asli village people. This is a major tourist attraction here and these people supposedly still live without any luxuries or modern day amenities. They show you how they make fires with bows and a string and you get to blow some darts through a pipe (the guy that tried to start the fire never got it going so if they truly follow the old ways then they must not make a lot of fires - I am sure there is a box of matches somewhere). It was sadder than anything else to see the poverty these people lived in.

We finally got dropped-off (I would recommend the excursion as it is really cool to zig-zag through the jungle while just laying back and taking it all in from the boat). We packed our bags, loaded the car and had a quick lunch of Mamak style fried noodles before we hit the road. The road on the way to the west coast and let me tell you... it is a very long road. Initially we had to bob and weave and stop and start our way on the worst road known to man-kind (the one previously described above since there is only one road in and out) while passing through RUBBER AND PALM PLANTATIONS that is quickly disappearing. A really sad state of affairs.

We drove and we drove and we drove and we drove. Through and over mountains. Through valleys and hills with greenhouses as far as the eye can see (really cool and absolutely fascinating to see where and how they built these greenhouses - imagine some of the steepest hills you have seen and then imagine a greenhouse on the side of it). Through and past some gorgeous limestone formations. We made several stops to stretch the legs and got plenty of food. Sticky buns with various fillings was the most popular dishes we saw as well as fried chicken (surprisingly, but then again who does not love fried chicken). Very late that night we made it to Penang and that is where this trip ends.

Likes

- the jungle was a really cool experience
- the highland greenhouses was a sight (I would almost recommend to make a detour if you are in the area just to see these)
- the east coast was pretty unspoiled and had very, very few tourists which is always an added bonus for us

Dislikes

- it is pretty hard to describe how many abandoned or unfinished buildings we saw along the road. Just completely half built buildings completely abandoned.
- the humidity is terrible

Advice

- renting a car in a smaller city in a foreign country was a challenge, always make sure you ask how and where you will be getting the car (if you are crazy enough to rent one)
- driving to the rainforest and just seeing this river full of life and activity can be quite surprising and daunting. There are many options for staying (we subsequently found out). We just had no idea what to expect and definitely was pleasantly surprised by the whole scene.
- for the park you need both a pass and a camera pass to take pictures. They apparently enforce these pretty fiercely so be warned (we never had anyone asking us for anything).

And that was Malaysia for you - part 1. An adventure for sure. Crossed off 3 things just like Singapore - a night in the rainforest, Ramadan Markets, and east coast peninsular trunk road. So 278 down and 5,503 to go.

Til' next time from the Malaysian road definitely less traveled

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Photos

Malaysian east coast
Nothing like chicken on a stick (who knows what it really is) bought from an old lady next to the road during Ramadan

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The infamous durian. Trying to figure out which is bigger - Nikkie's hair or the durian (she's gonna kill me for this)

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Dinner buffet at the hotel

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Early morning calm

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Sunrise

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It never felt like the sun was fully out - always this kind of haze

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Pretty peaceful

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Exploring the river to get to the waterfall

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We had a good time at the waterfall

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This is one way of getting to a hotel

Malaysian rainforest
Standing in the middle of it all

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Probably one of the most peaceful places we have been to

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Just getting quiet