Blogs from Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia, Asia

Poradne konecne vyspaty vo fajn posteli. Na ranajky hrianky, dal som si 4ks s fajn jahodovym dzemom. Len bol problem spustit hriankovac. Zastrcky tu maju totiz vypinac a na to som zabudol, tak volam staff. On len prepol vypinac a uz to ficalo. Ou zrejme dobra sprava ohladne korei. Udajne tam ma ist v auguste na dovolenku pan generalny riaditel s manzelkou. Dufam, ze v mojom termine. By to bolo super aspon by mi donisli neaky matros (horalky, parenicu a stare tricka) a ja by som nieco poslal domov (magnetky a biely prasok). Z ubytka prieskum mestecka. Prva vec na zozname, stadion. Oj na hlavnej som objavil indicku restiku Shan Sri Dewi Restaurant Sdn. Bhd. Uz sa tesim na roti. Vodici oproti indonezii su tu uplne spomaleny. Kazdy ma pustal cez cestu, ziadne trubenie alebo nebezpecne ... read more

Geo: 6.12, 102.24This covers our first adventures in Kota Bharu, often referred to as the most Malay area of Malaysia.We sadly bid adieu to our lovely island of Pulau Lang Tengah, found the car as we left in in the parking lot on the jetty, and headed north. Most of the drive was NOT in view of the ocean, as we had naively assumed, but we did stop and take photos of PLT along a lovely stretch of beach and park - and then we heard tinkling bells.... Yes, an ice cream man!! coming down our little road on a motorcycle. The 3 little helpings of different ice creams were served in a bun! Not bad. We arrived in Kota Bharu and found our hotel to be very fancy: doormen everywhere wearing traditional Malay formal cloths ... read more

The taxi ride from Kuala Basut in a 'vintage' Mercedes was pretty much like all the taxis we've taken on our travels in the past: Dean sits in the front passenger seat trying to converse with the driver and Eleanor and I sit in the back rolling our eyes and guffawing at Dean's inability to understand what the driver is saying and the driver's inability to comprehend Dean's colloquialisms. Upon starting the engine, I had my doubts that it could make it out of the street, let alone to Kota Bharu. But we chugged along at a leisurely pace; not too much tooting and passing (which is unusual for a taxi ride in Asia). The 'Nastie Hair and Beauty Parlour' caught my eye but it was a massive Buddha statue that we actually took a detour ... read more

HE SAID... We woke early at 6am, as we were leaving Perhentian Besar Island at 8am for Kota Bharu. We headed over to the open breakfast area at 7am and had coffee, juice, cornflakes and chicken–less nasi lemak(i.e. rice with just the fiery sambal sauce, nuts, fried anchovies and hard boiled eggs). It was an incredibly calm morning, and we just sat at a table on the edge of the beach, sipped our coffee and gazed out over the tranquil bay of Teluk Dalam one last time. The tide was out and the sun was rising. We boarded our small open boat at 8.30am (after waiting for the tide to rise) and then sped across the South China Sea towards Kuala Besut on mainland Malaysia. We arrived at 9am after a bumpy but enjoyable ride, and ... read more

This was not a good sign of things to come! We spent over an hour driving in circles, trying to find the east coast highway leading out of Butterworth, wishing we had hired a sat-nav. However once on the right road it was a great feeling to be able to travel at our own pace, stopping or diverting whenever we felt like it. The drive from Penang to Kota Bharu on the east coast was long and windy but ran over the mountains and through endless miles of high level rainforest and patches of mist. Having taken many a wrong road we eventually arrived at Homestay Pasir Belanda at dusk. Pasir Belanda is managed by a dutch couple in the grounds of a property built by an English merchant officer in 1912, in a small kampung ... read more