Blogs from Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia, Asia - page 5

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Asia » Malaysia » Kelantan » Kota Bharu March 6th 2009

Almost up to date now! Yesterday morning Mr Lee drove us from Kota Bharu to nearby Wakaf Bahru to get the jungle railway train to Jerantut, the first stepping stone on our way to the rainforest. The train was due to leave Wakaf Bahru at 6.33 am so we were first in line to buy a ticket at 6am. They only cost 12RM (about 2 pound 50p) each. We had been warned that, as the train is predominantly for locals, it was less than luxurious and that we should be prepared for an uncomfortable 8-11 hour journey shared with agricultural produce, crying babies, curious schoolkids and perhaps even livestock. Sure enough, as we boarded the train and settled into our filthy seats we saw people loading the train full with bag of fruit, vegetables and various ... read more

Asia » Malaysia » Kelantan » Kota Bharu March 5th 2009

Hi everybody, Sorry for the lack of blogs recently, we've been in the Perhentian Islands, just off the North East coast of Malaysia. It's a beautiful place but somewhat remote and lacking in internet cafes. We've just got back to Kota Bharu on the mainland and we're heading down to the rainforest in the centre of Malaysia (Taman Negara). The train is at 6am tomorrow morning and is meant to be one of the most beautiful stretches of train line in the world. Once in the jungle we're hoping to do some of the animal spotting activities and try not to get bitten by too many leeches, mosquitos etc. We haven't been able to find a decent enough internet cafe to upload pictures yet but as soon as we do we will add full blogs and ... read more

Asia » Malaysia » Kelantan » Kota Bharu February 26th 2009

The next morning Mr Lee offered to take us on a tour of the Buddhist temples around the city for 80RM (16 pounds). Although Kota Bharu is mainly Islamic, there is a Buddhist minority which takes it's influence from the Thai border just north of the city. Mr Lee told us that, although he was not religious himself, his father was a Buddhist and used to take him to the temples as a child so he knew where all of the interesting ones were. First was Wat Pothivihan, a temple dominated by a 40m long reclining Buddha, the second biggest in South East Asia. Second was Wat Machimarran Varran, a newly built sitting buddha temple with some interesting Buddhist art inside and finally, Wat Mai Suwan Khiri, a 400 year old dragon boat and standing buddha. ... read more
Reclining Buddha
Dragon boat temple
Amy inside the dragon boat

Asia » Malaysia » Kelantan » Kota Bharu February 25th 2009

Finally found somewhere with modern enough PCs to upload our pictures and a quick enough internet connection for me to write a couple of blogs without going mad! After getting the ferry back from Tioman to the (bed-buggy) port town of Mersing we went to the coach station to book tickets to Kota Bharu in the far north east of Malaysia, just under the Thai border. Unfortunately, we arrived back in Mersing at 10am and the coach didn't leave until 8pm. Ah well, a day to kill in Mersing. We mooched around, eating lots (more Nasi Lemak!) and surfing the internet at maddeningly slow speeds. Finally we wandered back to the coach station for a horrendous journey. Mersing is on the east coast but more than halfway down so the coach had to go almost all ... read more
Amy with Elly and Dayah
Pasar Siti Khadijah Market
Pasar Siti Khadijah Market

Asia » Malaysia » Kelantan » Kota Bharu October 14th 2008

The Islamic City of Malaysia. The eight-and-a-half-hour bus trip from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Bharu had only one toilet break - halfway. The temperature is 33 degrees celsius at 5 pm. Kota Bharu's claim to fame is being Malaysia's most Islamic city and all the women and girls are wearing the hijab. After finding a guesthouse, I relax with a nice cool drink of bottled air. Aaaah… air, which is Malaysian for water. There aren’t many tourists here at the moment; military conflict near the border to the northeast may be contributing to this. The lack of tourists suits me just fine as it’s a change from the busy scenes in Kuala Lumpur. A visit to the war museum was interesting and informative. ( more info: http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=47 ) Seni Silat and Wayang Kulit. (15/10/08)... read more
Seni Silat musicians
Hacky Sack (sepak bulu ayam)
The Royal Ferry

Asia » Malaysia » Kelantan » Kota Bharu August 23rd 2008

Wan Khadijah Market is a famous hexagon shape market in Kota Bharu. It is one of the most widely photographed market in Malaysia & mostly manned by local female entrepreneurs. Bargaining is one of the essential skill that one finds it useful in Kelantan as Kelantanese loves & enjoys bargaining.... This blog is dedicated to Wan Khadijah Market....... read more
Wan Khadijah Market 2
Wan Khadijah Market 3
Wan Khadijah Market 10

Asia » Malaysia » Kelantan » Kota Bharu August 23rd 2008

Kelantan is not only known with its variety of cultural but also famous with its unique food . The famous desserts in Kelantan : Jala Mas, Akok, Taik Itek, Lompat Tikam, Puteri Mandi, etc Other famous food : Nasi Dagang, Nasi Kerabu , Nasi Berlauk, Nasi Tumpang, Laksé, Laksam, Ayam Percik, etc. Nasi Dagang - it is based on red glutinous rice and is served with fish curry & raw pickles. Nasi Kerabu - it comes with blue color (malay), green color (chinese) or white color. Is eaten with raw veges (bunga kantan, lemon grass, long beans, beans sprouts, cucumber, daun kesum, big onions , petai, pineapples, black pepper & other types of herbs - all slice thinly) as well as "special ikan" (grill the fish) & fry the coconut flakes (kerisik). Mix well & pour ... read more
Ketupat Sotong
Jala Mas
Laksé

Asia » Malaysia » Kelantan » Kota Bharu August 22nd 2008

As i was in Wan Khadijah Market , i saw so many types of fruits & vegetables everywhere. So, i decided to take pictures & post this blog solely for it . Some of the pictures were taken from other markets as well. Here goes.... ... read more
Beko
Baby bitter gourd
Buah jering

Asia » Malaysia » Kelantan » Kota Bharu August 21st 2008

We arrived here by boat, and the water was SO clear, we had never seen anything like it, and we thought Thailand Islands were stunning, this was paradise, we went for the smaller beach, with less bungalows and shops/restuarants. We hired snorkels for the day and it was great fun, we saw lots of fish, I got very excited when i saw Nemos (Clown Fish), shouting through my snorkel, yes like a child! the water was cool and really calm. We have had to detox on this island, as Malaysia is a Muslim country there is hardly anywhere that sells beer! You can get a small can on the island, but its really expensive, and Stu said he cant just have the one can! We stayed here for 4nights, Dan stayed in his own bungalow next ... read more
Sunset
View from Jetty
Our Bungalow at night

Asia » Malaysia » Kelantan » Kota Bharu August 21st 2008

We arrived rather late (8.45am) at the Kuala Besar jetty. Kuala Besar is a small fishing village about 8km from KB town. Managed to capture some photos of the fishermen offload their fishes.... Was told if i would like to see those fishermen docking, then i should be around 7am ! Anyway, most of the fishes were snapped up by the restaurant owners !!! Sigh........ read more
Buying & selling
Fresh !
Cleaning up time




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