Advertisement
Published: August 29th 2017
Edit Blog Post
Geo: 5.41999, 100.337
Busy busy busy! The last few days have passed in a blur of bus rides, sightseeing, socializing and the odd beer. I'll start at the beginning...
We left Malacca for the 2 hour bus ride through mangrove swamps, palm trees and lush forests back to KL. Once there we decided to head to the Petronas Towers (there really is nothing else to do in KL!) as Ro had never seen them. We took lots of photos and spent 3 hours sitting by the side of the fountain talking to random people from Dubai, Russia, Spain, Serbia and Indonesia. It was nice to see the towers lit up at night, they're really beautiful.
On Monday I decided to stay an extra day in KL and went to Palau Ketam- the Chinese fishing village of about 8000 people who all live in houses on stilts. Getting there involved a short trip on the subway to the main train station and then 1.5 hours on a train. The train stations and trains all have 'ladies only' carriages which are a great idea in this country. So I got off the train and followed my instructions to 'cross over the tracks and find the
port' the problem was, the train had arrived at a middle platform so I had no idea which tracks I was supposed to be crossing! Some help from an old man later and I had found the port and bought my boat tickets. The boat was a little 20 person thing which reminded me of a tin can- it wasn't the most comfortable 45 minutes of my life.
This village was much larger than I expected. Bordered on 3 sides by mangroves and the other by the sea, it's primary industries are fishing and catering to Chinese tour groups. All the houses are made from wood and/or stone and are painted in really bright colors. They are generally single story and have a large courtyard/decking which some houses use as a kitchen, living room and wardrobe. Each house also has a small alter/temple and the island is full of random temples. There is one Main Street which has outdoor restaurants, clothes shops and not much else. No banks or post offices on this island! There are also no cars so bikes are the main form of transport across the creaky wooden boardwalks. I had a wonderful time wondering around, talking
to people, watching the fishermen prepare and unload their boats, and just generally enjoying being somewhere quiet after the madness of KL. So about 5 hours later I decided to head back to the mainland. About 30 minutes into the journey and the boat suddenly stops in the middle of the sea. There was a moment of confusion before I saw the inflatable speedboat marked 'police'. A few minutes later the police boat pulls up alongside and 5 police offices come aboard asking to see peoples IDs. Now I still hadn't collected my passport at this point and I'd forgotten the photocopy which I usually carry. After watching the police shout at a girl who had a plastic I.d. instead of her proper one I became a little nervous- at least she had some form of I.d! Anyway, the policemen quizzed me over my missing passport but then decided that it was too much hassle and paperwork to deal with me in the middle of the sea so let me off - I'm not sure what else they could have done.
Yesterday I collected my passport and then jumped on a 5 hour bus, this time through mountains, highlands and
palm trees, up to Penang. The bus was an hour late leaving KL as the driver decided to wait until it was full before leaving. Penang is a huge area and I wanted to head towards Penang Island, not the mainland. The bus driver stopped on the mainland and then told me to get on another bus just in front. I did, not really having any other options at this point- we were in the middle of an industrial estate. This next bus took me across the bridge to a bus station on the island. Great, I thought. Until we pulled into a bus station and no one could tell me where the local buses left from. I found some equally lost looking foreigners and we shared a taxi to the old town and our hostels.
Last night I ate dinner in a great food court- tacky Christmas decorations, live singers singing Christmas songs and food from absolutely everywhere. They even have quiche! I then met up with Ro who I was in Malacca with and we had a few drinks. Today it's time for exploring and then maybe heading to the beach if the rain stops.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.043s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 9; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0232s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb