Exploring the west coast of Malaysia


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Asia » Malaysia
October 27th 2011
Published: November 23rd 2011
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We've had a fantastic few days, on an evening in Taiping (the first town of the British Malaysian colonists) we ended up meeting some very nice people. This was the start of a series of meetings with very special people on our journey through Perak (the region north of Kuala Lumpur).



The first people we met were two Chinese Malays in Taiping, Kathryn spotted them playing XiangQi (Chinese Chess) in a restaurant. Once we got chatting they were keen to tell us all about their local area, Malaysia; it's people, culture, and politics, a common theme between those we've met recently. After a long chat they offered to take us to the New Club (the first Malaysian golf club). Something must have been lost in translation as Kathryn thought they intended to take us clubbing and was worried we weren't dressed in the correct attire. It turns out that the golf club does have a dress code but it was our hosts who fell foul of it and sent us in for a tour of the place alone... at midnight!

It seemed strange what the manager was proud of; he presented the original Victorian urinals which were a bit smelly! Our hosts then proceeded to drive us around the town and point out various places of interest, calling their wives at home for more ideas and English translations. The following morning we were none the wiser about where places were in the town as we had a tour in the dark! Nevertheless their advice and insight into Malaysia was a great boon.



We spent a couple more days in Taiping trying to see the sights. One of our first ports of call was the Tourism office which was closed. However on trying to find a way in we inadvertently opened a door that hadn't been properly secured and entered the office! After having nosed around inside (seeing as the door was open!) we found they didn't have a single map of Taiping available!

Moving on from Taiping Kathryn had been planning to see the Mangrove forests since very early on in our planning of a route through Malaysia. So we headed to the coast, on our way we saw a charcoal factory, a bustling fishing village with lots of fish and prawns drying in the sun, and a slightly disappointing mangrove forest... the walkways and chalets were all under renovation! So now we had to find somewhere to stay as we'd planned on staying in the chalets.

We decided to continue on the route we'd planned for the following day. Town after town passed by with no signs of a hotel or guesthouse to stay at. As it was getting dark we'd pinned our hopes on Bagan Serai a decent sized town according to our map. We pulled over to ask if there was anywhere to stay. After drawing a few blanks we were approached by a young Chinese woman asking us whether we were backpackers. Being cycle tourists we haven't really thought of ourselves as backpackers but we had to admit that essentially backpackers we were. She explained that Bagan Serai is a small town (we hear this everywhere, no-one seems to think where they're from is of any significance in the grand scheme of things) and there was nowhere to stay but that she was willing to offer somewhere to stay at her uncle's house. She has also been backpacking and had vowed to help any backpackers if she ever had the chance, and here we were!

Jacqueline (her English name, she has both a Chinese and Malay name too!) convinced her uncle's family to take us on and they laid on the hospitality in style. They fed us a great feast and then played a few card games with us. An hour or so after the feast apparently it was time for supper, at which point we went to a local restaurant and talked about politics, family and travelling. As soon as we woke up it was time to go to breakfast were bowls of soup and fat Chinese sweets were offered up. It's clear that the Chinese know how to eat, it really was a culinary marathon and made up of great food.



Immediately on taking our leave of this very generous family we cycled round the corner to meet another extraordinary person. We had organised to meet David over the internet as he has a website all about cycle touring in Malaysia and offers to take passing cycle tourists on tours of his local area. He had ridden out to Bagan Serai early in the morning to catch us and take us on a scenic route to his guesthouse where we stayed that night. David almost immediately took us onto the side roads that were unmarked on our map which took us through paddy fields, palm oil plantations, seaside pathways, mangrove forests (Kathryn felt these were much better than the earlier ones we saw), hidden temples and fishing villages. Once again we got to grill someone about the cultures of Malaysia. This concluded that Chinese and Indian Malays all consider indigenous Malays to be lazy. In my own view I suspect they just don't value materialism highly.

The following day David again excelled in showing us new experiences and places. He guided us to a Batik factory, Pineapple farms and Dragonfruit trees. He also showed us a Toddy plantation. This could be considered the local firewater, essentially a coconut cider, it is produced and goes off within a day so you have to drink it at the plantation itself. The process involves tying a coconut flower closed and cutting the end off so that it produces a sweet secretion. They place a pot over this to collect it and start the fermentation. These pots are emptied twice a day into a large bucket where it continues to slowly ferment in the shade. They cut steps into each coconut tree for easy access. I really enjoyed the Toddy but also the Wild Boar curry they served up with it was fantastic.

As we intended to hurry along and get to Penang, David insisted on following us in his car (he was quite tired from the previous day's 70km ride) and carrying our bags to ensure we got off okay. Just as we were getting into Butterworth the roads turned into four to six lane nightmares with lots of lorry traffic. David stopped us, loaded the bikes into the car and took us the last few kilometres to the ferry terminal marking the end of a fantastic three days of travelling.



We crossed over to Penang, which so far as been an unmitigated disappointment in comparison to Perak, our expectations and the travel guide blurbs.

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