Cameron Highlands To The Beach....Malaysia

  The country of Malaysia has two main sections of land mass and a few islands. Peninsular Malaysia (where 85% of the population lives) is the largest area of the country and houses the capital Kuala Lumpur (KL); it sits between Thailand to the north and Singapore to the south. Malaysian Borneo is located to the east on a large island that it shares with Brunei and Indonesia. Most of the population in Malaysia are Muslim; who co-inhabit for the most part with Chinese, and Indian peoples. Although recent history has brought conflict between the ethnic groups in Malaysia, I found most of the people very friendly.
From the train north of Singapore


  When I first entered Malaysia I went from the KL airport right to Singapore on the train. Upon re-entry into Malaysia (by train) I did not really have a plan but to head north; when I look back on the trip I feel I should have followed the #3 highway up the east coast. On the way back to KL, I saw so many identical apartment blocks (very similar to Singapore); they appeared to contain tiny apartments; most with laundry hanging from the balcony. It was evident that the 7-11 convenience store chain had a grip on this country. On arrival at the train station I took a short taxi ride (7 Ringgit)to the main bus terminal in the middle of the city. When I got out of the cab I was swarmed with guys pestering me to go with them to this hotel or that resort, and "I give you special price"; the temperature was very hot. I had already got some glimpses of the city and it was crowded so I thought, "I gotta get out of here". I managed to fight through a crowd and loaded on a bus to Ipo with only 5 minutes to spare. I thought I had done the quickest trip to KL ever but I find cities generally have very little to offer me personally.

                        

  The scenery on the 200 km trip up to Ipo was good, the city itself is pretty dirty and there are warnings of danger after dark here, I walked the streets until about 9pm and the locals seemed very friendly; the hotel staff were very pleasant.

                          

 When I awoke at 4am I could not go back to sleep so I went out for some pavement pounding and saw first hand the prostitution problem that plagues this non-touristy city. I met so many transvestites who lined the streets, they were actually very sociable (once it was confirmed that I was not "that kind of guy"). It is peculiar that a Muslim country where many citizens follow Islam would turn a blind eye to male prostitution. Ipo was just a sleeping place so I headed to the filthy bus station in the morning to get a bus to the Cameron Highlands. The smell of urine was so strong, oil and grease seemed to cover many surfaces; and I hoped that the bus I was taking was not one of the junkers scattered in the yard.

  Outside of Ipo there are a lot of caves with small temples or shrines embedded in the mountain side. Once you pass the many unsightly quarries then the road climbs and enters a thick jungle environment. Continuing east there are many plantations and large nurseries; small villages are strewn with greenhouses. Many vegetables are grown along with roses, orchids, and tea; there are many tourist trips to this destination (maybe that is why so many locals were waving at the bus). The 2 hour trip up to Tanah Rata was incredible, I was feeling so lucky to have viewed the beautiful scenery on this day; the camera could not catch the colours but my naked eye sure could.

                         


                         


 The next day was a holiday so there were many Malaysians around experiencing the tourist sites. From Tanah Rata I walked about 5 kms looking for jungle trails and ended up at a tea house; I talked to so many people who were incredibly friendly.

  I met Rasali, his wife, and 2 cousins, they wanted to give me a ride back up the mountain from the tea house and I said no thank you. They give me their address for the north east of Malaysia and then they headed off in the opposite direction. I almost completed the 5 kms. back when they pulled up behind me, they wanted to take me for lunch in Tanah Rata.

                                             

 When I travel I try to be friendly (unconditional)with most people I meet; all they have to do is give eye contact and I will try to strike up a conversation (just to be sociable). There were so many beautiful butterflies around on this walk; an incredible array of all different types (perhaps they came from the butterfly farms). In Tanah Rata there were many foreigner women wearing skimpy tops when most all of the local women were covered from head to toe; I was told by a lady that she was hassled by the men;is there a correlation ?

  After a few days I headed by bus to Kota Bharu, it was a great trip over the mountains. At times the bus chugged as it struggled to climb the hills. So many locals in the villages smiled and waved when they saw me on the bus, for some reason they were amazed (even construction crews working on the mountain), which led me to believe that the tourists from KL take a different route. After a long, grueling, and rewarding day I made it past Kota Bharu to Long Beach on Pulau Perhentian Kecil. Although the day was long the scenery was great; probably the only sour part was trying to get the bus driver to let me out of the bus at the crossroad for the island (pulau) instead of having to backtrack the 60 kms by taxi.

                         

                         

   On the island (palau) I found a place at a typical resort (60 Ringgit) owned by a family; very similar to a common beach resort in Thailand or the Philippines. At 5am I headed out to walk in the dark and I could feel my tight legs needed a slow start; I had walked so much in the previous days.

                           

 When daylight came I was already at the end of a beach where the cliffs started to form out of the South China Sea. There were many big lizards so I tried to get close enough for a photo but each one seemed to move at the wrong time. By 10:30 I had climbed so much that I needed to go back to the resort for a break. I headed back out in a different direction in the afternoon and what an experience I had.

    I passed the 2 "alligator sunbathers" sitting on the beach and found some cliffs that were about 40 metres high, which I started to climb; the temperature was very high so the rocks were hot. As I was climbing there were many butterflies and dragonflies fluttering around....while suspended on the cliff a lizard came around a ledge and we were "face to face". I looked at her/him and she/he looked at me, it was like a standoff. My camera was in my backpack but I really needed both hands (and feet) to stay balanced. The sun was beating down on us and I wanted to continue my ascent so I blew air at the lizard a couple of times and it flicked it's tongue. Finally the creature turned and scrambled up the rock so I could continue.

   About 10 metres later I got to a spot that was too steep, I was a bit scared. While I clung to the rocks I remember my wife saying to me, "if you get into a dangerous situation then hear my voice!, you have a family at home." With that I gingerly retreated to a safer spot and descended the cliff; that was it for me on this day.....I was tired and hot, what a workout.

                           

   I needed a good sleep so I could make good progress in Thailand the following day but that did not happen. The fan in my room was too loud and the party hounds at the bar were yelling over the loud music.When I went out to the beach at 6am there were 2 girls face down in the sand. When I shook  them to see if they were okay they said "this is a party island". I got the first ferry off of Palau Perhentian Kecil and headed to Kota Bharu where I caught the train to go to Thailand. I wrote in my journal "next time I am in this area I will definitely come to Malaysia, the people are so friendly."