Torn on the Platform…

 

A short taxi ride from the riverside hotel took us to Wakif Bharu for the morning train. The previous evening we had discovered that our plan of getting off at Kuala Krai and taking a boat up the river to Dabong was not possible as this service was not operating. Instead, a little torn, we purchased tickets for the end of the line, Gua Musang, continuing on into the internal jungle heart of Malaysia.

It got obviously more greener and more and more remote, calling at smaller and smaller platforms along the route until finally we got to the end of the line. At Gua Musang it was the same story, because of Ramadan everywhere is closed up. Another rethink outside a small shop to get some provisions and we were off again, this time by ‘Grab’ car as our decision was to continue on to have a look at the Cameron Highlands.

The road was pretty windy and bumpy so it was a relief to arrive at Tanah RATA in one piece but along the way we had witnessed the intensive ‘growing’ areas where Chinese companies were covering the hillsides in plastic sheeting to cultivate vegetables and plants on a massive scale of production that was unnerving.

The Cameron Highlands read well, a lovely area full of cultivated tea plantations..this was not the welcoming sight as we pulled into Tanah Rata. It was a mess of sprawling towns with little to attract an audience. 

We ate at the local nightly food market in the centre of Tanah Rata made the decision to leave the Cameron Highlands in the morning, slightly dissatisfied.

Hopefully a bit of Jack Penate will make amends!

Blue Monday…(or Tuesday)…

Blue Monday I’m afraid…following a great weekend of bone idleness and mooching about it’s time to get back to it. 

The morning alarm needed to be set to make the pre arranged meeting for 09:00 with strong coffee ordered to wake the brain. 

We have only ourselves to blame for this early start…we are heading out to the one of the tiny Perhentian Islands.

After an earlier mishap at the morning buffet where I ended up with bread and butter pudding with salad cream?, “the cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast!”, it was time to go!

  

Our man arrived on the hour and took us to the RV point where 450cc of 4 stroke twinYamaha unbalanced horse power was waiting to whisk us on a 45 minute bouncy speedboat ride. Departing from Sungai  Setiu river Jetty it is the only way to access this tiny piece of exclusive aquamarine paradise on Lang Tengah Island, a marine conservation area for turtles and our destination for the next few days.

   

Snorkelling 🤿 about in the shallow clear waters the baby sharks chase the shoals of tiny fish by the jetty. The coral isn’t brilliant here, unfortunately bleached white and dead but the beautiful turquoise water is fab for poking about in.

 

It’s early in the season so once again very quiet and relaxing with not many tourists about to annoy us…time to put my feet up…!

Is that Blue enough for you?

Blue Monday is New Orders quintessential classic song…

Which way will I go…?

Now we are 200km further north to spend the weekend in Kuala Terengganu in the next state. 

We have discovered the ‘Grab’ car service for getting out and about now and it’s easy and cheap and a little fella turns up in a few minutes and takes you where u want. It took only a speedy 2 1/2hrs to get to the next accommodation with a great friendly and helpful driver, Azimi.

 

It’s a riverbank town and small enough to have a good mooch around where we found the vast market area of Pasar Payang, visited the state museum, the Masjid Kristal 🕌mosque and the great structure of Jambatan Angkat bridge which is the main landmark of the town.

The streets are full of food stalls so it’s a great choice of eateries so we will dine on the street in Chinatown.

Enjoying the hotel pool in the afternoon gave us loads of time to wonder which way to go next…??

 

Tonight, the streets are ours…

I can’t not choose at least one Richard Hawley track for this blog so here’s a track off the wonderful album ‘Hollow Meadows’ called ‘Which way will I go?’ and another off ‘Lady’s Bridge’ entitled ‘Tonight, the streets are ours’…so enjoy both to cover this post.

Across the water…

After breakfast it was time to head off.

We have decided to head 30km up the coast to have a look at Cherating. 

During the previous monsoon months it’s a lively surfing area but as it’s summer and hot now there will be no surf and it has a more tranquil and chilled vibe. We have booked a small chalet a few yards from the beach, Casa Lena, to unwind and hang out like a couple of old surf dudes ready to undertake some serious beach-front slacking.

Across the water is the other side of Malaysia, Sabah & Sarawak and when the tide turned and came in towards us, the warm south China sea was lovely.

We used Booking.com for this one instead of sourcing it ourselves but it wasn’t like the photos portrayed, but it will have to do just for one night.

Malaysian folk are quiet souls and all seem relaxed and gentle so this place was perfect for us….

That is until….

…the Hells Angel’s hit town!

A load of Malaysian lads having a meet up to show off their ….Honda 90’s?..

A perfect chilled track to relax to so enjoy this tune by Vashti Bunyan

Lost in the dream…

Today feels different, the atmosphere feels charged with devotion, spirituality and divine energy…

It’s probably because it is Maha Shivratri, a big party day on the Hindu calendar and is celebrated every year with a lot of pomp and grandeur as it is of great spiritual significance.

The festival falls on the 14th day of the dark (waning) half of the lunar month, a day before the new moon and Lord Shiva, one of the cosmic gods and father to old elephant nose, Ganesha, who was also the founder of this occasion. 

Lord Shiva has 3 eyes, four hands and wears a serpent around his neck as a scarf and often carries a trident so he can be easily recognised.

I sincerely hope it’s not a religious scam,  but today Iv decided to take up the offer of following the path of inner peace, to overcome ignorance and attain self realisation, absolve negative karma and give myself  a new direction in life…what do I have to lose?

Iv started the day by forcing myself to lie on a hard, wooden slatted surface, half naked, to endure the blazing Malaysian sun while reciting my mantra, chanting “Mojito ,Mojito Mojito” at various times throughout the day in order to summon up the gods of thirst and retribution.  

Upon my return from dunking myself in the salty waters of the South China Sea, from the next door bar,  I could hear “Never Gonna give you up” by Rick Astley…so enduring this self flagellation, it brought me on a trance like stupor journey into the afternoon.

Later that day…

It just so happens that the polite management of the establishment, that we have fortunately graced with our presence, has formally granted Mr Gary +1, an invite to tonight’s VIP function, to celebrate the grand occasion and to dine on the obscene amount of food prepared by the staff and served in the grounds of the hotel. Approximately 200 guests arrived and were ushered in past the security and the photographers. We followed dutifully as instructed….

…At that point, we enquired again what the occasion was as it was no longer what we had originally thought and it turned out that a large part of it (all of it) had been lost in translation when we had arrived a few days earlier…

Anyhow, we enjoyed the event for ‘International Women’s Day’ (a day early) and the gargantuan showpiece of an Indian buffet to promote the hotels catering facilities that guests can book from next week to celebrate evenings with their families during Ramadan…

Today, the path was misleading, tomorrow we are back on the road to nowhere…

Enjoy a live version of this song from one of my favourite bands, The War on Drugs.

 

Fools Gold…

After a hearty 5* breakfast and a repack of Stratos & Altus, it’s  time to leave the skyscrapers behind and slither out of town like a couple of snails. Taking the now familiar KL Rapid monorail from PWTC was easy and ten stops later we were at Bandar Tasik Selatan, a transit stop for the bus station. Here we bought 2 tickets for 22 ringgits (£4 each) for seats 4&5 on the next big pink bus to Kuantan, about 4 hrs away, on the east coast of the Malaysian peninsula.

Onboard, the coach journey took us up out of KL, past the struggling wagons, on the steep climb up over the Genting Highlands. The main E8 was busy today so time to just sit back and take in the scenery.

I spy with my wonky eye, something beginning with P…?

“PALM OIL”….correct, in obscene amounts! Miles and miles of the damn stuff! Malaysia grows about half the world’s supply of Palm oil in its monoculture plantations which has had a major impact on the eco system in these parts and imports are rightly banned in most other countries outside Asia…Fools gold.?…u decide…rant over!

Arriving at Kuantan we got off and then caught the local bus from the main terminal into the city but by then we had decided to head out to the coast so directly hopped on the awaiting 600 local bus to Beserah beach. During an air-con coffee stop we hailed a ‘Grab’ to our destination of choice at Oedema Beach Resort https://adenaresort.com Here we got a swell reception by the management who let us book online using their wifi so we got a cheaper rate…Booking Geniuses!

Fools gold by the Stone Roses

Perfect Blue Buildings…

 

The decadent Sunway Putra hotel has given us some 5 star luxury on arrival in KL and time to rest and readjust. It’s absolutely massive with its 650 rooms, pool and shopping mall but not big by KL standards. 

Some of the erections here are impressively huge and last nights walk to the Penis Towers did not disappoint.

A trip to KL wouldn’t be complete without catching the KTM train to see Batman’s Cavernous Cave and temple complex, neither he or Robin we’re at home but it would have been disrespectful not to have made the short trip. 

 

He did have 42 metre high statue of Lord Murugan which makes him the biggest Hindu in KL..

 

Enjoy a nice old chilled track from the Counting Crows