I’ve been very surprised at the greeness, cleanliness and orderliness of Malaysia.
I was expecting chaos, rubbish-lined streets, restaurant orders gone wrong, bad food and hassle. I was expecting the latter because this is what other travellers have been telling me to expect. I actually met someone who cancelled her plans to travel to Malaysia at the last minute because she panicked. Were these people serious or have I been riding on a golden horse shoe?
I admit, the food hasn’t been the best–too much curry–and I was propositioned once, but I’ve found most people very professional and friendly; the kind that really want to help a person out without wanting something in return. Most people start in the capital, then head out to the country-side. I did the opposite, as you all know if you’ve been following this post.
1. Georgetown in Penang was a bit sketchy, but it had character.
2. The highlands filled with tea bushes were lovely.
Tea.
3. Did a few jungle treks, including the canopy walk in the Taman Negara Jungle. This is when I realized I was afraid of heights, althought that didn’t stop me from going up to the skybridge of the Petronas Twin Towers. Thank goodness that was only a 10-minute visit.
Walking on top of the jungle: canopy walk, Taman Negara.
The cool hillsides and humid, dense jungles were a nice change from beaches, to tell you the truth. But, I did miss the city-life, so I headed out to the capital, Kuala Lumpur, and have been wandering around for the past few days.
For a capital city, it doesn’t seem so polluted; I don’t notice much traffic or noise. Perhaps it’s because there are loads of trees and parks, and because the public transit system is so extensive…but so confusing! There are underground lines (subway), commuter trains (like the GO), buses (better than the TTC?) and monorails (like Disney World) and only a few of them connect, but it doesn’t matter because you can’t transfer from one line to another; not even going from one monorail line to another. Each trip is a separate fare, and most stops aren’t near a station…unless you’re going to a shopping mall, of which there are many.
Yeah, I wasn’t impressed. But no worries: I’ve been doing a lot of walking to start me slimming back down. Hopefully, it’s also helping with my endurance and muscle tone. I’m telling you, when I get back home, ifI get back home, I will be focusing my energy on a boot-camp regime…and finding a job, of course.
Random blurb: I had the best roasted chestnuts ever from Chinatown in KL. They roast the chestnuts in constantly stirred coffee beans. Dee-lish-us.
Chestnuts lie within the beans. They had just been removed here.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you of a Lego exhibit at the Petronas Mall. Awesome! How I love Lego…
Lego towers!
…and the real thing…
Petronas Towers.
m
Strawberries & tea. Delightful. (UPDATED)
May 29, 2009
This post has been updated from the original to include new content. New content in italic font.
I’m not sure if I’m in Malaysia or England.
I am in the Cameron Highlands, in central Malaysia. I wasn’t going to come here, but it’s on the way to my next destination, so it seemed logical that I make an appearance. I’ve been here four days, hiking and enjoying the lush scenery: tropical rain forests, tea plantations and strawberry farms…and the cold, rainy, foggy weather. I know many of you have had a rough winter, but, for me, the coolness has been better than 40 deg heat and 100 percent humidity.
My guesthouse has been so cozy, too, with a good café serving beans on toast, scones and tea (the tea in Malaysia is really, really good!) and common room showing movies all hours of the day. It’s been hard to move. But as I said earlier, I feel like I’m in England, not Malaysia.
I wasn’t actually staying in the colonial-era guest house. I stayed in the former army barrack compound on the grounds. It was a bit chilly at night, but I coped.
Rooms located inside the former barracks. Climbed the mountain in the background.
I went on a jungle trek a few days ago, and saw the largest flower in the world. I’d like to show you the photo, but I’m having issues uploading right now, so check my photo-blog in a day or two.
A bit too bright, but check out the size of the flower compared to the size of me!
The trek was fairly rugged. We had to take 4WDs up part of the mountain because the mud was knee deep, making the mountain impossible to climb. There were times we thought we’d slide over the cliff, but overall, that part was fun. Then came the actual jungle trek. All I have to say is I got a good workout and sweated out half my body weight. Once we saw the flower, we stopped off at a waterfall to cool off. I had to change into and out of my swimmers, which is hard to to when you’re sweaty–and I think I flashed a few people, but I didn’t care: the shock of the cold water was fantastic!
(Pause.)
I really didn’t need to write that last bit, did I? I’m getting so blazé about illnesses, nudity and toilet-goings. It happens when you travel in this part of the world. Anyway, that lovely 50-year old mother of four that I met had more energy to do this trek than most of us. Way to go, C___!
I got stung by a bee and I can’t get the stinger out. I don’t think it’s poisonous, but when I touch the area, it hurts, and several days later, it still won’t come out and it still hurts! I’ve been applying cortizone to try and take layers of skin off in hopes that the stinger will be more exposed, but no cigar. I’ll continue trying to remove it.
Notes of interest:
1. Tea is originally from Burma (Myanmar).
2. Malaysia used to be called ‘Malaya.’
3. Himalaya used to be pronounced HIGH-malaya. Malaysia is the low part of the mountain range, or low-Malaya.
4. Scottish families own the tea plantations here.
5. A “darling” of mine actually asked me if there were showers in my guest house. Don’t laugh–I know most of you are asking the same thing, along with do you have a hole in the ground for a toilet, are there other people there, have you been kidnapped by extremists, is there food, …
(Yawns.)
Sorry, this is the strangest blog post ever. I think I’m too relaxed to keep writing.
m
