Pulau Langkawi 26km long 03.02.10

nothing like a beachside sunset

toucans frolick in a tree on the main tourist street/ cheeky monkeys on a local island

one of the stunning surrounding islands/ the most scenic beach rubbish we've found

Langkawi is the final island resort before Thailand. From here to cross into Thailand by boat is the safest border crossing (on the Eastern seaboard there is ongoing unrest due to continued Muslim attacks). Pace of life is noticeably slower as soon as you arrive on small islands. We take a cab out to Pantai Cenang on the opposite side of the island and arrive at our lodge ready to relax and hit the beach. There's a long strip of tourist oriented restaurants and tour companies and most people here seem to be on their two week short break. There are some old time hippy travellers here too who enjoy the laid back Malaysian way of life. We're going to be island hopping for the next week or two as we make our way up through the Andaman Sea so I'm sure we'll become accustomed to this type of existence! The only downside to all this sun, sea and sand is the anonymity of being 'just another whitey'. You miss the traditional ways of life and the culture on te mainland. But we'll be going back to the mainland, possibly for Chinese New Year on the 12th, so we can enjoy this little holiday experience with all the other tourists. We take an island hopping boat tour to see three offshore islands and the giant sea eagles which are only to be found here and another few places round the world.

more photos from Georgetown

beautiful pink bed in a Baba Nyonya mansion house

entrance hall

rear courtyard with striking colour scheme

Georgetown, Penang 01.02.10 - 02.02.10

Georgetown is the capital of the Penang Province of north western Malaysia, the majority of which is on an island, Pulau Penang. Georgetown sits on the corner of this island and is connected to the mainland by one of the longest bridges in the world and a ferry service. It's history lies with the era of the Dutch East India Company and subsequently found itself under British rule which made the port town very wealthy. There are many historical buildings realting to this era including and Anglo church, convent and the strategically located Dutch fort which occupies the outermost point of the city's peninsula. It certainly exudes a much wealthier air than the rest of Malaysia with bigger cars, cleaned up and renovated buildings (they're working really hard to maintain it's UNESCO World Heritage status) and the signs saying you'll be fined 500RM if you drop a piece of litter are certainly a new feature of street life. Everyday life in the Chinatown district where we're staying remains pretty much the same as other places we've been however. People work hard, bringing out all their wares on to the street to sell, setting up food stalls to sell cheap food all day. It's a struggle to make ends meet here. It's amazing to me that so many products are still handmade in shops on the street, like hammering out metal trays and vessels, weaving rattan furniture, making wooden blinds and welding ironwork for architectural projects.

The street is a truly creative place. And most shops and stalls have a shrine, or blessing place where candles are lit or even fairy lights are hung to bring good fortune to the owners. People know each other on the street, saying their hellos as they pass and look out for one another, which becomes obvious in the way they help their elders and less able. It's uncouth to raise your voice in this country and I have yet to witness an argument or act of maliciousness.

a family temple in the side wing of their mansion house

We enjoy visiting two of Penang's old mansionhouses which were occupied by wealthy Baba Nyonya professionals.

intense blue of the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion house- gable roof end

The Cheong Fatt Tze mansion has won awards for its careful restoration and presentation to the public. Cheong Fatt Tze was one of the most renowned figures in South East Asian business in the time of the colonists. He left his home in China aged 16 to seek fame and fortune and found it in Indonesia under the Dutch East India Company. Although not academically trained they saw potential in him to become a spearhead in the community and subsequently went on to become official head of several institutions within the country, education being one of them. Not satisfied with these achievments he moved up to Malaysia where the British were in power and set about showing his skills here. Again they granted him high status and it was here in Georgetown where he sought to build his favourite home. The road, now called Jalan Leith by the British, was then named Lotus Lane because of the lotus flower that was known to bloom there, so, with the lotus flower being one of the best signs of good luck to the Chinese he decided to build his mansion here. He built it according to the rules of Feng Shui, a living tradition which has been linked to the folk religions of China. There must be wind and water coming in to the house, therefore an open courtyard in the centre of the house was imperative. The wind symbolised movement and the winds of change, to keep the place healthy and not stagnant. And the water, which fell as rain into the courtyard symbolised wealth, so the more water the more wealth. Chinese are inherently driven by the pursuit of wealth! As he was living outside traditional China he was able to break traditional Chinese rules of architecture and interior design. He chose to impress his colonial buddies by bringing in specially designed English floor tiles and stained glass windows and Scottish wrought ironwork in the form of impressive spiral staircases and window tops. Unfortunately, having bequeathed all his numerous properties and businesses to his sons, they chose to sell them all and the mansion fell to ruins. It was only in 1989 that it was bought back by the Malaysian Tourist board and restored to its former glory.

I love the Chinese embroidered curtain drapes and bridal beds and the intricately carved wood relief with gold leaf. The Chinese fok religions are very much alive here with the significant Chinese community attending their temples and praying to their ancestors by lighting candles, incense and presenting gifts of fruit and flowers. And, with the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations of the year of the tiger there is an anticipation and excitement in the air, just like the run up to Christmas.

more photos from Cameron Highlands

our nice tudor style hotel in Cameron Highlands


seed pod seen on our jungle trek

the enchanting mossy forest

tropical blooms in the Crazy Plumber's own garden

The Cameron Highlands 30.01.10 - 31.01.10

view from the crest of the hill on our trek/ The Crazy Plumber's own garden

We transfer by minibus to the cool tranquility of the Cameron Highlands tea plantations set in the jungle covered hills in western Malaysia. Choosing a tudor-style traditional guesthouse proves instantly rewarding when we spy a chalkboard sign saying 'Homemade tea and scones served!' There's nothing like a good cup of tea, so it's imperative we stock up while we're here. They don't pick by hand here though, like in Sri Lanka. They use a piece of machinery which still needs to be held above the plants by two workers, but it takes off all the top layer of leaves and stalks and this has to be sorted through back at the plant. In Sri Lanka the top grade of tea, the gold tip, comes only from the young leaves, specially hand selected, but this selection process is virtually impossible here, using the mechanisation. We come to the conclusion that Malaysia is a much more developed country than Sri Lanka and the career of a tea picker would not be acceptable as its back-breaking work and the pay would be too low. We opt to go out into the depths of the jungle again to see how different it is to Taman Negara and book a local guide to take us. Now begins a very memorable part of our stay here. Our guide, the 'Crazy Plumber', as he calls himself, does not actually want to be a guide. He gets labelled a botanist because of his discoveries of new orchid species but he just enjoys being out in the forest, observing the plants and looking out for any new varieties he's not come across before. He doesn't like to be called a botanist because he's not formally trained, but, as we learn throughout our enlightening jungle trek, he holds an intense passion for plants and cultivation. He's been internationally acclaimed for discovering new species of orchid and we have the distinct privilege of viewing two of these rare beauties in their natural habitat. He brings us to them, exclaiming that he's not ever seen this particular one grow to such a height.

He's keen for us not to report back to the tour operator on the places he's taken us today because he feels protective of their secrecy and wishes to maintain their beauty by preventing too much foot traffic passing through. He is scathing of other guides who tear down the plants if they should encroach the trail. He shows us a patch of ferns which he was nurturing and they'd recently been cut down, he believes by a local guide who must be unaware that if a fern is cut at the merry stem it will not grow back. The forest is not protected and we're appalled by the news part of it is to be cut down for building development.

The Crazy Plumber tells us he's also a smuggler, removing samples of certain species from the forest to cultivate in his own extensive garden. He knows this is unlawful but believes that if he did not do this, rare species may be lost when the developers come. He occassionally sends pieces to botanical gardens at Kew in London and other parts of Europe for recording and further cultivation. He's very knowledgable on the identification of species and shows us a hoya which is almost indistinguishable from a vine. We learn about how to grow orchids from shoots, the difference between types of liana vines and get to smell the various leaves from the cinnamon to the 'deep heat' plant. The forest is enchanted. It's much more alive with flowers than the Taman Negara rainforest and if we came back in the month of June, the orchids, which are everywhere, would be in bloom and it would be a beautiful setting.

Taman Negara Malaysia's 130 million year old Rainforest

27.01.10 - 29.01.10

We depart Kuala Lumpur by minibus to Taman Negara National Park, four hours north. We're going on a tour with a local company we booked in Chinatown and they take clients up to Taman Negara every day. It's one of the most popular trips outside K.L. aside from the Cameron Highlands (we're there going next). When we reach Jerantut, the 'entrance' town to Taman Negara we change to a riverboat, or Sampan, to journey two hours upstream to our accommodation at Kuala Tahan. Kuala Tahan is a small settlement on the banks of the Sungei Tembeling comprising mainly of hotels, restaurants and boat tour desks. It's a relatively new set up.

They're still building new places and the cobbled beach with only a few higglety pigglety steps up suggests its in the process of development. It's all here for the tourists visiting the park and we do hear that ten years ago it was in fact a traditional tribal settlement. These bits of information do make you feel a bit guilty to be part of the destruction of a way of life and sanctity of the forest. We're allocated a room in the Teresek View motel and we have our own toilet! This is more luxurious than staying in a city. The walls could do with a paint though! but you can't complain. We head back down to the riverbank for dinner on the Mamachop floating restaurant then we're driven across the river by sampan to enter the National Park for our night jungle trek. Amar, our guide, takes us into the rainforest, forewarning us of leeches and big ants. The leeches come out after rain and are attracted by the vibration of movement on the ground. They're much smaller than the ones you get in rivers but they'll still try to get inside your shoe to have a little suck of your blood. Some of the bigger ants can bite you and leave you feeling quite ill. Amar finds stick insects, spiders, scorpions, a snake and a moss deer for us to view. He tells us there are bigger animals in the rainforest, like leopard, tapir and tiger, but they have moved deeper into the jungle since the daily tours of visitors started. The following day we are taken on a guided hike to Bukit Teresek from where we have a pretty good view across the miles of rainforest. We find the noises from the trees to be very interesting, from what could be the call of a gibbon in the distance to closer exotic bird songs and the intense alarm sounds and clicking of the sekada. The humidity is high in the jungle and all our party are dripping in sweat before long. Before going back to Kuala Tahan for lunch, we try the canopy walkway, a rope swing walk through the tree tops for 450 metres.

It's a little rickety in places and I plan how to grab hold of the rope if the bridge should break in two! After lunch we pile back in the boat to go upstream through the rapids and it's all part of the experience for the driver to rock the boat as we go through the waves to get us all soaking wet! Herman, our guide, finds this hilarious because he's remained dry in the front of the boat. We arrive at our destination upstream, the Batek tribal settlement. As part of the tour we're visiting this aboriginal tribe to see how they live and for them to demonstrate some of their skills to us. Herman assures us that he has already asked the chief this morning if it is acceptable for us to visit and that if, for any reason, he chose not to let us, he would respect the chief's wishes. The Batek tribe are a nomadic tribe who live in the Taman Negara National Park and are the only people allowed to do so. They have been given a special pardon from the government to live and hunt here. They move around every few months when the food supply dries up and they may return to the same place every few years. They are only eight families in this small village but there are other factions of the tribe living in other parts of the forest. Their houses are made of palm leaves and will be left to degrade when they move on, Each time they move they build new houses. They still hunt, using blow darts and fish for food, but they have been introduced to money, which they use to buy clothing and fruit from Kuala Tahan. They didn't used to wear western clothing though and the plastic litter on the village site shows how the modern world conflicts with traditional tribal life. The palm leaves of the houses will biodegrade but the plastic will not. Herman tells us that the Batek people choose this lifestyle. With the introduction of money they could choose to leave behind the traditional ways, but they choose not to. Instead choosing to live in the same way they have for years but with a passion for learning from the outside world. Herman asks us if we feel awkward here. When we're silent in response he reassures us that the chief and his people are proud of their way of life and want to show us how they do things.

It's okay for us to walk around and take photos if we want to. And, sure enough, the chief is full of smiles and jokes for us and encourages us to take a shot at the blow dart

and Greg even has an attempt at making fire. We take a walk around to see the women, babies and children in their houses and they are very accommodating to us taking photos and gawking at them! We make sure we try to communicate, saying 'terima kasih' (thank you) at every available opportunity. On the whole it was a very warm hearted and welcoming experience because we felt they did actually want us there. I'm sure, in many tribes, visitors are not so welcome.

more photos from Kuala Lumpur

monkeys love raiding through litter at the side of the streets

photos from Chow Kit Chinese Market