June 18, 2014

Georgetown

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People have told us so many times: “go to Georgetown, GEORGETOWN DAMMIT”. So we do.

What we didn’t realise until we arrived, is that Georgetown is just full of museums (boo), temples (more boo) and some street art. After 4 months, it takes a lot more to impress us.

So we get to Butterworth and take the ferry to Georgetown, followed by a few kilometers walking around looking for our hostel, Clockwise. It’s very new, very small and very nice. After the cold weather in Cameron Highlands, it seems even harder to endure the walk in what feels like 50 degrees with 25 kgs of extra weight on me. We make it to the hostel after asking like 5 people though – Indians in Malaysia are much nicer than the ones in India, I tell ya. Well, we of course have a nap after check-in and then go to a mall to go see a movie.

We do a stop at Watson’s to buy chapstick or whatever, when we run into Geoff from our dorm in SpicyThao, Chiang Mai! We chat for ages and he’s trying to convince us to come to Singapore with him, and he decides to tag along to the movies. I reluctantly agree to watch the new Tom Cruise movie, Edge of Tomorrow. The one where he keeps dying. Wow action much movie! Geoff smuggles in some whiskey, which I mix with my water and a multivitamin. I get a bit tipsy to say the least.

The following day we are on a mission to find the bigger mall in Georgetown, I’ve forgotten the name. We go to the mall from yesterday first and talk to travel agents, and decide “hey, let’s take the night bus to Singapore later!” That makes us run home, pack and ask for our money back for the nights we have already booked at our hostel. Needless to say, we aren’t so popular.

We then take the bus to the giant mall and spend like 70 minutes in Sephora and an hour in H&M, no joke. We also go for waxes, and I have a full-on normal conversation about shopping, travelling and age guessing while I am pantless and this person I’m talking to is touching my lady parts. Good times.

So after all this, we hurry home and book a hostel in Singapore before going to the travel agent to catch the bus. I am on it now, and it’s the best sleeper bus I’ve ever been on, so I’m confident I’ll have a decent nights sleep. Toodles.

Cheeky Snapchat from me

June 16, 2014

Cameron Highlands

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Today I’ve learned something new about myself: I become a cranky bitch when I have to climb a mountain.

We’re in Cameron Highlands and it’s so cold, I must wear this outfit at all times:

Sara and I have booked a half-day tour around Cameron Highlands, which includes a hike in a mossy forest, a visit to a tea plantation and a strawberry farm. We are told to jump on the same bus as our French roommate Jeanne, who has booked a full-day tour, but we don’t think much of it at first. 4 hours of hiking later, we realize that we are on the full-day tour too, but for half the price. Score!

The first hike is up a mountain, and it’s brutal. I am almost hyperventilating, sweating profusely and spitting everywhere like the total babe that I am. We make it to the top in around an hour and admire the view, before having to fucking climb down again. Ugh.

We also go to a tea plantation and cut some tea leaves – like trimming the hedges, basically. We have malay food for lunch, and then go to a Butterfly garden. It’s pretty cool, and one of the butterflies sit on my finger at one point, and I’m like ohmygoshiamananimalwhisperer!

Then we head to a strawberry farm, buy some souvenirs and have some of the berries. It’s delicious, even though I accidentally knock over my bowl of strawberries and cream.

Last stop is at a tea place with a view over some of the plantations. I have an awesome cup of masala chai, which I’ve really missed.

Jeanne’s polaroid of the beautiful view from the mountain earlier

So our 8 hour trip out in Cameron Highlands has been an exhausting success, but now I feel like I can stop feeling so guilty about being a lazy tourist.

June 14, 2014

Taman Negara

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SONY DSC Going to a 130 million year old rainforest with only a small village and no ATMs? It sounds like a piece of cake, really.

We begin our journey to Taman Negara early in the morning, by getting on a private bus. I have the pleasure of sitting next to a French guy that sleeps with his legs wide open and rests his head on my shoulder. 3 hours later, we are waiting for our jetty boat to our destination, another 3 hours away. The journey is beautiful, although it’s slightly uncomfortable sitting in a narrow canoe with no leg space whatsoever. We then have the pleasure of climbing a lot of stairs and walk around for what seems like ages to get a hostel. We regrettably settle on the first thing we find, Liana Hostel, where we share a dorm with Allison and Matt from England. We spend the night reading and enjoying the AC in our room as it is uncomfortably hot and humid here, before falling asleep.

The next day, we all get up early to go on a hike in the rainforest.

We get to the canopy walk, which is a few suspension bridges that add up to around 500 metres of walking. Every bridge seems to take us higher up above the ground, and it’s amazing.

After that, Sara and I hike back to the village to meet up at our travel agency, where we have booked a visit to the Orang Asli tribe. We get on a jetty boat to do rapid sailing – you know, where they rock the boat and sail as fast as they can while you get soaked. Then we arrive at the tribe.

Orang Asli means “original people” and is a tribe scattered around. They are nomads, so they move every now and then without warning. They live in simple huts, their chief is their medicine man, and they hunt and gather every day – only what they need, not more. It’s quite admirable seeing how they manage to live a life without greed.
The chief shows us how they make fire, and then he makes a few arrows for the blowpipe, their hunting weapon of choice, followed by a demonstration. Then our group take turns aiming at a teddy bear with the blowpipe – and I am pretty good. Surprisingly.

The arrow on the right, next to the teddy bears face? That’s mine! The chief’s is the one stuck on its face.

Taking pictures of cats, of course

At night, we go on a safari at a plantation. We sit on top of a jeep and the guide points a flashlight at everything in hopes of seeing some animals. We see quite a few: a slow loris, cows, wild boars, owls, kingfishers, foxes and… LEOPARDS!!

Blurry picture of a tiny animal that our guide assured us is a leopard

June 12, 2014

Kuala Lumpur

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After a very turbulent, over-prized flight with a cheap airline, we make it to KLIA2 and get a bus to KL Sentral. We have a late dinner at McDonald’s, which is halal! Shoutout to my muzzies in hurr (hi Albulena). Then we get on the sky train and walk around Chinatown for ages before finding Marquee Guest House. Then we pass out.

Close to our hostel

The next day, we wake up quite late and take our sweet time getting up. It’s just one of those days, I guess. We get a skytrain to KLCC, where we stumble upon the Petronas Towers!

Sara suggests going to the Convention Center to check out Aquarium KLCC, so there we go. At first, we can’t find the aquarium, and walk around a massive convention, feeling pretty out of place. By the time we find it, we are a bit disappointed to find out that it’s a total kids thing. It’s still pretty cool though. We see piranhas, sharks, spiders and all that crap.

We walk around the different malls in the city center before going back to relax a bit. Then we have dinner at a street kitchen in Chinatown, which is actually pretty nice, despite looking dirty. Tomorrow it’s time to go somewhere else. I don’t know the name, really, but there’s supposed to be a tribe, so I’m game.

June 11, 2014

Final thoughts: Cambodia

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Cambodia is a country I could see myself live in someday. Not permanently, of course. Prior to coming here, I read the book Survival in the Killing Fields, which got me really interested in the country’s unbelievably sad history. It is creepy in a way, seeing all these people on the street, knowing a lot of them have survived this awful event – or been a part of the Khmer Rouge. Despite this, they are among the most friendly people I have ever met. They are good at English, and the kids are adorable. No, really, I am adopting a Cambodian kid someday.

I would love to do social work here one day – especially in Siem Reap – but the party scene is so tempting too! Who knows, all that is certain is that I’ll be back someday!