March 12, 2015
Langkawi: Malaysia makes a good start
Unfortunately the ferry to the Malaysian island of Langkawi had no place to sit outside and the windows were foggy, so I used the hour-long sea journey to sit on my laptop and write. I got so into the blog post I was typing that I was almost annoyed at being disturbed when we arrived, before I knew it, at Langkawi. Stepping off the air conditioned ferry I was hit by a blast of heat and looked around at my first sighting of Malaysia. Langkawi has a reputation of being a tropical paradise and I could see why – beyond the large marina in front of me (are any of these yachts Australia-bound?!) were big jungle covered mountains that towered over golden beaches and azure waters. It was also exceptionally hot standing in line outside the immigration office with the other passengers as we waited to collect our passports which had been taken from us in Koh Lipe. Fortunately immigration at both ends was an absolute breeze.
Unfortunately, the breeze provided by immigration was entirely metaphorical, and offered little respite from the soaring temperatures. Instead I chose to dive into the sea just as soon as I could, which proved to be very soon indeed. Making a left turn out of the harbor I found an almost completely empty stretch of beach and didn’t need to think twice about getting into the water to cool off. As I was getting out and drying off a car pulled up further along the beach and I watched as a young couple got out. The man was topless, wearing nothing but a green pair of bathing shorts. He was in complete contrast to his partner - she was covered from head to toe in a black burka. I was suddenly back in the Muslim world.
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After my swim I continued on this road heading west where I’d heard about a waterfall, but instead ended up at a ‘geopark’ where cable cars took people high up into the mountains. Not being a bike or a boat I couldn’t really go in for that kind of business, but there was an information centre where I asked about the waterfall. The phrases ‘dry season’ and ‘600 steps’ soon put an end to my desire to see that too, and so I settled for a walk around the nearby ‘Oriental Village’ which was a collection of modern shops rather like an outdoor mall. Langkawi enjoys duty-free status, making it a shopping haven for those looking for a bargain. I was just looking for an ice-cream, but I soon found that and sat on a bench looking up at the forested mountains.
First impressions of Malaysia were that it was the most developed country that I had been to for a while, but unfortunately they hadn’t managed to develop any shoulders on their roads, a fact I noted as I headed north on a road through the jungle. When I wasn’t looking out for speeding cars my forested surroundings at least meant that I was able to participate in my favourite simian observation game, with some considerable success. Then things got a little less natural as I reached the north of the island where there were a few people about, but it did mean I could stop and get something to eat at a little café by the road. A couple of head-scarfed women and a man were running it, and they all spoke English. The rumours I’d heard about Malaysians being able to speak my language were thankfully true! They fixed me up a grilled sandwich, and asked me what sauces I wanted in it. “Mayo, Chilli Sauce, Cheezy?” one of the women asked me. “Cheezy?” I asked. “Yes Cheezy!” she was referring to the yellow squeezy concoction that probably doesn’t contain any cheese. I wondered if this was authentic Malaysian cuisine as a big dollop of it was added to my sandwich.
The people were wonderful though, as I found out again when I hit the north coast of the island and took another swim. I calculated that I didn’t need to cycle much more for the rest of the day, so after my swim I took refuge under the shade of a concrete shelter on a modern promenade and finished off the writing that I had started earlier. As I was doing so a young boy came over to use a nearby hose as a shower, fresh from a swim in the sea with his mates. He said hello to me, and then came over and sat with me as if curious what I was doing. “I’m writing a book” I said. He looked at me and snapped “NO” with such certainty as to destroy the confidence of even the most certain of aspiring writers. “I can’t speak English” he added, in perfect English. Soon his friends all came over to see what was going on and I had a whole crowd around me. This was when the potential for my new technique of taking photos with my webcam suddenly came into its own.
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Almost as soon as these kids got bored and left I was joined by three men from Penang that came and sat and talked with me. They were so friendly and it was such a relief to be able to easily communicate with people again after such a long time. A little later on I got another indication of the kindness of the Malaysians when I asked a shop assistant if she knew of anywhere nearby with wifi, and she let me use the shop’s for free. Apart from the dangerous roads, Malaysia had certainly made a good start, and I was back heading south with mountains on either side of me when it came time to camp. The foliage was so thick, and no doubt so filled with ants, that it seemed almost impossible to find anywhere to camp. But then I came across an area of land that was in the process of being deforested. It was sad to see the destruction but at least it gave me an ideal place to put my tent. As I waved my laptop around and took a very bad photo of it, I was aware somehow of the irony that even wild campers sometimes need man’s destructive hand to find somewhere to sleep.
Today's ride: 27 km (17 miles)
Total: 38,805 km (24,098 miles)
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