I have to gloss over my 2 days in Kuala Lumpur because I hated being in the big sprawling city (as I knew I would) and the only thing worth mentioning is my getting drenched in a bellowing thunderstorm after trying to navigate the city's highway streets towards KL's botanical gardens. Needless to say I hightailed it out of KL as fast as I could over to the east coast, where a friend from NZ had recommended lots of beachy spots. And thus began my extended stay in Cherating.
To the tourist eye, there's nothing that phenomenal or different about this beach town. Lots of eateries are boarded up, there's no fresh produce to be found, and locals seem to make their living off guesthouses or shops that sell useless crap like inflatable water toys. Besides taking nighttime trips to watch fireflies or see turtles lay eggs, there's really nothing to do but spend the days on the beach. And the beach isn't even the nicest one I've ever been to (Bali still holds that title).
However, to the eye that's been traveling for almost seven months and hates feeling like a tourist, Cherating was the perfect place to rest. When I arrived at Payung Guesthouse, I was met by a group of people sitting and talking outside, who welcomed me and invited me to dinner across the street. Turns out only one of them was actually a guest staying there, and the rest were a mix of locals and international people that visit with each other everyday. Everyone had their own reason for ending up in Cherating, but what we all shared in common was the inability to leave. And I got sucked in big time!
My first full day was spent with a Belgian/Nicaraguan fellow, and our mission was to find the 'hidden' beaches around the corner from the main beach, which we did successfully. The first one was a little beach surrounded by jagged but very climbable rock walls, and the bigger one took a half hour of jungle forest trekking to reach, but was well worth the effort.
As soon as we got back to the main beach, we were caught in a torrential thunderstorm. The wind obscured the beach while whipping everything else around. Bursts of rain forced us under some shelter and we stayed there for at least a half hour, with thunder thumping in our eardrums and lightning cracking over the ocean. The wind was so strong that it took down a big tree to our left, as well as one back at Payung in the middle of all the guesthouses! This schizo weather pattern of hot/humid days followed by evening storms continued for four or five days. Draws people together for more sitting around and talking, I suppose.
And socialize we did, one night over a BBQ, a few times over local rice wine called Tuak, and many many times into the wee hours of the night. Turns out that Payung makes for a very good watering hole. Even more so when they set up a covered outdoor living room right out front. Aside from the lounge, a few times I went to the restaurant/bar 'Don't Tell Mama' with people, and on one occasion to Little Bali located right beside the guesthouse, part karaoke house (apparently frequented by off key Filipino prostitutes), part horribly loud bar overlooking the river.
Animals were a common theme in Cherating, with lots of kittens milling about and constantly wandering away and being refound. One day a baby viper also graced my bathroom with its presence as I was just about to go to the toilet... they had to snare this little guy and throw him into the river.
On my one of my last nights I also went to see a ginormous turtle lay eggs on the beach. A tad perverse, what with the flashlight shining on the turtle's back end to better witness the wondrous miracle of plopping. Apparently they can lay up to a hundred eggs, sometimes more. For me it was more impresssive watching the giant moma struggling to cover the eggs and head back into the ocean. Such an ancient creature! We also got to release a bunch of baby turtles that the hatchery had reared into the ocean. Some little dudes strode confidently into the waters, while others pitter pattered about, bewildered on the sand. Survival of the fittest, sigh.
Otherwise, most of the days followed a routine of getting up just before noon, having banana roti canai for brunch, reading and hanging out, maybe lunch on the beach, followed by my daily 'bath' (yes those Malaysian waters are warm) in conjunction with the sunset. I'd never spent this much time in a body of water, especially in the ocean (and without knowing how to swim!), but this was a happy time spent frolicking in saltwater. One night as we swam we saw on the horizon lightning that accompanied the sunset, and each flash illuminated the sky with bright pink. Makes one feel very awed and insignificant. Anyway, nighttime ritual involved heading across the street for dinner with a various mix of people before returning to the lounge for more sitting around, drinking, talking. And next day repeat.
Hard life, eh? Somehow all the days blurred together and before I knew it I had to decide if Cherating was really the only thing I was going to see in Malaysia. Instead of going up or down the east coast to one of the islands I'd heard about (which would've deserved more time), I decided to go back west down to Melaka for a few days before staying the night in KL for my flight to HK. One frustrating travel day later and presto, Melaka.
Melaka used to be the capital of Malaysia and the height of culture, with influences from Islam, the Dutch, the Portugese and eventually the British. You can pretty much see everything in one day, which for me meant walking around Chinatown where I stayed and over the bridge to the Dutch square to see all the museums. A few were interesting, but they all contained the most important thing of all: air conditioning. And what with all the mix of cultures, there's an interesting variety of cuisine. I sampled some Baba Nyona food (a mix of Malay and Chinese) with a bowl of laksa noodles and dessert of Ice Kechang, which was kidney beans and corn under a huge thing of shaved ice and various sweet sauces like molasses. It was a bit much; frankly I prefer Hong Kong style red bean with ice cream.
The next few nights were equally tasty (but maybe not so good for digestion), including a trip to a satay hotpot restaurant. Big queue means good food, we reasoned. Instead of dunking your choice of goodies (tofu, beef balls, seafood, meat, fermented eggs, veggies) into boiling broth, they give you a pot of peanut satay sauce with various spices. Eventually everything tasted like peanut sauce, but it was yummmmy! Then my last night's dinner was spent at the Sikh temple for a celebration of a holy saint. Free delicoius Indian dinner, but slightly awkward being the lone Chinese girl. But no biggie, I consoled myself with peanut mochi at the Chinatown night market.
The big appeal of Melaka for me was again the community that I found having a few beers right outside my hostel at a funky little artsy bar. I found even weirder characters here than in Cherating, including an extremely flamboyant Malaysia man, a crazy French chef, a Karate Kid sensei type Chinese guy, a funny turbaned Indian.... what's up with all the old guys drinking until 3am every night? Anyway, somehow again I stumbled upon a place that sucked people in. I told myself, man if I didn't have a flight there's no telling how long I'd stay here. These people even convinced me to stay a third night and catch the bus on the day of my flight straight from Melaka to the airport (and giving the finger to KL, so to speak). So that's what I did... and again, no regrets!
It did mean a dragged out travel day though, as I started from 9:30am in Melaka, got to the airport by 12:30pm, waited five and a half hours for my flight (incl. delay), a four hour flight to HK, a couple hours commuting to Aunty and Uncle's flat, and then after all that it was ta-da, hello Motherland! .... and then crash big time.
I have to leave Hong Kong for my last post though. My last post! I can't even comprehend that I'll be home in a week. Best not to dwell on that and just eat my little piggy heart out.
