Malaysia
Malaysia pictures posted at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8KZt3Ddu0ZFA
Malaysia consists of two land bodies separated by the South
China Sea and a two hour flight. Peninsular Malaysia is connected by land to
southern Thailand which is the more developed region. The remainder of Malaysia
is on the island of Borneo which conjures up the correct image of winding
jungle rivers, orangutans, vast caves and Borneo’s indigenous peoples.
Combined, Malaysia is slightly larger than New Mexico. Malaysia has an
interesting hodge-podge of diversity living peacefully. This colorful blend of
people and cultures include Malay Muslims, Chinese Taoists & Buddhists,
Indian Hindus and a large number of indigenous people and a smaller assortment
of other races. My travel takes me from the northeast corner of peninsular
Malaysia onto the islands of Penang and Langkawi, down the west coast into
their largest city of Kuala Lumpur (KL; pop 1.5M) for a couple of days. From KL
is a two hour flight to Borneo. Borneo is the third largest island in the world
and includes the country of Brunei, two provinces of Malaysia (Sabah and
Sarawak) and one province of Indonesia. My eight days in Borneo includes five
days in the southern colonial city of Kuching (pop 500k), two days in the
interior jungle city of Kapit (pop 14k) and one day in Sibu (pop 255k), the
gateway to the Batang River. Leaving Borneo, I fly back across the South China
Sea landing in Singapore (pop 4.6M) which is at the southern tip of peninsular
Malaysia.
Georgetown, Malaysia - Day 14 -15, Tuesday –Wednesday,
February 5 –6
After two weeks in Myanmar, I fly onto the island of Penang,
Malaysia via layover in Bangkok. Penang Island sits in the warm Andaman Sea in
the northeast corner of peninsular Malaysia and has become the “Silicon Valley”
of Malaysia. Flying in, I view the large complexes of Agilent and other tech
giants with parking lots full of cars. I spend the two nights in the city of
Georgetown, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Georgetown is a colonial treasure of
narrow streets lined with shop houses, historic temples and mosques. I use a
combination of the free shuttle bus and walking to take in the architecture and
daily life of both Chinatown and Little India. The Chinese have ornate Kongsi
buildings which are a combination temple and meeting hall decorated with
dragons, statues, tiles and carvings.
With a large Muslim population, rules are stricter. At
airport immigration a sign states that clothing displaying the Quran is
disallowed. I stumble into a café and reflexology (foot massage) shop and the
sign states men will be persecuted if given a massage by a woman. Puzzling
though, I walk inside to get a foot massage and am told that it is really a sex
shop (prostitutes). The next day I’m a bit more discerning when entering a
reflexology shop. This shop is run by the blind and I am given a 45 minute foot
massage ($8) by a blind Muslim woman which spoke no English.
Penang’s cuisine is legendary; Indian, Chinese and Malay.
Restaurants and street vendors are abundant in Georgetown. My favorite though
was a street tea vendor with a wide assortment of iced teas including jellies,
chocolates or milk. Being typical American, I frequent Starbucks whenever
available. They have a delicious Hojicha tea Frappuccino which costs as much as
many meals I purchase. If only I had
invested in Starbucks twenty years ago!
Georgetown is home to one of the designated Lonely Planet
Top 10 Mansions of the world, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion. My one hour guided tour
of the 38 room blue mansion which we only saw a small portion since much of it
also doubles as a luxurious B&B. Cheong Fatt Tze arrived penniless from
China in the 1800’s and built a financial empire earning him the title of
“Rockefeller of the East”. This house
was the home of his 7th and most favorite wife. He married the
twenty-something when he was in his 70’s. She bore him two children. His will
stated that this estate could not be sold until after the death of his last
grandson, about 20 years ago.
Langkawi, Malaysia - Day 16 -17; Thursday –Friday,
February 7 –8
A three hour ferry boat ride, surrounded by Asian tourists
but calmed by the singing of Adele, I arrive on the Malaysian island of
Langkawi. A 30 minute taxi ride brings me to the somewhat lively beach town of
Cenang. I find a tidy private bungalow amongst a dozen brightly colored
bungalows in a little garden across the street from the beach. Shirin
Guesthouse ($17) is owned by a sweet Japanese lady married to a horrid Iranian.
At night I would gather with the other guests for chatter and we were all
appalled at the rudeness of the tyrannical man to not only his wife but to his
guests. I wonder if it was caused by a brain injury later in life. Otherwise,
why would she have married him 20 years ago? Here the electrical outlets are an odd 3-prong but I only have a 2-prong adaptor. My lady at the guesthouse demonstrates how to use my 2-prong. You merely stick a screwdriver into the third hole to “open” the port then insert your adapter into the two remaining prongs. Not to be tried in the U.S.!
Being close to the equator, the weather is hot and sultry and the sea is like bathwater. Needing more sunscreen, I was surprised to find a spray can of sunscreen costs $18, more than my bungalow!
Langkawi markets itself as an island paradise where the
Andaman Sea meets the Straits of Malacca. My purpose was to use it as a base to
get to the island of Payar Marine Park to snorkel. The marine park exceeded my
expectation with the variety of fish. Most of the coral was large, brown
boulder types but there was also an interesting smaller selection of coral interspersed.
We were told not to touch the Reef Sharks (duh!) of which I only saw two. Getting
to/from the park along with snorkeling was a nine hour day ($35) due to the
distance and large quantity of tourists transported to the island. I had three
hours at the beach of which I spent two hours snorkeling. Hijab (veils) on
women are common in Malaysia. I was curious as to how that tradition works when
snorkeling. That remains a mystery since I got involved in my own snorkeling
activities. Surprising was the hundreds of Asian tourists that came to this
snorkel park but hardly got in the water. Most that came in the water stayed
near the shore where there were few fish to view.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Day 21 -22; Thursday –Friday, February 14 – 15
Surprisingly, my over-night bus from Thailand arrives two
hours early, at 5:00 a.m. A two hour nap in my hotel room was in order before
setting out to explore the bustling and very modern city of Kuala Lumpur (KL).
Within an hour of my ramblings on the city streets, I received three warnings
to “watch my belongings”. I transferred
my backpack to my chest. The Chinese man on the bus looked around the bus to
see if he could spot any thieves. He decided there were none presently. Next I
saw a tourist robbed by a motorcycle cowboy. So don’t walk near the street
because the cowboys snatch your bag during a drive-by. At that point, I
dis-connected my camera from my neck and bag so if the bag were snatched then I
would not be dragged down the street by my camera strap. So an ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure. I had no incidents and kept all my
belongings. The first order of business was finding Starbucks and a green tea Frappuccino. Its “two-four-one” day at Starbucks so, I quickly find a homeless man to share my extra Frappuccino. K-L has an abundance of homeless so they were the benefactors of all the oranges I was given for Chinese New Year plus, leftovers from my meals. Next order of business was finding the Petronas Towers, the world’s tallest skyscraper until 2004. I first saw the Islamic designed twin towers on The Today Show which is what first piqued my interest in visiting Malaysia. Located in the business center, I am surrounded by beautiful high-rises and shopping malls and pricey boutiques. Preferring to see more history, I go in search of Chinatown, Little India and Merdeka Square. Merdeka square is beautiful colonial buildings from the days of the British rule. K-L has two free city buses that circle the significant tourist areas. Over two days, I take each line twice to get my bearings and view the sights. K-L has sleek transportation with light rail, train, buses and taxis of which I tried a sampling of each. K-L is complicated to navigate with no rhythm or reason to street lay-out and Asian street names which change frequently. But even with a very poor map, I was shocked that I found my hotel room twelve hours later without the assistance of a taxi. Once I got near my hotel room, I realized I had an excellent location near a walking street with scads of evening restaurants and many massage options. After a day of walking, I finished the day with an hour of foot reflexology by an Indonesian. The next night was a Chinese massage ranks in my list of Top 5 Worse Massages.
Chinese New Year lasts 20 days (Feb 10 – 25) so I’m here in the midst of festivities. Streets and shopping centers are decorated with Chinese lanterns and pink flowers and other holiday attire. Their holiday music is playing around the city and fireworks go off at night. I make a quick swing through Chinatown for food and shopping. The streets are filled with booths selling cheap reproductions of whatever. For $30 I can get a Rolex.
Malaysia is predominantly Muslim which means conservative in many ways. Many women wear the tudong (headscarf) and often, the long dresses. When visiting the National Mosque, I was required to put on a full robe and headscarf. Walking the streets is a cultural experience with the many forms of attire with many Muslim women in beautiful long dresses and headscarves. There’s also a smaller contingency of the stricter Muslim attire with the full-length dress and scarf revealing only the eyes. I was shopping at the historic City Market and was amused at a large group of “women in black” taking their photos while on their excursion. The curious thought occurred, if you’re all dressed the same and only your eyes are revealed, how can you pick yourself out in a picture?
Malaysia - Borneo
A two hour flight brings me to the island of Borneo which
holds two provinces of Malaysia. My visit is to the western province of Sarawak.
Borneo’s population is a mix of 200 groups, none of them a majority. Chinese
are 10% (the businesspeople) and Malay is 30%, controlling the politics. Within
Sarawak, indigenous groups comprise 50% of the population. The Dayaks are more
prolific as vegetable farmers. Long hair and tattoos of birds or spirits are an
easy way to distinguish them. The Dayak religion of animism (spirits) has often
been overlaid with Christianity, thanks to missionaries. The Iban comprise 30%
of Sarawak and were notorious as headhunters, particularly for Japanese during
WWII. The Bidayuh comprise 8%, living in the hills.Timber is a major export and sadly, Borneo holds Asia’s highest deforestation rate. It’s estimated 98% of the primary forest will be logged by 2022. So, don’t wait too long to visit Borneo! Oil and gas production is massive with off-shore fields. Shell Oil had its beginnings in Borneo. An unusual crop from Borneo is birds nest soup. The nests are made from the saliva of Swiftlet birds dwelling in the caves. The nests are retrieved, cleaned, dried and sold. To “cook” a nest, boil in water. It should be good for whatever ails you.
Kuching, Malaysia - Day 23 -28; Saturday –Wednesday, February 16 - 20
Kuching is the most cultural city in Sarawak. It’s a
beautiful, old colonial city with a lively Chinatown and a convenient base for
day trips. I spend five nights in the female dorm ($10) of the Singgahsana
Lodge. Much of the joy of traveling is about the fellow travelers passing
through a slice of time. I met wonderful travelers in this hotel. In my dorm
was Dee, a 37 year old Malaysian woman who grew up all over the world as the
daughter of a Malaysian diplomat. She has a law degree and also worked in the
same computer field as me. We spent a couple days exploring. In the evenings we
had meals with Ann, a social worker from Australia; Roseanne, and industrial
engineer from Netherlands; Johan, a physics PhD student from Netherlands; and
Mac, the hotel clerk of the Dayak race living in Malaysia. One night we also had
two Italian police officers join us for dinner at the Kelabit restaurant. One of
them enjoyed playing the guitar and singing Bruce Springstein songs at our
rooftop bar. The Kelabit restaurant was my favorite restaurant, serving only
vegetables and shoots (i.e. coconut and bamboo) found in the jungles of the
Kelabit Highlands. In our dorm, we also had a female doctor a couple of nights.
I met a Malaysian female attorney and confirmed what I learned in K-L. If a
Malaysian is caught with an un-registered gun, the penalty can be hanging. Yes,
in Malaysia they use hanging, not the electric chair. The first American I met
in Malaysia was a Mormon missionary from Salt Lake City. He is here for two
years. His partner is a Malaysian Mormon missionary. His mother was converted
to the church many years ago and he was raised Mormon in K-L. Next I met Sue,
the second American I found in Malaysia. We spent a day touring the Cultural
village and shopping and eating around Kuching. Sue was a Peace Corp worker in
Sibu, Malaysia forty years ago and has returned to see the changes. We
re-connected when we both traveled to Sibu and shared a room, taxi to the
airport and our day travels around the city of Sibu. Another interesting soul I met at the hotel was the 70 year old Chinese man and part owner. We discussed U.S. presidents all the way back to JFK. He seemed to like all the Democratic presidents although, he was also OK with Reagan and the older Bush. He very much likes Obama and thinks Hilary would do a fine job as the first female president. It’s amazing how many foreigners know more about American politics than our own citizens. Just watch Jay Leno and realize how ignorant many of us are about the wonderful country we are blessed to call home.
Kuching is an easy town to kick-back and enjoy the atmosphere. My first day was a thirty minute boat ride up river to the local market. The next day, Dee and I took the local bus to the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. We went at feeding time and were in luck with the arrival of “Big Mama” and her child hanging from her back. In this Center, there is no barrier or protection from the Orangutans. If the Orangutans get too close then the workers direct the tourists away for safety. That happened several times with Big Mama coming into the tourist viewing area. Once the workers showed me their prior injuries from protecting the tourists from Big Mama, I realized this is an experience I could never have in the U.S. One worker had a dis-jointed finger. Another man received 22 stitches on his leg.
An hour bus drive and a twenty minute boat ride on the South China Sea brought me to Bako National Park. It’s Sarawak’s oldest national park with primary rain forest and incredible biodiversity. Hiking the trails, I find the rare Probiscus Monkeys (only in Borneo), long-tail Macaque monkeys and wild boar. The trails were very humid and tiring to hike. Walking on the beach with the fresh breezes was a relief after being in the jungle.
Kuching has a number of free museums to tour. My favorite
rambling was in Chinatown and Little India. Each day, I went back to my Iban
women for a 30 minute foot and leg massage. They play 80’s love song music
which brought back memories of single’s dances from years ago. One lady described
her long work schedule. Her daughter drives her to work at 7:30 every morning,
picking her up at closing time of 8:00 p.m. She works seven days a week, coming
in after church on Sunday. She has just returned from Vancouver and a five
month visit with another daughter that married a Canadian. Her husband is there
now for a five month visit. With the cost of traveling that far, they make it
worth their while plus, I think the grandparents pitch in with babysitting the
three grandchildren.
Kapit, Malaysia - Day 29 -30; Thursday –Friday, February 21 – 22
Leaving Kuching, I take a classic river trip up the Rejang
River, the “Amazon of Borneo”. It’s a five hour boat trip over the South China
Sea to Sibu. From there, I take a “flying casket” boat for three hours up the
Rejang River to the main upriver settlement of Kapit (pop 13,000). Stepping off
the boat and milling around town I quickly notice that I’m being “noticed”.
There are few tourists and over the two days I do not see another Caucasian
much less, a white female traveling solo. The people are very friendly and
curious as to “where you come from”?
Arriving at 5:00 p.m. the town is closing up shop quickly. My hotel is
an easy block from the wharf and reasonable at $23 for a double, with bath. A
local boy helps me navigate the row of pay phones (only one works) with correct
coins to arrange a tour tomorrow to the longhouses. The various indigenous
groups live in communities of one very long building containing up to 100
individual family homes. A covered veranda goes the length of the longhouse for
social interaction. A long walkway also goes the length of the longhouse which
is used for drying rice, crafts and other agricultural ventures. The longhouses
are built high on a hill and usually near water. My tour guide is Christina, a Chinese woman with good English and knowledge of the local traditions. I find her in my Lonely Planet book. There is no tourist office in this town and limited options for viewing a longhouse. Christina picks me up at 10:00 a.m. and over the next four hours we visit two longhouses. The first longhouse was Rumah Bundong (10 miles from town), one of the few remaining traditional Iban wooden longhouses. Most communities have left their wooden longhouses and built more modern concrete longhouses. Bundong holds 60+ families and I learn “traditional” means very old (built 1880) i.e., walking across the open planks connected with bamboo was an adventure in hoping you don’t hit a rotted board and fall through. The cost of this tour was not cheap at $100 but it was well worth it because this showed me the true culture of earlier life in Borneo. The $100 is divided between the tour guide and the “headman” of the longhouse. Plus, the second longhouse has become savvy and charges $5 per picture taken. I’m Christina’s first tourist for the month of February (it’s February 22). Some longhouses allow overnight stays which I had considered doing from Kuching. After visiting one and talking to tourists that have spent the night, I’m quite happy with a short tour.
Christina gives me a tour of the “headman’s” house. He has been headman for 15 years via election. He will continue unless the community becomes unhappy with his leadership then they will hold a new election. As “headman” he receives $150 per month from the government for acting as the spokesperson for the community. There are no phones so each evening they use a short-wave radio to communicate with other longhouses or, government announcements. His wife serves us a pitcher of Sarsi drink which takes like a carbonated root beer. She gives me a large guestbook to sign which was provided by the government. Upon exam, I determine not many Americans have made it here. I’m the second American tourist in 2013; there were three in 2012, one in 2011 and three in 2010. It’s good to know I’ve gotten off the “beaten path”.
The Headman has seven grown children. Three of the boys and the daughter have married and moved their spouses into the house in addition to the wife’s brother. There are seven bedrooms (cubicles) so I’m not sure how that all plays out at night. My first thought was having so many people around with paper thin walls could be a form of birth control. But with the prolific families, I don’t think that is the case. Rather, I think the children learn about the “birds and bees” at an early age.
The old women in the community stay very active continuing to farm and other chores. I see very old women gathering firewood in a basket along a river bank, picking “hill rice” or doing the laundry. The longhouse is quiet since most people are away working. They may have farms in the local area or, they may go into Kapit to take their produce and crafts to the local market. Some work as taxi drivers or other trades. The children have an option of going to a day school or a boarding school. If the family cannot afford daily transportation then the children go to boarding school. The government covers the cost of food and board while the children live there Sunday thru Friday. The government did build a concrete school building at this longhouse for kindergarten ages.
The next longhouse is Janook Ulu Yong (20 miles from town). The name of a longhouse is the name of the headman. So it can be confusing to find using an older tour book if you didn’t know the headman had changed. This longhouse has a number of human skulls hanging along the veranda. The Iban (and other indigenous) were notorious for head-hunting, bringing home the head as the “prize”. With the exception of WWII, this practice ended in 1924 when peace was reached between the Iban and the Kayan people. As a compromise, the Kayan were moved up river to the Belaga area. The Kayan is the group with the long stretched ear lobes down to their shoulders, with large ornaments hanging from the lobe. During WWII, the practice of head-hunting returned with the Japanese on the island. For security, the families would hide their daughters in the attic or in large iron pots. The men would sleep on the verandah and the women and children slept inside the house.
Back in Kapit, I tour the museum (eight Americans in the past year) and Fort Sylvia. This fort was built by Rajah Brooke in the 1800’s and used as a prison by the Japanese in WWII. Kapit had an airport which was abandoned 20+ years ago and is now used for an exercise walking area. So, the only way in or out is by boat. There are lots of cars in town but the farthest you can go is 32 miles, ending at a longhouse in the jungle. Cars (and gas) are delivered here by barge. There is a block long line of cars waiting to get gas. There are only two gas stations and they ran out of gas a couple days ago. Apparently that happens a couple times a year. There’s a 100 bed hospital in Kapit with 8 – 9 doctors on staff which rotate out every year or so. Serious injuries require evacuation by helicopter.
My first night, I stumble across a wonderful Chinese restaurant. I had wandered through a few cafes looking at the food the patrons were eating since there were no English menus. I found a family eating some delicious looking food so I inquired as to the local name. The restaurant was owned by a husband/wife. She took me into the “kitchen” to show me the vegetable options in the fridge. I settled on pork and paku, a green plant growing wild in the jungle. Excellent! After dinner, I wandered back into the kitchen and spent an hour observing and chatting with the husband. It was an impromptu cooking lesson on Chinese stir-fry using a very hot wok fired by propane. I wrote my list of ingredients to use at home and will go by his rule of thumb of “keep it simple”. It’s not necessary to add a lot of spices and sauces. Just let the food provide the taste. From my observations, I selected my meal for the next night. It was wild boar, cangkuk manis (local green vegetable) and jungle fern. It was the best exotic meal of the entire trip and my first time eating wild boar. The Iban people shoot the boars and bring them to market daily to sell. Only the Iban (and other indigenous) living in rural areas are allowed to have guns in Malaysia. The boar was slow cooked in water and chicken stock and seasoned with lemon grass and ginger. It had the most amazing taste!
So that was the first meal of the evening. While wandering
town that day I found some Chinese boys practicing the Chinese dragon dance. I
learned there was a big show later that evening near the hospital. After
dinner, I wandered over there and it’s a huge banquet (200+ Chinese) hosting an
awards dinner and Chinese New Year celebration. I end up back stage just before
the show begins. Wandering out front to take pictures, a table of Chinese men
insisted that I sit down and join them for dinner. They were so very hospitable
continuing to offer beer, oranges, soup, meat platters, etc. The men were so
fancily dressed with black suits, white shirts, red ties and flowers in the
lapel. The banquet was an association of the Foochow Clan. The Foochow Chinese
arrived in Kapit in 1901 to escape the poverty and oppression of China. After
the entertainment of both Chinese and Iban dancing, the award presentation
began with lots of picture taking of the honorees. After an hour, I was
stuffed, exhausted and in need of a shower. I excused myself and walked back to
my hotel.
Departing the next day for Sibu, I get up early to wander
and see the bustling activity at the river front and the local market. I
discover another yummy drink, wheatgrass. It’s prepared with wheatgrass
concentrate, dairy creamer and water. I had two! At the market, I notice that
the liveliest activity is around a few men with five gallon buckets of small
chunks of raw meat. It’s the wild boar meat! Apparently, the locals like it as
much as I do. I pass through many cafes, observing the food on the tables and
at the buffet bars. I purchase my “take-away” meal for lunch on the boat buying
jungle vegetables and wild boar for my three hour boat ride to Sibu. I’m heading
back on a “flying casket” boat. The luggage is stored on top the capsule boat.
Passengers walk the cat-walk around the boat to get to the entrance. If there
are multiple boats, you walk the catwalk of each boat until you get to your
boat. The three hour trip is $10. I paid the extra $2 to be in 1st
class. I’m with a group of educators in Kapit for business. One man gets my
picture with him so he can post it on Facebook. Yes, a white female traveling
solo in the jungle of Borneo is a bit of an oddity!
