I began what would turn in to almost a month's worth of time in Malaysia with the plan to stay only 5 days. For now I'll just discuss the first few destinations. My trip in Malaysia started with a couple thoughts. I guess I felt the need to be contemplative since it was my first day, July 13th, of traveling completely on my own. There were other backpackers around, but it was just me and the road, or so I thought. I wrote down two things in my journal. One: Traveling is a pretty selfish endeavor (looking at this now I'm not sure this is completely true as long as no one depends on you). Two: I must spend a longer time in a country to get a feel for the true culture. I guess starting my time in Malaysia with this on my mind led me to stay so much longer than I had first planned, but with nothing set in stone this is the joy of traveling solo. Regardless of this I arrived in Penang on a stop on my way to Kuala Lumpur and tried to withdraw money, but found out my debit card had been blocked by my bank, so I was forced to change some of my Thai Baht to Malaysian Ringgit even though I knew I was heading back to Thailand. When I finally arrived in Kuala Lumpur around 10 PM I had been traveling for 25 hours, starting all the way back at the night ferry leaving Koh Tao. My taxi to my hostel dropped me off on a bustling street filled with upper class bars. Serenity Hostel would turn out to be a poor choice for me, but I didn't know that yet. After staying out at an Indian buffet until 3 playing cards with some Westerners who were students in KL I retired for the night determined to get a good day of sightseeing in the next day. I managed to walk around much of central KL in one day, taking in many sights.
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| Petronas Towers |
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| Batu Caves, touristic and dirty, but still cool. |
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| Masjid Jamek (Jamek Mosque) |
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| Sultan Abdul Samad Building |
That night I met some other students in KL and after a couple drinks they were invited to get into a club for free. I jumped at their offer to join, and managed to get myself into one of the top clubs in KL wearing flip flops, shorts, and a t-shirt and with no accompanying girls for free. Luckily for me it was a beach themed night, so my attire worked. The next morning I had to switch hostels because Serenity Hostel was fully booked for that night, and it wasn't until I checked my bag at the guest house next door for my passport photos that I found out I had been robbed. My bag had been locked up, though it was easily broken into. Missing was $340, though seeing it the way I did they didn't take my passport, iPod, or camera so I was pretty happy. It could have been so much worse. The next day I explored more of KL, going to the top of the KL Tower. In my new guest house I met a cool Czech girl and a kind, effeminate Philippino guy. I attempted to get a Thai visa the next day, but the embassy didn't accept visa applications in the afternoon so I ended up running through the rain, without my umbrella, for a mile or so having been completely unsuccessful in applying for my visa. So it was determined that I needed to get up relatively early the following day to go apply. My new Philippino friend woke me at 6:30 or so to help me get to the embassy on time. I told him I wanted to sleep some more, but that I was cold because the air con was really strong. He asked to lie down, which I figured was harmless, albeit abnormal. So I scooted over really far and let him have his space. Before I could say anything he had lifted up the sheet, gotten under, and wrapped an arm around me. I could tell he was simply trying to warm me up, but it was affection that I didn't want. Caught in a position that left me very uncomfortable, but not wanting to upset him in case this was just a form of Philippino kindness, I laid on my stomach, pulled my arms completely in under myself, and faced away from him hoping that this was just some kind of shitty dream. Eventually he pulled his arm back away from my shoulder, and I drifted off to sleep confining myself to the far side of the bed, unmoving and cloistered from my bed companion. While my Thai visa got processed I headed down to Melaka to see an antiquated marine trading town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Two nights there was more than enough, and I started to realize how lonely traveling solo can be. I found myself fairly upset that I had no friends to talk to, no shooting the shit, no joking, no physical contact, except the unwanted kind. I was missing something. Despite getting to talk about indoor skydiving with a Dutch marketer for the only indoor skydiving facility in the Netherlands I was without conversation in Melaka.
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| Rickshaws vibrantly decorated in Melaka |
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| The canal at night |
I left early the next day to get back to KL and pick up my visa before heading to the Cameron Highlands. This is where my 5 day plan for Malaysia failed. The Cameron Highlands allowed me a much needed respite from the heat of the lowlands. Finally I had a use for my fleece jacket. I left KL at 5:40 and got in to the Cameron Highlands at 10:30 at night. I went around searching for hostels, and got turned away from at least three because they were full until I found the only hostel with availability in town around 11 PM. That next day, July 20th, I took an extremely scenic hike through the jungle and mud to the top of the highest mountain around. The top of the mountain was host to the most perfect weather ever. A slightly chilled mountain breeze and the heat of the tropical sun made for the most ideal temperature ever, and the scenery from a viewing tower made it all the better. I was very comfortable as I walked down a steep and winding road from the top towards a large tea plantation. Once I finally made it down to the plantation I was a fiend for pictures. I was amazed, and my finger carelessly pressed the shutter button. After exploring for awhile, and snagging a cup of tea at the tea processing facility my camera decided to corrupt my memory card, deleting my photos (I was able to recover them later).
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| Boh Tea Plantation |
It was getting on toward 3 in the afternoon and rain clouds were menacing in the distance. I decided to hitch my way back to town, and before I'd even left the tea plantation, having walked no more than 100 meters, a pickup truck stopped to take me in to town. I hopped off halfway back to the hostel to see a butterfly garden and strawberry farm, and then after snagging some dried fruit and passion fruit juice concentrate I again stuck out my thumb and was very quickly picked up by a Chinese-Malaysian couple. They were extremely kind, and shared information with me about Malaysian people as they transported me to my hostel. This was just part of the welcoming nature of Malaysia; people would ride by on motorbikes and offer a warm 'hello' as they passed. I went out to eat with some people at my new hostel, trying a Cameron apple which is a small, soft fruit resembling and tasting like a small melon of sorts. Supposedly they're only grown in that region of the world. That night I booked a ticket to Taman Negara National Park instead of heading back to Thailand thus continuing my travels in Malaysia.
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