Week 3 and 4 Malaysia

I spent a night by myself in Manila before going to Malaysia. It was ok, but uneventful. I didn’t like walking around Manila much. It’s a very dirty city with no side walks and little to do if you only have one night by yourself. I got a taxi to the airport, he over charged me but I wasn’t in the mood to argue. The plane ride was about 3 hours long when I landed in Kuala Lumpur I could already see a huge difference. First the airport was far nicer then any of Manilas three airports (of which I had the pleasure of visiting). Secondly while we were landing I noticed street lights something I hadn’t seen much of in the Philippines. I got ripped off again by the taxi ride from the airport, next time I arrive at an airport I’ll be going outside and find a bus or a metered taxi anything but the absurd airport taxis that cater to people that think in American dollars and not Malaysia Ringets. Needless to say the ringet is close to a quarter what an American dollar is and I paid about 4 times what I should have.

I guess now is as good as time as any to talk about the roads. When in the Philippines I thought the road system was going to be pretty standard thoughout Asia. I was wrong Kuala Lumpur (KL) has some of the best roads I have ever seen. There is far less congestion, and far more rules of the road, I even saw my first speed limit.

In the Philippines especially in Manila the roads are filled with trikes and Jeepneys. A Jeepney is sorta like a long jeep. I have a few pictures but can’t upload them right now so I’ll just direct you to a google image search. A trike is just a bike with an attached side car. Theres also taxis and huge buses. The rest of the cars are either trucks or assorted grocery vehicles or very nice cars. Its strange to see such a wide variety of run down commercial vehicles with so many very nice private cars. Equally shocking considering the lack of lane markings and rules of the road is the lack of dents and scratches on cars. Manila was mostly gridlock, from all I could tell the government is constantly making a futile attempt to make roads to match the traffic. They refrain from making any rules or sign postings to regulate this traffic. In a few places there are traffic lights or people directing traffic but for all extensive purposes no one enforces these forms of traffic control. Walking across busy lanes of traffic is the only way to get anywhere. Its likely this won’t change anywhere in Asia. Crosswalks are apparently a north American phenomena. I’m surprised to see some sidewalks painted on the road but not shocked to see no one pay any attention to them. Once you get use to vehicles constantly zipping by you it becomes fairly easy to cross roads.

Kuala Lumpur has one of the most efficient transit systems I have ever seen. It consists of buses, trains, monorail, and subway. There is very little congestion and the roads are in extremely good condition and in many places even have sidewalks. There are forms of traffic control but just like in Manila little enforcement. Lately I’ve been surprised to see traffic cops… mostly for double parked cars. Seeing police is a very rare site.

Malaysia is far more developed then the Philippines. It also seems to have far less poverty. There are slums, shakes and beggers everywhere in the Philippines. In Malaysia I haven’t seen a shanty town, and haven’t seen many beggers (about as much as downtown Calgary). There aren’t many security guards and many places are placed or have rules that would allow a thief easy access to stealing things. From what I can tell despite the lack of police and security there is little crime here.

Upon landing in Kuala Lumpur and getting a ride in the taxi to my hostel I took a walk around got something to eat and went to bed as it was already fairly late. Unfortunately because I arrived so late there was no space in the dorms so I had a single room. The next night I spent in a dorm. Its far easier to meet people in dorms especially others like myself traveling alone. There were so many backpackers at the hostel and hostels close by. It was fairly surprising to see so many, especially after the Philippines where I saw very few white people. It was nice to be able to walk the streets without people constantly staring at you. I spent two full days in Kuala Lumpur. The first day I walked over to some museums and sites close to my hostel. It was nice walking and just getting an idea of the city. A few places were closed because it was a holiday. The following day I took the Subway to Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC), which as the twin towers that KL is famous for. I went early so I could get a free ticket to the sky bridge. The twin towers were very impressive. They had a very informative center at the base and despite not being able to go to the top of the towers I’d rate the twin towers over Taipei 101. I spent the day exploring KLCC and the mall that is underneath the twin towers. The mall is one of the biggest in Asia and had an impressive collection of nice stores. It was fairly expensive, comparable to West Edmonton mall. Still I had no problem in shelling out 10 ringet to see Star Wars Episode 3. Its hard to get a baring on how much things should cost but I’ve found that the easiest way to figure it out is by finding out how much a pop from a pop machine costs. In Malaysia that’s 1.5 ringet but for all extensive purposed 1 ringet has the buying power of 1 canadian dollar. This helps control spending. Some areas that cater to western people are far more expensive (3 to 4 times there actual cost to natives). Its easier to avoid these areas if you know what the value of the local currency actual is.

After KL I went to Taman Negara, Malaysia’s largest national park. The place I was staying in KL was next to a large bus station. I asked one of the ticket booths if I could get to Taman Negara or Jarantut its gateway city. She told me no and that it was at another bus terminal I asked which one… didn’t recognize the name so asked if it was the other one listed in my guide book and she said yes. I wasn’t completely confident in the answer as there was an apparent communication problem between us so I checked it with the manager at my hostel. I took the subway to where this bus terminal was then asked someone for directions. I was led to a train station… a little confused I made a futile attempt to explain bus not train. I noticed a nearby hotel and went in to ask someone who pointed out where the BUS terminal was. When I finally arrived I asked if I could get to Taman Negara and the attendant said no other bus terminal (ARGH). So I asked her to point it out on my map. I think she was confused it was likely that she didn’t speak English but she got someone to help me and after some difficulty I was shown where the bus terminal was. Luckily it was just a 15 minute walk away. I arrived at the bus station and was directed to one of the 5 ticket booths where I was told I could get a ticket to Taman Negara. I found a few white people there and asked them where they were going. They told me it was Taman Negara and the bus was boarding. I quickly got my ticket (which was pretty cheap, at just 10 ringet). I talked to the two Switzerland guys who told me that they came the day before to find that the bus was booked up. I was very lucky not only to find a bus that had a seat, but also a bus that was to leave in a couple minutes. I would have otherwise have had to wait three hours for the next bus.

I spent two days in Taman Negara. I met an American in the dorm there (the first person I’ve met whose first language is English). Its interesting and helpful talking to other backpackers as they often have similar experiences to share. It makes me feel good to know that I’m not the only one that has problems communicating with locals and getting places. I spent the two days in Taman Negara mostly hiking on the trails. It can be challenging walking trails in a rainforest because of the heat and humidity (my glasses were constantly fogging up and I was always soaked in sweat). There was very little wild life to be seen. The most interesting part was the long walking canopy they had which was several hundred meters long and dangled over 10m above the ground surface.

From Taman Negara I took boat and bus to Jarantut where I stayed until I could catch the 3:30am train to Kota Bharu a city on the north end of the Malaysia Peninsula. The train was 1 hour late I was the only white person on board and the women next to me had three children. The seats were made for people far shorter then myself and despite all this I slept for most of the 7 hours train ride. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t figure out when to get off. While the stations had signs, I was faced the wrong direction and it was difficult to see the signs. The train only stopped for a few minutes and because of several delays I had no concept of when to get off. Thankfully I had purchased a Malaysia map in KL and could figure out where I was after several stations. I got to Kota Bharu in one piece and have since been walking around the city exploring. Tomorrow I plan on heading to the perhentian islands where I plan on relaxing a little and enjoying the beach.

I’m starting to get a little home sick. I feel so foreign. It gives me some bearing on how people that immigrate to Canada must feel. While I have been meeting lots of people relationships only last the day or so you spend in the same place. People are fairly helpful and by asking questions you can usually figure things out. Even so its always a little stressful riding with a taxi driver that doesn’t speak English, going on trains where you aren’t sure where your stop is or walking around a city that has no street signs. I calm myself by assuring myself that even if I end up where I’m not meant to be I could find my way back or eventually find someone that speaks enough English to help. This is indeed true and has prevented me from panicking in situations others might find impossible. It still leads to an overall sensation of always being out of place, something that will take more than a couple weeks to get use to.