Day 68: Taman Negara & the leeches

Taman Negara National Park is the oldest rain forest in the world (130 million years) and has the longest canopy walkway. We checked into Durian Chalet at 25 ringgit a night. The wooden chalet, or “worker's hut” as we called it, was basic with cold water for shower. The mattress was on the thin side because we could feel the layout of the metal bars from the bed frame. On my bed, there was one bar sticking out a bit right at my lower back. It was not a particularly comfortable rest. But for 25 ringgit, we were still happy with it and stayed for three nights.

When reading other people's blogs about Taman Negara for tips, we always came across one topic – leeches. Sure enough we saw those little bloodsuckers in all our outings to the jungle. At Jerantut, when we inquired about leeches at the park, a local guy suggested using Baygon. We thought we misunderstood because Baygon was a very strong pesticide in Taiwan. When we picked up a bottle, it was exactly what we thought. There was a skeleton head symbol with warnings “avoid contact with skin”. So we opted for a less powerful solution, i.e. insect repellent.

On our first trekking to the canopy walkway (very interesting) and Teresek hill (very tiring – 800 meter straight up and full of leeches), we sprayed the repellent on our legs, socks and shoes. But it was a futile effort as the leeches kept on crawling up our shoes. At the end of the trek, I got two leech bites on my legs. That night Katy had nightmares about hundreds of leeches crawling up our feet and was yelling out loud while dreaming. The next day we signed up for a night jungle walk, so we asked the guide about leech repellent. “Baygon,” he said. “And must be the green bottle one.” he emphasized. So out went the health concerns - we were spraying the green bottle Baygon on our socks and shoes like there is no tomorrow. Leech bite was a more urgent matter. Guess what? It really worked. We did not have any more leech bite on our 2nd and 3rd day of trekking.

made it to Teresek hill

canopy walk

stick insect from the night jungle walk

On the last day, we decided to check out a bat cave (Gua Telinga). It was a 3-km hike (one way). The trail was in good condition (with leeches, of course). After 90 minutes, we were at the cave entrance. Oh my, you could smell the bat pooh before entering the cave. We braced ourselves and entered the cave. The stench was pungent. Bats were flying above our heads. There were hundreds of bats hanging on the wall. Things (bat pooh?) were dropping on my head and shirt. Some parts of the cave were so small, we were on all fours – front and back touching the walls. Truth be told, I was quite freaked out but did not show it inside the cave. At the end, we managed to follow the rope and exit the cave in one piece. We both smelled like bat pooh afterwards and were quite looking forward to the cold shower back at the worker's hut. BTW, Katy's nickname at Yahoo is BraveKaty and it fits her perfectly. She is a really brave girl.

Katy with a smile in the bat cave

me without a smile in the bat cave

full frontal

gap so small even Katy had problems getting through

The food at Taman Negara was something to be desired for. Not only was the selection limited, most of the restaurants were on the river (floating restaurants). The whole restaurant moved when there was a boat passing by. After every below-than-average meal, we needed about half an hour to recover from the motion sickness. After three days of starvation at the park, we decided to head to Penang – the island known for the great food.

floating restaurants

amazing tree branch

check out the size of this tree

an aboriginal village in the jungle

a random sign post ... how true

Day 65: Temerloh - the unexpected stop

Temerloh was not on our itinerary. We were there because the direct bus from Melaka to Jerantut was terminated, so that was the next closest town for us. When we bought the ticket, the ticket lady told us there was still a Temerloh-Jerantut bus at 10:30pm, so we could still make it to Jerantut if we did not like Temerloh. When we got to Temerloh, we immediately inquired about the 10:30pm bus to Jerantut. It turned out that the last bus was at 5pm. So we had to spend the night at Temerloh.

Actually it was not that bad. That day was exactly our two-month anniversary on the road, so we decided to splurge a little. We found a business hotel called Hotel Jelai. For 73 ringgit, we had a twin room with TV, air-con, hot shower, breakfast and wifi. It was clean, friendly and efficient. The only tricky part was the last 50 meter to the hotel. We had to climb over highway fences to get to the front entrance. It was difficult to picture people in suits and dresses climbing over those fences for their meetings at the hotel.


For our celebratory dinner, we picked Pizza Hut right by the bus terminal. Katy had mentioned Pizza Hut when we were in China, but the price was quite expensive. The price in Malaysia was more reasonable for our backpacker budget. We stuffed ourselves with pizza, pasta, garlic bread and salad. The salad was charged per plate. So we piled it mountain high. We could not help but laughing when we were piling on all the vegetables at the salad station. It was a meal to remember.

the mountain-high salad

bus terminal at Temerloh - convenient with a supermarket next to it

Day 64: Melaka

Melaka, an important port city in the old Colonial days, changed hands a few times among the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British before the declaration of independence 51 years ago. Some of the buildings still have the European design as well as the infusion from the new comers such as the Chinese and the Indian. It is no wonder Melaka was inscribed as an UNESCO heritage city as of July 2008.

Our favorite walk was from Equatorial hotel to A'Famosa to Jonker street (Chinatown). The route was paved with historical buildings and museums. In addition, there was no vehicle traffic allowed on this route. The St. Francis church offered an excellent view of the port and downtown area. Much of the land we saw along the port was reclaimed from the sea.

Kim met with us in Melaka for the weekend. She took us to a few local joints to sample even more Malaysian delicacies. First on the list was the chicken rice at the beginning of Jonker street. This restaurant was the first original place serving chicken rice. That is why there was a never-ending queue for a table. The rice was served in golf ball size – five balls per plate. The chicken was juicy and tender. Go there during the day because it's closed after lunch service.

Second on the list was a dessert place in the back of Chinatown (can't recall the name). Due to the late hours, most dishes were sold out. So we settled for cendol and tofu rojak. The cendol was great – sweet, but not too sweet, with red beans and green jelly. The tofu rojak, on the other hand, was a bit too adventurous for us. It's deep-fried tofu with pineapple dices served with sweet, dark sauce and chili sauce. It was Kim's first time tasting tofu rojak as well, and she shared our sentiments.


Third on the list was Capitol Satay. My oh my, that place was very memorable. It works like a Chinese hot pot (or steam boat). Instead of clear broth or tom yam, you have satay sauce. Yup, one big pot of boiling satay sauce. All the items were on skewers. Dip the skewers in the satay sauce for a few minutes and voila. It was creamy, peanut buttery and coconuty. BTW, satay is not just limited to pork, chicken and beef. At Capitol, there were squid, prawns, quail eggs, tofu, vegetables and fish balls – all on skewers and ready to be dipped into the satay sauce.

This trip to Melaka further opened up my eyes on Malaysian cuisine. There were more dishes at Chinatown not mentioned in this blog entry. If you are a food lover, Melaka is a good place to chill for the weekend. Last but not the least, if you are a durian lover, try the durian donut at Big Apple next to Equatorial hotel. There is nothing like stuffing the king of fruits inside a donut. I tried half and the whole car stank like durian.

Day 61: Cameron Highlands and the rain

The first thing we noticed when we arrived in Cameron Highlands was the cool breeze in the mountains. Then it started to rain. In fact, it rained all four days we were there. The rain came and went every few hours and usually in the afternoon, so we tried to time our activity accordingly. In the evenings, it was quite cold, and we had to use two blankets when we went to sleep.

We did the usual tourist things - tea plantation, strawberry farm, butterfly farm, cactus garden and jungle trail. Of course, the rain accompanied us in all the outings. Good thing we bought an umbrella in KL (made in Hangzhou, China - we were there one month ago). It was actually cool to walk through the tea plantation under light drizzles of rain.

One morning we woke up and found a film crew at our hotel (Cameronian Inn). One guy explained to us that they were shooting some Malaysian TV series, which took place in Cameron Highlands. The Malaysian actress had kept pronouncing the word "camping" incorrectly in Mandarin and ended up saying "filming". The two words are very similar, but still different to Mandarin speakers (just like the words "horse" and "mother"). Anyway, she must have done 30 takes on the word "camping" because we still heard the word "filming" when we got back to our room. Apparently the actor and actress were well known in Malaysia because Kim's 11-year-old nephew recognized them right away.

We also met a couple of kind Malaysian women when we tried to find Bala's Chalet for an English afternoon tea. The women asked if we had seen a traditional Malay home and invited us to their home. It was a cozy place - interesting setup with living quarters being higher than the dining area, which was higher than the kitchen and the cat's feeding area. Seven cats actually. The women apolozied because they could not offer us tea because they were fasting. Then I showed them the fresh strawberries we just bought to see if they would change their minds. :) We all broke into laughters.

If anyone goes to Cameron Highlands, there is this great local restaurant called Restoran Number 14. We had amazing roti sardine and tosai there. It was so good we had breakfast there three days straight.

Restoran Number 14 & our breakfast tosai and roti sardine
















the Malay house we visited & the cat playing with my boot








the TV crew shooting at our hostel












tea plantation








butterfly farm & the other insects

Kota Bharu - the start of Ramadhan

Kota Bharu was only a transit town for us. We were there twice - to the Perhentian Islands (via Kuala Besuit) and to the Cameron Highlands (next blog entry). The town did not appeal to us, but I wanted to write this entry about the events in Kota Bharu and someone we met in Wakaf Bharu (train station near Kota Bharu).

Originally we went to Kota Bharu to catch a train to Jerantut, the entry point for Taman Negara National Park. Upon arriving at Kota Bharu, we transfered to a city bus heading to the train station in Wakaf Bharu, where we learned that the evening train arrival time in Jerantut was either midnight or 2am. Not wanting to look for hotels at the wee hours, we decided to look for bus options, which means another bus ride back to Kota Bharu. That is when we met Mr. Liu, who offered to give us a ride back to town and look for bus tickets.

At the bus terminal, we could not find buses going to Jerantut, so we changed our plans to go to Cameron Highlands. Afterwards, Mr. Liu asked if we needed anything else. From our research, we read about a special grilled chicken with coconut sauce only available in that region, so we asked him about the chicken. He happened to know a shop that sells it. So he took us to the chicken place and took us back to the bus terminal. Very kind gentleman. BTW, that chicken was delicious.

To kill time till our night bus to Ipoh, we went to a KFC to use the free wifi (most KFC outlets have free wifi in Malaysia). That is when we realized it's the start of Ramadhan (Sep 1st) because people were sitting with plates of food in front of them without eating. They were waiting for the signal, which in this case was the chanting via the PA system in the mall. It was such a special scene. BTW, we ordered one Ramadhan special meal to join the festive mood!

Me and Mr. Liu








us at KFC using the free wifi and sampling the Ramadhan festive combo









the Kelatan special coconut chicken








our night bus to Ipoh & Katy making faces "not another night bus"

Day 57: Perhentian Islands

Beautiful white sand and calm turquoise-colored water without mass tourism. That is how I would describe Perhentian Islands (one big and one small). Katy and I spent five days on the "big" island, known for its low-key tempo, while many backpackers head to the "small" island for beach parties at night. There are other fine beaches like Perhentian Islands in the world, but it's just not the same feeling.

In other parts of the world, many fine beaches belong to big resorts or charge you a fee for using the lounge chair on the beach. Not here on the Perhentian Islands. Anyone can walk up to Perhentian Island Resort (the best hotel on the island), pick a lounge chair with the bamboo umbrella, and lie there for as long as you want. There is really no need to take a boat out for snorkeling because there are plenty of corals and schools of fish less than 50 meters from the shore,. On top of that, you don't get harassed by hawkers asking you to buy things or tour packages. It is uncomplicated and laid-back.

lounging at Perhentian Island Resort








One day we took a kayak out and paddled to Turtle Bay. Our jaws dropped when we saw the pristine beach with one one on it. We jumped into the water and had the entire beach to ourselves for about 30 minutes before small groups of people started arriving seeking their own version of island paradise. In my mind, Turtle Bay is the best beach on the island. Check it out if you are in Perhentian Islands. Go there early.

Turtle Bay








After a few days of eating/reading/sleeping on the white sand, we decided to tackle the jungle trek that crosses the island from north to south. After half an hour of trekking, we ended up in Flora Bay. It was a fine beach too, but not as good as Turtle Bay or Perhentian Island Resort. One the way back, we got lost in the jungle after following a shortcut given by a local. The trail was not maintained, so the wild grass was waist high. We both got several cuts since we were in our beach gear (me in my speedo and Katy in her beach short - yes, I looked foolish in a speedo while trekking through the jungle). Eventually we found our way back to the trail.

Our last dinner was at Coral View. The atmosphere was really nice - eating on the white sand with candle lights and countless stars over our heads. We decided to splurge on our last meal on the island, so we had a char coal grilled squid and a mango curry with rice/salad/drink. The final bill came to US$12. :)

dinner at Coral View








our chalet at Mama's








leaving the island