Since Malaysia doesn’t require a visa if you have a valid South African passport, all that was left for me to do was to chuck my entire wardrobe into two large bags,
and head for the airport.
In Johannesburg, I met the three other journalists who made up the South African media quotient. Three
males and a female (Darrel, Charles, me and Jacqui), with a collective age of 110, which pretty much guaranteed a fun trip.
But a 12-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur in economy-class seats, a three-hour wait at the KL airport and a connecting flight to a small island one hour away, temporarily dampened our euphoria.
But after several cups of coffee, we put on happy faces and swapped our rands for Ringitts � effectively reducing our money in half.
First stop was Penang, fondly called The Pearl of the Orient. It is a bustling island with a mix of old and new buildings, and accessible by air, road and sea.
Our first day included a visit to a tropical fruit farm � not exactly fun as it meant leaving our air conditioned kombi and facing temperates of 38C and humidity. A guide showed us apple trees, pineapple bushes, watermelons,
banana trees and the infamous durian - the fruit held in such high regard by the locals, but not so much by hotels and malls, all of which have “no durian” signs posted on
their doors.
Similar to jackfruit, it resembles a half-formed egg inside and is slimy and foul smelling. I braved a tiny taste - only to be instantly revolted. Leaving the fruit farm behind, we
headed off to our next stop, The Butterfly Farm.
The fruit held in such high regard by the locals
It�s a fairytale-like garden with thousands of butterflies perched on exotic flowers and trees, all enveloped in a mysterious mist. But the park has more than just
butterflies.
There were also the soft shell turtle - creatures so ugly you immediately want to take a shower - komodo dragons, iguanas, alligators, snakes, strange looking insects and carnivorous plants.
Lunch offered my first taste of Malaysian cuisine, which involved rice and more rice. I tried a curry of unidentifiable ingredients, rice and another hard-to-tell, could-be-chicken- could-be-fish-could-be-softshell-
turtle dish.
That night we dined at a revolving restaurant atop our hotel, which gave us plenty of opportunity to see all of Penang. The food, too, was more varied, with a selection of seafood dishes.
While Jacqui succumbed to sleep, Darrel, Charles and I headed off to explore the city without a tour guide.
The city comes alive at night � most stores only open after noon because of the incredible heat. Ten minutes into our walk, a sudden storm forced us to seek shelter � in a Japanese karaoke bar.
One drunken performance of Hotel California later, and we were suitably inebriated to not care about the rain. But fatigue caught up with us and we headed back to the hotel.
Following our first night of actual sleep, we were all raring to go the next morning.
The temple was built in honour of the revered Buddhist monk
We made our way to Penang Hill, a popular tourist spot. At the foot of the hill, we were finally able to purchase registered SIM cards and starter packs at one of the many fleamarket-like shops, but were amazed to learn how cheap their phone networks are: 30c a minute, no peak or off peak times and just 1c an SMS.
After cursing our service providers, we got back to the task at hand - ascending Penang Hill. A tram service takes you 830m up, although you can hike. Once there, you are rewarded with a stunning view of the 13km-long bridge that connects Penang to another island.
But by far our most exciting experience in Penang was a visit to the Penang Snake Temple in the heart of the city, which is filled with smoke from hundreds of incense sticks … and crawling with pit vipers.
Legend has it that the temple was built in honour of the revered Buddhist monk, Chor Soo Kong, in 1850, whose statue stands in the temple grounds.
The snakes came to the temple, allegedly of their own accord, and are now rendered harmless to visitors by the smoke. But just in case, they have also been defanged. Jacqui and Charles overcame their fears and posed for a few photo opportunities.
That night, we headed off on our own private tour. This time we found our way to a little bar, one of only a handful that contained a pool table.
Relishing in a familiar activity, we enjoyed some local beer and Malaysian music, which has an energy unlike anything I’ve heard before - frantic, exhilarating and utterly irresistible.
The next day, we were whisked off to the Penang Bird Park, one of the biggest bird parks in Malaysia. It’s home to about 300 different species, including rare species of eagle, owl and even emus.
Our next stop was the Wat Chayamankalaram Buddhist Temple, built in 1945, which houses hundreds of urns filled with the ashes of devotees, and a 33m-long gold-plated reclining Buddha.
The Buddha is guarded by four fierce looking demon statues. After paying your respects (no fee to enter, but off with your shoes), you can have your fortune read for just R1. Later that night we attended a cultural street music festival in one of the main city streets.
Featuring brightly coloured costumes, dancers, traditional performers from all over the world and myriad food stalls on either side of the street, the parade attracted hordes of tourists and a few locals too.
She travels the world cleaning toilets
We met a South African hippie named Michaela, who told us she travels the world cleaning toilets. Before we could ask for more details, she had disappeared into the crowd. After the festival, we decided to check out the local club scene. Our first stop was a place called Slippery Senoritas (entry R30), and no, it’s not that kind of place. A two storey-venue boasted a sunken bar. Several tequilas later, in another bar, we called it a night as we had a music festival to attend.
The first Penang World Music Festival was held at a spectacular open-door venue in Penang, surrounded by sheer mountain cliffs and rainforest, and with elevated viewpoints.
The performers included a weathered old man in a loin cloth, a group of throat singers and traditional dancers. By the fourth act, the music, combined with rain, had chased quite a few people away. We did, however, bump into Michaela, the toilet cleaning hippie a few days later, and she told us that the second night was a blast. The next day we head off for Kuala Lumpur, an hour’s flight from Penang and were enthralled by this futuristic city.
At 243km2 and home to 1,3 million people, KL is a thriving, energetic city filled with tall space age buildings and a mix of older colonial buildings. The world famous Petronas Twin Towers rise majestically from the heart of the city, making its presence felt no matter where you go. Designed by Cesar Pelli and completed in 1996, and standing at 452m high, it is one of the world’s tallest buildings.
Just a hundred times bigger and no crime
After checking into the fabulous 6-star Hotel Nico, we were whisked off to China Town - think Durban’s flea market, just a hundred times bigger and no crime. In China Town you will find anything, and I mean anything; shoes, bags, clothes, DVDs, books, toys, electronic goods, food, fruit and stationary.
The place is crawling with tourists - we met and chatted to a guy from Cape Town, two British backpackers, three Russian girls buying belts and of course… Michaela. Hours later, and much poorer, we move on to the next part of our trip; a visit to the Menara Kuala Lumpur tower.
It is the world’s fourth largest telecommunications tower and the tallest building in South Asia, and features another revolving restaurant 262m above ground level, as well as a 276m high observation deck. Sadly, our itinerary only allowed for one night in KL before we had to jetted off to our next location.
Sabah, a 90-minute flight away, is also known as The Land Below The Wind. At 74 500km2, it is the second largest state of Malaysia and one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo (the rest of Borneo forms a part of Indonesia). It’s a quiet island with a distinct rural feel to it. The mountain range of Kota Kinabalu dominates and is visible from everywhere. But the gorgeous white sand beaches with warm crystal clear waters that surround the island give the place an exotic feel.
An hour-long drive takes us to our first stop; the Sepilok Orang- Utan Sanctuary, in the heart of the Borneo jungle. Here you can get within centimetres of the endangered species that scientists say are closest to human beings in terms of DNA. It’s best to visit during feeding times, and watch as the orangutans make their way through the forest, pausing every now and then to stare at the crowd. The feeding is followed by a video presentation showcasing the work done at the centre.
A two-hour drive took us to our penultimate destination, a river lodge on the banks of the Kinabatangan River, Sabah’s longest river.
Within minutes of arriving, our guide yelled for us, as a herd of pygmy elephants had been spotted. We jumped into a tiny little boat and sped off.
Durbs has nothing on Malaysia
A kilometre in, and we finally saw about six pygmy elephants spraying each with water and generally having a ball. We watched them play until they were joined by another herd. A sudden storm forced us to seek shelter, but we were still lucky to see a troupe of proboscis monkeys settling down for the night. On our way back, a snake hung down from a tree as we passed, providing us with a rather surreal experience.
Our last night in Malaysia was a fun one. We were all given sarongs to wear to dinner, and after almost an hour helping Darrel put his on properly, we were treated to a feast of juicy prawns, more curries, an assortment of fish, rice and what we think was a chicken stirfry. Later, as we ended the night with far too much wine, we couldn’t help but feel relieved at the thought of heading back home, and enjoying good old South African food, cooler temperatures (Durbs has nothing on Malaysia) and getting some much needed sleep.
But even in that relief, we all agreed, Malaysia was definitely a place we’d all happily return to.
amp,elephant,plo
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