Escapades in Malaysia

In 2012 we visited Malaysia and had such great adventures, that I had to pen them down. I also posted this article on another blog of mine.

'Malaysia truly Asia - it’s the place to be', this catchy jingle and the fact the TV ad says you haven’t truly experienced Asia until you’ve been to Malaysia, inspired a 3-week adventure to Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. Our 'Truly Asia' experience hit a rocky start when our flight arrived two hours behind schedule. 'Something to expect when traveling in Malaysia. Asia knows no schedule', a weary traveler told us. We understood little of what was waiting for us in this foreign country. 

From the Capital to the Highlands

The capital of Truly Asia is green, and the residents are spread throughout the Asian rainbow from Arabs, Indians, Chinese, and Malay, all hustling and bustling together in Kuala Lumpur’s confusing roadways.

Sadly, after a pre-booked four-day excursion in the city, my husband and I drew the conclusion that you only need one day for KL - no more. We ditched the big city and headed toward the countryside in search of some nature and simple living. 

KL's aquarium

The Petronas Towers - the tallest buildings in the world (1998 - 2004) and currently still the tallest twin towers in the world. 

National Mosque of Malaysia

After bidding the city adieu, we dared our first public transport experience in Malaysia. We were setting off towards the famous cool and green Cameron Highlands. The trip was tedious and the climate in the bus jumped from snuggling in a scarf and jersey to peeling off layers in a dramatic attempt to survive the heat wave that pulsated through the bus. The biggest attraction in Cameron Highlands takes a total of thirty minutes, after that you’ve milked it for all it’s worth. The tea plantations are a gorgeous site and those thirty minutes are well spent gawking at the view that boasts its array of rich colors, and swollen clouds that loom over impressive peaks, but thirty minutes will be all you need. You could always make a day hike out of your visit to maximize your time among the tealeaves, and therefore only focus on the highlight of the highlands. 

On our second day we joined a full-day adventure trip that consisted of random dull activities to fill the schedule and was not even located in Cameron Highlands but rather in the neighboring state. This means you’ll spend almost in an hour cramped together with sweaty Dutch tourists in a need-to-be-serviced jeep - you’ll be better off doing another thirty-minute ogling the pretty tea plantations. The only thing that made the day trip worthwhile was witnessing the Rafflesia in full bloom. This is the official state flower of Indonesia and also the world's largest flower. This beautiful fat orange bulb can be over 100 centimeters (39 inches) in diameter, and weigh up to 10 kilograms (22 pounds). This unique flower also has quite a dark side: it's a parasitic flower, and smells like rotting flesh, dubbing it the "corpse flower". It was truly an experience for the senses!

Needless to say, we were quite discontent thus far. Up to this point, we spent six days in Malaysia and we were left quite disappointed with both locations we've visited. This couldn't be the Malaysia the ad was talking about, could it? Luckily, our luck took a turn for the better when we headed inland towards to the wilder part of Peninsular Malaysia. 

The Rafflesia

The Tea Plantations of Cameron Highlands

Entering the Deep Dark Jungle

Two words that incite excitement to any traveler and yet those same two words sent shivers down my spine. I'm talking about the unnerving and primeval: Taman Negara. Taman means garden or park and Negara means national. This national park is home to the dense and scary, 130 million-year-old jungle. It is recorded to be the oldest jungle in the world. Of course, I made the grave mistake of reading travel articles before we left because even though they might assist in finding great tips and advice, they also scare the living daylights out of you before you even start your trip.

I read that leeches were everywhere. Also on the watch-out list were highly poisonous snakes, tigers, panthers, and massive insects. To me, it depicted a big bad jungle housing everything that goes bump in the night. Naturally, because Life has such a twisted sense of irony, Taman Negara ended up being the most memorable destination of our whole trip. We arrived at a long murky river in the afternoon, already agitated by the unpleasantly bumpy bus ride, to be greeted by a three-hour boat ride. We weren’t embarking on a cruise liner or even a ferry; instead, we were cueing with hoards of Dutch families to squeeze on to a low thin wooden boat attached to a mean motor.

The ride was long and sunny but absolutely splendid. We were gliding on the chocolate-color water whizzing past impressively tall trees and small local children doing belly flops into the water. People have a misconception about Taman Negara. They think it's secluded and hidden from masses of tourists. It is secluded meaning you need to travel far to reach it either by water or land, but Taman Negara does not have the luck to escape the tourists - at least not from the Dutch families seeking adventure in the big bad jungle.

Our hotel was classified as a 5-star resort. Please note this is the Asian standard of 5 stars, meaning a traveler from the West might not find everything up to par according to his/her expectations. We paid a small fortune per night and looked forward to a comfortable and luxurious room to rest our aching muscles from the cramped boat. As Life’s sense of humor usually comes out to play in those moments, we found ourselves standing in horror in a massive yet empty room filled with dead ticks, hairballs, chunks the size of tennis balls missing out of the bathtub, and suspiciously stained linen and towels.

The second room had all of the above as well as blood drops next to the bed - we didn’t feel it necessary to inquire where the blood came from. After complaining a third time, standing in the reception with a sour face and dripping wet (a result from travelling from the room to reception and back during a tropical storm), they had no choice but to upgrade us to a chalet (a free chalet that didn’t exist until my husband started barking about the blood spatter on our floor). However, once we arrived at the lovely chalet the entire Taman Negara experience transformed into magic and ended up being worth the accompanying price tag and trek through a typhoon.

Apart from the accommodation terror we endured, Taman Negara is quite special with its remote jungle charm and friendly locals. The highlight of the visit was undoubtedly the guided hike through the jungle and the rapid shooting that left us soaked and yet also exhilarated.  The night safari, however, was a rather fruitless experience, but the memory of spending three hours scouring the area with torches only to find a meager list of two birds, six 'jungle cows', a truck of Chinese tourists and the tail of a leopard cat, was still entertaining. The ambiance at Taman Negara grows on you - fast and before long you could start to imagine a minimalist life in a 130 million-year-old tree house, living to the beat of the jungle.

A Bus Ride from Hell to the Paradise of Cockroaches

Imagine a rollercoaster ride lasting for seven hours. I’d say a rollercoaster seat is averagely more comfortable than the bus seats we were plastered over. The bus ride from Taman Negara to the Perhentian islands was loud, scary, and outright dangerous. There wasn't a soul onboard that didn’t suffer from some sort of nausea, spinal injury, or dislocated limb once the bus reached its final destination. Yet, my bumps and bruises were soon forgotten once we reached the island and I saw our hotel perched on top of the hill overlooking the magnificent sunset over the ocean. I had goosebumps: we’ve arrived in paradise.

By now we mastered the Malay way that if something looks or sounds too good to be true (in Malaysia) then it probably is. Our paradise hotel soon turned in to the motel of horror. I awoke at four a.m. to find a cockroach - almost the size of my fist - daring its way towards my nose. Once eye contact was established, he scurried off to the bathroom and after following him I soon found the rest of his family of seven bigger roaches parading through the room.

Now, you must understand, you can bring my husband in the face of dangerous snakes, leeches, and panthers, but do not leave him in a room with cockroaches - it always ends badly. He immediately trotted down to reception demanding a new room. Seeing as it was four in the morning, finding staff was no easy feat but the determined German made it happen and we soon changed rooms. The staff barely closed the door to our new room and I had just put my bag down when a curious cockroach slid out from behind the bed and welcomed us. We knew that the staff probably all hid together to avoid facing my husband again, so we sat and waited until reception opened at seven. It was then five a.m.

Perhentian offered us sun-bathed hippies, abnormally large bats, two tropical storms, seasickness, massive turtles, and reef sharks. Despite our adventure-packed days and captivating views in paradise, there was still something about the hotel that didn't sit quite well with me. I figured it out one evening while dining at the hotel’s restaurant. I noticed the tablecloths were decorated in old fashion - the late 50’s - and the furniture was old, molded, and rotten. Dusty spider webs draped from the ceiling down to the chandeliers and the staff - who were first thought to be purely lazy - moved now in an almost ghostly slow manner. Naturally, this lead me to the conclusion that we were staying in a haunted mansion.

Of course, this was the product of my biased and fatigued imagination and I received the shocking confirmation upon checking out. It was the representative of the hotel that disillusioned me from the haunted hotel theory when she told me the hotel was only four years old. I still shake my head in disbelief when I think of the hotel, with its spider webs that were so magnificently woven, it must have taken a spider years to create such a masterpiece. Also, the furniture was in such a savaged state, almost like they’ve been decaying in the hotel for over two decades. Clearly, they weren’t bought in such a condition and four years can hardly do that much damage, but that must be the mystery of the Shari-la hotel, I figured. Nothing is as it seems in Malaysia.

Luckily, the utopia setting of the Perhentian could not be tainted by the haunted manor lurching on the hill. Even after the intimidating storms swept over the beaches, the sun and surf would glow the next morning ready for another day of diving and snorkeling. Perhentian is a divine spot to recharge for young and old, and every beach bum or Barbie.

Borneo in All its Splendour

To reach the beautiful record-holding town of Mulu we had to endure three flights, giving us the impression that it is far more secluded than Taman Negara could ever be. The airport was built just to get tourists to the caves that make Mulu so interesting. On sight, the caves made the tedious journey worthwhile. The Deer Cave is the most popular at Gunung Mulu National Park. It holds the world’s largest cave passage and every evening punctually at six pm (except when it’s raining) you can witness over three million bats leave the cave in an animated stream depicting figures and images while hunting for their evening meal. The whole spectacle takes about an hour but it is highly entertaining and it attracts hordes of tourists every night.

In the Deer Cave there is a bolder that resembles the silhouette of Abraham Lincoln. Can you see it in the image below?

How about now?

Hungry bats hunting for their meal

Our track record with horror accommodation had luckily seized, everything at Mulu was a delight. The team was knowledgeable and friendly, the meals and eating area were social, the caves were delightful, and the living quarters of the guests were relaxing and pleasing to the eye. I, again, sighted no leeches or snakes, however, some of the other guests were not so lucky, like a fellow traveler who was bitten in the foot by a viper. Apparently, he joined us on our flight leaving Mulu. I, on the other hand, was too in awe over the glorious view of green forest slanted in front of high dark hills to have noticed anyone limping past me.

To Sabah or Not to Sabah

Like I mentioned, I made the grave error of heavy researching prior to our holiday and I came across many articles stating that Sabah is too dangerous for foreigners to visit. This was rather unfortunate seeing as Sabah is the keeper to Sipadan - one of the most beautiful diving sites the world has to offer. I read about terrorist attacks and tourists being kidnapped in regions in Sabah. It’s fair to say I was hesitant in going, but Borneo thrives on being mysterious and a bit dangerous. Bearing this in mind along with an itch for adventure, we headed to the second state of Borneo - Sabah, and straight to Semporna, the gateway to Mabul island. Semporna is a scuba junkie’s town.

Ironically enough, the biggest diving school, backpackers, and most popular restaurant among the tourists belong to a beloved diving icon called ‘Scuba Junkie’. This is also where we endeavored our diving dream. It took three days to become a licensed open water diver and four days for the area around Semporna to steal my heart. Leaving after the fifth day was like after visiting a relative you’re fond of - you don’t want to go just yet, you promise you’ll visit again soon, but once your back is turned and you’re out the door, you know your next return will be long overdue.

I reckon you'll expect quite a negative conclusion about Malaysia and her locals. It is true that our interaction with the natives were testing, and even though a big chunk of our visit tested all levels of my patience, I can honestly say that it also made my skin ticker and improved my tolerance. It was hard to remember that sometimes the lifestyle is easier there. Whether it is due to the countless palm trees that dance seductively in the wind, the lush green jungles that contribute to the country's maturity and mystery, or the friendly locals that rush to no man’s speed, Malaysia is an entrancing visit. The advertising gimmick might be 'Malaysia - truly Asia' to many but to me, it must also receive the accolade of 'Malaysia - truly lovely'.