malaysia

On to Malaysia! After a whirlwind excursion around Kuala Lampur (checking out Kapur trees - tree crowns follow contours but never touch, the central market and Bery'ls Chocolate Kingdom), I headed toward Khota Bahru on the Jungle Train. By the way, the benefits of packing light are noted when one walks by hundreds of carts loaded high with luggage and airport employees lounging and smoking leisurely....smile! On arrival in Khota Bahru, the extremist Islamic influence was evident...head scarves accompanied by men gawking...evidently, I stood out a bit. Anyway, fairly strict environment...for example, there are separate checkout counters in the supermarket for men and women. Curious.



But! If you are ever looking for modest apparel and women who are very helpful and seemingly know a bit about modesty, come here! I've never found longer skirts or women more giddy about a customer exiting the fitting room with the 10th item they've tried on.



There seemed to be two choices for food late in the evening...dried fish from a mobile stand or McDonalds. McDonalds offered delivery via scooter, catering, 24-hour service and WiFi! And yes, the fish tasted as bad as it smelled. Waiting 2 hours for the mini-bus to fill only lengthened the drumroll to one of the best diving spots in SE Asia...the Perhentians.



It is a crazy world when in one hour, one can be whisked out of filth and a lack of safety to a clear watered paradise? More water time (complete with an accidentally terrible 1/2 hour sunburn), scuba diving, hiking, mosquito-fighting, snorkeling, beach barbecuing (no I didn't have the shark-fin soup, but yes I did listen to the rants regarding eating all of the oceans predators) and pensive relaxation. Swimming with a turtle, scrunching a plastic bottle under water to make small sharks circle and enjoying more real juice not-from-concentrate were the notable pleasures. Yet, loneliness from solitary travel began to take hold! On to the state of Sabah on the island of Borneo...



These are only pictures of scenes in Khota Kinabalu. The most marvelous thing was the feeling of family and being met at the airport. Roslyn made my day...my days! Generosity from people that I don't know, but who love, blows me away...consistently. Our common bond is invaluable. These people living on the water use said water for both sewage and a fishing pond. Ug. Morning swims at the unpopulated beach were a highlight though! A different beach, that is :)



One of the reasons I came to KK was to climb Mt. Kinabalu, the tallest mountain in SE Asia (13,435 ft)....though our friends were assuredly the highlight. After searching KK for a travel agent to get lodging on the mountain and being directed from here to there to there and finally locating one at 5:30 pm the day before I wanted to climb, it seemed meant to be. Mt. Kinabalu took 2 days to climb with a hired guide. Splitting it between 3 people (with none of the ailments noted on the sign) looking for a guide at the same time was prudent...though my lack of a career in the Singapore military made me the odd one out :) Rising at 2 a.m. to summit and going out into the dark pounding rain and grabbing onto ropes attached to slippery wet boulders is only gratifying if you don't stop short of the summit...alas. It's not about the destination, right? The porters were curious to me. Everything on the mountain gets hauled up and down by these mountains (even your own backpack if you are willing to pay a menial fee...cheating). Some of their loads were impressive, but makes one feel slight guilt eating a beautiful meal at the lodge.



Anyway, made it back for Wednesday night in KK and enjoyed quite a variety of fruit (even the durian with it's unique odor) that the brothers brought on their 8-hour trek west. Roslyn and Kim Yau came along for my deal of a parasail ride. I suppose the sail says it all :) But alas, on to Singapore...