Malaysia

So I figure that if I'm going to take this blog thing seriously I have to post more often. My first three posts I tried to fit in everything that I'd done in weeks into a blog and ended up just rambling on but not really describing anything. So I will try from this point forward to post more consistently and maybe even add some photos.

I arrived in Penang, Malaysia after an 18 hour train ride from Hat Yai, Thailand. Hat Yai itself was an interesting town, with a mix of Muslims, Thai's, and Chinese. I saw maybe three other foreigners when I was there which was pretty cool but other than that there is not much more worth mentioning. The train was pretty smooth and no crazy stories to mention from there either. In fact I haven't had one ridiculous story yet. I guess life is not as interesting when you are not drinking so much. I haven't had a drink (alcoholic) in 2 weeks.

The train arrived in Butterworth, Malaysia but nobody stays there for very long as there is a quick ferry ride to the island of Penang with Georgetown being the capital. The train arrived at 10:00pm and walking through the streets of Georgetown I could instantly feel like I was in a different country. The Malays have a much darker skin tone than the Thais, many of them look very similar to Indians. As I was walking through town, I could sense the culture of the place. There were Chinese food stalls all over the place and Muslim and Indian restaurants as well. I could already tell I would be doing a lot of eating here. I found a guesthouse that was sparkling clean and called it a night. The next day I was able to see the town in the light and it was even cooler. There was such a mix of Malay Muslims, Chinese, and Indians. Penang has much history as a trading port and the diversity could clearly be seen. It has also been designated as a world heritage site recently. I just walked around town taking everything in for a little bit. I had heard about a lion dance competition that was being held there while I was there as well from someone on couchsurfing. So I went over to watch that and I am very glad I did. It was pretty incredible the daring and skill it takes to do that. There are numerous poles in a straight line some one across some two across, each one with a surface enough for one person to stand on comfortably. Two people go under this lion outfit, one is the head, the other the body and they jump from pole to pole while putting expressions on the lions face. It is like a mix of dance and gymnastics. It requires incredible strength and flexibility as well as athleticism. While the lion is jumping around the rest of the "team" is playing drums and symbols. You are judged on the difficulty of your routine, coordination of drums and lion, and expression and movements of the lion. It was pretty awesome to see. They only have this competition once a year and teams from all over Asia participate. I just happened to be there the weekend it was held.

After walking around for a bit after the lion dance competition I went up to Penang Hill which is this big hill on the island that is supposed to have a really amazing view of Georgetown. You can hike up which takes about three hours but I decided to take the railway up because it was getting close to sunset and I wanted to be on the top for that. Unfortunately you couldn't really see the sunset but when it became dark you could see the lights of the city and the water which looked pretty cool. That night I went to have dinner in Little India, which is basically just a bunch of Indian restaurants and shops that are blaring Indian music that sell Bollywood movies and CD's. It definitely feels like you are in India and the food was absolutely delicious all for about $3. I didn't skimp on anything, I went all out. Mango Lassi, Roti Canai, Pujabi Chicken, and a Horlicks (I was intrigued because I saw this on the menu everywhere but had no idea what it was. It is some kind of warm milk/coffee drink that is supposed to help you sleep) it was actually pretty good.

The next day I went to the second and final day of the lion dancing competition, the defending champing from Malaysia won again. For the next four or five hours or so I sat inside a Chinese food shop in a mall with some local couchsurfers just talking. The locals were both older, one probably in his 40's the other in his 60's and I learned a lot about Malaysia history and culture. The Muslim Malays control politics and the Chinese and Indians have very little representation. I also learned about the 1969 race riots in where officially a hundred and some, unoffically a couple thousand Chinese were killed. It is pretty interesting because usually the Chinese in other countries control all the business and are the upper class but it is not the case in Malaysia. Because of the conversation I missed out on some other sights I wanted to see but it was definitely worth it.

The next day I caught a bus to Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands. The Cameron Highlands are in the middle of the country is known for its rolling hills, tea plantations, and jungle walks. It was much cooler in Cameron Highlands than Penang or anywhere in Thailand I had been which was nice. The two days I have been here were raining off and on the whole time but that didn't take away from it. The owner of my guesthouse kept trying to persuade me and everyone else to do the full day tour run by the guesthouse but I figured I could go exploring on my own. So I went through a hike in the jungle to the top one of the highest points in the area. It was quite the trek, all uphill and I didn't see anyone else on the way which was pretty cool. It made me feel like I was discovering this jungle for the first time except there was a clearly marked path. I finally got to the top but could not see anything because it was so foggy, but thats ok I saw some spectacular views elsewhere. After the hike I was really tired and took a different path down. I wanted to visit one of the tea plantations after that but I misjudged how far away it was. I started walking towards the tea plantation which is on a side road that goes through the rolling hills. It was really beautiful, you can see tea leaves all over the hills and beautiful flowers as well. I was really considering hitchhiking as this seemed like the perfect place but couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't need to as a nice Malaysian family stopped and offered me a ride the rest of the way. I got to the plantation and unfortunately they weren't doing factory tours because of the weather but I still got to drink some delicious tea and feast on an assortment of sweets. After my experience getting a ride I decided to grow a pair and hitchhike back to town which was about 9km away. I got a motorcycle to the main road and then two Chinese men drove me past the town I was going and the next town after because I figured mine as well check it out. So I went to a local strawberry farm. The farm itself wasn't that interesting but the food was. I had a strawberry muffin with ice cream, fresh strawberry juice, and strawberry hot chocolate. It was a feast of strawberries. They even have strawberry n'aan at the Indian restaurants here. After that I walked most of the way back to my guesthouse but again was offered a ride when I was almost there. It was about 6:00pm at this point and I was exhausted so I took a nice hot shower and then went out with some people from the guesthouse for dinner.

Today was my last day in Cameron Highlands. I took a bus then hitched a ride (I'm beginning to really enjoy it) to another tea plantation owned by the same company, BOH (the biggest in Malaysia). This plantation was more touristy and they had signs throughout explaining the history of BOH and how they produce their tea, there was also a ten minute tour of the factory. The teahouse itself where you can sit and drink tea overlooks hills of tea leaves. It was quite the amazing sight. In fact all of Cameron Highlands is an amazing scene of rolling hills and jungle. After the tea factory I had planned to walk/hitch a ride to Gunnug Birching the highest point of Cameron Highlands and also famous for its mossy forest which apparently is like something out of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. It was 5km uphill to the place though, I couldn't hitch a ride, I was utterly exhausted, and it was foggy, so I thought better of it and hitched a ride back to the guesthouse where I am now.

A note about hitchhiking. I certainly wouldn't do it everywhere and I still haven't done a long distance journey hitching. I would like to but don't know when it will happen because I can imagine that there is nothing worse standing on the side of the road in the pouring rain waiting for a ride. I think Cameron Highlands is absolutely the perfect place to hitchhike for the first time and to hitch in general. There are side roads to tea plantations that are very long walks and friendly people more than willing to give you a lift. There is one main road so you just stand on the side of the road you're going and wait for someone to pull over. The farthest distance I hitched was only about 14 km, not very long at all. I've heard and can attest that Malaysia is a very hitchhiker friendly country. It was fun to do it, but of course I'm not going to do it everywhere I go. In this case it was the easiest way of getting around, as there are not really public buses and the only alternative is walking a long way.

I was planning on going to the Prehentian Islands next but I heard a monsoon might be coming through there so I may have to change my plans. I guess next time you'll figure out where I went.