“On my way towards the unknown, after a debilitating trek, a stopover in one of the last city states to recuperate was truly thought after by body and mind. Wandering about the metropolis at night and mountain biking on an old jungle island revealed its quieter side. A feint touch of Western civilisation & culture in Asia sends me off further North, many kilometres yonder, where allegedly more adventure awaits.” – on Singapore
“Passing through the lush green Malaysian countryside, train tracks fringed by palm trees, the rising sun reflecting in meandering rivers and the unfettered hilly jungle forests invite to lean back and enjoy the journey. Looking at the sheer endless cascade of plantations along the side, I realise I am entering a country without even the faintest idea where to set foot on next. Initial downpours acting as harbinger of bad news, announcing the looming advent of the wet season. Colourful sunsets, calming rain drops on jungle tents and a pirate shack make up for the sweat tearing humidity and heat on remote islands where the fox and the hare bid each other goodnight.” – on Malaysia
News update from my end after nearly 2 months on the road. I had a much longer version here with minute descriptions of my voyage in Singapore and Malaysia but upon closely perusing my notes, I have made bold to strike numerous passages for the ease of reading but some details you will still find though, so enjoy.
After the described monster trek from Indonesia to Singapore – 15h, cancelled flights, delayed flights, missed connection and a gate sprint I finally arrived. Me; but not my backpack, which the airline lost. At least the walk to my first couch surfing destination was a seemingly easy one and once I found myself a cold bottle of Tiger beer the anger abated. A bit.
After I was welcomed in with open arms, it was already late and my ear was messing up a bit so I hit the hay quite soon after my arrival for I also sipped a bit more than my head seemed to be able to carry that day. The next morning started with a nasty surprise, as all the traveling, including the slight infection had actually clogged my ear and I could barely hear anything. Nonetheless, played a round of tennis, and introduced my hosts to the fine Austrian cuisine – meaning I cooked the famous “Fleischlaberl mit Kartoffelpüree”.
Famished with hunger, that evening I had the great fortune of indulging in Austrian food at Leopold and also was handed over a care package from home containing all the sweet necessities an Austrian traveler needs on the road to stay strong and healthy. Afterwards however, I had to carry my weary head to the hospital and finally, after way too many remarks fell unheeded upon my ears, I could finally hear the whispers of this world again. Or its screams for that very matter.
Mind: Its hot in singapore, really hot and humid – for the most part I was roaming around the wonders and food delights of china town sweating – the magic aka plunder they sell is absurd. Lots of high rising apartment blocks with even higher rising names greet the visitors eye – Sea Horizon, Riversails, Riverside, oasia, etc… – but also Outdoor parks, green space, vertical gardens, clean streets and outdoor sport facilities. You also know you are in a first world country again when there are signs for everything; everywhere; I left the city behind to explore Palau Buin for mountain biking – a great adventure that was in the last remaining natural jungle in Singapore.
Couch surfing has been a success so far, the first place with Gym, tennis and pool and really nice guys! So decided to try another place and moved into a new gaf more downtown on oct 4 – Amazing catered apartment and a 5* breakfast. Thanks Bradley!
I used the early sun to explore the metropolis – Walking along the river quays to marina bay, up the sands (what a waste of calories) and onwards to the gardens by the bay and then the botanical gardens, which are truly stunning. I spent the entire remainder of the day exploring the various gardens and wonders of nature within.
I even met a dog (again) and my entreaty to play with it was welcomed by the owners. 3 months old, called popcorn, fluffiest thing ever.
“Hi, I am popcorn”
The evening was spent enjoying beers and the views from the apartment, followed by delicious Mexican food with Bradley and his mates, all professional dancers in town for a gig.
Got up early to indulge yet again in the fantastic breakfast buffet and on I went to Malaysia. The train to Kuala Lumpur is a great experience in itself, leading through jungle and palm tree plantations. The next day was used to explore the city of KL and then spent the rest of my afternoon in Aku cafe and gallery to work and catch up with people and planning a bit how to get to places. The obligatory evening beer was being consumed at Traders Hotel, just opposite the Petronas Towers. Just some towers. Stunningly beautiful towers at night though.
Upon waking (at 6:30 am by the way), I was in a jovial mood for I was about to explore the worlds oldest rainforest for the next couple of days. Nothing could be more exciting and taint this glorious feeling. Nothing but the advent of the dreadfully feared rainy season which seemed to have been unleashed just that very morning. So there I was, sitting on the roofed sun terrace, listening to thunder and rain, contemplating what I should do: Stay and wait for better times or leave as planned. I felt intrepid and left anyways. Bad idea for it felt as if god itself helped pouring down water. After 15 min of walking I was completely drenched, completely. Not a single dry spot anymore but there I was freeing myself from hustle & bustle of the city life, back to nature to enjoy Taman Negara, the world’s oldest rainforest. Well, after a 4h bus, a taxi and a 3h boat up the river that is.
Went for a 6h trek the next day through the jungle, past snakes, spiders, bugs, monkeys and leeches. Met tons of cool people from Austria, Czech republic, France (Impressive guy who cycled 32000 km across the globe) and Holland.
Jolly great time playing cards and savouring fresh juices and good food. After a second tour, I joined forced with two Dutch travellers Esther and Rosan and took the bus back to Jerantut (very scenic and enjoyable even though the jungle was levelled to make way for – have a guess – more palm tree plantations, exactly. Not much to do in this city apart from the Chinese temple and an admittedly breathtaking waterfall. Cooling down in the pools below is balm for the heat stressed body.
The sleeper train to the north through the jungle is again quite the comfortable experience and the perfect place to rest ones rattled bones, if it wasn’t for getting up at 3:45am: However, I had a good nights (or mornings) rest for I was always able to sleep in any vehicle that moves in a straight line forward motion.
Rosan and Esther have been great travelling buddies, thanks for allowing me to walk some of the way with you. After a “nice” and “safe” boat ride I set foot on the Perhentian islands and was immediately greeted by clear waters, great beaches and a colourful sunset after a bit of rain that even made the locals stop in awe. The days were used to enhance my snorkelling skills, morning runs, swim, and just chill. My hours of leisure I spent in reading the best books, ancient and modern, business and trivial, always being provided with a good selection by my kindle. The heat wouldn’t allow for much more activity apart from my evening tours to the main beach, to get fresh fruit juice, snickers milkshakes and food. And internet, if there was. On my way back from these trips I realised that everything in these realms here has pinchers – the bites of these god da!@ stupid ants really pack a punch.
I immediately took over the Pirate lookout on the cliffs just by the sea for the rest of the stay. Camping in the rainforest in a tent was a change but nice nonetheless, nice & sweaty. No but seriously, the sun began to grow hot and the light offended my eyes. I didn’t know knees can sweat. The constant sweating also creates constant cravings for food and sweets. Side Note: Dropped my Toilet paper in the sand – a rather unpleasant experience as the reader may believe – uhhhh.
After a day of Snorkeling (spotted sharks, turtles and swimming with schools of fish) a proper sunburn on my back was the reward. Ouch. Dinners by the beach with the local owl (named harry spotter), otters and baby turtles in combination with a cold sea breeze allowed to cool down a bit. A bit. Upon moving though, sweat was flowing again. In streams.
Harry Spotter
Got up early the next day (at 5:45) to catch a glimpse of the sunrise on the other side, honed my harmonica skills, climbed a rock and enjoyed the morning wind and sea smell it brought to my nose. life is good. I decided to add another day here 😉
Little souvenir from the climbing action
The mind is still craving some more hammock time, reading and chillin’.
The crystal clear waters
A full moon night swim to cool down and then spent one last day in my pirate hangout, before I trusted myself to the mercy of the waves again to get back to main land. Took the Night bus to Penang (Georgetown). So we were sitting and watching all these fancy new buses roll in and roll away again until 9pm when our bus arrived. Standard. Old. Uncomfortable. Mercy me. Strolling through georgetown, admiring murals, Speaking to locals, sampling food.
Going out with a bunch of great guys, Adriana, Aurelie, Emilie and Teresa. Thanks guys for the fun nights spent! (And the cabbage lady story)
Next day got a haircut, went to the gym and a temple. More exploring, cake, food, Beers, movies and stories were being shared.
After 3 great days in Georgetown, moved on to Lankawi, the port to Thailand. A boatride and vomit later we arrived. uiuiuuui, lots of sea sick people on that boat, luckily not me. Lankawi, the duty free Island, greeted us with rain. Did what I do best anyways and explored the island by bike, accompanied by my new travel buddy Aurelia.
Thailand bound. Via more boats it seems. Hurray. See you soon guys, hope everybody is well and save travels.
All in all I must say Malaysia has been indeed very kind to me and was a great country to experience, thanks: Friendly people, cheap food, good infrastructure, nice remote islands and on top everybody speaks english, ok not everybody but most people do. They don’t want money for everything also (As it so often is the case in Indonesia).
Having met plenty of real travellers now doubts have arisen as to whether Edi and I really are are travellers or still tourists: this guy on the bike, just wow.
Having said that though, materialistic stuff is becoming less relevant to me the longer I am on the road. You stop caring about ipad, etc… and find other ways: If kindle gets stolen, you need to go to book stores, second hand shops, book exchanges in hostels, etc…
I am also realising that i need less and less money and things I brought. Yep I packed too much, yep I knew it and yes everybody told me otherwise but it is an experience you see, a learning curve one needs to go through to know what you dont need and what you do need, personally, for yourself. No list can be of aid to you here. You will also realise that certain things are handy (like a powerport) but not needed. I have by now already thrown it away, learned to live without. If my phone is out of battery, so be it. Also stopped researching the best hostels to stay at, it seems intuitive to do but just rock up, find a place, if you don’t like it you can still move on.
A great jewish thinker in the medieval times was asked once: If god wants us to obtain knowledge, why don’t he just shares this knowledge with us? To which he wisely answered: if we are told what to know, we don’t know it. I deduct from this that knowledge needs to be obtained personally, methodically over time and is particularly true for travel experiences.
View from Langkawi’s highest peak
Rain in Georgetown
Go with the Flo (and Edi) 