Sunday, May 16,, arrived in Malaysia
Party last night in Bangkok, I arrived at noon at the border. During certain periods, This border crossing is the target of Islamist attacks of a group that claims an independent state in southern Thailand and has already done a lot of deaths. Soldiers weapons scrutinize the train the owners of each bag. In this car 3rd class, most women are veiled. Terminus, a motorcycle taxi to take me to the border, a bridge over a river, and I enter Malaysia. A taxi driver offered to take me into town 1 / 2 hour from here, but the bus will be cheaper, and the guy, friendly, telling me how to find the bus, a rather surprising and pleasant home after Bangkok and "businessman who did not make that kind of gift.
Arrive Kota Bahru after 1/2h bus or I pioncait, I find a small pad and finally break me down for a nap. I did 2 races, a plug adapters that are compatible with huge and nothing and I change my last ringgit Baht, the guy does not change the parts, damage, y 'has a coffee ^ ^. Internet and Pizza Hut tonight, served by waitresses dressed in their Muslim chador.
Monday, May 17, 2010, sunrise at 6am, breakfast from a coffee in a can of 7-Eleven (the grocery store that covers all over Thailand, Malaysia and probably more) and a bottle water (optional, for desallage of seawater by reverse osmosis or distillation).
A minibus came to take us, me and other backpackers. It is gray and it will float. We arrive at Kuala Besut, the pier, you climb on a speedboat to 1 / 2 hour crossing. The sea is agitated, it's raining, and I discover new sensations, this boat is very fast, he jumps from one to two seconds in the air before landing like a rock in the palm of the next wave with a shock every time I feel into my spine, it is rather violent, fast, powerful, and I'm tempering head to foot in a few seconds. The driver deposited us on Kecil island, the smaller of two islands on a small paradise beach called Coral Bay.
300m wide, a few wooden buildings along the beach restaurant which, lease bungalows or wish to dive, there is no road here, just one path between two main beaches, and to reach other beaches or hotels, is by boat. Prices are a little expensive, and I found to share a bungalow with a Japanese, 40 Ringgits, about $ 13. I go snorkelling in direct from a small beach about 10m wide equally excellent. By joining the small beach, I passed a huge Komodo lizard of some sort of almost 1.5 meters long, which looks at me carefully before fleeing when I approach him.
I dive and that's great. Coral of all shapes, all colors, it is the same fish, all shapes, sizes, colors, I will regale. It is a pleasure to dive and follow a few groups of fish rainbow, or find myself in a bench a hundred fish, or look in the orange or seaweed lies the brother Nemo. I would see even a small shark 1, 50m, thin as my calf.
I will visit the other side of the island, Long Beach, renowned for its small soirees to one of two small bars, as desired, reggae or electronica, all on a beautiful wide beach some tourists, some jurisdictions, these big hotels and some guesthouses. Back Coral Beach has a meal at the restaurant next door, Mama's, run by Indians. There is a large Chinese and Indian communities in Malaysia. I feast on roasted, cheap, excellent, I missed this Indian dish. For beer is not the same, a beer is 10 ringgit, more than 2 euros is a Muslim country here and they tax alcohol more severely in the local margin.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010. Breakfast on the beach, I discussed the price of breakfast and the day of snorkeling. We start at 8 on a small boat, the first step, a site where we should be able to see sharks, but no luck today I did not see him. We continue on a 2nd site even more beautiful, some apnea 5 meters, a girl will see a big shark but it is the only one. I enjoy just the apnea 4 or 5 meters between corals and colorful fish. It then stops between the two islands, the bottom is only 5 meters, the boat driver spots a turtle that just go back to breathe and is joined.
It gives this kind of image, I leave you dreaming!
It eats algae on the rocks at the bottom, and goes every 5 minutes on the surface to breathe. I joined several times to 5 meters deep, swimming beside her was 50cm, admires his shell, beautiful, meticulously decorated as a craftsman, is truly magical, and that's what I would keep as the best of this place.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010, I'm leaving on a small path through the jungle of the island reach a small beach and do some snorkeling. It is a veritable jungle that invades every small huts and there are few unoccupied. I do not see anything unusual during my apnea, and it is surely better, the guy who repaired the engine on the beach to his boat that sank, ask me if I cross the shark, it appears that there has the bulk of this document etqu'il must be careful, reassuring to hear that after the dive.
Thursday, May 20, 2010, a small cafe on the beach, this magnificent beach dream covered with dead coral full range. I ride the speed boad, Kuala Besut direction, the pier. I then found a minibus after negotiating a fair price, I guzzler 2 banana roti for breakfast and I go to the center of Malaysia.
The most surprising and as a measure of the road, are hectares of palm plantations, acres of jungle also shaved for growing this tree
Malaysia is the first world producer of palm oil.
Arrive Kuala Tahan, the small tourist village in the natural park of Taman Negara is the point starting from jungle treks, marks on trees or with a guide, an hour or several days. I found a bed in a dormitory, dorm squatting also by some large insects, like this huge butterfly almost as big as the morphos Guyana.
Diner on one of these floating barges which are grocery or restaurant on the riverfront.
I prepared a small treck from 2 days to reach an observatory is 7 hours walk from the village, with a nice pair of German property. Pleasant evening was feeling a lot of what I love in Guyana, the sounds of the forest, the river, also brown, and the small supermarket on a floating barge with supplies also basic and sufficient to go on a bit. It's nice to find these sensations, this humid heat, the sounds of the forest, the strong smell of the vegetation has taken half the water, the vast serenity of the mighty jungle, surveyed by local boatmen and some trekkers with adventurous tastes.
Friday, May 21, 2010, breakfast, I regale 3 roasted egg on a barge restaurant, waiting for my hiking journeyperson is getting ready to go to the observatory by Bumbuna Kumbang Track the hardest, because the other is now divided by a river 30 meters wide. I offer plastic shoes, it will be very muddy because it often rains at this time, rent a backpack for some food and water, rent a foam mattress and a sleeping bag. I pay 2 bottles of water, but I realize that 3 are barely sufficient. One starts later, at 11:30, for a period announced by the store from 5 to 7 hours, 5 hours setting because it is quite fit.
The first mile is easy, wide steps lead to a site tree-climbing in the canopy. Arrived at this site, we discover the true beginning of the runway, a small jungle trail, narrow, accidente, very muddy, and all along, it does stop climbing on steep Butes over muddy ground slippery, and then descend to cross a small creek, as we say in Guyana, a small stream cool and clear, before climbing the next hill.
We will not cross animals, 7 hours walk is not easy, sometimes it's almost climbing over mounds of mud clinging to the roots covering the ground, the animals we intend to blow in advance! Cons by leeches feast, not many mosquitoes here, I even slept without mosquito net,
but leeches, these big worms like matches are always in search of blood, advancing in the jungle by complying with 2, raising his head in search of a obstacle or a vein, before plunging to a new "no."
We pass through a village, the inhabitants of these huts made of several pieces of wood and covered with palm leaves have black skin, it reminds me of the Aborigines of Australia, but their origins are different.
We still 1h30 walk after a villager, with the weight of our bags, our clothes soaked through, sweat, and our own water rationing to be again for tonight and tomorrow a total that we finally discover that the observatory, as if one saw a mirage. A room of 30 square meters to 6 meters perched high on the feet of concrete, a dozen bunk beds and even with a shower / WC. One side of the observatory has a large window overlooking a flap, a small area without trees 200m wide and long, among whom there are rocks and a water source or a lot of animals should come s' watering.
He is 19h and the sun that gives us 1 hour respite, I do not use the shower / toilet stinks, his mouth for days, and will wash myself in a small cove 5 minutes later, 20cm clear and fresh water to flush a little sweat that inundates all my clothes and finally take a shower. It's nice to be alone in this corner of the jungle, hear the sounds of the forest, just be careful and wait, dreaming up fallen the night, may be seeing a tiger pass, there are 250 in this park. I agree with the observatory, 2 pairs of Belgian and a Malaysian group arrived by boat accompanied by guides. They are entitled to a meal in the rules, rice and chicken and even coffee. From our side we will enjoy the trays of fried rice this morning that we lug around in our bags, with a little spice to the tuna between two slices of bread. A guide has left the remains of the plates in a location visible from the observatory, which is an Asian Golden Cat, a fat feline in the size of a puma that comes regale them, not bother with our torches.
I stay up late and my bed is surprisingly comfortable, I do not know if the small foam mattress 1cm thick on the wooden bed and down which houses a 100aine people before me, or if the 7h steps with backpack by rationing water, heat, drive "0", but I sleep like a baby!
Saturday, May 22, 2010 , Alarm with others in the hut, I go a little further trek on the trail of time I meet one of these animals if we do not see that here surprising. I see tracks made and used by large animals, and tonight was a tiger "roar" away, but very powerful. The rain begins to fall, the rain of the rainy season, identical to the rainy season in Guyana, the path to the river will be more difficult than yesterday. We equip, Pancho plastic and you reach the river to 1 hour walk in a camp ranger almost abandoned that begins to rot and collapse on itself.
arivent 2 guys in the dugout, a driver and the guide was up front that identifies floating trees, rocks and helps qux delicate maneuvers. The canoe is made of planks, it is a hollowed tree trunk and works as in Guyana. It goes back through the village, or that both the chief decided to show us his marksmanship at the blowpipe.
long and 2 meters, a small tip of a poison coated 15cm Quick kill monkeys that they hunt. Their precision is astonishing, mine rather pretty fun, we will walk away with a small tip size and set with a small weight, done in 2 minutes by a kid. They also make us a demonstration to the forest fires, a lianne they rub on a split bark, very quickly and the smoke appears, then a few tiny ember to light a small focus of compact leaves and grass dry well .
This village is almost empty, all men in canoes on the river, to ferry tourists and a few other hunting and fishing, they will return tonight. We pass through some rapids, the canoe is really low from the lows of the waves and the pilot is skillful. We arrive at Kuala Tahan, the village of departure, or, finally, a good shower and a simple plastic chair become so comfortable sitting opposite river. I trade in groceries on the barge floating box of tuna spiced UNUSED cons of toothpaste that will soon fail me, dinner on the barge, the "Familia", a single cuisto and 10 tables, I have all the time chat with a guy who has just arrived, it was Mozambique and habique in England, one of these meetings came from afar.
Sunday, May 23, 2010, woke up early, shower, and pause before the jungle awaiting the sunrise.
I patient 1 / 2 hour I was treated to a roasted egg. The local bus abyss but strong will to 1:30 through the jungle and palm plantations all to join a first city on a road or I would take another bus towards Kuala Lumpur ....
Malaysia Perhentian Islands
Taman Negara
photos
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