Travel Highlights in Peninsular Malaysia (mainland)The Perehentian Islands on the east coast of Malaysia can be pretty much described by Douglas Adam’s thought on Hamilton Island in his book “The Salmon of Doubt”- ” it’s a pretty good example of what not to do to a beautiful subtropical island on the edge of one the great wonders of the natural world, which is to cover it with hideous…junk architecture, and sell beer and T-shirts and also picture postcards of how beautiful it used to be before all the postcard shops arrived.”
Other than the loads of tourists and inescapable beach resort hotels, I managed to have a good time for the water was a beautiful torquoise (nice and warm!) which made snorkelling and scuba diving superb. I really enjoy scuba diving- it’s one sport that all shapes and sizes can enjoy because it’s not aerobically demanding (deep slow breathing is key). It’s also the feeling of weightlessness that makes you think that you could possibly be in outer space. It’s such a different world underwater that you might as well be in a different planet; some of the marine life that you find are so strange and funny looking!
I toured around Kuala Lampur as well as the island of Penang (where the largest concentration of the Chinese community resides and where I hung out with my dad’s friend and his family for a week)- but I thought I’d keep this letter to a minimum and just stick to the main highlights of Peninsular Malaysia…plus, I don’t want to wear your eyes out!!
Cameron Highlands was a place I truly enjoyed. After walking around in the scorching heat in the Perhentians and soaking in your own body sweat all the time, every hour of the day for the past 2 months or so, Cameron Highlands was relieving! This area has a unique microclimate, where the temperatures would range between 10-25 degrees every day throughout the year. It was very much like a Canadian summer!! I enjoyed wearing layers of clothing in the evenings and ESPECIALLY enjoyed not having to sweat profusely for every meter that I walked.
Because of its unique microclimate this area is home to many tea plantations (Malaysia’s largest tea producing area), and fruit and vegetable farms. It also has some nice (though poorly marked) hiking trails in the area; in addition, the trail map (which was FULL of advertisements that you couldn’t see the map itself AND doesn’t come free!!) is so poorly produced (no scale and no north arrow!) and outdated that you can easily find yourself lost in the jungle.
I really enjoyed my countryside tour of the area, which included a tour of the BOH tea plantation. I am a ritualistic tea drinker and so seeing a tea plantation and how tea is processed was very exciting for me!
Another one of my spendid memories of being in the Cameron Highlands was enjoying a “Canadian” day with Tim. Tim is an English independent world traveller that I met on the bus to Cameron Highlands; he’s convinced that I am “probably the happiest person” he’s ever met! I can vividly recall a particular sunny day were we spent the afternoon enjoying a good conversation over masala tea (chai) and home-made shortbread cookies made by the manager of my guesthouse (it was so nice to have some home-baked goods!). After that, I spent some time working on my sketches outdoors (’cause the weather was perfectly comfortable!) while Tim practiced guitar (he’s really musically talented; and vocally as well!). I really felt like I was back home in Canada, outside on my balcony patio in Regina drawing/painting and listening to great music on a sweet summer day. Thanks Tim for that wonderful day! It really helped relieve my homesickness.
Another highlight of Peninsular Malaysia was visiting Taman Negara National Park. “Taman Negara” in Malay actually means National Park, so they should really just call it Taman Negara, don’t you think? This Park has some great natural attractions such as Gunung Tahan, which is the highest peak in P. Malaysia that I unfortunately I didn’t climb, and various animals like the Indochinese Tiger, Sumatran Rhino, Asian Elephant and Guar. I was able to catch up with Tim (that I met back at Cameron Highlands) at this Park, AND met a fellow Canadian/British Columbian Cane. We decided to do a stay at one of the bumbuns (observation hide that overlooks a salt lick) in hopes we would see some animals. Well, in addition to us three, there were 6 other hikers that joined us afterwards, and so such a gathering of people from various parts of the world naturally turned into an event of storytelling, chatter and laughter.
Needless to say, the observation hide didn’t serve it’s purpose that night. I really don’t think any animal in fact would have come 100m from our bumbun (some how that doesn’t sound right). The funny thing was that we were the only 3 in the party that endured a grueling 7 hours of jungle trekking (there were many tributaries to cross), while the others took a rather easier path (relatively flat and benign) or took a boat. I think we rightfully DESERVED to have seen something!! Well, I guess, we did get bitten by many leeches, so it wasn’t a total loss. They have such a great maneuvering ability to latch on to your shoe, climb up your leg in lightning speed and manage to find a way into your pants or socks!! Very impressive! (I am convinced that some men have this leech gene!)
Two more things before I end this letter:
1. Running around in the rain in the rainforest. Everyone should have this on their “To Do” list.
2. Swimming in the very ‘humic’ and cool waters of the Tahan River will hopefully be a memory that will last a life time! It’s definitely one of my “happy places” that I will think of when I am back at work in my office wishing I was somewhere else than at work in my office.
Next to come…my adventures in Northern Thailand. Stay tuned!!
Cheers, Mai-Linh
1. Fruit and vegetable farms in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia.
2. BOH tea plantation
3. A real cool butterfly; Butterfly park, Cameron Highlands, Malaysia.
4. The Tan Family clan. I hung out with this jovial bunch for a week while I was in Penang.
5. Canopy walkway in Teman Negara National Park, Malaysia.
