As a newly independent woman in 2006, I
decided I was way overdue to travel somewhere far away, and picked Malaysia on
a group tour. I enjoyed it so much, that
had I not had any ties in London, I would've carried on travelling into the
Malaysian Borneo, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, maybe even Thailand again. The smiles, the laughter, the sun, the
beautiful surroundings, the adventure itself, I missed them all when came back home,
but I guess that's just how it is sometimes – too good to last! So in the meantime, I buried myself in my new
studies and took to dreaming of travelling.
I joined a tour group in Penang as I
figured it would be easier, given my two week time limit, so that I could pack
in as many places as possible. The tour
leader was great, she was a Scottish lady with a fantastic sense of humour, a youthful
spirit and a big heart. I was fortunate
enough to be accompanied by three guys on the tour, who shared an equally good
sense of humour and laid back attitude, and who also, very sweetly, wanted to
look out for me all the time, even though I was perfectly capable of doing that
for myself.
Looking back, I think what made the trip
so memorable were the moments I had that made me smile - little things like
seeing an adorable black monkey, a gibbon, on one of the treks, which I had
never seen before. It was all black with
white circles around its eyes and mouth, and painted a picture of perfect
innocence. Then in Banding / Temengor Lake we went on a night trek and slept in
hammocks in the jungle - bat and elephant shit in abundance, but no elephants
in sight until the next day on a night drive, and crossing the road no less, not
in the depths of the jungle. At one
point we all switched our flashlights off, and it was magical, there were
fireflies everywhere, and fluorescent leaves by my feet (the fungus on the
leaves makes them glow in the dark), stars in the sky, and the noises of the
jungle, of animals I mostly couldn't identify, but the sounds produced no fear,
only peace. After the trekking, we went
to the Perehentian Islands for a few days, and snorkelled in the clear blue
waters off the east coast, spotting giant turtles and multicoloured fish. I also, amusingly enough, came across a
monitor lizard on my way to the hotel room one afternoon, from the beach. I must say that stopped me in my tracks as I
had never come across one before, and had not expected such a sight. With a body bigger than a crocodile, and a
wider face, it walked at the pace of a snail, and had a tendency to whack
predators / people with it's heavy tail, so I made sure I stayed well away.
We took a 5 hour bus ride to Kuala Lipis
after the beach stay, then went into the jungle again, visited the limestone
caves, stumbled on more bats and shit, and slippery terrain; I was glad it was
over by the end of a 12 hour day but I did enjoy the adrenaline rush that it
created. After that, we stopped for tea
and cookies at a local villager's hut, hitched a ride on the back of a truck to
the Jelai River, then got a boat across it, and this made me laugh so much, I
wish I had taken a photo: there was a man on his boat, rowing on his own,
wearing a motorbike helmet. What he was thinking, or what drugs he was on, I do
not know.
Kuala Lumpur, unless you like cities
stocked to the brim with designer fakes and DVDs - for which they have an
interesting marketing ploy - they show you their file of DVDs, you say no thanks,
they offer you porn instead - neither of which I really do - was nothing to
shout about. Except for the Batu Caves, which
were a bus ride out of the city. You had
to climb two hundred steps, and inside its walls were some beautiful Hindu sculptures
and hungry monkeys (not so beautiful, but cute nonetheless).
By the end of the trip I had mastered the
art of squat toilets, which I hadn't experienced since India, and believe me,
being a girl, it is one hell of an art.
Men always have it so easy. I
also mastered the art of seeing with one semi good left eye due to laser
surgery gone not according to plan last year, and me having managed to break
the two lenses I wear on my right eye only, in the space of 2 days, on the 2nd
day of my trip. In addition, I am now
also very adept at trekking in the jungle with a handbag, and renamed it the handbag
for all seasons and purposes. Before I went away, I was so looking forward to
chilling out on the beach for a few days, and forgetting about pending exams,
that I didn't think about the practicalities of packing my day rucksack for the
jungle, along with a torch for night time walks, insect repellent, sunscreen,
etc. Anyway, in the end it worked out
pretty well - you'd be amazed how much you can squash into a handbag for two
days in the jungle - just pack extra light.
Mice, spiders, geckos, and other similar insects,
I can deal with, but leeches and jelly fish, having never been bitten by
either, produced a small amount of fear in me out in Malaysia. Until I got leeched twice in the jungle, and
it really wasn't that bad, so gone is my fear of leeches now. On my next trip I will probably have a jelly
fish stick itself to my body, and come back scarred, unless that is, I find
someone to piss on me, which is apparently the remedy for getting rid of the
poison, and to minimise scars. It would
have to be someone extraordinarily special, I can't think who right now, though
in that situation, I probably wouldn't care.
© Copyright Vanessa Sicre
© Copyright Vanessa Sicre
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment