Farewell to Malaysia

The week we spent at Telaga Harbor Marina, north Langkawi, wasn't entirely spent on boat repairs. We did a bit of tourist activity as well and were glad to finally get around the island. We visited Eagle Square, at the main town of Kuah. There were real sea eagles wheeling around the bay that put this replica one to shame, but, it's huge and a very noticeable landmark when approaching from seaward.

We travelled up the cable car, reputedly the steepest one in the world to get this view of the marina. Gjoa is in there somewhere.

Malysia, or, maybe just Langkawi, is very laid-back about some things. We were able to rent a car for  < C$30 for the whole day. We didn't have to show a driver's licence, credit card, id and didn't have to sign anything. You're just handed a key and told to put a little gas into it before bringing it back. It even had working air conditioning. There's probably no insurance either, but, we tried not to think about that. We used the car to full advantage, touring the island and stocking up on our provisions.

Ever since we started cruising, I'd been hearing about New Zealand canned butter, but, had started to think it was a sailing myth as I could never find it. They had it here and we stocked up.

Along the way, we enjoyed a delicious Chinese lunch at an open air restaurant for about C$7 for both of us, including soft drinks. Then, we hit the shops. There are a couple of western-style supermarkets here, but, for other items, it's shopping how it used to be. You go into the store and tell the person at the counter what you want and they go and retrieve it. After wandering miles around and around, frustratingly huge, home improvement stores like Bunnings, in Australia, looking for a few screws or something, it seemed refreshing.They always seemed to have what we wanted, or, if not, would happily refer us to another store where we could get it.

Although we can hardly say we saw a lot of the country, only Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi, we found that the longer we stayed, the more intrigued by it we became. Malaysia doesn't seem to have a very high profile (except when they lose a couple of airliners), but, it seems to have a lot going for it. The two large, remote, northern provinces, Sabah and Sarawak, which cover most of the northern half of the island of Borneo (Indonesia occupies the southern half and they call it Kalimantan) seemed especially intriguing with their many national parks and tropical rainforests. The wildlife sounds incredible, from the only bear species in SE Asia, the Malayan sun bear, to tigers, civet cats, leopards, many monkey species and the Borneo pygmy elephant. Birds, of course, are also there in great number and variety. There are resorts in the parks and they are fairly accessible. To go by yacht, unfortunately, requires participation in a rally that has an obligatory night curfew and a military escort through the piracy areas close to the Philippines.

Along the west coast of peninsular Malaysia, down which we'll be travelling soon, there are also a couple of highlights. Georgetown, on Penang island, is a Unesco world heritage site and Malacca, the historic fishing village located on the Malacca Strait. We had hoped to stop at these places, but, given that each would take a few days, or more, to do properly and would also complicate our boat status we'll probably just travel through.

All the locals we interacted with have been very polite, soft-spoken and somewhat self-effacing. However I think it would take a very long time, if ever, to become part of their community. On the surface, some things were very charming, like this street sign, which we're not sure what it means.

Then, there are signs like this where the picture looks like the authorities really mean business.

Google translates the words as:

"Warning

The restricted area of the intruder will be prosecuted"

When we first arrived, it was Ramadan. We were quite shocked when we went into the local McDonalds for an ice cream cone to see a large sign on the door stating:

"All Muslims are forbidden to eat at McDonalds during the fasting hours of Ramadan and can be charged by the local authorities." 

Hmmm......