To infinity (well... Manila) and beyond!

          I came back to Bukit Bintang (a subarb of K.L) on the overnight train from Terengganu . I realised that the screen on the laptop was fried so I had to get a new screen. Ah well, at least the hard drive was ok. I went back to the Serenity hostel (The same place that I had stayed in when I arrived in K.L a few weeks ago) and in the meantime, they had ordered and received lockers (Actually, come to think of it, there does not seem to be many lockers in any of the places that I have stayed in.)
          When I arrived, I met a couple of Philipinos at the service desk and a guest started talking to me and told me he was Philipino. A girl came out of one of the dorms and she was Canadian ..... of Philipino extraction. I think this was a sign to ask many questions about the Philippines to anyone who would listen. So, I found out that it will probably take the guts of 4 hours to get from Clark airport to Malate and that It might not b e a great idea to stay there as that's the tourist central area and the pickpocket rate is quite high (Going out after 10 p.m is not to be recommended).
       I also learned that the pronounciation of the name Tagalog (the main language of the Philippines) is Tag-aaaaa-log not tagalog (I guess, it's similar to the way people say caaaaaavan).
       I was also advised the following.If someone is  being overly friendly to me, then most likely, they are going to ask for money. (I would be interested to see if this is true.)
       I am just getting ready for the next trip so I will just spend a couple of days here and then sleep at the airport before getting a really early flight out to Clark airport (about 100 km from Manila)
       I visited the local bar for the first time this evening and I can understand why there are hardly anyone in the bar.The price of a pint is RM23 (aound 5.75 euro) This is insanely expensive for the locals (and not too cheap for the tourist either!) .

                                                                   5 bottles in this place for 88 + taxes 
                                                                   no wonder drinking is not popular here


It's a blessing that I was knackered and headed home after one pint but it was quite interesting talking to Philipino's/Mongolians/New Zealanders/Swiss. At one point,Geoff  (a Philipino guy who has emigrated to Malaysia to supplement an income breeding dogs) asked why was I not married at my age. I didn't know how to answer that one. I'll get back to you on that Geoff!
     Sunday:
I had a Nasi Goreng with a drink that tasted like cold coffee mixed with  ice and streams of green goo fo RM12 .

Nasi Goreng (with cucumbers , the cockroach of the vegetable world .....eugh)

coffee with some green goo and loads of ice cubes 

I though the bill would come to 10.80 but , in some food locations, they seem to add on the government tax and local tax afterwards (It is the same in Dunkin Donuts) It's a bit weird as not all restaurants do this.
             I heard that Wendys give free refills all day for their drinks and they have wi-fi.I reckon I might pay them a visit tomorrow!
             As I tend to dehydrate at the flick of a switch, I have been drinking all manners of liquids over the past 3 weeks .Here are just 2  more to add to the collection.
 Wong Lo Kate tastes a bit like cold herbal tea with a kick

The Qing dynasty is one of my favorite Dynasties. 

This is by far the best new drink I have tasted.Export it to Europe NOW!!!!

I assumed that all cans were the same size (i.e: 330ml.) This is not the case.Some of the cans are 325ml and some are 300 ml.
I wonder why that is or why every can that I can think of back home is 330ml??
        I wonder if there is a benign Irish influence on some of the shops here.  I was walking arounf one of the Malls today and noticed a women's clothes shop with the following name.

                                                                                      Feach ar ainm an siopa!


             I took a photo of an Indian brick-a -brack shop today.These shops are class as they seem to sell everything!

Cutting the meat for the customers (who can paw the meat at will) 

I visited Merdeka square today.I could  sense that the locals were looking at me and after a couple of minutes ,one of the local guys came up to me and asked if he could take a photo of me. I said 'ok', and then  4 others took out their phones ad started taking photos!!  A couple of minutes later , the same thing happened again .Maybe, I should ask for 5 ringgit per picture!
Here is a pic of a water fountain at Bukit Bintang.It looks pretty cool at night.

                                                                                     Close to the 'Lot10' Mall


 Monday:
I went to the mall for some inspiration this morning....
I asked the signs  in the mall -  'should I go to the Philippines this week' and they replied unanimously.

I decided to book a flight to Indonesia (Medan) today (before heading to the Philippines) I will not be heading to Medan for another month but I thought , i'd better book it now before I forget. I am spending the guts of today in a Wendys restaurant as they have free wifi and free refills.I think I am about to explode from drinking too much Strawberry flavoured Fanta though. (It tastes a bit like strawberry flavoured icepops that are melted. yum!)  I think the guy behind the counter is beginning to wonder if I will ever leave the restaurant though. Actually, come to think of it, you see quite a few people going to restaurants (mostly McDonalds) in the morning time just to get the free wifi to check up on emails before they head on to work.

oh yeah, I almost forgot, an Indian film was filmed outside the hostel today.Here are some of the cameramen at work.

A little less sun please!

Seems like the Indian view of a good looking woman (well, according to this film) is the same as back in Ireland. ie: be really skinny and relatively tall (5' 8'') and wear heels. I am afraid I did not have the camera with me when she was acting.


Things I learned over the past few weeks:

Koreans have 2 birthdays...the first one is the usual birthday but in Korea, when you are born , you are considered 1 year old. On January 1st - you are 2 years old.
So , you could be talking to a person who is 25 years old (in international terms) but 27 years old in Korean terms!
The following pic contains the korean alphabet with english pronounciation in brackets [Thanks for this Dave and Inji, it's just a pity that the back of this page conatins a ....ahem ... crude.... pic of a penis (those taxi drivers on the Perhentians are some artists!)...still , the page might come in handy at some stage]

                                                                             Don't look TOO closely at this page


The VAST majority of people traveling from north America are Canadians and every Canadian that I have met so far (and there have been quite a few) are either from Vancouver or Toronto.

Tapsilog (fried beef + rice + egg) sounds like a dish that I should try in the Philippines.
Lechon (roast pig) sounds like anothert dish that I should have a go at
Paxcio (which are scraps of Lechon) sound good also !

Kota Bharu and Perhentian Kecil

The bus to Kota Bharu left Kuantan at 1.30 and it arrived at Kota Bharu around 9.00.Thgat was one REALLY long trip.
I took a few random snaps during the bus journey and here they are!

Boats moored

Typical House on the route to Khota Baru

Mosque

I decided to stay in KB backpackers hostel for 2 nights (as I wouldn't mind seeing some of the islamic museums. This place
has a real muslim vibe to it. I have not seen many women with no head scarfs) I had a look at the market this morning. think
moore street and multiply it by about a million!

Get your 'nanas

These stalls went on for miles!

 I visited the Negari Museum first. When I say I visited it first, I mean ,i walked into the building beside it and had a
look around. It looked like I had walked into a government building (I had! I went in the wrong entrance.whoops!)
Anyway,Eventually I went to the museum where they Described all the Chinese dynastys  (You were not allowed to take any
photos at this museum.) If you want, i could show you a picture of the Chinese bringing a camel to Malaysia during the Tang
dynasty.

                                                              Camels were so cool during the Tang Dynasty

   There were quite a few authentic Ming vases here.(I had to make sure my backpack never slipped!)
There was a couple of interesting tid bits in this museum like the history of kite flying.(which was said to have originated
in Thailand) They had a few exmples of wau kites (they were supposed to resemble a human - i.e: a part with a head, body and
legs)
There was an example of a Reban Ubi drum there (It was made from wood and some cowhide, it looked a bit like a Lambeg drum)
There was a item on Pencak Silat (Malay\Java martial art to be used for defense only)
There was a really tacky room close to the exit which was really cool. You walk in the room and noises comes from nowhere
,then you look to your left and you see a guy trying to make a fire by rubbing a stick with flint. It looks really low budget
but kind of cool!
    I headed off in the direction of the 'Istana Jahar' museum.
This place contained some details about royalty.I saw Limar cloth (Royalty wore this orange cloth as a sign of wealth.) The
ritual of engagement within royal circles was explained here. The man would give the woman a ring and in return , she would
buy him an outfit (headgear {tengkolok},shirt,waistband etc)
    If the couple were having their first kid, there would be a ceremony during the 7th month of pregnancy where the village
nurse (Kampung Bidan) would glide a blade over the woman , then comb her hair and her belly, then run an egg over her - then
a coconut- then apply a silver and gold thread around the stomach (sounds like a long ritual to me!)
      I headed out for dinner at one of the local restaurants.When I walked in , one of the lads eating hs dinner started
cheering (He started slagging the girl who was going to serve me for being a bit slow (service wise) but it seemed in good
jest! At the  end  pf the meal, she brought me down a glass of water (water is always appreciated!!)) I guess he must have
thought that I looked like royalty!
  Anyway, The next morning I got the 9 bus out of Kota Bharu to Kuala Besut (The journey took 90 minutes but it flew by fairly
quickly as there were a  couple of lads heading to the Perhentian Islands and They were full of chat.)  One of the lads (Ger)
is from Armagh and has been traveling though south east asia for quite a while. He is heading to the islands as he heard that
the dives around the island are pretty cool. I have never dove before but I might give the snorkeling a go. In Kota Besut, I
bumped into another Irish bloke (Dave) who is traveling through south east asia before heading on home for the summer. We
bumped into each other on the beach (There are 2/3 bars there and at night time, they throw on some music) Note to self :
stay away from the 'Orang Utan' rum as it goes down too easy A 330ml can of tiger beer costs RM10 here so It's not too cheap!
      wednesday:
     I went for a snorkel today.
Note: remember not to freak out when you jump into the water.I jumped into the water and had a look at the bottom of the
ocean and had one of those moments! So I ended up wearing a safety jacket for most of the day. This was really annoying as it started digging into my sides.I think i'd rather drown than wear a safety vest again.
                                       

                                        
                                                        The downside to wearing a life jacket 



         The snorkeling itself is great craic. I saw a HUGE turtle and many different types of fish (Actually, can fish bite? I felt a few bites at one point! I saw a small shark at one point also. Unfortunately, there was no accompanying Jaws music for that shark and as it was 1 metre long, it was not too scary but it was still impressive.)
         I must remember to stop swimming AWAY from the boat too much. We (The instructor and
4 of us made the dive) went to 5 different places. When the boat stopeed in the first location, I swam to shore and then
tried to swim back to the boat but it had moved on....eep!!! The boat showed up a few minutes later anyway (luckily for me!).
 here are a few pics of the journey around the islands

Longbeach (Perhentian Kecil)

travelling around the islands

Clear blue waters everywhere!

Can you feel the sun through these pics?

The people on this Island (Perhentian Kecil) are very chilled out. Any time , I go for a breakfast/lunch/dinner , the smiles
are out in force! The vibe is a lot better than Pulau Tioman (Although, Pulau Tioman still has its attractions.)
      It rained a bit last night and I had my bag with me (with the laptop in the bag.Not a good idea, Today, there seems to be 5 or 6 brightly coloured lines running vertically down the screen on the laptop. so it looks like the screen could be ready to throw in the towel...)

    I must remember if I ever snorkle again the following few things....
1. Do not bother tryig to swim as the fins and the headgear will keep you buoyant.
2. You can float on the surface for ages without moving a muscle!
3. Don't bother using you arms, Use the fins to glide through the water.
4. Remember , the water can have a multitude of temperatures. swimming through water with different temperatures is class!
5. Do not touch the turtles!
6. Watch out for the biting fish.
7. Learn not to drink too much seawater
8. Breathe like Darth Vader.
9. Always remember to take off the fins before jumping back on the boat.otherwise, it could get a bt awkward!
10. Try swimming without the lifejacket.

            You can always spot the Irish person on the beach by looking at his /her back as Irish people are ALWAYS the ones with the red backs! As for the local animals, you would often bump into one or two of them when walking along the path.

Making a break for freedom

          I can't remember if I mentioned the place where I am staying so I'll write it now, It's called the 'Tropicana' and it is
located around 10 minutes from the beach. It is quite cheap (RM20 per night) for a dorm room but you have to negotiate your
way back to the room at night time .This can be tricky enough s there are no real lights, So you have to walk with your hands
out in front of you just in  case you might walk into a tree (which I didn't do, I swear)
        We were having a chat with the locals today.They seem a really friendly bunch of blokes who have time for everyone.(I
guess that is what's called 'Island Life'?)
       
        I have just left the island to head back to K.L. The last night on the island was pretty cool as there was quite a few of
us at the bar.An Irish group of doctors who had just qualified had travelled over and there was a few English girls out also.
So, I heard stories about Tubing in Laos (Note to self: never tube) and diving in koh tao (Thailand). It sounds deadly (in a
real AND metaphorical sense).I am not sure if I could thread water for 10 minutes and swim 200 metres in the open sea.Sounds
like a challenge though.            
    At the end of the night ,One Malysian bloke came up to us and mentioned that there was a girl lost at the top of the
beach. She was lucky he had spotted her as she was staying in the hostel to the back of us (and she had no lights on her.)
Apparently, she had passed out for 6 hours on the beach. Not a nice place to be at 5 in the morning.
    The journey back to the mainland was crazy but cool,It looked like 2 speedboats were trying to outdo each other in the
speedboats.They were driving the  boats so fast that at one point, None of the boats were  touching the water.

                                                                       These boats can pick up speed VERY quickly

We got to Kuala Besut aroung 5.30 where the lady behind the counter shouted at us (I think) She wasn't able to get us a cheap and good
bus so we had a go with a local bus from Kuala Besut to Terengganu and then an 8 hour express bus to K.L.

Rush Hour in Kuala Besut

 Unfortunately,the local bus did not show up so we had to get a minibus (It was easy for us to hire a minibus as the locals badgered us forr around 20 minutes offering to drive us in their minibus. They can be very persuasive). The driver of the minibus seemed to think that driving on the right hand side of the road was the done thing in Malaysia! I was never so happy to see the end of thhat ride! A couple of the lads had thumbed lifts to Terengganu from Kuala Besut.(the distance was something like 150km) The night bus was grand as 8 hours
on that bus was plenty of time to grab some shut eye...



 

Back to Kuantan and back out to Cherating

My next stop is Cherating .The only way to get there is to head back into Kuantan from Chini and then head back the 44km out in other direction.The lads at the local bus stop are beginning to recognise me now. I think they have started calling me 'Ireland'.
Anyway, onward  bound!!!!
Cherating looks like a nice quiet beach resort which does not see many tourists at this time of the year. Apparently many years ago when there was no direct route between Taman Negara and the Perentians, this would have been the place where a lot of backpackers took it easy. That has since changed so there are not too many people floating about the place.
       After an hour, I had reached my destination.Now, to find a chalet, There was a huge amount of chalets to choose from. This place reminds me of Courtown on a summers day (well, minus all the dodgy people who head there from Arklow.)

Downtown Cherating

One of the locals getting an early snack

     

                                                                                            Cherating beach

        I stayed in a place called 'Maznah's guest house.' Basically, I had a chalet to myself and then there were shared toilets\showers. The owners of the place seemed quite friendly. The woman even made me some banana wrapped in breadcrumbs.
       I got  chatting to a guy called James who had travelled all over India and Nepal and this was his next stop.
This seems like a place where nothing much happens, A spot of reading is called for! The food that was served for dinner in all these places is class. I had a beef curry today with some pineapple juice for 8.50 and It was enough to keep me going for the whole day. I bumped into James while heading for the dinner and he had a go at the burger.It looks like he is rigidly sticking to a budget. (Well, It got him through India for next to nothing. He was saying that he took a 26 hour train journey from the north of India to the south for 8 sterling) That is a monstrous distance.This place is cheap (as long as you avoid the taxis) but it's not that cheap!

                                                                      Beef curry with pineapple juice (cost: RM8.50)

                                                                     James with some Sirup Bandung (the pink stuff)



      I might as well use the laundry facilities here (At some places, you are able to use the laundry facilities for yourself but I reckon I will drop off some clothes at the laundermat here ( they charge at RM4 per KG which isn't too bad as long as your clothes are not dowsed in sweat which make them about 10 times as heavy as they should be!))

       I had a go at making a pattern on a t-shirt today.(It's called 'Batik') Basically, you draw out the pattern on a piece of paper, then you draw out the same drawing on a t-shirt that is streched out and held in place with a pencil.Then, you use something that looks like a genie lamp and try to deposit something that looks like wax along the outline of your drawing.This liquid hardens pretty quickly.You can paint in the places around the outline and hey presto , your drawing is complete! I drew a picure of a sort of bird.After I had finished drawing and painting, the Batik man had to steam off the wax like solution off the t-shirt. Here is the  outcome anyway.

                                There was a bit of spillage behind the neck, hence the white part.Nice colours though!


      I went to the local hang out place (I  think it was called 'don't tell mamas') last night for some ice cream. I have to say that this place really is quiet.  You would have no problem getting served in this place.It's like a surfers bar but it seems to be missing a few surfers. The ice cream was nice though....mmmmm chocolate

      I had to head back to Kuantan a third time and grab a bus to Kota Bharu (7 hours) I grabbed a  local bus at Cherating and I was on my way. The air conditioning at the front of the bus was class but this was due to the fact that the front door of the bus was broken.

                                                             Anything that counteracts the heat is a good thing!

Still,it kept me cool.Come to think of it there are quite a few differences between local buses here and Buses back in Dublin. I might as well point them out!

Advantages of local buses to Kuantan:

* They turn up within 30 minutes (When waiting in Blanchardstown for a bus , you could be waiting for an hour)
* Air conditioning that works (although this is not really necessary needed back in Dublin (with the exception  of the back  of the upstairs part of the bus where air-con could come in handy to get rid of the smokers of various products) )
* nobody smokes on the bus here (Nobody is supposed to smoke in Dublin either but that rule isn't adhered to)
* There is a good age spread here.In Dublin ,if you are past college or pre retirement , there seems to be a bit of a stigma when taking a bus in Dublin.This doesnt happen here.
* There doesn't seem to be a bunch of lads willing to take the back seats of the bus and ridicule anyone that sits within earshot of them over here!

advantage of taking the bus back in Dublin:

* The chances are that you  (and by 'you' , I MEAN me) will be sweating before you enter the bus will be virtually nil (although this will probably change if you get a weekend bus in Blanchardstown as they tend to be filled to the rafters.)
*The traffic is slightly better going to Dublin city as there are special lanes.
* I have never see a bus driver pull into a petrol station before reaching the last stop. This happens quite a bit here.
* The local buses in Kuantan tend to be driven at 30km/hour max (I think that could be an advantage though as it gives the passanger time to see what's going on outside!

While waiting for a bus backto Kuantan, a Yorkshire couple came up to me and asked me if i had heard the result of the champions league final. dang!!! I had a lookaround yesterday evening to see if any bar would have the maatch but it did not so I missed out. Ah well, I can catch up  on it later. Maybe , if I do not wattch games , they turn out to be crackers (I missed out on the final day of the league also, so , if the final was a cracker,I'll accept all the plaudits fo not jinxing the game!) !

Interesting facts:
1. There is 100% import tax on foreign cars imported into Malaysia.So, if you bought a merc you'd have to pay  the value of the car to the government just to drive it. That's the reason you do not see many imported cars in Malaysia.

2. Timor is the Malay word for east , so East Timor means 'east east'

What I have learned....
      1.  That after sun is a godsend!
      2. Air conditioning should be compulsory everywhere in Malaysia
      3. Loads of people love shouting 'hello' out of their cars/motorbikes. This is a nice touch. Unfortunately, loads of taxi drivers converge outside buses when they arrive at a station shouting 'teksi' .This isn't as nice!
Anyway, Kota Bharu - here I come!

The 'Urlingford' of Malaysia (a.k.a Kampung Gamum)

Destination: Kampung Gamum

So,I have found Rajan Jones guesthouse here in Kampung Gamum but it took a while to find it! First of all, I had to get to the local bus station in Kuantan. I sat down on one side of the kerb and loads of people sat on the other side (note to self: think I need a wash!)
   Anyway, at 1.30 I grabbed a can if pineapple juice

mmmmm Fruiterrific!

  and jumped on the bus. I was on my way to Chini 2 bus stop
here are a few photos of the journey there

Some trees , so many trees!!

Reminds me of the Curragh (with a bit of heat attached)

It's really hot but there is a lot of greenery about!

After getting off the bus at that stop, I legged it into the local shop to ask if anybody could drive me to 'Rajan Jones guesthouse'. Unfortunately, no one could but  the guy behind the counter advised me to talk to the bunch of old men chatting on a sort of virandha outside the shop. I asked these lads and they started laughing for ages until one of them decided he'd better say something. So, He pointed me in the direction of Tasik Chini (about 8km away).eep! After about 100 yards of walking two blokes in a car stopped and offered me a lift for 4km....nice one! So, we had the usual banter---- 'where are you from?' === 'Ireland, do you know it?' === 'no'=== 'it's near England, Do you know England?'==== 'ah, England!!'
    Anyway, I got out of the car and started walking up an empty road .

                                                                             This road seemed to go on forever!

This really reminds me of walking from Urlingford to Granny Holohans many moons ago ,well minus the palm trees , and the heat.
   After another 500 meters a guy in a truck stopped and asked where I was heading.I jumped into his truck (the passenger side was kind of missing panelling on the inside of the door and a window but it was  a free lift!!!) He left me about 3 km from Gamum.I started walking again ,

                                                Take it easy lads! I am here for a holiday, I will not steal your grass!

     This time up a steep hill.Some bikers flew by and took pity.One of them offered me a lift right to the hostel, yay!!!!! I had never been on a motorbike with a backpack strapped to my back and a small bag to my front but i was kind of worried that one slip and my knees could be toast!! Still, the ride was REALLY appreciated.
     After the guy dropped my in the general area of the place, I had to ask around to see if anyone knew exactly where the building was. This place looked deserted !! Eventually, one mother (who covered her face when I asked her a question)  pushed her teenage kid out to talk to me!! I am hardly THAT exotic\scary looking,am I? (I can hear the laughter as I wrote that last line.) Anyway, the kid was able to point me in the direction of the place where I had a  bit of a natter with Rajan (His wife was there, She sounded very stern and was a bit put out by me when she noticed I had 5 ringgit note hanging out of my shorts!!!It's a pity she couldnt speak english as she comes across (just like her husband) as a person with many stories to tell ).
Anyway, here is a pic of the room i am in  and the outhouse that i use to shower\take a dump

                                                                                         Apartment 7 Please!

The room with the required mosquito net

Toilet/shower combo (complete with frogs living in the toilet + a few as yet unnamed (well, undiscovered yet) bugs )

The shower 

     I decided to head for a walk so as I left Rajans 4 dogs decided to follow me down the road.When I mean 'follow',I really mean - one of the dogs was not sure if he was going to hump \ bite me, the other 3 dogs did the decent thing and tried to bite him  .

Who let the dogs out?

They followed me everywhere!

Those dogs followed me around for the rest of the day.
                By the way, this place might be in the middle of nowhere but they do have a cool facilities

Nice court

They forgot one thing though. The posts were left on the outside of the court.D'oh!
     Later that day, Mrs Rajan made a dinner.I think she made a dinner assuming the whole place was full of people.Have a look at the meal that was prepared!

                                                                                           Meal fit for 2 kings


I tried to finish the meal but I stopped 1/3 the way through and to be honest,There is no way I could eat any more. The meal was made for at least 5 people!  
      The next day,I decided to head for a boat ride through Tasik Chini.Unfortunately Rajan injured his foot so he is out of action for a week so there is no trekking and to be honest a speedboat ride seems as exciting to me as a toffee apple - with the toffee missing - and the wooden stick being replaced by corrugated iron - and the apple being replced by a brick ,  but I'll give it a go anyway.Sure, I might bump into that monster in the lake!

                                                                    Maybe I should give this bridge a miss

                                                                                           A view of the lake

                                                                                   Just to proove that I exist!

                                                                             This is one of the 12 lakes

                                                                An Orand Asli family enjoying a spot of fishing

                                             The Irish housing crisis must have spread to here! Half finished housing

Can you feel  the heat coming from this photo?

                                                      And here lurking in the undergrowth is........ a speedboat

                                                                Weaving in and out of the clumps of vegetation

                                                                                     I can see sunlight again!

                                                                                           Huts by the river

                                                                                     This is one monster hut


    After the boat ride, i headed back to Rajans and a new guest had arrived! I got chatting to Julius straight away and he seemed like he hs seen quite a bit in his time. He was telling me he left Hungary in 1968 to (he's 69 and no signs of him slowing down!) live in Sweden, He landed in Germany 4 years later and that's where he  decided to live.Twas interesting talking to him as he interspersed loads of german words when speaking english (mein,genau,oder) From the sounds of it he has  been through most of Africa and Asia, sometimes with the wife, sometimes by himself.
    So,it's time to move on. Rajan and his wife were really nice and knowledgeable. His wife DID speak english but she only spoke English when Rajan was not there! She is part of the Orang Asli (as are the local village) while Rajan is as second generation Tamil. He loves talking about nature. He was saying that he would never eat cattle or oxen due to seeing them being killed many years ago. Some cattle are made to walk 8k before being slaughtered. This cruelty before killing put him off the beef burgers for life. He mentioned that he used to own a bird which would tweet at him if any people were coming towards the guesthouse.That bird passed on to the big bird sanctuary in the sky some time ago and he did not get a replacement as he felt an attachment to the original bird.
     It was a pity his leg was sore as a trek with him would have been very interesting.I am so surprised at the size of him as he's like that bit that fell off me despite the fact that his wife make monstrous meals (which are very nice also!) I have stayed in quite a few hostels over the years and these folks are by far the most interesting.If you ever get to meet Rajan, do not interupt him while he is on one of his lectures though as he might not hear you!
      Anyway, I decided to head back to Kuantan as there was not much else to do if there are no treks. When I got back to Kuantan , I was in a bit of a pickle...where to go next? I remember a german girl telling me (when we were getting on the boat back in Pulau Tioman) that she vsited Cherating and it was a cool place. Seeing as this beach resort was only 45 km from Kuantan , I decided to jump back on the bus and take the short journey to Cherating.

      Random thought: When I was sunburned,my frownlines in my head did not move for AGES. It reminded me of those t.v programs where you see women getting botox injections in their forehead such that their  frownlines seem to disappear. There is no need for botox ladies! Just get sunburned and you will naturally not be able to move muscles on your forehead**
      Anyway, Enough about Kampung Gamum anf Lake Chini [No Loch Ness monster was seen  :-( ]
      Onwards to Cherating!




** not to be recommended.