Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur

In the bird park

 I will fly back to Europe tomorrow - hurray!!!! I am ready for it! The last town I stayed in was Kuala Lumpur. And although Kuala Lumpur is definitely not the most interesting or exciting place on earth, it has been quite nice here. I have found a cheap and quiet hostel and having so much time left I visited any crappy museum or crocodile farm that there is here.

I think I have never seen so many zoos, butterfly and bird parks, crocodile farms and aquariums in my entire life before. In Kuala Lumpur alone I went to a bird park, an aquarium, a National zoo with Butterfly Park and a Hibiscus Garden. But I liked it - especially the bird and "multi-animal" shows, where cockatoes  were rising Malaysian flags and cycling on little bird bicycles...

But other than that there was not really much to do except to hang out in posh shopping malls - and there are loads of them. And to my big surprise they are all full, too! Luckily they usually have nice food courts.

My favourite mall

A last highlight was my visit to the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. I was very much surprised to find out that there even is such a thing. And I was very delighted to hear that the cheapest ticket is just 4 EUR. But there was one thing I had not expected: There is serious dress code for any concerts. When you buy a ticket you are even given a little piece of paper with the details: No slippers, flip-flops or sneakers, no shorts, no jeans, no T-shirts! Great! With my hiker outfit that did not leave a lot of options - especially shoe wise. But I was assured that I could borrow a pair of shoes for free - and so I bought a ticket and went to a concert featuring Britten and Bruckner. I nearly made it inside without my sneakers being spotted, but in the last minute I was called back and had to get "decent" shoes. They actually had quite a big variety, but no woman's shoe would fit me - and so I ended up with black men's shoes. I would not have won a fashion contest before my shoe change, but afterwards I looked outright ridiculous. But at least I was allowed into the concert. Most of the musicians were Europeans or Americans. Even the conductor was German. And half of the audience was expats as well. But it was a nice change to be in a classical concert again, that's for sure.

Petronas Towers

After my concert visit I discovered that cinema tickets are even cheaper at 3 EUR and so I spent my last evening watching movies - something I never do in Germany. And because there are only about 23 million Malaysians, it is not worth dubbing the movies and therefore they are all in English - great!

Despite all these distractions I was really ready to leave in the end. I was counting days and stretching out my sightseeing options. And finally, on March 2nd I boarded my cheap Air Asia flight (Kuala Lumpur to London Stansted for only 144 EUR!) and went back to Europe... where I am now freezing my butt off!!!

Malaysia and the Islam

One of the things I was really worried about in Malaysia was the influence of Islam. I have travelled in other Muslim countries before and mostly it has not been much fun for a single female. Malaysia is officially a Muslim country, but being such an ethnical mixture it is a pretty relaxed country. Almost half of the population is non-Muslim: The Chinese and Indian.

Malaysian War Memorial

 So let me start with the positive thing: Malaysia really is a very relaxed country. I did not get any of the aggressive hassling I had encountered in North Africa. Actually, I was not hassled at all. But on the other hand I have seen a lot of women in head scarves - and that always makes me feel uneasy. I talked to a Malaysian woman about the headscarf and got a very interesting answer: Malaysian woman like the scarf because this way they do not have to worry about their hair cut!!! Whether this is true or not - I cannot tell.... At least the women here wear bright and colourful scarves and dresses. Only occasionally you see a woman in a full black burkha - and those women are obviously not Malaysian, but Saudi women on a holiday in Malaysia. You only see them in posh shopping malls...

After visiting loads of Malaysian museums I realised another interesting thing. In photos taken before the 1980's Muslim women hardly ever wear headscarves. But after that - up to today - every official portrait of a Muslim woman shows her with a headscarf. On the other hand Chinese women in Malaysia are running around very "lightly" clad here - they would arouse curious stares even in Europe!

Every bigger town has some sort of Islamic museum where you can learn about the Muslim way of life. Mostly these museums are pretty boring, but Kuala Lumpur has a huge Islamic Art Museum that was really fascinating. I was really impressed - until I starting browsing the books in the gift shop. To my big surprise there were a lot of books in English, even children's books. To my great horror I read in a children's picture book that a true Muslim must hate "Jews, Christians and others who are in the way of Islam". Things got even worse when I went to the adult section and started reading a book about how to become a pious Muslim woman: I learnt that a Muslim husband can beat his wife if she does not obey. I also learnt that a Muslim woman should never give birth in a hospital because she might be seen and touched by male doctor there. Luckily they closed the bookshop then before I could read more and get even more upset!


This photo shows an exhibit in the Malay police museum. This innocent looking handkerchief has been confiscated by the police because if you fold it in right way it shows a pornographic picture.... I don't think that many Westerners would go for such a subtle pornography.

Today I went to the Art Museum and there I was expecting a lot of critical modern art, especially some critical outlook on Muslim fundamentalism. But to my big surprise there was absolutely nothing in that direction. Most art works even had an explicit artist's statement - so I am quite sure I did not miss anything. Instead of seeing some critical statements on fundamentalism I was totally surprised to the complete opposite. One artist talked about  "Zionist attacks" on innocent Muslims all over the Muslim world and some installations were even glorifying Koran texts. A lot of artists called themselves "Muslim" artists. There were hardly any female artists exhibited.

Jungle Trekking: I am defeated

I have just come back from my second attempt in jungle trekking and I am not ashamed to confess that I got utterly defeated again!!! This is the hardest hiking I have ever done in my entire life and I have no inner urge whatsoever to try again now. I am just not made for this climate. So what happened?

Pitcher plant

After suffering from bronchitis for over 10 days now I thought I had sufficiently recovered to try some hiking again. I went to Bako National Park which is just outside of Kuching and the major tourist attraction in this area. The park is all jungle, but bordering the sea and is supposed to have some nice beaches. When I arrived I encountered the first bad surprise: Despite low season all accommodation was fully booked. I had my tent with me and could have camped at the official campsite, but the whole place did not look too nice and was more or less completely flooded.

But I remembered reading in my guidebook that there is a nice beach at the other end of the Park where you can camp for free. I enquired about it and was even told that there are even shelters there - great in these torrential downpours that my tent would probably not withstand. It is only 13 km from the park entrance to that beach and it was only 10 am - so no problem. Well, that is what I thought... I would normally hike 13 km in a bit more than 3 hours... here the trip was rated 8 hours!!!

Pitcher plant

I set out and realised that I was just doing 2 km per hour - and I had to take constant breaks. The climate here is very difficult to describe - the combination of heat and humidity is a real killer. As soon as you start the slightest movements you start sweating. Just from walking you will sweat so profusely that the water is constantly dripping down from your face. All your clothes are soaked. But on top of the climate you also have to deal with really difficult terrain - a constant steep up and down. The trail is overgrown and the blow down palm trees all have thorns. And I have a backpack to prove it, as I ripped it more in these 2 days than in the whole 12 months before. If you slip and try to get hold of something it will very likely have thorns. And I have lots of scratches to prove that, too. But worst of all everything is slippery, real slippery. Everything is wet and overgrown. If you step on a rock, you will probably slip.

After 4 hours and only 6 km I thought first of turning back, but I still could not believe that I am not able of hiking 13 km and I pushed on. I got down to 1 km in 45 minutes and got weaker and weaker every minute. I had to take breaks every 500 m. I was physically just not able to hike on - I had to sit down, drink water and recover for 10 minutes before I could attempt the next couple of hundred meters. After 6 hours and 8,2 km I realised that I would not make it. I was so weak that I could hardly walk straight anymore. I was sweating like a pig but was shivering at the same time. Being a hypochondriac I assumed I was either suffering from a Malaria attack or a heart attack was imminent. Neither option sounded good. I could not do another 5 km to get to the beach and the shelter, but turning back was equally bad. I was in the middle of the jungle and everything was completely overgrown and steep. I did not remember seeing any feasible camp site. I almost panicked and started hiking back. I had not even managed one km back when I realised that I was about to collapse. This had never in my entire hiking career happened before. I was just too weak to continue - physically impossible.

Wild bearded pig

To make things worse a thunderstorm was approaching. I had to do something now and quick. This was an emergency and I considered camping on the trail which is a really bad option. First of all animals use the trail as well and I did not want to be overrun by a band of wild pigs. Also when it rains here the whole trail changes into a river bed. I was getting desperate and managed to make it to the top of a small hill. At least here the water would not wash me away. And then I got lucky!!! I saw a tiny little clear and flat spot in the jungle. I tried to clear it as good as possible - I was so weak that I had to hold on to the trees in order not to collapse. The terrain was difficult and it took me forever to set up the tent with thunder rolling above me. When the tent was finally standing I just got inside and collapsed. I was so weak I did not even have the strength to inflate the Thermarest. I was afraid I would be sweating inside the tent, but the temperature was bearable. As long as I did not move I was hot, but at least not sweating. And after one hour of rest I felt recovered enough to force myself to eat something. I then also realised what had caused my collapse: I was still suffering from bronchitis and could not stop coughing. I think my body had not gotten enough oxygen while hiking in this vicious climate.

Pitcher plant

I was lying in my tent thinking that things were not so bad after all: The rain had just turned out to be a drizzle, my campsite was quite good and I felt almost totally recovered. But then I looked out of my tent and could not believe my eyes: My backpack, my shoes and the front of my tent were all covered with giant ants!!!! These ants were huge - over 1 cm long!! I have never seen anything like this. And they were all over my stuff. Luckily my tent is fully enclosed and they could not get in, but they were so big that I was worried they would actually bite through the tent material. And how would I get out of the tent in the morning without being bitten? I watched the horror ants for a while and discovered that they were just after salt. They were all over my sweaty backpack and shoes, but they left my trash bag alone. Eventually I fell asleep from pure exhaustion.

In the morning I was dreading to look outside, but when I did all the ants were all gone!!! I never knew that some ants are night active only. I packed up and faced a long walk back. At least now I had a full day for 8 km. I walked slowly and took a long break every km. Now that I knew how difficult the trail is and how bad my bronchitis I took it easy - and that paid off. It still took me a long time to get back, but I was not nearly as exhausted as the day before. I made it back to the park entrance and finally to my guesthouse in Kuching.

Bottomline: Although my bronchitis greatly contributed to my collapse, I had to realise that I am not made for this climate. My body just does not deal very well with the heat and humidity. This has been my last attempt for jungle trekking - I will not try again.

Malaysia: The animals

As I have mentioned before there is not that much to see in Malaysia and therefore I jump to every opportunity to do some half decent sightseeing. The town of Miri does not boast many attractions, but it has a crocodile farm and there I went - not expecting much. But for once I was positively surprised.

Of course, there were crocodiles - and lots of them! They were all comfortably lounging in a wonderful mud pool in the sun. They were even sleeping with their mouths open! Only about every 10 minutes there was some movement. But after closer inspection I realised that the crocs were maybe kept a little bit too close to each other, because a big number of them had missing or invalid limbs. Apparently they had just bitten off each others legs! I was very careful not to throw my camera, wallet or other valuable things into the crocodile enclosure - I guess the staff would not be too willing to retrieve it.

Sun bear

But there was also a mini-zoo with some debatable practices. There was a little monkey and bear on a leash - for snapshots with tourists. The poor animals were frantically running back and forth within their limited little radius - a truly disheartening sight. But at least I learnt that there are bears in Malaysia - something that I had never expected. They are called sun bears and they are truly small, but have an enormously long tongue for licking up insects, termites, ants, whatever. In the zoo you just feed them bananas.

The feeding was the most interesting part of my visit. I bought bananas and set off to find out who would eat them. Result: They all eat bananas in Malaysia - only the way differs. There are of course the monkeys and they just grab their banana, peel it in split seconds and it is gone. Their social behaviour was most interesting: In one cage the alpha male chased every monkey away that tried to get a banana from me. Of course I would not give him any, but he had decided that if he doesn't get anything, nobody else should either. Reminded me a lot of some human behaviour... I spent hours and 2 kilos of bananas with the monkeys.

A week later I visited an Orang-Utan rehabilitation centre. The apes (monkeys have tails and therefore Orang-Utans are apes) are roaming freely in a huge nature reserve but usually come to the feeding area for the twice daily feeding with bananas. Of course there were loads of tourists - but also loads of apes climbing around in the jungle above. I truly regretted not having a better camera then! First the Alpha Male, a huge and very hairy guy called Ritchie had to be fed and then the rest of the group could eat as well. The babies cling to their mothers (one called Hot Mama because she bites at least one tourist per season) and the teenagers are running around catching each other. One was happily showing off his private areas for inspection and scratching his balls - making all the (human) girls giggle... Great photo shot if you have a decent camera - unlike me... The apes even drink milk out of bottles - but litter them after use!!!!

Malaysia: What do I think about it?

Red heron in

I have been in Malaysia for 5 weeks now and so far my experience has been a mixed bag.

Let's start with the bad: I came here to relax after a hard year of hiking. Unfortunately, this has not worked out.

First of all, I am sick all the time. Well, maybe not all the time, but I have the second bad cold in 5 weeks now. I never ever have any cold on a long hike despite the fact that I hike in rain, sleet and snow and freeze my ass off at night in my tent. But here, the hot climate in combination with the air-conditioning is killing me. I am either too hot and sweating like a pig or I am freezing to death. Apparently my body cannot deal with these constant drastic temperature changes. Now I have bad bronchitis and cough like a chain smoker of 30 years. I hope this is my last cold in Malaysia - I am leaving in 2 weeks!!!

Second, the climate makes it hard to relax, too. Basically, there is not much activities I can endure outdoors. It is so hot and humid that you start sweating the minute you step outdoors. The leeches make hiking a bloody adventure.... And on top of all that, it is rainy season almost everywhere in Malaysia. I have never seen rain like that before - maybe in Japan, but nowhere else. When it rains here, the rain is like a solid wall. Even with an umbrella you are soaking wet within seconds. I have given up any idea of camping here - I would just float away! Even walking around town is exhausting - and chafing is a real problem!

Traditional longhouse

Third, I had visions of finding a nice guesthouse and staying there doing nothing. Well, this is easier said than done. In order to be able to stay in an enclosed room here you either need a fan or air-conditioning. And that is what lead to may two colds in the first place. Also, sound proofing is non existent here. One hostel I stayed in was directly above a bar. And on Friday I found at that they have live music on weekends. It felt like sleeping in a disco - and the music would not stop before 2 am!! I thought I learnt my lesson and booked myself into a rather expensive family hotel. Unfortunately this place was located next to a Karakoe bar that started blasting music at midnight and would not stop till 3 am. I have also encountered air cons that are as load as airplane engines and all sorts of biting insects - but luckily not bed bugs yet. All that is not really relaxing....

Orchid farm

Another disappointment is that there is not really that much to see in Malaysia! The museums here are mediocre to put it politely. They are also tiny and it is hard to spend more than 1 hour in them. And beside that there is not really much cultural stuff. Of course there are a lot of National Parks but first of all the weather is not really great now and second doing outdoor stuff is outrageously expensive. Most parks will not allow you to hike without a guide - and a guide is expensive. On top of all that most National Parks are not accessible by public transport - you have to join an organized and expensive tour again. Some parks can even only be accessed by plane! And the few accessible Parks have been closed now due to excessive rain...

As you might read out of these lines - I am a bit fed up with Malaysia. In fact, I am already counting the days before I can fly back to Europe. Don't get me wrong: Malaysia is not a total disaster, but it will never be one of my favourite countries.... 

But not everything is bad here and I want to end this post with something positive:

Nobody has tried to cheat me here. I only have to pay what the pricelist/menu etc.says. No rip-offs. When I unknowingly hand over too much money, I always get it back!!!

There is not much hassling - hardly anybody tries to get my into their shop, taxi, hotel, etc. Of course, I am offered taxis and other services all the time, but if you say NO, people just leave you alone. Funny enough I am constantly being called "Sir", probably because of my height - or shabby clothes...

Longhouse floor

The ethnic mix here - and how well everybody is getting along with each other - is truly astonishing. The 3 big groups here are the Muslim Malay, the Chinese and the Indians. Muslim women almost always were headscarves - even kids, but Chinese women run around in skimpy dresses and skirts that qualify more as a belt than a skirt.... - and nobody cares!!! You can buy newspapers in Malay, Chinese, Tamil and English! I still wonder how everybody understands each other. And here in Borneo there are even indigenous people more or less running around naked - no wonder in that climate!

But I had the biggest surprise today in a small corner restaurant. The waitresses there were either Malay Muslim with headscarves - or DRAG QUEENS. I am not joking here and I could not believe my eyes either, but I have lived long enough in Berlin to spot a transvestite. And half of the 'girls' working there were definitely guys in drag - with 5 cm long eyelashes and heave make-up. I mean, this was not a night club or anything, but a normal restaurant during daytime - in a Muslim country.....

About Royal Highnesses and Prime Ministers...

Tower for Regalia

 I had to realise that Malaysia does not really have the most exciting museums. There are a lot of them, yes, but they tend to be rather "provincial", which is a polite way of saying run-down, antiquated, with crumbling walls and fading markings - and totally bored staff.

But on the positive side they have a rather comical effect on me.. Let me explain this:

Malaysia consists of several provinces that all have a sultan. These sultans rotate every five years when they elect one of them to become king for the next 5 years. Therefore Malaysia is one of the very few countries in the world with an elected monarch, who is even rotated every 5 years.

Now every province is very proud of their sultan and therefore there are a lot of small museums dedicated to the respective sultan and his wife. I was truly amazed what sort of stuff you can find there: In Alor Star the museum was not only showing His Highnesses' old golf balls and tennis raquets, no, they even went so far as to display his old cell phones! And the Royal car park not only consisted of 4x4 drives and Rolls Royces, but also of old motor bikes and even Royal bicycles. Of course there is also an official portrait of the Royal couple - and one example resembled a Pop Art Andy Warhol style for beginners version. But on closer inspection I realised that I was just looking at silk embroidery.

Royal Palace

In Kota Bahru, another provincial capital, the Royal museum was much more dedicated to the sultan's hobbies. I learnt that Her Highness likes to broaden her horizon by reading magazines (I wondered what type... Vogue or what), whereas "His Highness can often be seen with a video camera recording the natural beauty of Malaysia." Luckily they did not torture me with the end products of His Highnesses video expeditions...

But even Prime Minsters are not immune to being exposed. Dr. Majathir Mohamad's house in Kota Bahru has also been transformed into a museum were I learnt that he had to take a bath every Friday at 11 am and was not allowed to eat fish because his mother believed fish contains worms.... Wouldn't any Germany die to learn similar things about Angela Merkel?

But this is Malaysia - where you have to remove your shoes even in internet cafes and where all the museums close Friday from 12.30 to 2.30 for Friday prayer....

Tomorrow I will go to Brunei - the place sounded so weird that I decided I have to visit...

Taman Negara: Jungle trekking in Malaysia

Shelter in the jungle

 I still have all my hiking gear with me so I was really keen on doing some hiking in Malaysia. Unfortunately, you are required to hire a guide in almost all National Parks here - except in Taman Negara, the biggest and most popular National Park in Malaysia. And according to my guidebook the rainy season there would also already be over.

Canopy walk

So I took the "jungle train" from Kota Bahru to Jerantut, the portal to the Park. There were also 4 other Westerners in the train planning on hiking in the park. But the closer we came to Jerantut, the heavier it started to rain....Arriving (on time by the way) at the station I could not even muster enough courage to step out and search for buses to the park. I went to a restaurant instead and had lunch hoping for the rain to cease. But no such luck. Eventually I found the bus station totally soaked despite my umbrella - and found the other four Westerners. All of them had already given up on any hiking plans and bought onward tickets to Kuala Lumpur... Very encouraging. I nevertheless decided to stay, checked into a hostel and did some internet research on weather forecast with the devastating result that it was supposed to rain for the whole next week.

But hey, I had come that far and did not want to give up. So next morning I took the bus into Kuala Tahan, a small village just outside the park boundaries where all the guesthouses and restaurants were. Of course it was raining the whole bus trip...but cleared up when I had settled into my guesthouse! So off I went to my first jungle hike!!!!

Well, I always thought that I am an experienced hiker and 35 km per day is nothing for me. I had to realise that jungle hiking belongs to a totally different class of hiking. First of all it is hot, usually around 30 degrees. Second, humidity is about 100% - you are sweating from just standing around. Third, due to the incessant rain and erosion all trails had been transformed into one huge mud pool. Fourth, the terrain is steep up and down all the time, climbing over huge tree roots holding on to ropes and slipping on muddy ground. Given all these premises you are luckily to hike 2 km per hour - and drink 1 liter of water/hour. Afterwards you look like a pig fresh out of a mud bath. I had to wash my clothes every day - but due to the humidity they would not dry, of course.

This is trail!!!

But the most nerve wrecking thing were the leeches. I am used to all sorts of insects and even to leeches - but not to these amounts of leeches. Every half hour I would stop and peel off another 10 leeches. And because of their anti-coagulant the little wound they leave will not stop bleeding. My socks turned bright red and seemed to attract even more leeches. I had always believed that leeches bites are not itchy and heal quickly, but I was totally wrong. Now, almost one week later I still have itchy bumps all over my feet. But the worst moment came when one leech had managed to climb up my inner thigh. I peeled it off, but the wound would not stop bleeding and in the end I looked like I was heavily menstruating and had forgotten the tampons. On my way back to my guesthouse everybody was staring at me...

I managed 3 days of jungle hiking and then I gave up. It has been a very interesting experience and I am glad I did it (even the weather cooperated and it rained only once per day), but this climate is not for me and extended overnight trips.

Georgetown, Malaysia

In Georgetown I was very lucky again. Although the whole town was pretty much fully booked due to the upcoming Chinese New Year festival I got a very nice and cheap room in the very first hotel I asked. For 6 EUR I had a single room, even with my own shower. And of course, around the corner were plenty of food stalls and an internet cafe for 0,50 EUR per hour. Well, I ended up staying for 5 days....

Before I came to Malaysia I had always thought that it is a Muslim country. But inside the country I had to learn that this is not always the case. Some provinces are mostly Muslim, but the province of Penang for example is predominantly Chinese.

Buddhist Temple

Some historical anecdote here: When both Malaysia and Singapore gained independence from the British they were both ONE country for a couple of years. But then Malaysia decided to more or less "expel" Singapore. Why? Singapore is big and predominantly Chinese - in a combined country the Chinese would have been the majority. But Malaysian politicians wanted a Muslim country - and therefore decided to get rid of Singapore to outbalance the majority.

Georgetown has a lot of Chinese monuments - for example the Chinese clan houses. When the Chinese came first to Malaysia in the late 1800s they formed clans to help each other according to the region where they came from. When these clans got wealthier and wealthier their clan houses or meeting places cum temple got more luxurious - and are a big tourist attraction now.

Chinese Temple

Another Chinese monument is the Sun Yat Sen house - don't worry: I had not heard of Sun Yet Sen before either. Sun Yat Sen became the first president of the Republic of China in 1912 after the overthrow of the Chinese monarchy. As a revolutionary and political leader he was not liked in China before 1912 - actually there was a bounty on his head and therefore he was hiding in Georgetown for many years and planning the revolution from there. The house were he lived in is a museum now.

Fun War Museum?

But there are other, rather weird monuments as well, like an old British fort converted in a war fun park cum paintball now. The fort was built by the British in the 1930's in expectation of a Japanese attack. But when the attack came, the fort fell quickly and was occupied by the Chinese until the British regained it at the end of WWII. The fort is situated in the outskirts of Penang smack bang in the jungle. And despite the outrageously high entrance fee it was an interesting site. The new owners have "rejuvenated" the fort, added some rather tacky attractions for the daily night tour (advertised with "Don't miss the fun") and also created a paintball war game zone. The result is some Rocky Horror War Show Malaysian style..

Malaysia: The food

Indian Banana Leaf Curry

I am a hiker after all and therefore food is one of the most important things in life for me....
And the food is one of the best things in Malaysia!!! Because there are so many ethnical groups, there are also so many food choices... There is Indian food, Chinese food, Thai food and Malayan food. You never get bored here.

Roti Canai with Milo

My first food problem was breakfast. I spent the first days in Malaysia eating overpriced Western style breakfasts with horrible toast, no butter and mostly no jam. Even the baked beans tasted horrible. I decided to try something else and tried Indian - and that is the solution. The normal Indian breakfast here is Roti Canai. Not that I had ever heard of that... It is some sort of chapati with a little bit of dhal on the side. It is made fresh in front of your eyes! The stalls have a big supply of little dough dumplings and when you order it they are squeezed into a rectangular form, put on the grill for 2 minutes and that's it. They come in all sort of varieties from plain (Roti Canai) to Roti with eggs, sardines, bananas and/or chocolate - but even with chocolate Roti you will be served dhal, which makes a weird combination!

For lunch and dinner there are so many choices that I always have a hard time deciding what to eat. My favourites so far are:

• Indian dhosai: a sort of rice/lentil flour pancake - very crisp and served with 3 sorts of dhal
• Indian Thali: is vegetarian, contains rice and various sorts of dhal, curry and dips. The locals just pour the sauces over the rice and eat it with their right hand - but I have not managed that art yet. In the cheap version you get all this served on a banana leaf.
• Tom Yam: is a very spicy Thai soup. Comes as a soup but also as a rice dice.
• Mee and Nasi: Mee is the Malay word for noodles and Nasi for rice. Goreng means fried, so the famous Nasi Goreng is nothing else but fried rice. Here you get all sorts of variations on rice and noodles - fried and in soup - with meat or vegetables - spicy or mild.... and so on and so on
• Satay: is either little pieces of chicken or pork on a wooden skewer barbecued right in front of your eyes and served with peanut sauce.
• Laksa: This is my favourite Malay dish so far. A very sour and spicy soup with noodles and seafood.

Peanut pancakes

And what do you drink? Again, various choices. In all the Indian places you get wonderful lassi. Then there are tons of food stalls that serve freshly squeezed fruit juice - with ice. And of course there is hot drinks as well and as I do not drink coffee or black tea my favourite is Milo. Milo is a sort of chocolate powder for water and you can get the drink cold or hot.

Desert was a bit of a problem for me first as I am very much chocolate oriented - and due to the climate chocolate is not very popular here. But then I discovered Mr. Sweet - and Indian sweet shop where you can buy all sorts of delights, usually made out of nuts, ghee and condensed milk. Definitely not dietary stuff and very sweet, but ultra-delicious. I will probably come back to Germany overweight! But this would give me an excuse to go hiking again... which I will do anyways.

Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

I came to Cameron Highlands to do some hiking. Unfortunately, this did not work out at all due to two reasons.

When I arrived I already knew that I was getting a cold. This came as no big surprise - the climate change between hot and dry Australia and hot and humid Malaysia was just too much for me. Plus the constant temperature changes between the hot and humid outside and the air-conditioned freezing cold hotel rooms, shopping malls and museums. But this cold lingered quite long and was pretty tough. I basically stayed the first three days of my stay in the Cameron Highlands in my guesthouse room. Fortunately, due to its altitude the Highlands have a very pleasant climate. Still warm, but not hot during the day and in the evening you want to put on a sweater. So no need for air-conditioning. Within 4 days I went from a sore throat to constant sneezing and a running nose to coughing. I have almost recovered now but I still can't hear properly because my ears are still blocked.


I stayed in a nice guesthouse, but you have to climb about 50 steps to get up to it. On top of the stairs I generally had half of an asthma attack - and decided that hiking in this condition might not be such a good idea.

Reminded me of Eastern Europe

But on day 4 I just could not stand lying around any more and decided to go for a little hike. I purchased the local hiking map and set off. The town of Tanah Rata, which is the major center of the Highlands is quite disappointing. I had expected a quite little village in the mountains - but I found a huge communist-style resort town with holiday apartment complexes sprawling all over the place. Still, once you set out from the main road and walk for 10 minutes you are smack bang in the middle of the jungle. I really enjoyed two short hikes on the edge of town and decided to go for a long hike the next day.

Jungle Trail No 5

I guess I can claim to be an experienced hiker after having completed the Triple Crown, but these so called "jungle walks" were too much for me. Not because they were diffult - no, just because I could not find them. The so-called hiking map sold by the tourist office and all hotels was the worst map I have ever seen. Even a hand drawn sketch would have been better that this. No contour lines, no trail description, just a pathetic little sketch and lots of advertising. For my hike I was supposed to go to the little village of Orang Asli from where the map showed the start of the trail. I eventually found Orang Asli - but no trace of the trail. To be honest, there were plenty of trails and each local I asked pointed in a different direction. But I really did not want to start walking on an unsigned steep trail with plenty of side trails and no signage, blazes, sign posts or any other sign that this is a maintained walking trail. I walked around for about 2 hours in a nice pittoresque Malay village talking to children, shopkeepers and old men, but still could not find the so-called "Jungle Track No. 10". In the end I got so frustrated I took a taxi back to Tanah Rata....

But I still was not defied and decided to try the trail from its other end. I got instructions from the tourist office and set off again. This time I even found a signpost saying "Jungle Track No. 10" and an arrow. Victory seemed to be close and my spirits lifted - but alas, all trails were dead ends....either in a private property or a huge construction site. I had wasted half a day to find a trail that probably exists only on the map. I went back to town, bought an onward bus ticket and will leave the Highlands tomorrow.

I came to the conclusion that Malaysia is probably not an ideal hiking country...

Melaka, Malaysia

Old Dutch Stadthuis

Seems like I have eventually found a place where to relax. I mean, I really liked Singapore, but it is difficult to relax in a place where the accommodation alone costs almost double than your average daily budget....

Melaka in Malaysia is more suited to my budget. I have found a guesthouse with a really nice and quiet room for 10 EUR. Around the corner is a fantastic vegetarian restaurant where I can get a meal for 1 EUR. Melaka has dozens of small weird museums that charge around 0,50 EUR to 1 EUR. And my guesthouse has a cafe with FREE internet. Need I say more? Maybe you understand now why I stayed in Melaka for 6 days - and each day doing less and less, except sitting in front of the internet and doing research 8 hours a day....

Well, I did some sightseeing.... Melaka's museums are rather bizarre. For example there is the Museum of Enduring Beauty. It showcases bizarre beauty rituals from all over the world like tattooing, foot binding and scarification. As a Westerner you assume that only primitive tribes would use these painful beautification methods, but to my big surprise the museum dedicates a big chapter to corset wearing in Europe.....

Old Dutch Fregatta

I also visited the History Museum and the Malaysian Democratic Museum and was put to shame again not knowing much about Malaysian and especially Melaka history - which is actually quite interesting. There is hardly anyone who has not been governing in Melaka. First came the Portuguese, then the Dutch and finally the British. They were defeated in WWII by the Japanese and after their surrender the British moved in again followed by the Emergency. The Emergency was actually one big insurance fraud: After the Japanese had moved out and the British in again some sort of civil war erupted led by the Communists. But an official civil war would have made insurance for the big British rubber plantations impossible and therefore it was officially called the Emergency....Finally Malaysia became independent and has now some sort of Islamic Democratic institutional monarchy. Of course there is a Malaysian Islamic Museum as well...

I was really worried what sort of a feel Malaysia would have. I have traveled in many Muslim countries and hardly ever felt comfortable. I am too much of a feminist to feel comfortable around women with head scarves! Well, there are a lot of women with head scarves around here, but there are also a lot without. Malaysia is a big mixture of Malay/Muslim, Chinese and Indian people. I still have not figured out how they all communicate.

I had hoped to meet fellow travelers in a popular spot like Melaka, but alas travelers are not what they used to be. Instead of socializing with fellow travelers people sit in front of their laptops socializing with their friends back home via facebook... Well, I am not much better. Still it is frustrating after such a long period of hiking and cycling. When you are on the trail or on a bike, you always stop and chat when you meet a fellow hiker or cyclist. I am not used to such autistic behavior...

After 6 days of basically doing nothing I will move on tomorrow - to do some hiking in the Cameron Highlands. I wanted a long rest from hiking, but after not even 2 weeks without I already miss it. I guess I am an addict.