Travelogue 2017
January 2017
1st - had had great New Year eve night out at the Waikiki
Bar with fellow GIFTers. So naturally woke up late and lazed about at home
only.
6th - 8th - Drive to Nuang Outdoor Gathering event. Helping
out the crews for the day before setting up my booth on the event day, 7th
& 8th. Before going back, we detour for seafood feast in Jeram, Kuala
Selangor. About an hour away from Shah Alam via Klang.
14th - attended a Fundsupermart event, Where and When to
Invest in Sunway Pyramid. Very informative
event mostly the review of 2016 and going forward for 2017. More infra projects
and exciting emerging economy markets. The grand plan has been laid out and big
change will reshuffle the economy along the route of new port cities as well as
fast track trains. And ohhh malaysia general election soon!!!
15th - spent the day out with the family in Taman Warisan
Putrajaya. For RM8 entry fee, you have access to huge orchard of many types of
fruits and u can pick and eat as u like. There was no other group other than
our family at the time but the fruits wasnt much either. Perhaps its not the
season but plenty of non seasonal fruits even the rare ones we dont know how to
eat or if they are edible at all! Lol but obviously they should. So we googled
some of them to learn how to eat haha.
Some tips : bring the following
1. umbrella. It can get pretty hot and given the large area,
unpredicted rainfall is just...well... unpredictable. There are gazebos every
few hundred metres or so.
2. drinking water. To drink to wash up fruits.
3. knife. U need to pluck, peel, slice, cut the fruit all by
yourself. How else do u enjoy a sweet juicy cempedak sans the blade?
4. tissue/wiping cloth - it can get messy u know.. walking
and harvesting and eating and scour for next tree to feast.
5. insect repellent/ointment
- not a big fan of deet thingy here and any strong smelling ointment
good enough to repel some bugs/mozzies away soothe the bites
19th - took the train to KL sentral and ETS to Gopeng. Important
to note that u can buy ETS tickets from most of the major KTM station so u can
plan ur journey ahead! Also important to check the fare and schedule as the
counter kakak will just sell u anything at all. A trip to Batu Gajah on Silver
train is RM24 but the kakak tried to get me the RM44 without asking me any
further. Upsell much?
Fr Batu Gajah Jaja picked me up to Gopeng Guesthouse &
Cafe in Gopeng town.
20th - packed for
camping trip in Anak Kurau, Taiping, Perak. Reached there in late afternoon. One
of its kind journey ahead!
We stopped at the Joe & Adik's house, (stumbled upon
Joe's parang making workshop). There was 6 of us, the company for the weekend. We
had to ride bikes to get to the trailhead. We were supposed to ride one each
but yours truly skillset doesnt include riding motorcycle and not planning on acquiring
one. So i hitched on one with Jaja. Shes one good rempiter to say the least! Wasnt
very exciting with such terrain. Uphill, downhill, all equally thrilling for
me. I dont know people actually having conversation like they would in a car! It
was noisy with the engine roaring and the wind, hows that even possible! Apparently
i missed kandang rusa maybe i was closing my eyes and didnt hear it when Jaja
pointed that out for me. The offroad - farm bike ride last for good one hour
thank goodness!
We parked under the trees before continue the journey on
foot. Not even 5 minutes up, we reached one small 'dangau'. Its local for hut. Usually
built by the farm worker, small and simple shade. Terrible amount of leech
greeted us. Then comes the rain. Always, dont they? Unexpected downpour? So we
spent more than 30mins not moving, just staying still under the dangau while
watching our feet for damn leeches. Joe made this tobacco water- simply tobacco
soaked in water - to apply on our socks to repel the leeches away. Thats pretty
much what we did everyday there. Effectiveness? Of course it works but knowing
for tropical jungle, theres puddles and stream crossing every now and then so
it got washed away fast but its good when it lasts.
The rain showed no sign to stop but getting lighter so we
quickly track a bit more to reach a cave where we can have a better shelter and
its by the river so we can cook dinner. It took us less than 10mins. So u get
it, 5 mins of trekking, 1 hour of resting lol. We had simple dinner of maggi
mee and tortilla wrap with canned green peas. Finished eating, we continue our
journey to the 'dangau' further up.
We reached the dangau at about 11pm. Cold and hungry, the
guys set the campfire up so we can cook and enjoy the heat. The dangau is a
lean-to type of shelter. Built semi-permanently as the friends, Joe and the
wife, Adik, Dikmin, Din come here every weekend or so and they do stock up some
supplies of food and dishes so they dont have to carry them everytime. There are
benches and few other basic camp furniture, really nice set up. There was a
cave like big rocks nearby too, they said they used to camped there when the
group is small. Then there was a nice small stream.
We washed up, change and feed ourselves proper dinner and
ready to call it a day. It was really nice meal albeit simple. Salted fish,
sardine, sambal, all goes little too well with hot white rice. Thats pretty
much our meal everyday and i go for second helping almost everytime need i say
more? I should really include dried salted fish in my ration next time! But urgh
the smell haha
The following day, we just laze about by the campsite. Walk around
(not too far) cook, eating, playing card games, sleep some more. We decided to
continue our journey to the next dangau. I was getting too comfortable staying
there and lazy but Adik insist the campsite is too nice to be missed!
Indeed it is! Larger stream and the dangau is right at the Y
junction of the river and theres a also a very nice waterfall (thanks to my
love for sleeping i didnt bother to go there) and also a bonus of nice rambai
tiong fruits! Its a trunk-attached fruit type almost similar to another infamous
brother Tampoi fruit. Alright i cant quite make the diff here. Sour crunchy peel
and sour juicy fruit. Damn nice! (im drooling as im typing this). They were so
good we had to pack some home. Special thank you to Dikmin for carrying some
5kg of the fruits down.
On Sunday, we packed everything up and make our out and
reached the kampong by 5.30pm. we then wash up, had dinner of very nice local
delicacies with couple of other friends who showed up before heading back to
Gopeng again.
22nd, 23rd, 24th - gopeng guesthouse & cafe again. Did nothing
much. Mostly reading anything readable. What a bummer i didnt have my laptop
with me! But a good break i guess. And oh nursing the itch from few dozens of
leech bites on my legs (and some other parts of the body)
25th - packed for journey up north. Shakeys and Maksu picked
me up from the cafe. Heading to taiping for the night.
26th - from taiping, drove further up to kedah, stopped by
at Tanjung Dawai and Gunung Jerai, continue for Kuala Perlis.
27th - went Padang Besar, Gua Kelam and back to Kuala
Perlis. basically circling whole Perlis state
28th - picked up Kak Lita and Nida and crossing Wang Kelian
border to Satun town, the jetty to Koh Lipe. From the jetty we bought the ferry
return trip. Can also buy one way but apparently theres discount when u buy
both. Be sure to ask for free Koh Lipe map cum travel guide it sure come handy
during ur stay! But u can also pick one up in the island later on at no cost at
all.
The ferry ride took 2hrs plus. Reaching the beach, we rest
by the nearby non operating cafe. We settled for some bread and snacks and gosh
u should see the water. Very inviting! It wasnt long until i take my first dip
hehe. So be sure to be wearing suitable clothings right at the start of the
journey. My quick dry trekking pants wasnt all suitable but i pretty much
living in it until the next day.
We stayed at the Koh Lipe Camping Zone or rather mozzies zone. Damn big fat
school of mozzies! Im not exagerating there was really challenging for us all! What
more with my fresh leech bite scars the itch just unexplainable! we set up the
tent and prepared dinner and hurried out to catch sunset by the sunset beach
nearby.
When we get there by the beach, the sun has set we still get
to enjoy the twilight tho and just laid by the beach and little did we know its
tidal up time! Lol. We then proceed to the happening part of walking street. A
bit lost by the many junctions there but once u get the hang of it, should be
easy to remember the major landmarks.
By the time we head back to our camping site, the tidal was
really high what used to be wide open beach by day is now all water we even had
to tiptoed in the water at some places. But the beach is very flat so dont
worry its very shallow.
29h - Koh lipe island by myself. Others went for plankton
snorkeling sunset island hopping. Koh Lipe is a small and quite densely populated
island so its pretty walkable everywhere just watch out for too many dogs
sometimes they gang up barking on u. always keep the guide map handy at all
time! they are taxi-bike too but walking free body and sweating is not bad at
all. So i went beach hopping. As the name suggest, i went to the beach, all
three major beaches, hop into the water, soak up nicely and laid down sunbathing
like a true western girl y'all. But asian being asian, we seek shades under the
tree, covered up in long pants and long sleeved shirt and more cover to face
and head and not to forget the trusty sunglasses! It sure hot to sunbathe
despite all the covering so before the hair dried i was already back into the
water. And its pretty chilly due to the strong breeze.
There are few main attractions of the island
Pattaya beach - the beach for arrival during high season oct
- may. Its happening with many beach front joints, high end stays, and travel
agency. But too many boats parked by the beach too. They reserved some bays for
non parking area so can safely enjoy in the water but still.. lol
Walking street -the entrance is right by the pattaya beach. It
literally is walking street - u can walk covering major part of the island but
not really. There are lots of bikes and taxi bikes sharing the road too so
watch out! Just remember to be mindful of the traffic behind u and give way. The
pavement is concrete, beautifully painted at some stretch and its totally fine
and cool to walk around barefooted! Some of the shops even require patrons to
take the footwear off by the door. The area rather clean. Very sandy, but white
sands making it all the more beautiful. Theres more dogs and fat cats too. Most
of them are sleeping. But the dogs wandering quite a lot. The friendly lazy
kind is fine as long as they didnt get agressive. Been attacked with gang -loud
barks twice in my short stay really not the best thing. Oh i got bitten by a
fat cat btw. My fault for couldnt refrain myself petting the fluffy furry
thing!
The street has many shops. Convenient stores, 7eleven,
restaurants and bars, hotels and hostels, pahrmacies, hospital, travel agency,
massage and spa place, hair saloon, souvenir shops... walk further and u will
find the quieter side and more local of a shops.. groceries and wet food.. there
are also notable strecth of muslim majority area.. but worry not there are many
halal makan place all over the walking street.
This island is by no means a nightlife party island. So most
of the review stated. On Saturday night, shops closing by 12 or so. By 10pm
most of makan place is closed. On Sunday night, lights already out by 11pm! It gets
very dark on 12pm!
sunrise beach - if theres only one place u should go, its
the sunrise beach. The hue of the water is different way too pretty! The sand
is smoother at the pattaya beach, almost clayey sand. The other two is a
noticeably coarser but still white but the water is truly emerald green! Very clear.
The beach is also steeper so u get to have deeper water here. Less boats parked
in this beach too. Not in the season perhaps. This is the arrival/departure
beac h for low season only. Nicer hotels and resorts are by this side, high end
and more island bungalows, massage gazebos, hammocks. theres also kampongs and school here.
sunset beach - somewhat rocky side of the island. One end
its the cliff, another end is the fisheries department and princess palace and
theres a rocky part that eventually connects the sunrise beach on the other
side. Not sure the walkability during high tide though.
I watched the sunset on the second day here, next to the
fisheries department buildings. Theres nice pine trees in the area and also
coconut trees. So setting up campfire was quick and easy.
30th - check out koh lipe, bumpy speedboat ride back to
satun and drove all the way back to taiping. By bumpy i really mean it. We were
so wise to sit at the front deck. Me with the thai iced tea on one hand, 3/4
finished, another hand holding the rail for dear life, i was pretty much soaked
up in thai iced tea that morning. Or at least my jacket was. The concerned
driver/pilot/sailor or whatever they call the operator guy even had a brief
stop to let us go inside so we dont die. Lol.
Reached taiping, we then rushed to Ipoh Amanjaya to catch
bus back to KL.
End of Month #1 yay!
photos
https://www.facebook.com/tengku.nina.ali/media_set?set=a.10208326880549901.1073741840.1240967762&type=3&uploaded=21