In the hot Malaysian heat, some days you just want to be indoors where it’s cool. That’s how we found our way down to Laman Padi this week.
This is what time looks like shortly before it’s ready for harvest
There’s quite a lot to see there, actually. They have rice paddies in various stages of growth so you can see the process of growing this grain.
You can see that the rice in the back is older than the rice in the foreground. Rice is actually a kind of grass and it becomes more yellow as it gets closer to harvest timeRice needs lots of water to grow. Often, rice is grown on the side of hills and mountains and Farmers create little walls to trap water as it rolls downThe rice on the left is very young. Notice that it’s growing in a field with several inches of water in it
There is also a museum that teaches about the tools that are used, and tools that used to be used for farming rice. The museum is nice and cool and full of neat things to see.
A quaint little museumTools that were historically used in rice farming Drying rice in the sun. Of course now, they have more efficient methods
Mostly, the Laman Padi was nice because it was quiet, there was lots of indoor space, so we could stay cool, and there was a surprising amount of wildlife there.
Egrets are often found in rice paddiesWater buffalo are still used in farming in some places and are also a common site in rice paddiesI’m not sure what kind of bird this is. Perhaps another kind of egret?They had scarecrows to try and keep the birds away. I think the birds were onto them because they didn’t seem to care a whole lot
With an extra week away from China, we’ve been careful to budget our money a bit better. Laman Padi is free and if you’re there and keen, staff will show you around and explain things. Dave and I chose to do the tour solo though. After living in China for nearly 6 years (7 for me!), We know a lot about rice already.
Nice place got a rest!
I’ve got some fun posts about monkeys and Langkawi’s food scene coming up!! Check back soon!!!
Gunung Raya is the tallest peak on Langkawi island. We discovered it while driving around and exploring the island by motorbike. With beautiful views and a scenic ride up the mountain, it was a nice way to spend an hour and a half.
The open road
It takes about 30 minutes to reach the peak by motorbike. There is a nice lookout there and you get a really nice view of the island, the ocean and even Thailand in the distance. There’s some information on the myths surrounding this part of the island, as well as information about the area’s geological history.
This is the real reason to go up to the peak. Such a beautiful place to see the sun set!!
Unfortunately, whole area is pretty run down. The signs explaining the area’s geography are sun bleached, and a lot of it was actually quite difficult to read. It’s like the tourism bureau just forgot about this place…
The signs are badly sun bleached and need replacingI couldn’t even read all of the English parts
There used to be a hotel up at the peak where people could stay. They also had restaurants in the hotel and a lookout tower to see the whole island from up high. Now it’s all abandoned and kind of spooky.
When we first drove up, I thought it was a prison.I’m surprised no one tried to turn it into a tourist cafe or something.I’m sure it was a beautiful hotel in its dayI’m impressed that the place hasn’t been totally vandalized at least! Just general weathering and decay.
All in all, I’d recommend the trip up to the summit if you have a motorbike. The views are pretty and you’ll likely see some wildlife (birds and monkeys are everywhere on this island). Don’t expect anything extravagant, but if you’re looking for something free that involves some stellar views, this is a great way to spend some time!
The view from right in front of the lookout towerBeautiful!!
Although our mornings have been pretty lax, and we’ve been getting plenty of pool time, we’ve been trying to be more active in the evenings. Each night we try to take a walk somewhere nice. We ended up in Kuah, at a lovely little park on our 3rd night on Langkawi.
Beautiful clear skies
It’s a really nice place to go for a walk, especially at sun set. It’s right along the coast, so as the sun goes down, you get a spectacular view.
Lots of trees too!
The park isn’t super well maintained anymore but I’m sure it was beautiful in it’s time. It was set up in 1989 for a Commonwealth meeting. The park’s name CHOGM) actually stands for “Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting”.
Even though it isn’t super well maintained anymore, it’s still a nice place to go for a walk
You won’t find washrooms or food stands anywhere but entrance is free and you can go in any time. There are benches set up throughout the park and a nice pathway along the man made beach.
A little peace and beauty can go a long way when things are as crazy as they have been.
Nice little pathwayA relaxed cat, enjoying the sunset
One of the cool things about traveling is that you get to see all the different varieties and flavors each country has. A good example of that is India’s Maharaja Mac. They don’t eat beef in India so McDonalds had to come up with an alternative to the Big Mac. This chicken burger was the solution.
Dave tried it and liked it a lot! It was too spicy for me! Subway in Singapore also had variations in their local menu!
South East Asia has all sorts of flavors that Canada doesn’t… And sometimes I don’t understand why we haven’t brought these flavors out west! The cookies and cream dairy milk found in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines is one of many examples.
Sooo tasty!!!
In Singapore they also have salted caramel Magnum bars, which are to die for!!
My first treat in Singapore!
There are some strange variations too. Salted egg yolk is a really common flavour in this part of the world. You can get salted egg yolk calamari, crab and even potato chips!
I’ve heard they’re pretty good! We tried the salted egg yolk calamari and that was REALLY good!
There are other strange flavors of chips too!
Also…chips made of chicken and fish skinChili crab is basically Singapore’s National dish. It doesn’t surprise me that they have these as chips!
Popcorn is also a lot more variable than you’d imagine. I’m a fan of good old fashioned butter and salt, but in Asia, they have all sorts of sweet popcorn.
This one actually sounds pretty good
Even quick meals are more diverse in Malaysia! Back home we have Mr. Noodles and Kraft Dinner but they go beyond that here:
This is brilliant!They even come in a bowl, unlike the packaged food I’ve seen in North America (which were convenient for hiking and camping but not if you’re hungry and on the go)
Of course, I can’t forget about candy! We make a point of bringing back strange candies for our nieces and nephews every year. They seem to enjoy trying new stuff!
Dunno if I’ve ever seen anything like this in Canada!Hazel nut and green tea kit cats…
Every once in a while I find “normal” stuff from back home too. China doesn’t have a lot of imported foods so when I find sour cream and onion chips, I get excited!!!
I’d settle for Lay’s if I had to but…..They even have Ruffles!!!I’ve never seen anything like this in China. They have their own version of jerky, which is also quite tasty…. It’s just different
The last leg of this trip is being spent in Langkawi; an island in North Western peninsular Malaysia. We chose this island because the rainy season isn’t as bad here as it is on the east coast.
We’ve visited 4 destinations in this trip. Langkawi (top left) is our final stop
When we planned out this holiday, we were going to be staying in Langkawi from January 30th to February 6th. Of course, all of that has changed with the virus. Schools are now closed until the 17th (originally we went back to work on the 10th) and we don’t want to go back to China until we need to, for obvious reasons. So, we decided to stick around Langkawi until around the 14th instead.
Our setting during this stressful time…
All jokes aside, we have no idea how long we’re going to be here. A lot of different factors are at play. On one hand, our cats are being looked after and we can get pretty much everything we need here in Langkawi. The virus is still spreading in China, and doesn’t look like it’s going to relent very soon. Solid reasons to stay away.
And I mean… This is our back yard at the moment…
On the other hand, I don’t want to leave our cats for too long (I miss them so much!!!). My teaching responsibilities are resuming on time, although the school is staying closed until the 17th. I’ll be teaching online, which is a bit of a problem because my laptop is back in Suzhou.
Oliver misses me almost as much as I miss him!!
At this point, we’re just playing it all by ear. I think 5 weeks is the maximum I want to be away from the cats (that’s the longest we’ve ever been away from them), plus, life sort of needs to go on. Suzhou is quite safe and the virus hasn’t caused any deaths there. There are 54 cases total, and the virus hasn’t spread as quickly in Suzhou as in other places. We’ll be ok when we go back… The question is simply: “when?”
Suzhou is still a ghost town. Normally, you would see cars on the streets and people walking around. Right now though, people are staying indoors. (My friend Li took this photo. She’s still in Suzhou, waiting out the virus)
So, until Feb 15th at least, we are staying put. We can do laundry here and the guesthouse where we’re staying is owned by some really nice people. We have a pool and we rented a motorbike so we can get around easily enough. Food in the area is cheap and Malaysia hasn’t been hit hard by the virus. Malaysia has only actually had 8 cases so far, and all of them were Chinese nationals. We’ve chosen a very good place to ride this out.
Dave doing laundry in a very old machine. Still, it’s free and we can do our own laundry, which is nice. Plus, the Malaysian Sun dries our clothes in about 2 hours!
As far as relaxing here goes… We’re about as chill as we can be. Dave is still working and studying, and I’m getting ready to start making the video lessons that my students will watch from the safety of their homes. There are lots of beautiful birds in Langkawi and we’ve seen plenty of lizards too. We even saved one from drowning in the pool the other day!!
Poor little guy was startled when we came out of our room and ran straight into the pool! He couldn’t swim very well and couldn’t grab onto the side to get out so Dave basically splashed him out with a big handful of water. He just sat there in the sun for a few minutes, catching his breath. Poor little dude!
Between work, school and keeping up with the news, we’re making the most of our time here! I’ve got plenty more to write about so check back soon!
Airports are a bit scary at the moment. They’re where you are most likely to run into someone with Coronovirus, and airplanes circulate the same air throughout the flight, and you notice everyone that is coughing, sneezing or sniffling as you get into the plane. You’re breathing their sniffles for the flight. Fun fact.
Fun with surgical masks!Did he just sneeze???Why didn’t he cover his mouth!!!!!????
We left the jungle early to make sure we’d make it to the airport in time, so I decided to do a bit of walking around to try and find some back up masks and extra hand sanitizer (we are meeting up with a friend in Lankowi who needs them too because she, like so many others, hasn’t been able to locate any). Unfortunately all I saw was this:
I saw this everywhere…..
Shelves were completely empty of anything that disinfects…
These were 4 different types of sanitizer. All gone.Dettol wipes: sold outHand sanitizer: sold outEverything else was in stock, but anything involving sanitization is gone
I did manage to find some vitamin C and some hand wipes in the end, but I think I basically bought the last hand wipes in the entire airport.
We have plenty of this stuff back in Suzhou too.
Back in China, the government has began fining anyone who is trying to overcharge for these basic essentials during this outbreak. One man in Beijing is being fined 3 million RMB for this crime.
The guy in Beijing isn’t the only one to try this either….
Once in Lankawi, we found a big bottle of hand sanitizer for both us and my friend. We also stocked up on arrival masks in a small town outside KL (where people aren’t as worried and the masks are easier to find).
500ml should last us a while.
Over all, even with The Who declaring a global state of emergency (several hours after saying it WASN’T a global emergency….) I’m still not in panic mode.
Statistics like this keep me calm
Still, things are still uncertain for us on this side of the world. When we left China, we had no idea that we might not be coming back as planned. We packed what we needed for our 19 days of travel, and we packed light. We have 3 cats at home who are being cared for, but it’s scary knowing that our cat sitter could be banned from entering the complex at any point. As it is, many apartment complexes won’t allow anyone in until they have been tested for fevers. That’s the lengths cities are going to to try and prevent this virus from spreading further.
This sign was posted outside a friend’s apartment complex. Basically if you don’t live in that complex, you’re not allowed in.
So, we’ll continue with the “wait and see” approach and hope that it’ll all turn out fine. At least we got ahold of some masks, sanitizer and vitamin C.
We spent a lot of time there rapid shooting, cruising around and getting back and forth from the national Park. We even ate on the river! The Tembeling River was a big part of our stay in Kuala Tahan. It was the best place to cool down and a beautiful place to spend some time.
There was a lot of sedament in the river after our big rain storm but the water was pretty clean.If you want to take a river cruise, you can talk to the same guy who takes people across the river to the national Park (the fee to get across the river is 1rm. The fee for a ‘boat Cruise’ is 10rm)A boat just like the one we were inThe river is also where you can find some of the town’s restaurants, in floating buildings.The Tembeling River acts as a border between the town and the National Park (Taman Negara). This is a shot of the town from the national park’s entrance.
Our river boat cruise was quite nice. It gave us a chance to take some nice pictures of the river and we also saw some wild life, including a monitor lizard and monkeys. The lizard got away before we could get photos but the monkeys stuck around for a while!
These are long tailed MacaquesThey live in big family groups so if you see one, there are probably 20 others nearbyThis one was hanging out on some electrical wires
There is also a beach area where you can go swimming in the river. It’s about a 20 minute walk through the national Park to get there, but it’s all on a boardwalk path and is a lovely way to spend 20 minutes!
One of the best feelings in the world is to jump into some cool water after a sweaty hike, so when we arrived at the beach for the first time, we jumped right in!
Such a nice setting!
Before we knew it, a family of about 30 long tailed Macaques were swinging from the branches nearby. We watched them for about an hour. It was beautiful peaceful and lovely just watching them play. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring our camera during that particular trip so I don’t have photos of them, but I do have a video from my phone. You can see a monkey jumping from one tree to the next.
They came in from the right side and moved down, jumping from tree to tree lazily. We saw mommas with babies clinging to their bellies and bigger males too
We actually decided to go back to this beach on our last day in the jungle but we were less fortunate on that trip. The heavy rainfall resulted in an unreasonable number of leeches on the forest floor. They’re different from leeches in Manitoba, which tend to be fatter and mostly live in water.
Dave had one latch on really badly and his foot didn’t stop bleeding for ages. Worst of all, the scent of the blood must have attracted other leeches because by the time we made it back out of the jungle, he had at least 10 more try to latch on!!I only had 2 or 3 luckily. I kept checking between my toes ?
The river was lovely nonetheless. I would caution anyone from going down that way after a lot of rain though, unless you don’t mind these creepy crawlers latching on!!
Dave made a video of this one trying to make it back to us
Here are some more lovely river videos to erase the vision of leeches from your mind!
The name of the beachNice little areas where you can relax
It really was a gorgeous place to spend some time!
Malaysia is home to many endemic species and some of the oldest rainforests on Earth. We knew that when we actually decided to travel here (we’ve passed through in the past), at least some of our time would be spent hiking through national parks. After all, who can resist walking through greenery this beautiful?
The National Park where we were staying had nice boardwalks we could walk along. They are mostly well maintained and much safer (and easier for people nursing foot injuries, like me!)
On our second day in Taman Negara National Park, we saw plenty of wildlife. We had planned to do the Canopy Walk that day, but we got a lot of rain the night before, which had flooded the trails and left debris everywhere so the walk way was closed.
We decided to take a walk anyway, in an area that hadn’t been as affected by the rain.
We also took a jungle walk that evening. With a guide and some flashlights, we head off into the rainforest after dark, looking for nocturnal species and sleeping jungle friends.
We saw sleeping lizards right away.
I’ll admit, I was nervous before going into this because I knew that there would be a lot of spiders to see. Still, I rarely let stuff like that stop me from having fun. But there are seriously soooo many spiders in the jungle, guys. Big ones too!
Oh yeah…. And when I say “sooo many”, I mean they’re all over the jungle floor. They’re easy to spot because their eyes and spots on their legs light up under a flashlight. Stuff of nightmares, right there!
Spiders weren’t the only thing to see though. We saw 2 different kinds of snakes (both sleeping) and also a snake skin that had been left behind by its shedding host.
This guy was sleeping high up in the trees. Dave spotted him.
We also saw scorpions! They were only visible under black light, but the guide knew where they were because they usually hang out in the same holes.
These aren’t as poisonous as the ones in the desert but they’ll still do a number on you.
We also saw various moths and sleeping birds on this walking tour. We saw several stick insects and a millipede too! But the coolest thing we saw was a slow loris!
He’s upside down in the tree. We watched him move slowly down for some leaves, and then he moved back up into the tree when he’d eaten the ones he was interested in.
Slow Lorises are nocturnal animals that live on fruit and leaves. They’re one of the only venimous mammals on Earth and their venom is actually strong enough to kill a human. Still, there is a demand for them in illegal black markets because people like to try and keep them as pets. You’ve probably seen cute videos online of Lorises raising their arms to be tickled. It’s not cute: it’s one of the ways they try to defend themselves. They’re terrified.
This is what they look like. They move very slowly (you might have guessed that) and they’re a type of primate. Very interesting animals.
I really enjoyed our walk through the jungle at night! I hope to never see another huntsman spider, but I’d risk it if there was a chance to see another Loris!!
We had 3 full days to enjoy in the jungle, and we did our best to spend them well. Of course, the heat was certainly a factor for how much we could do every day, so river and evening activities were always our preference.
Who doesn’t love being out on a river?!
We decided to begin our stay in the jungle with a “rapid shooting” activity. Basically, we got into a boat and moved through some tiny rapids and got a little wet. Then our tour guide rocked the boat back and forth to make sure we got REALLY wet. That was the end of that part of the tour.
Don’t worry. The sun has us dry in no time!
The second part of our trip was to visit an Orang Asli (Aboriginal) village. I didn’t have high hopes, because these types of activities are often very kitsch, but I was pleasantly surprised with the way the tour was done.
They still live in traditional huts that they built themselves. These huts can last several years.
Unlike many tours, where you just awkwardly walk through the town and look at people… In this tour, we actually learned about the tribe. Most of them didn’t speak English, but they all speak Batek and Malay, so our guide acted as a translator.
Our guide, showing us the tools that are used by Batek people, and explaining where they get these tools from
I learned a lot about the Batek people here. We watched how they traditionally started fires. No one tried telling us that it’s still how they do it, because now the tribe uses matches, but it was cool to see that they learned to use the best material the jungle had to get their fires lit. In under a minute, the villager had a flame growing. It was impressive.
Handmade rope and a very light and dry type of woodThere was smoke in about 30 seconds
We also learned how they still hunt. Blow pipes are still used today and are quite accurate and a reasonably good means to catch prey up in the trees. They taught us how they make the tranquilizer darts as well as how to use the blow pipe.
Every piece of the dart and the pipe comes from the jungle. Even the paralyzing poison they use comes from a treeThey use a special leaf from the jungle as sand paper. It’s very rough and helps make the blow dart balancers more smoothHe carefully made a dart for us, showing the process from beginning to end
Some tourists even gave it a try! I bowed out because I’m feeling a little paranoid about putting my mouth on something other people have put their mouths on at the moment…
A local using the pipe with expertiseDave is pretty good! He said that the pipe is very easy to use
What I found most educational about this visit was the way that these tribes have been allowed to continue living traditionally in Malaysia. In Canada, aboriginals had their identities stolen from them through residential schools and even now, they are given useless land and people don’t understand why that’s a problem. They lost their way of living and have never been given the chance to get it back.
They were taken from their homes, put in European clothing, forced to take on the Christian religion, and quite often, were victims of abuse and sexual assaults. It’s no wonder things are the way they are in Canada even now. None of this happened very long ago after all…
In Malaysia, the tribes have been given much more freedom. They are allowed to live and hunt in large designated areas, and they’re allowed to live traditionally. We saw plenty of young kids going into town for school, but usually at about 11 years old, they start to learn how to live off the land. They are learning to read and write but they also know how to make traditional weapons and how to rely on the rainforest
This tribe has been living in this location for about a year now but they are nomadic. They can leave at any time, and eventually will. Our guide explained that tourism dollars is a very small part of their income. They are much more dependant on the rain forest than they are tourists.
The Batek people use the rainforest to make an income. They search for sandle wood and other rare jungle items that they can sell to the villagers. This particular tribe wore “regular” clothing and shoes they they could buy with the money they earn from the rainforest and tourism. They also use the rainforest for medicine, but if an illness is serious, they know to go to a nearby hospital. They are a part of Malaysia, but are still allowed their traditional way of life. It was really beautiful to see.
They make little souvenirs for tourists to buy, and they make a bit off the tours, but overall they do just fine without our money.
It got me considering my own country, as traveling often does. It made me sad that we can’t have this in Canada. Any chance for this was lost when the government took kids away from their families and never let them learn the traditional ways of their tribes. Too much was lost during that time and it’s not something that can easily be brought back.
Imagine for a moment if your kids were taken away by the government and you were told that you don’t have the right to raise them or to live the way you have always lived your life.
Of course, things aren’t perfect for the Batek people. An outbreak of measles killed 15 Batek people last year. With a population of only around 1500 people to begin with, this perfectly preventable disease did a number on the tribe it affected. A simple vaccination would have saved a lot of lives. As much as it’s wonderful to live off the land and stick to natural remedies when possible… It’s still foolish to avoid modern medicine when it’s available to you.
People forget just how horrible the measles are because vaccines have more or less erased this disease from North America. The disease is highly contagious and can quickly result in death if left untreated. There is a reason why there is such a push for vaccines in Canada.
Our last day in the jungle we heard that some tourists from the Netherlands would be bringing the Batek village some medicine for a Gibbon who had fallen out of a tree and had been abandoned by its mother. The poor thing has a broken arm and an infection as a result (as best as I could understand). The village wants to protect this baby Gibbon, but because gibbons are endangered, they are reluctant to send it away unless they know it will be well cared for. The tourists are doing a great thing by bringing the medicine to the village.
He ended up pooping all over me but I didn’t care. The poor thing was so nervous, and everyone was holding him like he might attack. He just wanted to be cuddled close and feel safe.
I have 2 more posts planned for the jungle. One will be about all the wildlife we saw there! Check back soon!!
Travel days can be a bit of a bummer, but when your travel day involves going deep into a 130 million year old rain forest, things get a lot more interesting!
It was quite the long trip across the country. There are several ways to get there. We decided on a bus and a boat.
We began in Kuala Lampur. The bus company we booked, Han Tours, was located right next to a Travel Lodge, so we booked a night there and were waiting outside for our bus at 8:00am.
Unfortunately, our bus wasn’t a bus. It was a mini van, which is much less comfortable and much more crowded. When you travel through Asia, you learn that ‘bus’ can mean a lot of different things. I’ve been in nice buses, small buses, mini van buses, buses with standing room, buses with live chickens in them, buses driven by maniacs. This wasn’t the worst bus we’ve seen.
It also wasn’t the best
It ended up being another passenger who made this trip unbearable, and not the lack of leg room. He caughed and sneezed without covering his mouth the whole 3 hour trip. Coronovirus has me acutely aware of coughers and sneezers at the moment and, unfortunately, we couldn’t find masks in KL, so I felt extremely exposes in that enclosed space. I used a lot of hand sanitizer, and gave a lot of dirty looks on our journey to the jungle.
Me: the whole way there (in my mind)
3 hours later, I was thrilled to get off that bus and away from “Sir Sneezes A Lot”. Kuala Tembeling was nice. We had lots of time to kill while we waited for the boat to pick us up. It’s faster to take a bus from KT to the little jungle town where we were staying, but who can resist a boat ride through the jungle!!
The type of boat we took to Kuala Tehan
If you’re planning to take this route to the jungle, be warned: the the boats are pretty small and there isn’t much room for luggage. It’s pretty handy that you can pay your National park fee in that little town though, and you can also have some lunch while you’re there. Sadly, the cater to “Western tastes”, meaning the food is lacking in flavour and mostly just deep fried and salty.
I also made friends while we waited for our boat
Once the boat arrived, it wasn’t long before we were on our way. It was quite a long ride; 3 hours. We were pretty uncomfortable by the end of it, shifting our weight around to get feeling back in our numb bums, but I’d recommend the trip anyway. It was gorgeous.
It was nice to get some fresh air after being in the bus. The bald guy near the front is the germ-spreader. I made sure to stay as far away from him as possible ?
One other thing worth mentioning to anyone who’s considering taking this trip: bring sun screen! The boat is covered overhead, but as the sun starts moving down in the sky, you’ll get a sun burn if you’re on the left side of the boat. My arms are now 2 different shades of tan as a result.
Binoculars might be a good idea too. You might be able to spot some wild life. We did see some very beautiful birds.
It was a beautiful trip to a beautiful town. We’ve loved our stay here so far and I have plenty to write about it! Check back soon!
The riverfront in Kuala Tahan. There are several floating restaurants down there. They all have Western and Malaysian choicesThe little street near our hotel. The town is very remote and quite rural. I’m a little surprised we have working data, but wifi is scarce hereThe view from our hotel room
