Photos from Kapas

Photos from Besar

Pulua Kapas

After 7 days on Pulua Besar, we bussed south about 75 miles and ferried out to Pulua Kapas. Much smaller than the Perhentian Islands, with no local population, except the resort workers in season, P. Kapas is different and still so very beautiful. With jungle growing right down to the sea and clear clear water, the smooth sand beach walks deep into the sea and the reef breaks far out, if at all. The rocks along the western shore, outcrops between beaches - traversed by elaborate concrete stairs and walkways - are multicolored, pressed layer upon layer, composites of bands and clumps of many types of rock, reminding me of the Grand Canyon. The eastern cliffs are high, jagged, black, and lava-like, with waves from the open sea pounding hard and turbulent. We hiked a rugged jungle trak from west to east, over the top of the island pulling up on vines and saplings and climbing steps formed by huge tree roots, then steeply down again, along a muddy stream bed leading out to the sea, between high cliffs. Climbing the cliff rocks (Joe climbed the highest) we watched, mesmerized, waves pounding, splashing, crashing, pounding again.

Our 2 huts at Kapas Beach Chalets (KBC) were primitive but all we needed, with very welcoming hosts, and right on the beach. Each place we've been, even the bigger towns, create such a sense of welcome, never pushiness or hard-sell. The chalet and guesthouse owners share their customers, showing us rooms and facilities, knowing we'll look at several, and maybe come back or not. In the markets too, the stall owners and shopkeepers are unhurried, confident that customers are plentiful for all.

Everyone smiles! P. Kapas is very laid back: beach volleyball each afternoon, helping ourselves to the KBC kitchen - jam and peanut butter, making our own big salads, tuna spread, coffee, Nescafe (Joe's favorite). The scheduled American in me (Marla) was initially unsettled by a "lack of service" feeling. But after just a few hours, the welcome overtook me again. The business and home lines are blurred; it's a country of small home-run businesses and if the shop's not busy then volleyball games, or heading down the beach to help unload a boat, fills in the time.

Our typical formation, whether tramping through towns and bus stations or through the jungle is Joe in the lead, then Mia, and I follow. Joe's height gives him visual advantage when looking for land marks or bus stops. On a jungle trak he drags the path ahead, turning leaves and under brush, checking for snakes with a big stick. The elaborate and numerous jungle spiders spin their webs across the trail hitting Joe at chest or neck, so Mia and I can easily duck under. I tend to keep my eyes on my feet, watching for big roots, or my hands, pulling upon on vines or saplings - being certain to miss termite nests, bugs, snakes, lizards, or anything gooey. Curiously, in the cities, Joe gets us to the general area of the market, guesthouse, or festival, then Mia's keen eye for detail finds the particular street name or fountain or food stall. They are an amazing team and each day I'm blessed to be following along, their wide-eyed duckling.

Khota Bahru

(guest spot by Marla)
After a night back in KL, we took a 9 hour bus ride (a luxury "tourist" bus, no hogs tied to the bumpers or bags of rice in the aisles) to the far north, staying over in Kota Bahru one night. The bus ride was filled with sights as we travelled throught hills and jungle. To say that everything is lush and green is a total understatement: a whole range of greens, plantations of palm trees, banana trees, and pure thick waves of ferns up and down the hill sides. Trees seem to struggle up toward the sunshine breaking free of the thick foliage below, but other plants, vines, ferns, grown right up the tall trees, actually rooted in the trunks. I was glued to the window the whole 9 hours. In contrast to the greens, most of the houses are bright colors - pinks, and yellows, with red and blue tile roofs. Even the average, low-scale areas are so colorful.
One night only in Kota Bahru, but we packed in a festival, an elaborate parade, and dinner at the night market. Before leaving on Saturday we shopped at the central market - an amazing 4-story complex in the round. Open in the middle, the produce sellers on the ground floor. The other 4 stories held everything imaginable from textiles to hardware, dried fish, baskets, all the essentials for life. From the upper floors we could look down through the center to the produce market below - everything fresh, colorful, and delicious looking. Mia and I bought some batik pieces of cloth to use as sarongs alternating as beach mats.
The photo does not do the parade justice.

My thanks to Mia and Joe

Just a few thoughts about these 2 amazing people (and yes, I know I'm biased): so inquisitive, always discovering, learning, asking, and incorporating what they learn into their process of travel and living life. I know it's partly their sense of time, but they are truly able to take a place in. Even in Kuala Lampur and Kota Bahru (cities), they were discovering and absorbing: the night market, the "wet" market, the bazaar, each new fruit, or the "snake oil" salesmen milking cobras in the street, all is calmly fascinating. The people they meet are drawn in, especially the children. The Malay people smile and say hello! whenever and wherever we pass, even from across the street, or from their porches as we pass on bikes along a country back road. But Joe and Mia are always opening and asking and truly finding out about the lives of everyone they encounter. The other day a blind man approached us at a bus stop to help us determine the best route and timing for the bus south to Cherating. A blind man went out of his way, and I know that it's partly because he sensed, like so many others, that these 2 people are friends of the world. So, thanks Joe and Mia for welcoming me into your life travels. I'll treasure this month and the fun we've shared! Love, Marla

Perhentian Islands - Pulua Besar

02/14/08 - Happy Valentines Day! Wow, we've been here on Pulau Besar in the Perhentian Islands for nearly 5 days already. So strange - no cars, very few restaurants, hardly anyone wears shoes, intermittent hot water, but here we have high-speed internet. The Perhentians are off the northern coast of Malaysia in the South China Sea - whoever thought I'd be swimming in the South China Sea!!?? The islands off the east coast close down during the monsoon which typically lasts November through January, through February in some places. We took a "ferry" (which was truthfully a bone-crushing speed boat ride) from Kuala Besut after a 30-minute taxi from Kota Bahru, the last large town we overnighted in. We landed on Pulau Besar and Joe parked himself in an open air cafe while Mia and I tramped the beach searching for just the right accomodations. The places to stay run the spectrum from high dollar "resort" all -inclusive to camper shack with outdoor toilets. We decided on New Cocohut, two wonderful small chalets right on the beach. They have an amazing restaurant where we choose our fish or squid or chicken or gigantic prawn which they grill over open coals. Delicious calamari and Joe's giant grouper - toasted garlic sauce with butter - yum! We hiked the island over and back, along jungle trails, instigating beach volley ball games along the way. My rubber knees made it through just one game - no sense injuring myself just to prove that I can, so I'm the water girl and head cheerleader. Joe and Mia are great at meeting people, both locals and Westerners and drawing them into volleyball or conversation. We've all read for hours and played gin rummy or Chinese checkers, especially over meals - seems we've always got a game going. The hikes along the jungle tracks from end to end and beach to beach have been adventurous, always ending in the ocean which is great for cooling off! The water is warm but not too warm and crystal clear, greens and blue, almost white when there's only sand below. Mia and Joe went scuba diving two days in a row, encountering various fishes, reef sharks, and a rather aggressive triggerfish. Other island fun included swimming, kayaking, snorkeling, and we saw 2 giant sea turtles, close enough to touch, so Joe did!

Cameo appearance: Marla in Malaysia

On 2/3/08 I landed in Kuala Lampur and got my arms around my lovely daughter after 6 months apart! I can't explain how wonderful it's been to be so welcomed and involved in Joe and Mia's amazing adventures. Following are some entries from the last few weeks:

02/05/08 hello from Kuala Lampur! An amazing city! Huge, beautiful, crowded, amazing architecture, sparkling clean and still so old in parts! I arrived safely around midnight on Sunday night after what seemed like an endless string of flights - I flew over the North Pole! At the arrival bay in KL, I walked out into a big corral lined with people waiting for arrivees. I was the only one in the corral, to my right was Mia in a small cafe behind the glass. She walked through the opening in the corral, I dropped my bags and we stood there mid-corral laughing, hugging, crying, a grand welcome indeed. Mia and Joe had couch-surfed with a wonderful family whose son taxi'd us all from KL airport clear to the middle of the city and a lovely, simple, clean (solar-heated water) guesthouse. Monday we traversed the city on foot, on bus, on underground train - saw the famous Batu Caves, and the Petronas Towers, ate sushi in the round and Haagen Daas and local vegetarian dishes in Chinatown. We ended the evening on a bench in a park at the base of Petronas Towers, next to a huge dancing fountain (Vegas style - really big), talking politics, immigration, Kenya - wonderful!!!

We stayed 2 days and nights in the jungle north of Kuala Lampur, outside the town of Serendah. Our KL taxi driver was shocked and uncertain about taking us into the jungle, then amazed that our eco-resort Sekeping was even back in there. We rented a "glass shed", which sounds creepy but the "shed" was 2-stories, all open, big decks and balcony, mosquito nets over the bed (my first time sleeping under one, very exotic). We had a kitchenette, and the bathroom was open to the sky. Very quiet except for birds and jungle noises. One most-memorable noise was made by 2 foot-long geckos wrestling on our wooden bedroom floor in the middle of the night - flop, pound, thump, squeal, until we figured out the source of the racket, my heart was definitely pounding. The grounds were beautifully kept and once in a while the caretaker dropped by to see if we needed anything from town, or to light the outdoor fireplace. All brick paths, hiking trails, a natural swimming pool, everything seemingly carved right into the jungle. We walked along the country road one day to a water falls on a river, and swam, but mostly we laid around, ate, cooked, read, and talked and talked and talked. Joe and Mia are both so great to just visit with, and they read books like crazy, so it's very relaxing.