Category Archives: Epic Journey 2

The power of asking

Today at Borders in Singapore, when paying for an origami book.

Cashier: “Do you have a Borders membership card?”
Me: “No, but can I have a 10% discount anyway?”
“No” and after a few seconds in a hush voice “Ok, I’ll give it to you anyway”
“Thanks”

A few moments later I noticed a package of chewing gum on the cashier’s desk

“Isn’t chewing gum banned in Singapore?”
“Yes, but I use it anyway. Want some?”
“Yeah, sure”

Communication is good.

Taman Negara, Aguirre, Riffi Shariff and Shrödinger’s bus

After much hesitation where to head from Cameron Highlands, I chose to go Taman Negara National Park, one of the oldest rain forests on Earth. After an uneventful three-hour minivan ride, I took a boat along Sungai Temebelik river to the park entrance. The boat ride was awesome and I felt almost a character in Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes. There was even a blonde German guy on board, although resemblances to Klaus Kinski end here.

As I feared the park greeted me with with frequent heavy rains, which eventually made my stay at the park rather short (on the other hand Shrödinger’s bus extended my stay by one night, but more on that later). I lodged in Rippi Hostel, probably one of the filthiest and shabbiest hostels to date. Chung King Mansions in Hong Kong takes a prize here, but that’s a whole different level of filth. The sorry state of the hostel was compensated by charisma of the owner Raffi Shariff and his brother. Really cool people, kind of jungle hiking, guitar playing, alcohol bootlegging type (the park is in muslim area). Plus I finally got an answer to the question on the dangers of the jungle. In a nutshell, provided common sense jungle is not very dangerous. Wild animals are of the least concern, as long as you leave them alone. Dengue fever is apparently more common in the urban areas than jungle too. The most serious dangers in the jungle are 1) getting lost 2) spiky plants 3) banal incidents as tripping over or getting hit by a fallen branch. People get lost in the jungle all the time, in rare cases for good. As locals put it: “kidnapped by the spirit jungle”.

The rain made my stay at the park rather messy, but did not ruin my plans. I did a canopy walk and an exhausting 15km hike through trying to reach an aboriginal village. I did not expect much from the canopy walk, but it turned out to be a lot of fun and excitement. Well worth its price, although I did not pay as I tagged along with British girls, who took pictures for Conde Nast Traveller magazine. As for the hike, I walked most of the distance to the village, but turned back after seeing abandoned shacks thinking that it was the village. Talk about epic fail. No wild animal sightings, apart from some birds and way too many blood-sucking leeches. These beasts are surprisingly fast and furious and get to you through the boots and clothes. You do not even have to stop, as they are fast enough to take a ride on while you move. On the other hand, leeches are supposed to be beneficial for you, so it is not all that bad. The bleeding wounds they leave are rather scary looking, though.

This was enough considering the weather, so I had planned to leave on the second day. But the local bus never came, completely ruining my plans to take a night-train to Singapore. Upon several inquiries about the bus, I finally got an explanation “sometimes it comes, sometimes it doesn’t”. Shrödinger’s bus, indeed. I managed to leave the next morning and took a day-train, which resulted in one hand a good night sleep, but on the other hand in one pointless day. Not much to do and nothing to see on the train and no power sockets, so the laptop was of minimal use. Why in this age of digital technologies they cannot equip trains with power sockets is beyond me. Oh well.

First impressions of Singapore

I solved the Taman Negara vs Singapore dilemma by visiting both. It is my second day in Singapore and so far I am enjoying it very much. Some random first impressions

  • Arrival card has “DEATH TO DRUG SMUGGLERS” in big red bold letters and one of questions is whether you have been to Africa and South America in the last week. The border control guy scrupulously inspected my passport for dodgy stamps and made a comment that the passport was new. These people are dead serious.
  • Singapore is very clean and tidy, but far from sterile as some guidebook make you believe. Garbage bins are everywhere unlike in many Asian cities, where you may spend hours searching for a garbage bin.
  • It has been very rainy here. Not such a big deal though, as hot temperature makes a light rain even pleasant.
  • It is expensive. Though food can be very cheap, which leads to absurd situations where you pay about the same for a chocolate bar from 7-11 or a MRT ride as for a tasty rice+veggies+fish+curry meal from a self-service Chinese/Indian restaraunt.
  • Botanical Garden and National Orchid Garden  are awesome. I am not an orchid enthusiast, but geez these orchids are a pure eye-candy. If you get one day in Singapore and wonder what to visit, go to Botanical Garden.
  • Singapore is full of fine architecture and fancy buildings. Even residential areas are very pleasant to look at. Me likey.
  • Globalization is a curious thing. It is weird to see Ikea Trofe mugs, red on yellow stop buttons and buses and Veolia trucks so far away from home.

Cameron Highlands

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Cameron Highlands must be one of the coolest sounding names. Sean Connery, Scotland and Highlander come to mind for some reason. The fact that is in Malaysia, right in the tropics and not somewhere in England only add bonus points. In fact, this place does not feel Asian at all. Cool temperatures, frequent rains and fogs all over the year, green hills, strawberry plantations and Cenral European-like architecture make Cameron Highlands truly stand out. The moment I got here made me really wonder if I am still in Malaysia. Weather is very like Finnish summer with temperature around +20C – +25С in the daytime and around +10C in the nighttime. Very refreshing after the blazing heat of Penang and even cold in the nighttime (socks and a jumper are a must). To make the Finnish summer impression more complete, they even have strawberry plantations here. In fact it is the only place in Malaysia to grow strawberries. A truly exotic fruit from an average Malaysian point of view, unlike for example a durian.
Cameron Highlands sports one of the most stunning scenery I have seen so far. Hills covered with tea plantations are simply breathtaking. The first time I saw all this idyllic beauty I could not believe my eyes and just kept staring in awe. Green hills and blues skies (when it does not rain) are a truly awesome combination. Then there is the idyllic mossy jungle with its entangled tree roots and massive waterfalls powerful enough to support a hydro power-station. A walk through the jungle on one of well-maintained trails (trails number 1 and 9 are the best) puts you right in the epicenter of a fairytale. Not as wild as the jungle on Ko Phangan, but certainly more enjoyable.
Unfortunately as beautiful as this place is, I experienced the place inflation very quickly. After two and half days here and I already got the feeling “been there, done that. Next!”. There is nothing much to do here, apart from jungle hiking and some dubious sights like a butterfly farm (did not go) or numerous strawberry / veggie farms. The next destination is Taman Negara national park, which is one of the oldest rainforests in the world. Will try to fit it into the schedule to make it to Singapore before Friday to see Sven Väth.

Thaipusam or how hindus roll

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Hinduism is a weird beast. Elephant-headed and blue-faced gods, kamasutra, cosmology compatible with modern science or this annual festival called thaipusam. Imagine a three-day extravaganza filled with coconut smashing, dancing and partying, head shaving, body painting, BDSM, colorful clothing, free vegetarian food and such. I tried reading background information on the festival, but was quickly lost in all those details of private lives of gods and goddesses. Something do with the good winning over the evil, anyway. Not that it really matters. What matters though, is that people gather together and have fun. From the looks of it, I would never guess that it was a religious festival. Forget boring Sunday church-like meeting, this is a full-blown partying for the whole family spanning over three days non-stop. Especially in the nighttime the festival atmosphere resembled a rave party than a religious gathering. And all that without alcohol, bhang or other intoxicants, just good old fashioned spiritual high and some self-inflicted physical pain.
Many participants show their devotion by piercing their cheeks and/or tongue with a spear, getting hooks attached to the skin on their torsos and hanging bells, coconuts and other random things on those hooks. The more, the merrier. To make things even more exciting, another person pulls the ropes attached to hooks, like pain caused by piercing would not be enough. I witnessed a piercing process (in a temple too!) and it was rather painful sight. During the process the poor guy shouted and his whole body shook either from pain or trance-like state from time to time. Hopefully it was well worth it.
Then there is a thing about smashing coconuts. On the first day of the festival coconuts are gathered along the procession path, which are then fiercely smashed against the ground just before the procession. And then the whole mess is promptly cleaned to make way for the procession. Why do they hate coconuts so much? The official explanation has something to do with purification or something along these lines. Personally I think it is just an elaborated way to get rid of the excessive supply coconuts thus keeping the price level artificially high. Or maybe not. Anyway, it is such a shame to see delicious coconuts going to waste. I guess I could sustain myself for the rest of my life with all those wasted coconuts. Sigh. On the other hand I must admit doing it myself was rather fun.
All in all, an interesting experience and well worth all the extra time spent in Penang. Really weird and rather sick at times, but well this is just how some people roll. Thumbs up.