Gibbons & strawberries

In my remaining two weeks of holidays I went further south, into Malaysia. Another country, more distant from 'home' than ever. How to describe it? Is it even possible to describe a country when you spent less than two weeks there?

Malaysia is wealthier than Thailand. There is more modernity, technology, city planning and consumerism. In a way, it felt more like Europe than most of the far east. The strange thing is that after you cross a certain amount of parallels, things become less exotic again. India is probably the most exotic place, in that it is so different from Europe. But China also has its fair amount of cultural difference with Europe. Thailand has a lot of things that are totally different, but at the same time some things are more similar. And Malaysia, while not at all like Europe, is more familiar yet than Thailand.

My impression was that Malaysians are divided over three civilisations, living separately but with surprisingly little ethnic tension between them (maybe it is the closest to a successful multicultural society I've seen). The main group are Malaysian Muslims. They form the majority and are quite visibly present. Unlike Thailand, most women wear a headscarf and some men grow a beard. The other two groups are the Chinese and Tamils. Both have their own temples and these truly look like the ones in China and southern India. There are also some tribal animistic groups in the inland, but they form only a very small part of the population.

My main objective was to visit some national parks. Unlike most of Thailand, Malaysia has a tropical rainforest climate. It has a different type of forest and therefore other species than in Thailand. The first park I had in mind is Taman Negeri Perlis, right at the Thai border, in the small state of Perlis.

I made a mistake when I tried to cross the border south of Satun. There is a road across the border there, but no public transport. Instead I had to take a bus to Hat Yai and from there take a train to Padang Besar in Malaysia. This gave me a delay, so I arrived in Padang Besar when it was already getting dark. A taxi brought me to the bungalows at the edge of the park, but to my surprise there was nobody there. In the end the taxi driver called a friend, a police officer in charge of the local border guards. This gentleman and his wife kindly invited me to stay in their house for the night. The next day I visited the national park, where -among other things- I encountered vicious mosquitoes, flying squirrels and a group of gibbons.

After that I spent a couple of days on the island of Penang. Its main city, Georgetown, is a delightful mix of China and India, but without the hassles. No beggars, abject poverty and garbage on the streets here, like in India. No oppressive police, ominous propaganda and brainwashing, like in China. Instead Penang has all the goodies of both of these two great civilisations: delicious food, beautiful temples and oriental hospitality. It truly felt like a proper holiday. I hope I will once have a chance to spend more time on Penang.

From Penang I took buses to the Cameron Highlands, in the inland. These highlands are high enough to have a subtropical to temperate climate. Like in India, the former British rulers took maximal advantage of these circumstances. They introduced the cultivation of tea and strawberries, and built cottages in the green, misty hills that reminded them of home. Sixty years after the British left, domestic mass tourism has made the highlands into a sad strip of mega resorts and golf courses. Forests are cleared for farther development. I found the destruction a bit too much to like the place, but it was good to feel temperatures below 20 again. After a year without winter, it had been a long time to feel that cold. I miss that, winter. I sometimes long for real cold weather, and snow.

I took a minivan to Taman Negara National Park from the Cameron Highlands. This is the biggest park in Peninsular Malaysia, and I found a totally different situation from the smaller park at the border. Whereas I had the park in Perlis basically for myself, Taman Negara sees hundreds of young western tourists. Even though it is not necessary to join a group with a guide when you enter the park, you cannot avoid the backpackers. Why tourism is always so selective is a bit of a riddle though. One park sees little visitors, the other is a big attraction. Is it because the guide books or the tour companies only 'do' hypes? Are tourists only interested in what others recommend them?

Next week I'll describe the last part of my journey to the equator.