Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Terangganu and Lang Tengah

Travels to the NE islands of Malaysia.

Well, I've been fallen off the blog a bit the last few weeks and not because of a lack of desire to write. It has been a very busy few weeks with lots of work and fun.

On Monday June 30, the darling KW arrived from Dubai. She is lovely young Welsh lady who lives in London and preceded her visit with me by a visit to Dubai. Our plans to meet up at my apartment went smoothly and as I predicted. Taxi cabs do not understand where my building is but managed to get her across the street where we met up without a problem.

Wed afternoon we took off for Kuala Terangganu, a small city in the NE state of Terangganu. A gorgeous brand new airport, a nearly empty plane, and less than an hour from KL and we were there. We had a funky hotel in the center of town right across from the Masjid. Terannanu sits on a large estuary leading out to the south China sea. KW and I took off around town and found a lovely old Buddhist temple and a fairly large Chinatown. Of course, never lacking in the need to eat, we wandered around the waterfront and landed at a simple cafe where a roti chennai with chicken curry was 90 sent...yes, that is 15p or 30 cents. We also saw lots of Durian for sale.

After our wander I decided to go to see the Masjid. A really lovely Masjid with colonial style architecture. I was dressed very conservatively and had a large scarf to cover my head and decided to wander on in. Just as I entered, the evening prayers began with the muezzin starting the call to prayer. At first I felt a bit as if I was intruding but no one seemed to take notice, and luckily I was in the women's prayer area and decided to observe. The muezzin had quite a long call and it was really lovely to listen to within the Masjid. All the women were head to toe in white with some kneeling in prayer and others simply reading the Koran. A very beautiful and peaceful setting.

Thursday morning we were off to Lang Tengah, a small island just next to Redang (or Radang as it is also spelled) and across from the Perhentian Islands. We met the boat at the Merang jetty where there was quite a festive atmosphere and lots of folks getting on different boats to head out to the islands. Merang is one of three jetties that have boats heading out to NE islands. The ride out to Redang first was lovely if not a bit imposing due to the stormy looking skies. We arrived in Redang harbour and saw lots of gorgeous and colourful wooden boats. These boats are a huge part of the history and culture of Terangganu.

Our approach to Lang Tengah was frankly a bit like something out of Robinison Crusoe as the island is very small and very lush. One of the guys on the boat hit on KW on the way over as well. Always fun to have the estrogen laden maiden in tow, it attracts LOTS of attention. We later learned that there are only four resorts on the island, one is closed for renovation, one is brand new, Lang Sari (where we stayed), and Redang Land which appeared to be the main divers resort. We settled into our basic room and went out to explore the surroundings. Thick jungle all around and amazing fine white sand on the beaches. In fact, I don't know that I have ever seen such fine white sand which is a result of the coral being pounded into sand instead of rocks being worn down. We soon sat down to a lovely simple lunch of fresh fish, rice, veggies, and beef curry.

Later that evening a huge storm hit the island. It was a little scary actually as we could see it approaching and sky became so dark and the wind picked up to the point of having the windchimes go sideways. The rain didn't hit for awhile but when it did it came down in buckets. KW and I were both hopeful that it would clear out overnight. The music of the storm kept going all night and poor KW didn't sleep too well. KW had also started what ended up being a weekend of bites. The mosquitoes LOVE her!!! We had a bit of an oddity with the room in that there was only one bed although I had expressly asked for 2 beds. So when it came time to sleep, I simply went into the room next to us and crashed. We asked the owner for another bed and never heard another word about it so I went and found my own bed.

Lots of wildlife on the island including huge monitor lizards, red squirrels, big grasshoppers with pink wings and a whole pile of baby hawkersbill turtles that the owner was keeping until they were big enough to let go without getting eaten. They were 6 days old when we arrived on the island and they expected to release them in 2 weeks. The whole idea is keep them until the shell gets quite hard so they are not easy prey.

Luckily the next morning the weather cleared and ended up being a gorgeous day. We went snorkelling right off the beach and what an underwater playground of activity. We saw a baby shark (about 1 meter in length) and tons of gorgeous colourful fish. Nemo and Dori were everywhere!!! The little nemo fish are so cute as they hide in the moving coral and jump in and out all the time. My favourite thing we saw that day was the huge leopard eel hiding under a big coral overhang. He was so pretty with big spots just like a leopard. Thinking about getting a little underwater compact for future snorkelling adventures.

The next day we were able to go to a few additional snorkelling spots by boat and saw a ton more colourful fish. The variety of colours and the depth of colour was really something to behold. So many variations of blue, turquoise, pink, orange, greens, and every colour of the rainbow. While travelling around the island we saw sea eagles and those parts of the water near the island that appear to be fluorescent. So gorgeous!!! I really think we were in what has to be one of the most beautiful places in the whole world. We were very sad to leave.

One more day in Setiu prior to returning to KL where we have the pleasure of staying at the The Aryani resort. This was my little suprise for KW and we both had lovely rooms in the middle of a little jungle santuary where we had a lovely dinner and superb Malay style massage in the spa area. There were lots of kitties around the resort of all colours and mostly very tiny and with the curled short tail. We had a very nice dinner in the restaurant and had the Nasa Doreng (sp?) for breakfast which is a regional specialty in Terangganu. It is made with tuna and some very interesting and unusual spices and served with the typical rice, fried egg, and cucumber. Delicious!

KW had a whirlwind last 2 days in KL and covered lots of sites, several that I haven't seen yet. She left last night to return to London. We had a great time and I am honoured to have had the time to spend with her. Safe travels KW!!!

My 4th of July was spent watching the sunset from Lang Tengah on the south China sea with my Welsh friend from London. Now that is pretty global!!!

Cheers!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kathwilsey/KathEllieKLTerengganu/


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