As we stepped off the boat and began to walk back towards the bus terminal we had seen three day’s earlier we heard a man running calling out to us and quickly running up behind. When he had finally caught our attention and we turned to greet him, rather the being a Malay looking to rip us off he was short Caucasian who I quickly remembered from the island. He admitted to us he had overheard our conversation and in his very characteristic Spanish accent persuaded us to catch a taxi with him to Kota Bahru. He made a fair point; it would be faster, easier and cheaper if the three of us shared a cab fair.
We hailed down the first disgruntled taxi driver we could see and bargained with him to take us for 50MR. Really cheap considering the previous bus ride had cost us near on 50MR per person. The taxi ride was enjoyable as we talked to the Spanish guy whose name I regrettably forgot. He told us he lived in Thailand with his wife and was just jumping the border for his three monthly visa renewal, so he had decided to take a small break and go diving for a week. He was genuinely a good guy, and it was a shame to leave him when my travelling companion decided the hostel he wanted to stay in was far to expensive… even if it was millions of years ahead of the one we stayed at.
By the time we had found an ‘appropriate’ hostel and dumped our luggage in our room I was pretty fed up with my friend, and decided that soon I would go my own way and make my own journey. Even now as I look at the small collection of notes I took at every place I visited I can’t help but notice…and giggle at some of the pictures I drew and forgot about or the comment I have written and not reread until now. I can’t imagine what I would have said and sounded like.
The next few days we spent walking around and exploring. I had already begun to start my own experience. He went off and did his own thing, and I did mine. The stinking heat drove me into the air conditioned shopping centre on two days but I was fine with that, having not felt cold air for nearly one week or more. I spent my days looking in the shops, reading the surprisingly extensive collection of English books at book store and ordering McDonalds while the girls behind the counter giggled and looked, and I can only imagine, saying things like “Oh my god! Look at the white guy… He’s the first we’ve ever seen!” At nights we would head down the markets or walk around the streets. It was quite amazing to watch an entire city and drop to it’s knees before you when prayer time rolled around each day. Usually we would just stand there looking awkward or sit, some where out of view so we wouldn’t get stared out or judged for not following their culture. It was a pretty cool sight I must admit and really insightful to the going ons of other people around the world.
At the tourist centre we met a funny little man who had once lived in Melbourne. He told us he spent eleven years in South Yarra with a lady twenty-five years his senior that he met travelling. He lived with her, ate her cooking and apparently never got asked to or offered to pay her for her hospitality. Me thinks he was paying her in ‘unconventional ways’ but I didn’t care to ask him if this was true or not. This guy spoke the entire conversation in pseudo-Australian accent and thew it phrases like “she’ll be right,” “no worries,” or “G’day mate” at the most inappropriate times. After some time it became quite annoying and difficult to follow the point of the conversation.
On the final day after failing to understand what coach we need to take to get to our next town we decided to take a public bus. It was crowded and hot. We didn’t buy a ticket and got to ride for free… But don’t tell the bus driver that. Karma is a bitch though, and we missed our stop (the Tamput Train Station) by about twenty kilometres. However, when we did stop it was out the front of one of Malaysia’s biggest attractions: The Sitting Buddha.
More or less it’s one of three temples with a giant statue of Buddha sitting on top of it. The other two have a reclining budda and a kneeling Buddha… I think, I never actually got to see the other two. Inside the temple building are small statues and brilliant artworks depicting scenes that I couldn’t totally understand or comprehend. Images of demons attacking and killing humans and ferocious beasts going about their nasty business were the main theme… with Buddha coming to save the day I presume. It was pretty interesting I’ll admit, if not strange and creepy.
After our slight detour, we did eventually leave the temple and waited about an hour to catch a taxi. We told him we wanted to go to Tamput Station. It was in a word… quiet. Friday is the national day of rest in Malaysia, but this was scary quiet. Not a soul. We bought our tickets and ventured about 1 kilometre into the town to buy some food, but chances were slim. Every shop was closed except for one family owned restaurant and a small general store. I bought some food for the ten hour train ride we were going to take, and then sat at the restraint to order some food. It was very funny because I honestly believe were the first white people to visit the town in a very long time.
When we entered the restaraunt the young serving girls, who were obviously all sisters, watched us with amazement, until their mother came out smiled to them and told them to go away. When they came back they were each wearing a Hijab. They were very happy and the eldest daughter who could speak some English helped us order and talked to us a little. Asking where we were from, what we did for a living, and in typical fashion if we had a girlfriend. It was a nice way to end our time in Kota Bahru and its surrounding areas.
As 3pm rolled around we said our goodbyes and attempted to tell them in Malay that the food was great. We got on the train and went into our individual sleeping berths and for the next ten hours tried to sleep as we made our way to Geruntut.
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