We sadly bade our farewells to Perhentian island and Senja Bay Resort.. I would recommend this place to anyone and everyone, the vibe is laid back and super friendly with no signs of big western corporations moving it. Local run with a local feel and that’s just the way we like it.
After our boat ride over to the island we were cautious about the return trip and not exactly looking forward to it.. We remembered the advice of the Malay boatman on the way out who had said to sit at the back of the boat especially if the locals head there as you know it’s going to be a rough ride. With this in mind SG and I headed to the back of the boat – one of us on either side leaving one small bench behind us. Noone else was on board and we were feeling happy with our decision… until the locals came on. All four of them grown men squished themselves onto the one bench behind us. Great. We were clearly going to be in for a fun ride. Luckily for us the boat driver went considerably slower than the guy on the outgoing journey had gone, to be honest I think if he hadn’t we would have been swimming for the mainland. The waves were at least a metre high and we were getting splashed quite ferociously. The locals on the other hand looked pretty damn dry. Note to self for next time – sit at the furthest point back possible. No exceptions.
Back on the mainland and we needed to hunt down a taxi to take us to Kota Bharu aiport. After a bit of negociation an elderly guy agreed to take us. Remembering our previous speed filled journeys we stressed that we were “not in a hurry” and could “take our time.” (We stressed this a fair few times..) The guy heeded our pleas and drove real slowly down to the airport. Which could only have been considered a good thing considering he kept turning round to talk to us and laugh mentally with his crazy teeth showing… A scary taxi driver.. At the airport it seemed he was angling for a tip as he pointed out he could have been there and back by now if he had driven faster. Mmm true but a price was a price and we weren’t budging on ours.
The aiport was empty and we were too early to check in so we decided to have a meander around which took, ah all of 2 minutes. Kota Bharu airport is a tad on the small side. So we took a pew and waited for check in to open. Whilst waiting we were accosted by some local students who were looking for foreigners to survey for their tourism project about Kota Bharu. We happily obliged and answered their questions. Seemingly we were the only foreigners around as they came back to take a photo with us. And then came back again with some fans as gifts for us made from local batik material. And then came back again for us to write and sign their books… It was like being famous.
Check in opened and we were still the only ones around. SG came up with the bright idea of weighing ourselves on the check in weigh in scales as we thought we had lost some weight. The check in guy was happy for us to do it and low and behold we did appear to have lost a little weight. Go Malaysia!!! So on that note we headed straight to kfc for a snack. Kfc’s are EVERYWHERE in Malaysia, seriously.
Our flight was our first Air Asia experience and it was a good one. Nice radio tunes blasting out and friendly air staff. We certainly had no complaints. Touching down in KL and going through the customs area and it was like we were in another world to Perhentian. The place was bustling and overflowing with people. After collecting our bags we caught a bus into the city and then a train to the area we wanted to stay in. It was dark by the time we arrived in the China Town area and the hostel we thought we might stay in was booked up. So we headed to one of the other options in the book and luckily there was one room left which we took. Prisoner Cell Block KL (well that was thename we gave it because that’s what it looked like, a prison block). Concrete walls and concrete floors. Small rooms hidden down small corridors with no exterior windows. Amittedly the room was clean although SG saw a cockroach and jumped on the bed screaming. No choice though, we were staying!!
We quickly decided to go explore the area and get something to eat. Most of the places seemed fairly similar offering various different asian fried foods so we plumped for one of them and had some very mediocre stuff. After that we wandered the streets and stumbled upon Little India where a big festival appeared to be going on with a big procession and people dressed up everywhere. Having already eaten we declined the free food.
Afterwards we found a small bar nearby called the Reggae Bar. I was outraged to discover that a soft drink cost more MORE I tell you than an alcoholic drink. I was not happy. After one drink we left and headed back to Prisoner Cell Block KL. Despite the fact it was roasting SG put on her sleeping back and tied it up tight around her face in response to the cockroach sighting of earlier on that evening. She was going to be in for a comfortable night….
