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A Royal surprise |
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Sunday, July 11, 2004 6am… It’s been a long time since I’ve wakened to the early morning call of a rooster. Suburban Newcastle has long since banished chook runs, and roosters certainly can’t be heard from the 30th floor of a KL highrise. But let me tell you, they are alive and crowing on Penang Island, Malaysia. Last time on Penang, we had stayed in a tower apartment block, so no animal noises penetrated there. This weekend, our overnight stop was again Penang, a ground-floor beachfront unit at Batu Ferringhi (below). Our room was in the old (1948), but renovated, original guest house/hotel there, the Lone Pine, now a low-key, laid-back establishment, superbly situated on a quiet beach.
Our weekend trip away was largely unplanned: it was a case of point our rented car north, avoid the motorways, and see where we end up. Staying off the motorways took us into the backwaters of Malaysia’s western coastal strip. We saw farms, villages and rice paddies we had been totally blind to on our previous trips out of the city. Villages of as few as half a dozen houses are hard to see: natural wooden structures camouflaged by thick palm plantations or jungle. Abandon a village for, say, three years, and the jungle would ensure it would never been seen again. |
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Our meandering route took us up the coast, through Selangor, and into Perak state. First stop was Teluk Intan, a pleasant town whose only claim to fame is a leaning clock tower (right). The tower is said to have been built by a rich Chinese merchant in memory of his dead wife, a là the Taj Mahal, but it’s not really a very elegant structure. I’ve told DB that when I die, the very least I want is a tower that stands straight. Swinging inland, we checked out a mansion built early last century by a homesick Brit and now dubbed “Kelly’s Castle, then skirted through the gracious southern suburbs of Ipoh, and onto the real surprise of the day – Kuala Kangsar. Kuala Kangsar is the old Royal capital of Perak, from the days when Sultans lived and ruled like kings. We have visited a few former royal capitals in other states, and they have been nondescript, with only a palace or two barely worthy of the name. Kuala Kangsar is the exception. Perak must have been a wealthy state when the Sultans reigned: the mosque and palaces are stunning, even just from the outside (in general, tourists couldn’t get a look in). Most eye-catching of all, when you actually find it after a little problem reading a map, is the main mosque, Masjid Ubidiah (below). |
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In Australia, most centres apart from very small towns, offer motel-style units for travellers, but these appear to be practically non-existent here. Even a reasonable-sized town like Kuala Kangsar had very little. So, knowing Penang had dozens of resort style hotels, we headed back onto the motorway (in driving rain) to cross over to Penang Island. The last time I visited Penang, I was very harsh about the overall living standards there. Looking back on it, I realise I was then still suffering a certain degree of culture shock (I think I had been in the country only six or so weeks). Now, while I still see the same things, I don’t react with the same distaste of last November. Shacks, shanties and squatters’ settlements don’t rock my sensibilities any more. *** Reading the weekend’s papers this morning before brekky, I came across a gem which might illustrate some of the cultural differences we face here. I hadn’t realised it, but Malaysia (unlike many Middle East countries) has not approved the screening in theatres of Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion. So “the churches” whatever that catch-all description covers, have petitioned the government to allow them to bring in the movie for special showings, so their congregations don’t have to commit the “crime” of buying a pirated DVD version. It seems the government will agree, with the proviso that only Christians be allowed to buy tickets. The criteria to decide who qualifies (church-goers? the baptised?) haven’t been specified. *** Today, we are heading east along the East-West highway, said to be an engineering masterpiece. The highway starts just out of Butterworth in Penang, before crossing the states of Kedah and Perak, where it runs parallel to the Thai border. Once in Kelantan, it’s a drive down the centre of Malaysia to KL.
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We hadn’t
planned on going to Penang for our overnight stop – the problem is,
away from the half-dozen major cities and tourist resorts, highway
accommodation is almost non-existent. I’m not sure how the locals
get on when they travel, or maybe they don’t stray very far from
home.