Teluk Batik, Pulau Pangkor

The temperature is easily in the mid-nineties, with a humidity almost as high to match. I've found that on days like today - i.e. every day - the sensible thing to do is to get up early for pictures, head inside in a museum or coffee shop in the afternoon, and then venture out late at night once the cool air has moved in. Otherwise, you just can't function.

Today, I'm spending my afternoon sitting in my little bungalow on Palau Pangkar, a small island about two hours northwest of Kuala Lumpur. It also gets very little mention in Lonely Planet, which could be why I've only seen four Westerners all day. There are only three streets near the beach of Teluk Batik - vendors and food stalls line the main thoroughfare with two smaller streets dotted with restaurants and guest houses making up the rest of the topography.

The island itself no bigger than 12 kilometers and aside from a few outcroppings of settlements, its just hilly jungle. I even got to see my first wild monkey! It was just sitting there on the guard rail, watching the car go by. I'm sure my expression at that time was pretty similar to the monkey's - minus the picking of the butt that was going on when I passed (as to who was picking the butt, well that's between me and monkey).

It seems so far away from Malaka and really, its only about 6 hours in total. I ultimately ended up spending 4 days there, the highlight being my last night which also happened to coincide with a Chinese street festival. Myself, Lucia and Racquelle (two very lovely Portuguese travelers I had met on the public bus - I'm convinced "Lucia" is Portuguese for "legs"), and Yann (a local street vendor who had befriended the two girls) spent the better part of the night downing drinks and randomly sampling the street meat. I bought Yann a Jameson, as he had never had scotch before - not due to the lack of availability of it, but solely for the fact that a single finger of liquor can easily cost him half of his day's wages.

The reality of his everyday life is just shocking. I have always been considered skinny and even now, I'm down to 185 from 205lbs just 7 months ago. Here is a guy who stands shoulder to shoulder with me, who would be lucky to push 120lbs soaking wet. The girls were determined to get some food into him, but he refused, growing quieter and quieter as the night progressed. Its a pretty eye-opening experience - while I'm sure he was grateful for the company, at the same time I could sense a reluctance in him, as well as a bit of sadness, if not bitterness, as if he only really thought about his station in life when sitting next to people his age who live a completely different experience. He's 23, an orphan, and its just him and his sister trying to make it by.

So that ends my haggling, at least in the smaller towns. I might feel better at having saved $10 ringgits on a cab ride, but at the end of the day the three dollars is going to help kids like Yann a lot more than it will me.

From Malaka, I took the bus to Kuala Lumpur. Its amazing how a city of 1.4 million people is almost entirely devoid of sidewalks. I was only staying overnight, so I could hit out for Pangkor early in the morning, so I figured what the hell, I was due a day off.

I've taken two days off in the last six months - which pretty much consists of me sitting in a bathrobe and watching shit movies (speaking of which, "Man of the House" isn't as bad as it would appear - and I stand behind that statement). I don't feel badly at having spent my day in KL indoors - the Petronas Towers will still be there on Wednesday when I return.

In the meantime, it was off to Pangkor. The bus driver was a bit late, which always makes for a fun time as he suddenly turns into the Malaysian Jeff Gordon. I don't think it matters what country you are from, there is nothing more dangerous than a bus driver who is an hour behind schedule. The four hour drive was made longer by the fact that he was trying to play Malaysian karaoke on the dvd player and it was constantly skipping. To give you an idea what it is like, Malaysian music is very similar to Indian music, except if it was the type of stuff coming out 20 years ago. Synthesizers are in, apparently (not that I should be critical of music...when I first heard the term "indie music", I thought it was referring to the rock scene in India).

But anyway, I got here. There can't be more than a thousand inhabitants on this island and while I've read that on weekends, it gets packed to busting with all the holiday travelers from Kuala Lumpour, on a Monday, its virtually deserted. I've got a newspaper and the last few chapters of a book to keep me company tomorrow, the fact of which I plan on taking full advantage of sitting a beach somewhere tomorrow morning.

Comments

[jinhee Rhoades]

you do deserve a day off. i know you are traveling and you are "vacationing," but i'm sure it takes a great deal out of you. Good call on the relaxation. How is it going on getting into China? Dad's question of the day,"why in the world would anyone want to go to China?" my answer, "why wouldn't anyone want to go to China." Good luck to you! Can't wait to see you!