Overnight stops (in date order): Singapore (19); Johor Bahru (x7); Muar; Gunong Ledang National Park (x3); Temple Park – c30km north of Kuala Lumpur; Fraser Hill (x2); Kuala Selangor; Tanah Rata; Perak Tong Temple; George Town – Penang (x2); 20km south of Kangar.
Even after affluent, cosmopolitan Sydney, Singapore is a change of gear. The centre of this island/country/city resembles 50 Bluewaters strung end to end; which is not ideal for one of us who has an aversion to shops. Shopping is clearly the country’s national sport and Singaporeans seem to be very good at it; although we haven’t yet worked out how just 5 Million people can afford to keep so many retailers in business.
Singapore is tiny (c40 x 25km), has no natural resources and grows virtually none of its own food. However it is rolling in money, is largely corruption-free and seems full of industrious, healthy, well educated and happy (mostly young) people. The streets are spotless, the public transport system runs like clockwork and even some of the outside spaces are air-conditioned. Despite being effectively a one-party state with famously anally-retentive laws,
the Government must be doing something right. We arrived in the middle of Deepavali, the protracted celebration of the Hindu new year.
(I am not sure that the humour in the notice in the last photo is intentional!).
We shared our first week in Singapore with my (Paul’s) mum and dad;
starting with tiffin at the Raffles Hotel – what else?
Raffles,
and a few other remnants of Singapore’s nineteenth century colonial past,
nestle among some remarkable modern architecture
However, this is the tropics, and nature cannot be kept totally at bay.
Our 19 days in Singapore at the Treetops Executive Residences
waiting for the truck, which was on its way from Sydney via Melbourne, Fremantle and Darwin on the MV Tronsberg – the world’s largest roll-on, roll-off ship,
was the longest time we had spent in one place since leaving England 14 months ago.
We crossed the Causeway over the Straits of Johor
and into Malaysia and checked into the ‘Bliss Boutique Hotel’ whose rooms are decorated like a bordello;
which is perhaps appropriate given that it is sited in a red light zone.
The day after we arrived we were guests at a Hindu wedding, having been invited by Devi, who worked in the hotel we had stayed at in Singapore; whose step-son was the groom.
I returned to Singapore to collect the truck from Port Jurong. Singapore does not allow motorhomes on its roads (I guess they prefer high-end tourists) and so the truck had to be carried to the Malaysian border on the back of a low-loader.
It was a very long day, checking the truck into and out of Singapore and then over the Causeway into Malaysia; it was about 9 p.m. before it was safely parked outside the Bliss Boutique.
After seven days in Johor Bahru, and nearly one month since we had last slept in the truck, we were glad to (finally) get back on the road. Our first stop, Muar, was memorable for its jet-ski racers
and its long-tailed macaques.
Melaka (Malacca) has a rich and turbulent history. It was the centre of a powerful Malay state that controlled trade routes to and from China
before the Portuguese captured it in the early 1500s. They fortified the city
and brought in the Jesuit missionaries.
The Dutch took over In the mid-seventeenth century
before the British arrived in the 1820s. The result is a wonderful mix of people and architecture with Malaysia’s oldest Chinese temple (Tao, Confucius and Buddha),
oldest Hindu temple
and Melaka’s oldest mosque
within 500 metres of each other on the same street. In the tropical heat and humidity, it was all quite exhausting!
We spent three nights at Gunong Ledang National Park; serenaded to sleep by the Howler Monkeys. It was a hot walk to the top of the eponymous mountain – the highest point in Johor state.
We visited cave temples at Batu Caves, a Hindu temple
within sight of Kuala Lumpur’s ‘twin towers’,
and Perak Tong, a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Ipoh.
Fraser Hill, at an altitude of about 1300 metres, was developed in the 1920s by the British colonialists as a cool retreat from the steamy coast and lowlands. Much of the hill resort is now a time capsule of pre-war England as envisaged by the home-sick Brits; right down to the mock Tudor cottages and pubs,
horse brasses
and chintz fabrics –
but what a wonderful view!
The history of Penang is as varied and colourful as that of Malacca and the British presence was on a grander scale.
However, in the nineteenth century, much of the money was in the hands of the Peranakan traders (Chinese immigrants who married local Malays) and this is reflect the few ‘Baba/Nonya’ mansions that have survived.
On our way to the Thai border we stopped at Alor Setar for one last (to our eyes, Kitsch) temple.
Although we loved the temples, the tropical forests and the hill stations, the real highlights of Malaysia were the wonderful food and friendly people (and sometimes the two combined).
Responses
Andrée says: Lovely, pictures as usual. It’s so nice to see your parents with you during your trip.
Simon McIlroy says: Back on the road! Marvellous photos. Quite a contrast for your parents, Paul. Raffles in Singapore to The Hare and Hounds in Godstone. And a great contrast for you, leaving the least populated continent (apart from the poles) to the most populated! Bon voyage
Paul Faithfull says: Put it all in a book. I’ll buy a copy. Without wishing to sound pretentious, I know good photographs and copy when I see them and you have both. Also, now you’ve flown your parents out, what about the rest of us…? Thanks for the postcard and bon voyage
Andrée says: Your pictures are very beautiful. It make me feel like I was with you. Danielle, we received are postal card ( Lorraine, Francois and me).