What's Sumatra With You?

What's Sumatra With You? 

"The Wild One" at Lake Maninjau

Dear family and friends,

And so I carry on, from New Zealand, it was on to Malaysia, first Kuala Lumpur, and then Melaka (Malacca). There is little to be said about Kuala Lumpur other than it is just a great big, hot and polluted city. Melaka on the south west coast of Malaysia is much smaller and a lot easier to take. I spent about three days in each city, and as always, the noise, clamour, traffic, heat, and smells of Asian cities are a shock to my senses. Durians are being sold and eaten everywhere, and the pungent, slightly sweet, rotting smell of this popular fruit competes so well with the smell of open sewers. It’s great to back in SE Asia!

Tour 2003 - A little of this, a little of that (Malaysia & Thailand)

Hello Everyone,

I have become a slob.  I'm sure many of you will find that hard to believe, knowing the sense of style I display on Savary.  But the heat, the humidity, the humping of heavy bags on and off public transportation, all cause one to sweat like Phil Esposito by the end of a tough game.  Each day I set out with new fresh clothes and literally within minutes, no matter how I try to keep cool, my clothes are sopping, stuck to me, and I'm standing in a puddle of sweat.  It's simply true; we travellers generally look a disgrace.  The locals, on the other hand, all look crisp and cool.  Personal appearance is very important to people in these countries.  Judging from the clothing choices tourists and travellers make, an entirely different value system is at play.  

Anyway, I have nothing of real excitement with which to follow up my Borneo adventure.  But to bring you somewhat up to date, on leaving Sarawak I flew to Kuala Lumpur, a leap into a hot, crowded, noisy, busy big city.  (Flying with Malaysian Air as I am, Kuala Lumpur is an obligatory stop, but it otherwise holds little interest.)  While there I, of course, visited the twin Petronas Towers, the world's tallest buildings at 1,452 feet (even when the World Trade Center was standing).  Both towers are 88 stories high but visitors can only go to the 41st floor where a sky-bridge joins the two towers.  Clad in polished aluminium, they are striking on the skyline, particularly with the sun reflecting off them.  As you can deduce from their name, they are owned by a large Malaysian oil company.  

Tour 2003 - Bloody Borneo & Bong, James Bong

Dear family and friends,

There were five of the little buggers on my leg when I looked down.  About an inch long, brown, skinny as a matchstick, and flipping themselves up my leg to find the juiciest spot to hook themselves on and fatten themselves up on my blood, filling themselves to more than ten times their original size.  Leeches.  Ugh.  In their search for fresh blood, these leeches can squeeze through a shoelace eyelet or the fabric of your sock.  All you have to do is brush a small branch and they can drop on you and they are quickly heading up your leg or down your neck.  I thought to myself "Merv, you are wearing shorts and sandals, you have only walked 20 meters into the jungle and you already have five leeches on your legs.  Don't you think you should at least consider the possibility that you may not be properly outfitted for this?" With that thought I pretty much stamped as paid my interest in jungle trekking, and scurried back to the boat which I had just left.  I was on the Menangul River, a tributary of the Kinabatangan River, at 560 km long, the largest in Sabah, the northern state of Malaysia Borneo.