0
0
Our first impressions of Malaysia were rather jumbled as in three days time we went from a flashy expensive island resort (Langkawi) to a heavy Chinese influenced city (Georgetown) and then the predominantly Muslim mainland.
We had expected Malaysia to be very similar to Thailand food-wise. However we were surprised to see how much the brands of food items (drinks, biscuits, etc.) as well as the variety of staple food available in hawker stalls and street markets changed once we crossed the border! No more Thai curries or Pad Thai, now replaced by rice and noodles, fried in a variety of styles, with either Muslim or Chinese overtones. Quite a lot of Indian food too!
We immediately noticed the change in culture from Thailand – people were still pleasant but much less friendly, on the mainland all women are either Chinese or muslims wearing the traditional scarf, smoking was more prominent, and driving standards dropped slightly – everyone seemed to be in a hurry. It also struck us that whilst Thailand relies on tourism heavily for its income, Malaysia gets a lot less foreign tourists, and hence has to rely on industry more for its economy. The heavy good trucks and factories that were pleasantly absent in Thailand once again reappeared in Malaysia. We also found that standards of hygiene dropped slightly – there was a lot more litter on the streets.
Sedef also found she got more hassle from men if she was cycling on her own – nothing dangerous or intimidating, just a lot of wolf whistles and unwanted attention. In Thailand men and women would smile at us and we would reciprocate. In Malaysia a foreign woman smiling back is misinterpreted for the worst – the typical oriental view that all foreign women are ‘loose’ seemed more prominent here. Having said this we found the people still generally nice and helpful, though Muslim Malaysians were a lot more reserved than their Chinese counterparts. One friendly Chinese guy we met in Ipoh (George) treated us to a lovely meal at a nice Chinese restaurant nearby.
The flora and fauna was somewhat similar to Thailand – although we saw enormous plantations (more like forests) of oil palm trees, and a lot more wild monkeys and huge lizards by the roadside. The heat and humidity was still high, as we were nearing the equator, and we had a few days of monsoon rain. The highest temperature we recorded during a day’s cycling was 40.5C – you could see the heat waves rising off the road (and steam after rain!), and you could cook an egg on a car! To battle dehydration Nic devised an ingenuous solution – half a metre of thin pipe stuck through the lid of a big water bottle on the bike (so we could sip water continuously on the move).
We had expected (and were told) that the roads in Malaysia would be better than Thailand. However, from our experience we found it generally to be the other way round. Though the Malaysian motorway hard-shoulders were immaculately lawned, and often lined with flowering bushes!! Not a piece of litter in sight and armies of gardeners strimming the grass throughout!
There are two other things we will always remember about Malaysia. One is Durian fruit – an extremely pungent yellow fleshed spiky fruit that smells like caramel/cheese/feet all combined. So not surprisingly most hotels have signs banning it from the premises. George said it was like ‘eating extremely smelly cheesy in a stinky toilet’. 🙂
The second thing we will always remember is the abundance of KFC outlets in most towns, open till quite late. Since we were often exhausted from cycling it was comfort food that we craved and KFC was always there for us. We were particularly partial to their new cheezy wedges – potato wedges covered in melted cheese and sour cream – absolutely yummy.
Compared to Thailand our passage through Malaysia was rather swift – we did not have much time to try all the local delicacies and we are ashamed to admit we learned very little of the language. Though we are sure the sign below is not meant to be rude! :p
