Thursday, April 3, 2008

Into Malaysia

Location: Net Cafe, Gemas, Malaysia

Day 4 (03/04/08): Gemas

I am currently sitting in a Net Cafe in the small Malaysian town of Gemas. I had an early start this morning, as I had my train out of Singapore at 7:40am. I didn't get much sleep, as I stayed up quite late talking to a few other people at the hostel. One of the American guys has been travelling SE Asia for the past two years. So me and an Aussie guy, who had also just got to SE Asia, took notes while the American gave us all the insider knowledge on which places were good to go to. Pretty interesting guy, he had some crazy stories about drinking at night with the Vietnamese mafia.

In the morning I was running late after packing up all my stuff in the backpackers, and by the time I got off the MRT I was starting to get worried I would miss the train. While the train didn't actually leave anytime soon, I still needed to clear customs and immigration. So I ran through the streets of Singapore, in the early hours of the morning, with a pack on my back. I got a few odd stares from the locals who must have just thought I was a crazy white guy. I arrived at the station dripping with sweat, but luckily managed to get through Malaysian customs and immigration reasonably quickly. However I didn't have any time to stop at the money changer, so I still have a fair bit of Singapore currency on me. At least I was on the train!

The train ride itself was pretty uneventful. I had a second class ticket, but it was air-conditioned, which is all I cared about. After a short while the train stops, and everyone disembarks to go through Singapore Immigration (yes, it is an odd system). This was nice and easy, although I found out that I can't get my tax back for the camera stuff I bought. Apparently I can only get my tax back on large purchases if I leave Singapore through the Airport. Oh well, no great loss.

I spent most of the train ride reading my book, and watching the endless rainforest jungle roll by. The train stopped and just waited for several minutes a few times. I don't know why, they made an announcement in Malay and English, but the PA system and the unfamiliar English proncounciation were gibberish to me. As were the (very badly acted) Malaysian soap operas they were playing on the screen. Come to think of it I have no idea if it was a soap opera or not, but it definitely had that cheesy sense of drama and plenty of wailing woman.

Just after midday the train arrived at the small town of Gemas. There isn't really much to Gemas at all, you can walk around the whole place in about 10 minutes. The only reason I am here is to catch the jungle train through the eastern part of the Malaysian peninsula, and this is where it goes from, unfortunately it leaves early in the morning, and so I will be spending the night here. The town is so small, it doesn't even have an entry in the Lonely Planet guide. I walked around for a little while trying to find a place to stay, I could only find two places, one was a dodgy looking hostel and the other was 'Hotel Tropicanas'. As the price for the room at the hotel was cheaper than the a/c room at the dodgy hostel, I opted for the hotel. For a mere 30RM (~$12NZ), I have my own air-conditioned room with bed, ensuite bathroom and even a TV! What luxury! Although I must have looked dodgy because they asked for a 100RM deposit! The place is pretty big, with heaps of rooms, although I haven't seen any other guests.

After having a wonderfully cooling shower, and setting the a/c to maximum cool, I wandered around Gemas. There really isn't much here at all. The main highway from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore runs through it, and so there is a lot of traffic and trucks. It mainly seems to be a transit town and rest stop for travelers. I had some lunch at a random little food place - some spicy chicken and prawns with rice. After a few minutes eating the owner of the place asked if the food was too hot for me. I replied with a big smile that I like spicy food and that it was good. Him and his friends seemed a bit disappointed that the white guy could handle it.

I went back to the train station and got my ticket for the Jungle Railway tomorrow. It is not the fastest way to Jerantut (my next destination, en route to Taman Negara National Park), but it sounds very interesting and travels through the day, allowing you to view the scenery. After worrying that the hotel deposit had robbed me of too much cash to pay for the train ticket, I was pleasantly suprised when the ticket price came to 6.50RM, about $2.50NZ! Pretty good for a 3-4 hour train ride.

I will probably spend the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing my room, might even try and learn some Malay phrases. This part of Malaysia is definitely very different to Singapore, not many people speak English, and I have seen no other tourists at all. In fact I am getting a few odd looks from the locals, maybe its because I am the only blonde in town?

No comments: