Jungle Train, Part 2

Day 8 (07/04/08): Kota Bharu, Malaysia

I spent my last night in the park, blissfully sleeping off the ravages of the jungle. My plan was to catch the early bus back to Jerantut, and from there I could get back on the train into the North of Malaysia, and from there to the Perhentian Islands. I got up ridiculously early to catch the bus, and then waited an hour at the bus stop!

I had several hours to kill in Jerantut, a small town with nothing to do, and so spent the time in an internet cafe catching up on this blog, telling the world about my Jungle experiences. Back at the train I met up with Fabian, a german guy I had met in the park the night before. He was also
going to the Perhentian Islands, so we caught the train together.

The train was pretty good, we had an air-conditioned carriage, and the seats were pretty comfy. Once again, the train went through the jungle (it's called the 'Jungle Train'), although I found this second half of the Jungle Train was a lot better than the first half I had done a few days before. The train went past some magnificent sheer cliffs, and rocky uprisings, all covered in thick green rainforest. Fabian was also a bit of a shutterbug, and as we were the last carriage on the train, we opened the back door and took photos out the back.

Besides watching the jungle and taking photos, I finished reading my book, listened to my iPod, and even napped a bit. Fabian and I also talked a fair bit and compared the cultural differences between NZ and Germany.

Towards the end of the 7 hour journey, we met a local guy called Eddie who we chatted to for a little while. He saw the cuts on my legs, and offered me some cream to put on them. I asked if it would hurt, and he said no. The cream didn't look or smell like Tiger Balm, so I rubbed a bunch of my cut and grazed thigh.

The train station is actually a fair way out of Kota Bharu, our destination for the night. Fabian and I shared a taxi, and it was during this taxi read, that the mysterious cream that Eddie offered me, actually turned out to be Tiger Balm. If anybody has put Tiger Balm on open wounds would know, it burns like a house on fire and stings like Muhammed Ali. I sat in the taxi grimacing my teeth, feeling like my leg was on fire. As soon as we got to the Backpackers I ran for the shower and washed it all off. Relief.

The room we stayed in was a tiny little shack of a room outside the main backpackers behind the kitchen. There were some really big rats or something, because the whole ceiling moved and thumped with their movement. We were pondering catching the 6.15 bus to the nearby town of Kuala Besut, from where you catch the boat to the Perhentian Islands. Luckily, two other Danes were also going to the island, so we organised a shared taxi. We could now sleep in till 8am the next morning!

It was pretty late at night by now, and so Fabian and I had a beer in the courtyard and chatted to some Swedes, before heading off to bed.

(Unfortunately no photos with this post, the USB on this machine doesn't work. I'll go back and add some photos to it later).