Saturday 16 June 2012

The Perhentian Islands

The Perhentian Islands are off the north east coast of Malaysia. They are two small islands that are popular for the usual things, swimming, scuba diving and generally doing nothing.

My plan was to learn to scuba dive here but in the end I just spent one afternoon doing that and the rest of the time swimming and walking around the island. After two days I headed backed to the main land. Trying the scuba diving was a good experience, putting on all the gear and swimming under the sea, but moving up and down a lot under the water gave me an equalization problem causing pain in my ears which was a shame.  

The sea was really clean and there were tons of fish to see under the water, though I only saw a small amount really. Great milkshakes. Swimming in the sea and doing a bit of snorkeling was great, but after two days I felt that with a limited amount of time to see the country I should move on, so I did. 

It wasn't easy to get good accommodation and the islands are only small so certainly they were creaking under the strain a bit. At night there were a few bars these islands are not billed as party places. The larger of the two islands is full of resorts, the small one is more for backpackers. 

Riding in speedboats and water taxis was cool.
I took some additional photographs with a water proof camera while snorkeling so once they are developed (it was a Kodak camera with an actual film in it) I'll add them here. 
There were some huge lizards on these islands, much bigger than the one pictured below, but they were too good at slipping into the shadows.

A room with a view, if you can get one












This guy is a lot smaller than many of his friends. His friends though were much more elusive though



Drastic action
This is a small one drink


Water Taxi ride

Ipoh, Kuala Kangsar and Perak Tong

Ipoh is another Malaysian city on the western side of the country that was influenced by colonialism, is known for its food and for being close to the home of the Sultan of Perak, who served as the king of Malaysia in the 1990s. Each state of Malaysia has a Sultan and they take turns being king for 5 year terms. 

The Sultan of Perak is Azlan Shah or give him his full name...Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzuddin Shah Ghafarullah.

In the town of Kuala Kangsar up the road from Ipoh you can visit the Sultans residence, and a museum dedicated to him, so I took the local bus up there. Outside of Ipoh was a great Chinese cave temple which you'll see photos of below - Perak Tong. Ipoh is surrounded by some Karst mountains so the view was good. 

The clock tower in Ipoh, see below, was erected  to honour a British Resident of Perak who was assassinated back in the day by some Malaysian activists. He was killed with spears while he was in the Bath apparently. The clock tower displays the faces of more than 40 people famous in world history. Though the faces of Jesus and Muhammad have been rubbed off.  

More info here...

'Besar Ipoh' pictured below contained a large market where I dined with all the cats also pictured below. And as you'll see there are various other buildings in the city the British left behind including a school which are still in use today. Apparently the international schools in Malaysia are very good.



I was surprised they were not on the menu





The figure second from the left has been erased






One of many international schools in Malaysia. This was one was established by the British











It's like the dungeon of a James Bond villain or the Bat Cave 








"Brotherly love without discrimination" - Sun Yat-Sen

This Chinese revolutionary seems to pop up everywhere,
Ipoh, George Town, Hong Kong, and Shanghai









The Sultan's Crown















K-pop night on Malaysian Pop Idol show with Korean judges