I joke with Marko that we never celebrate the 4th of July.
It’s one of my favorite holidays and yet we’re never in America during that weekend. Somehow we always end up in a travel situation which precludes beers and grilling and beaching. (Not to mention, my American flag bikini did not make the carry-on packing list).
In Year #1 of traveling (since we’re on Year #3 now, after all), we were traveling through Malaysia, both of us wrapping up six months in Southeast Asia. The month we spent in Malaysia was pretty unplanned. I don’t think either of us intended to spend that much time there, but hey, they give a much longer tourist visa than every other country in the region, the food is fab, and we kept finding new places to visit. Why not, right?
So aside from Kuala Lumpur and Penang, we didn’t really know much about any of our other stops. We sort of planned them as we went along, booking transportation just before we needed it or whenever we felt like leaving a certain destination. As for accommodation, we’d just find it when we got there! Hauling around a backpack in the oppressive heat and humidity, meh, no big deal!
Ah, we were so tough back then…
So after Penang, too much food, and way too nice of a hotel for us (I think we were staying in a $35 per night room that felt absolutely luxurious at the time) our planning method went something like this: “Hmmm, where are the nicest beaches in Malaysia? Somewhere we could maybe do some diving?”
The answer to that is the Perhentian Islands. So we packed up and made the overnight bus-boat journey to the fabulous clear waters of the Perhentians. But that, as you can see from these photos, is not what this post is about…
Leaving the Perhentians
After another extend-as-you-go situation on Perhentian Kecil (the smaller, more backpacker-ish island of the two) complete with beaching, snorkeling, diving, iguana watching, card games, no wifi, a few bottles of rum, and several jellyfish larvae stings, we decided it was time to depart. And after several days of not looking at the calendar at all (I got nowhere to be, right?), I looked up to find it was July 4th. Dammit.
As we strolled down the beach to catch our boat back to the mainland, I thought I saw a girl in an American flag bikini in the water.
Dammit, dammit, dammit.
We couldn’t have stayed ONE more night?!
(I played Lee Greenwood on the boat ride back.)
Heading to Kota Bharu
Alas, our plans – albeit, very loose ones – had been made. We were going to take the so-called “Jungle Train” down to the rainforest and National Park of Taman Negara. And to do that “scenic route,” we needed to find a train station where we could hop on. The nearest one, according to Marko’s possibly outdated hard copy of Lonely Planet’s Southeast Asia on a Shoestring, was in Kota Bharu.
No wifi, no Malaysian sim card. We did it old school. Backpacking must’ve been really cool back in the day…
Here’s the description of this little Malaysian city, according to a Lonely Planet that likely hasn’t been updated in forever:
“The northernmost major city in Malaysia is also one of its most devoutly Muslim and it is deeply grounded in traditional Malay heritage. Kota Bharu has all the energy of a midsized city with the compact feel and friendly vibe of a small town. There are excellent markets and ample opportunities to taste superb local cuisine.”
Honestly, that last sentence was all I needed to hear…
(Just FYI, I say that our book was “possibly outdated” because the Lonely Planet website still has that same description of the city three years later and they were recommending the same hostels back in 2014, according to an angry TripAdvisor review anyway. For a very interesting story of how LP used to update their travel guides, I highly recommend the book Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?: A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics, and Professional Hedonism.)
Needless to say, we still took Lonely Planet’s advice on accommodation.
After a mini bus to Kota Bharu, we checked into a room a Zeck’s Travellers Inn. It’s nothing to write home about, but it was cheap, the owners were friendly, and it had a bed. Plus, it was our first taste of air condition, wifi, and good sleep in a week. And Zeck is the one who told us about the Ramadan Market…
Food at the Ramadan Bazaar!
During Ramadan, Muslims fast during the day, but man, do they get after it at night! Seriously. The Kota Bharu Ramadan Market was filled with food, smells, cooking, smoke, and lots of people shopping for dinner. Malaysia is one of the most perfect food countries because it combines Indian and Chinese food (um, hell yes!) with Malaysian food (like laksa and nasi lemak). Also, roti canai might be my favorite breakfasts in the world. And it’s all SO cheap, so the potential for sampling here is limitless!
As a side note, Malaysia might tax the hell out of booze and cigarettes, both of which backpackers love, but they make up for it with cheap and amazing food and I don’t think they get enough credit for it!
Shortly after arriving in Kota Bharu, we headed out to see the town, explore the market, grab some food, and buy Scrabble from a local toy store, but that last one isn’t relevant here. I made sure to wear long pants and cover my shoulders to be respectful – it just felt like the right thing to do. (Shockingly, we found cheap Scrabble set at the first place we looked. Again, not relevant, sorry.)
So the first thing you need to know about Ramadan markets is that everything you’re given will be wrapped up to take away. And as much as you’re dying to eat it, you can bet those people at the market are even more hungry than you. So don’t be rude and eat it in front of them while they’re fasting. Most of the restaurants in town are closed until sunset for a reason!
We were pretty out of place at the market – a couple of foreigners taking photos, marveling at the food, no clue what to pick – but the vendors were super friendly despite our indecisiveness and general loitering, and some even posed for pics! There were so many things to choose from. We’re talking rows and rows of stalls selling most anything you could want: biryani, Malaysian rice dishes, fried things and fritters, laksa, kebabs, fruits, colorful drinks, curries, a ton of fresh breads, and whole roasted chickens and fish.
It’s been a while and I can’t even remember what we ordered now (though I think there was some sort of flat bread and kebab-style meat involved, as well as many snacks) but it was a feat not to eat it before we got home. For just a few dollars, you can and should get a few different meals and try it all. According to my budget, we spent about $6 each.
What I do remember is how friendly people in Kota Bharu seemed to be even though we were just passing through their town to catch a train right in the midst of the holiday season. It truly made a random stop on the map into a memorable experience. Maybe one day I’ll write about the fireworks, excited kids, and trying to find dinner during the last night of Ramadan in the middle of the Malaysian jungle… and how strangers provided for us then too.
Anyway, when we got back to our guesthouse, Zeck was more than happy to arrange a cab to the train station at some ungodly hour the next morning so we could catch the mysterious Jungle Train.
The moral of the story is that even in what felt like the most non-American, non-patriotic, non-boozy surroundings on the 4th of July in the middle of nowhere, I was surrounded by warm people who made me feel welcome (and well-fed). Also, what I thought was a small town in Malaysia actually turns out to be a city of 300,000 people… so perhaps Lonely Planet needs no updating after all. Kota Bharu really does have “a compact feel with a the friendly vibe of a small town.” And I appreciated sharing our holidays together.
Where we stayed in Kota Bharu: Zeck’s Traveler’s Inn. Don’t expect fancy, do expect hospitality. Zeck also offers tours.
Where we ate in Khota Bharu: The Bazaar Ramadan near the stadium. If you’d like to get a preview and my photos weren’t good enough for you, check out this video of the experience. Remember to dress conservatively and don’t start stuffing your face before dark. I’m sure they might expect it from foreigners, but it just seems, well, not very nice. If you are here during Ramadan, expect lots of other things to be closed.
How to take the Jungle Train from Kota Bharu: If this is what you came for, sorry, this is where my memory is a bit rusty! We spent the night in Kota Bharu and took a 35RM ($8.50) taxi to the train station. We bought tickets at the station that morning for the 4 or 5AM train to Jerantut (no problem at all, it was nearly empty) and it only cost 12RM ($2.93). We spent the several hour train ride attempting to look at all the jungle scenery and take photos, but mostly just snoozed. In Jerantut, the plan was to take the bus to the jetty and get the slow boat up the river to Taman Negara. But there was no bus in sight so we split a taxi (17RM each) to the jetty with some other backpackers. But then the river was low that there weren’t as many boats and we ended up taking ANOTHER taxi to Taman Negara (35RM each). But yes, after a day of travel, we did finally make it to the Malaysian rainforest!
