My time was up with my good Lat man and my time had come to fly to Malaysia on my own. If I hadn’t bought my ticket to Kuala Lumpur already, I think I would’ve stayed in that town of Limukih in Bali until I had to fly to Hong Kong. I felt a little sadness when leaving that town. It felt as if we were in the process of becoming part of that family or that village.
Kuala Lumpur slump
So I hopped on the plane and flew a couple hours to the big city of KL.
Upon arrival, I took a train into the city and walked 2km from the downtown train station to the cheapest hostel I could find on Agoda (booking service) in the city, about $3 a night.
This might’ve been the first mistake I made. The room didn’t have any aircon, which usually isn’t a problem. But this time there was no window leading to the outside so the ventilation throughout the room was nonexistent. It also seemed about everyone at the hostel smoked cigarettes, and in addition to travelers, there were some rats and cockroaches enjoying their stay in here as well.
The next mistake was looking for the cheapest street food in the city – which was found a couple blocks from the hostel, in Chinatown.
I ran accross a couple of stalls that sold overcooked sticky flat noodles. These dishes normally come with some sort of meat, but when I asked for vegetarian the food vendor put in some cabbage and very few vegetables that she had. About $0.75 for these noodles. I considered it a meal and ate them for lunch and dinner. Although I did treat myself to a fruit shake whenever I saw one on the street.
I felt unmotivated. I missed my Lat Man and the good times we had in Bali. KL seemed like a big city where people just worked. It didn’t seem as fun. I also knew no one and I knew I could survive on under $10 a day. Also, there was a big group of people living full-time at the hostel, mostly locals. Could I stay here for the rest of the 3 weeks I had and just get by under the radar? I knew it sucked, but it would be cheap and I didn’t feel very motivated to travel at this point.
After a couple nights like this -eating street food, staying at a hostel with rats and probably bed bugs, feeling unmotivated, I started falling sick. I think I was lacking many nutrients from the cheap overcooked street food. And maybe it was also too hot in the hostel. I was unmotivated and was falling sick in a new city where I knew no one and had nothing to do. Now, what was I supposed to do?
What to do?
I want to say I did something unconventional, but I would be lying. I asked the other travelers at the hostel what they recommended in Malaysia. They all pointed to the same trail of cities.
My goal for this trip was to learn as much as I could about how the locals lived and talk and interact with them, and also just have fun. From the past, I found that going to the most touristy places, locals see you as a dollar sign walking around and sometimes lack interest in sharing their lives with you. Because of this, I felt hesitant in following the conventional trail of touristy cities in Malaysia. However, I didn’t know what else to do, so I decided to get moving.
So I dragged myself down to the bus station. It took me about 2 hours when it really should’ve taken me 20 minutes. Feeling weak and debilitated and with a cough but knowing I should really get moving.
The first city the other travelers at the hostel had recommended was Kuala Tahan. It was a city in the middle of the Malaysia national park and there was a lot of trekking that could be done there. It sounded just like my thing, except I was sick. Nevertheless, I got on a 3-hr bus ride to Jerantut, then took a taxi to the Jetty, and a 2-hour boat ride to Kuala Tahan. Along the way, local people were friendly and helpful in providing directions.
The boat ride was cold and made me seasick, which made it a little hard for me to enjoy the beautiful scenery around me. After roughly 2 hours, I arrived a little dizzy and unloaded off the boat with the rest of the tourists.
Kuala Tahan
I walked slowly up the hill into the city and checked in at a local hostel with a handful of other travelers.
Feeling tired and hungry like a dog, I walked into a local restaurant and ordered 2 plates of food – a bowl of vegetable soup and a curry. Then the cook got the order wrong and brought me 3 plates of food, including a ginger vegetable dish. I ate slowly but enjoyed the food and felt much better.
Feeling tired, I walked past the crowd of tourists hanging out outside of the hostel and crawled into bed before the sun had even set. I slept sound for 15 hours.
I took the next full day to recover. Then I decided to do what everyone does in that town and go for a hike up mount Bukit. It was quite nice but I was met with a very steep hill that knocked the wind out of me – still feeling partly debilitated from being sick. I dreamt of the day I could time trial up this steep hill. Technical terrain and a hell of a climb. This would normally be just my thing. But I was still feeling sick and I didn’t have too long so I felt the urge to get moving again.
After a couple nights in Kuala Tahan, it was time to head to the next destination all the tourists go to. Cameron Highlands.
I took the local bus back to Jerantut, which was much cheaper than the boat and still quite scenic. Then I tried to buy a bus ticket to get closer to Cameron Highlands, but sadly the bus schedule of taking a layover in Kuala Lipis would not work out and I wouldn’t be able to make it and reach the city that night, and I had already made hostel reservations. So I got in a van with the rest of the tourists and paid a little more to get to Cameron Highlands directly.
Cameron Highlands
At this point I was feeling much better after being sick. I stayed in one of the nicest hostels in my entire trip (traveler bunker hostel). It was clean, the air was fresh and not as hot in the highlands. I met some nice people and travelers there too.
I met a guy named Enrique, he was a young dude just out of college in Spain. He had just started his trip a couple of days before I met him, and was full of energy and down to go and explore new places. He constantly had a smile on his face. I met another guy named Shawn – from Hawaii, really laid back but full of energy. And a couple from Germany who were all about hiking and adventure.
With the other travellers, we visited the Mossy Forest, Tea plantations, strawberry plantations, and took a hike up to a local mountain peak to get a view of the city.
The views in Cameron Highlands were breathtaking and the fresh mountain air helped bring me back to life from being sick. I absorbed energy from the rest of the travelers and felt ready to jump back into it.
It was time to head to some of the islands in Malaysia.