[Eric's journal] We had a wonderfully relaxing day. It is so nice to be somewhere where we can spread out and have nothing to do. No sites to go see. We took all our laundry to be cleaned. It turned out it was a French lady who is living at one of the resorts. She pointed out when the laundry is dry is determined by how much rain we get. I wonder how she ended up here?
Today the blind German man we ran across in Taman Negara showed up. He is on his own. I think he is the ultimate ideal of the traveller, putting all his trust in strangers in a strange land. It is truly inspiring.
We had breakfast on the beach. There were a lot of surfers in the water. During monsoon season is when the surf is up, although it is not big. We then decided to do a batik lesson here at the hotel. Besides a hotel, it is also a batik store and it appears they do most of the work here. It was a good day for it as it rained most of the day.
Noah was our instructor. We decided to do a small sarong each. After the had stretched out the cloth, we were concerned as we were both art school flunkies. I barely made "C's" when I was a kid in art. I can't even draw stick figures. As we took pencil in hand to sketch our patterns, we were relieved as they had cardboard stencils for us to use. I went with the ocean motif; dolphins, fish and turtles, and Emma went for butterflies and flowers. I kept mine close to bare outlines as Emma opted for more detail in her butterflies. Then it was time to lay the wax on the pattern. This is very hard to do without blotches or very thick lines, and to get it to go all the way through. My lines came out very thick. Emma resorted to having Noah lay down most of hers. Actually trying it makes you realize how hard it is.
They keep turning out amazing batiks. The owner is a master of laying down the wax for very intricate designs and he doesn't use stencils. It is a group effort as different guys take turns painting the designs.
Next it was time to paint the design. The paint fills in the area between the wax. It is another talent to blend colors, change the darkness and fade them. I mostly opted for solid colors of equal depth, but did go for bright ones. Mine ended up much better than I would have expected; it looks like it would go great on a three-year-old's wall. Emma took much longer with coloring the detail. Hers is also much nicer than we would have expected and would look nice on a grown-up's wall. It was lots of fun and interesting watching the pros turn them out and color them in.
We met a Canadian who came back to do one more before heading home. He had done one here a year ago when he first started travelling. He is heading back to the Vancouver area in a few days and was passing through again. This is the second year he has taken off. He and his friend spent eight months in New Zealand working and skiing a lot. It seems after working a while he may be plotting his next trip, though he said it would be shorter next time. He gave us some good hints for heading north. The best was that it is drier already, the bad is that Thailand will be much more crowded with backpackers compared to the few we have encountered in Malaysia. Noah also told us that since the Bali blast last Oct, 2002, the numbers they have seen here are way down.
We do not have a toilet in the chalet (we intentionally picked one that was closer to the toilet than the first one they offered us). The toilet is about 50m away, mostly over grass, and since it has been raining quite a bit it is very muddy. Emma's solution last night was just to hold it until morning. ( It did rain last night for several spells which could have made it worse it you had gone outside.) My solution in the middle of the night was to crawl out from the mosquito netting, get up on my tip-toes, and pee out the back window into the woods behind!
(Another thought on the blind German guy. The heart of travelling is the people you meet and from what I have seen and can imagine, he is meeting lots of people. the Swiss couple on the other side of his cottage walked him into town and also helped him learn his way around the hotel grounds. Since he needs some extra help, he meets lots of locals too.)
[Emma's journal] We decided to do a batik on Saturday. Lots of fun, I cheated a little as the guy teaching us, Noah, helped me with the wax. He was an interesting guy to speak to and had been born in Cherating and has no desire to go anywhere else. He said he just loves the lifestyle- who wouldn't, the place is so relaxed. Making our own batiks certainly made us realize what hard work they are. We were tempted to buy one, as the ones they had for sale were gorgeous, but we really don't have space for any more pictures.
Noah told us that a typical sarong would take around two days solid work. It was interesting to see how everyone pitched in- someone would draw and do the wax and then they would all help with the painting.
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Saturday, 3 October 2009
31 Jan 2003 Cherating, Malaysia
[Eric's journal] Our luck with the weather ran out today. Up until now we have only had rain twice, and neither time did it affect us. Once in Singapore we had a big thunderstorm that started after we had come back to our room after wandering around all day and once in KL. We were looking at a Taoist temple when the clouds opened up. Fortunately, next on our walking tour was the Central Market, two blocks away. We made it there without getting too wet and by the time we had finished wandering through the market the rain had stopped.
When we woke up this morning it was raining pretty hard. We still went out to breakfast but skipped our walk along the river. We waited in the room trying to time the light/heavy ebb and flow of the rain. We gave up trying to time it, loaded up our stuff, and headed to the bus stop. I think all the locals must have thought us mad as we wandered through the rain, a big pack on our back and a little one on our front.
Fortunately, many of the sidewalks are under the overhang of the 2d floor of the buildings, so we were able to walk about halfway under some sort of cover. We only saw two other westerners in Kuantan and they were an older European couple at dinner the night before.
We caught the bus no problem to Cherating. We were on the local bus since it is only 47km north. Soon we could see the ocean on our right and we were away from city life. the bus drops you on the side of the highway, and it was a couple minute walk down the road toward the coast until we came to the cottages we were going to stay at. You could feel, smell, and hear that we were not in the city anymore. We have a lovely cottage with a great porch to sit on, read, and enjoy the fresh air. The rain had stopped by the time we got here but it was menacing most of the day. It is only a couple hundred meters to the beach. The main road through town runs parallel to the beach. There are a few hotels, restaurants and stores, but it is a very small town and very quiet now. There few other westerners around. In the registration book yesterday, an American, Brit, and Swiss registered. When we walked in, the guys in front asked if we were Dutch; we get that a lot. After checking out the beach, we retired to the porch to read all afternoon. It is so peaceful.
We had a great dinner at the Seaside Restaurant. The tables are in the sand, about 5-6m from the edge of the water. The view is superb and you can sit out at night in your t-shirt and sandals. ( Long pants for the mozzies!) After dinner we strolled on the beach before retiring to the porch.
We didn't have a toilet in the room. While there is a roof over the shower, it is very high and the area above head level is open so you can see the tops of the palms, sky, and clouds while showering.
We long ago realized that airconditioning in your room is not nearly as pleasant as a fan in this environment. You sleep with only a sarong over you and we sleep much better than we did in Singapore when we had airconditioning.
We have found one of the top things we were looking for; relaxing beach town. As we sit here, you can hear the final call to Friday prayer from the mosque out by the highway.
[Emma's journal] Our first day of rain! Proper monsoon rain. We abandoned our planned walk along the river and just headed out to get money and find breakfast. We caught the local bus up to Cherating. For the hour and 15 minute ride it only cost R3 (not even $1)
We arrived in Cherating around lunch time and easily found the Mata Hari, the place we wanted to stay. We have a cute little chalet with a balcony and we even have a fridge! It continued to rain but it was fun to sit outside reading and listening to the sound of the rain on the tin roof. The room even has a mozzie net- a big plus when you are a mozzie magnet like me. I find it hard to believe that Eric and I have basically been in the same room for the last three weeks and I probably have had close on 35 bites and he has about 3!
When we woke up this morning it was raining pretty hard. We still went out to breakfast but skipped our walk along the river. We waited in the room trying to time the light/heavy ebb and flow of the rain. We gave up trying to time it, loaded up our stuff, and headed to the bus stop. I think all the locals must have thought us mad as we wandered through the rain, a big pack on our back and a little one on our front.
Fortunately, many of the sidewalks are under the overhang of the 2d floor of the buildings, so we were able to walk about halfway under some sort of cover. We only saw two other westerners in Kuantan and they were an older European couple at dinner the night before.
We caught the bus no problem to Cherating. We were on the local bus since it is only 47km north. Soon we could see the ocean on our right and we were away from city life. the bus drops you on the side of the highway, and it was a couple minute walk down the road toward the coast until we came to the cottages we were going to stay at. You could feel, smell, and hear that we were not in the city anymore. We have a lovely cottage with a great porch to sit on, read, and enjoy the fresh air. The rain had stopped by the time we got here but it was menacing most of the day. It is only a couple hundred meters to the beach. The main road through town runs parallel to the beach. There are a few hotels, restaurants and stores, but it is a very small town and very quiet now. There few other westerners around. In the registration book yesterday, an American, Brit, and Swiss registered. When we walked in, the guys in front asked if we were Dutch; we get that a lot. After checking out the beach, we retired to the porch to read all afternoon. It is so peaceful.
We had a great dinner at the Seaside Restaurant. The tables are in the sand, about 5-6m from the edge of the water. The view is superb and you can sit out at night in your t-shirt and sandals. ( Long pants for the mozzies!) After dinner we strolled on the beach before retiring to the porch.
We didn't have a toilet in the room. While there is a roof over the shower, it is very high and the area above head level is open so you can see the tops of the palms, sky, and clouds while showering.
We long ago realized that airconditioning in your room is not nearly as pleasant as a fan in this environment. You sleep with only a sarong over you and we sleep much better than we did in Singapore when we had airconditioning.
We have found one of the top things we were looking for; relaxing beach town. As we sit here, you can hear the final call to Friday prayer from the mosque out by the highway.
[Emma's journal] Our first day of rain! Proper monsoon rain. We abandoned our planned walk along the river and just headed out to get money and find breakfast. We caught the local bus up to Cherating. For the hour and 15 minute ride it only cost R3 (not even $1)
We arrived in Cherating around lunch time and easily found the Mata Hari, the place we wanted to stay. We have a cute little chalet with a balcony and we even have a fridge! It continued to rain but it was fun to sit outside reading and listening to the sound of the rain on the tin roof. The room even has a mozzie net- a big plus when you are a mozzie magnet like me. I find it hard to believe that Eric and I have basically been in the same room for the last three weeks and I probably have had close on 35 bites and he has about 3!
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