2018 S.E. Asia: Some people we have met

Recently, in Kuala Lumpur (K.L.) thunder shower shelters we have met some locals. On our trips out from K.L. we meet people working in and near the places we stay - for instance, there have been young restaurant workers who tell us their story of wanting to visit and work in Canada, and many who are awed that we traveled so far to see their part of the world. Our conversations usually start with the person asking where we are from, so we have a map of the Pacific Ocean to show them the route from Vancouver Island to their land. We then ask them where they are from. Most laugh and say they are from where we have met them and have never traveled, as it is too expensive. One Nepalese fellow was in Johor Bahur, Malaysia on a work Visa and his next application will be for Calgary (he had heard that this would be a good first stop for him in Canada). The young fellow from Nepal explained the process and that once his application is accepted he is helped to find a work experience. In a similar exchange, we met a young fellow from Bangladesh who was almost at the end of his work Visa in a Penang, Malaysia restaurant. In a rain shelter last week, we met a dad who was keeping dry on his run just before going to pick up his daughter - he gave us his number in case we needed anything and then we all decided to go out for Indian food together with he and his family before we went back to Canada. The dad is an avid mountain biker and would like to visit Whistler some day - we told him also about Mt. Washington on Vancouver Island. At a rain shelter we also met Pola, who, in his retirement is an active writer about preserving natural areas. Pola's brother Harban turned out to have had an association with the Panti Bird Sanctuary so he called up his brother and Harban and Bob spoke about our plans - that was a helpful interaction. Bob later texted the outcomes of our Sanctuary trip in reply to Harban's inquiry. At Penang Hill we met many wonderful locals, including a young family we saw and had a nice exchange with the next evening while out at a restaurant. Also at Penang Hill, we met a woman from India who was selling her family pottery, which we purchased and Yolanda chatted with her at length. A few hours later, when we were headed to the exit tram, the woman ran up to Yolanda and gave her a gift of a woven grass-hopper. The clusters of young people on school trips are particularly memorable, as they like to try out their English and often ask Yolanda to pose in photos with them. We have spoken in previous Blogs about other lovely people we have met while traveling. It is difficult to think about leaving the very welcoming and diverse people we have met - of anything in SE Asia, it seems we will miss them the most.

2018 S.E. Asia : Taman Negara, Penang, Singapore

October 21st – November 5th we have been exploring nature spots within Peninsular Malaysia, including northwest to Taman Negara, northeast to Penang and south to Johor Bahru and Singapore.

We returned to Bukit Fraser for one night before going to Taman Negara so that Bob could do a little early morning birding. His morning walk also included observations of White-thighed Surili, Dusky Leaf Monkey, and Siamang Gibbon.

The accommodation in Taman Negara, at Kuala Tahan was across the river within the park. The vehicle needed to be parked on an upper level in case there was flooding. Taman Negara was a very beautiful setting, and we crossed a river in a skiff to arrive at the accommodation. Boats were hired at the cost of One Malaysian Ringet each (~$.33 CDN each). At the lodge we noticed that tiger stuffies were placed in strategic spots to keep the monkeys away.

The next morning, Bob went on a birding day with a local birding guide, Roto.

Because of the low light and the dense jungle, it was not a brilliant day for photography, however, Bob still increased his life list of birds by 24 including Raffle's Malkoha, Asian Ferry Bluebird, Maroon Woodpecker, Red-naped Trogon, Cinnamon-rumped Trogon.

When leaving Kuala Tahan, prior to going up the Hornbill Valley, we stopped to get a funnel of gas from a motorbike shop!

In Penang, we were in another very beautiful setting in a fishing village near the jungle entrance. We had two days to explore: we hiked through the jungle to Turtle Beach on one day and went up Penang Hill via the tram the next day.

One of the highlight of the 5km slippery and somewhat steep at times hike to Turtle Beach conservation area was an impromptu hiring of a speedboat back 8km around the point to the start.

Bob was thrilled to document a number of new species at Penang Hill the next day, including the Black Giant Squirrel, Chestnut-breasted Mulkoha, Smaller Wood Nymph, and repeat but great displays from the Plain-throated Sunbird and Crimson Sunbird. The hill was a sentimental destination for locals.

In addition to bird spotting for Bob, Yolanda enjoyed, as always. her local interactions -the markets, the food, the young women, and the plants.

Our route south took us through the Cameron Highlands. The north section was rugged and expertly engineered, the middle was a commercial mecca and where the greenhouses and tea farms were located, and the south section was a harrowing drive on a twisting mountain broken road, though a gauntlet of forest dogs and locals selling their wares from crumbling lean-to shelters.

The Panti Bird Sanctuary near Johor Bahru was a bit of a fizzle, not just because of the drizzle of rain, and complications with Bob's camera lens due to the humidity. We had to cross two closed gates to get into the entrance of the Sanctuary and then we retreated once Bob’s translator ap let us know the two warning signs in red were about malaria mosquitoes and rat pee leptospirosis – yeah.

We stayed at a very nice place for a great rate - at the entrance was a coloured rice display for the upcoming Deepavali, or Indian Festival of Lights.

Instead of a second day at the Sanctuary, we hired a cab to take us to Singapore. The 12-hr day included 5 hrs in two 2 ½ hr border crossings, there and back. In the other 7hrs, we visited Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Central Catchment Nature Reserve, Bukit Timah Hill Nature Reserve and the National Art Gallery of Singapore.

On our way home we stopped at Cape Recado overnight so we could do an early morning birding walk on November 5th. We headed out before 7am, but the lighting made it difficult to take photos.

We are in K.L. a couple of days to re-group for our November 8th to 18th trip to Sumatra and Java, and including a jungle hike to see Orangutan and a three day boating and river canoe trip to a UNESCO site.

FINISH: Yolanda finished her "Horizon" tapestry and has now woven the closing hem!