I got up fairly early but someone else had already been up a while and when I went to the toilet a woman wanted to wash her clothes there. I showered, had some bread and jam for breakfast and packed up. There was nobody in reception to ask where I leave my luggage so I just left it in the room and left the key in the basket. I headed out and walked towards the beach and went past a couple of churches neither of which were great. It was all roads for a bit and I crossed a small river and came to an area that normally has a food market but as it was only 8.11 there was nothing happening. I carried on to near the sea front and there was a cemetery and a park. The park had people doing an exercise or dance class and lots of people going round a track for exercise. I went across it and past the lake there and the sole on my right shoe was coming off and flapping. Great I thought another Malaysian shoe trouble, maybe that was why they had been left behind. I used elastic bands to stop it flapping and carried on to the end of the park with the elastic band falling off every now and again. There was a fence and a golf course ahead with no entry but I found a way in and there were not many people there and the clubhouses were shut as it was Monday. I managed to tie the sole on better with some string and got across the golf course and into another park across the road. There was a mini zoo there which was not bad and the gibbon was making noises but hid in the tree when it saw me. They had crocodiles, ostriches, several other animals and some birds although some cages were empty and broken. There was a preserved forest area next to it but I couldn't find the way in so I ended up going to a beach which looked ok but was not in the map. The main beach was further away and I thought of walking along the beach all the way there but decided to go on the road as that would mean I saw more of the forest and got more and I did see some monkeys in the trees. The road came to a resort and I tried the road to the right but it didn't go far and stopped and there was no way down to the beach. I went through the resort and there was a grass section between the buildings that looked like it might go down to the beach but it was a fair drop down from where I was. I decided to go into one of the buildings and take the stairs down and then I could walk down to the beach as resorts are designed for the people there to get to the places they need to. I went in and down and it was a strange building but I came out onto the grass like I wanted. I headed down but there were bushes and no way to the beach. I had a look and there was a part of the fence knocked down so I went over that and walked through the thinly spread trees. It got denser and harder to walk but I carried on and got to a place where I could see the sea but there was no beach there only rocks. I probably should have turned back but it meant going up the steps and then through the resort and maps didn't have a path to the beach this way anyway so like the fool I am I went through the undergrowth, trampled over plants, got scratched by vines but did make it through to an old stepped path that was disused and overgrown but a lot more walkable. I got down to the beach which looked empty and got changed into swimwear and had a dip for 5 minutes. It was good to cool off and I walked along the beach barefoot to the main part where several people were. It was 10.40 and I didn't want to miss a bus if it was every 30 minutes so I had a look for the bus stop and found a funfair that wasn't very active but the bus stop must be a bit further away. I didn't want to waste too much time looking so I went back to the beach and walked along a plastic walkway to the other beach there. It wasn't very nice walking on it with bare feet so I stopped and got changed back into my clothes and put my shoes on. I walked to the next beach, had a look and took photos and then went to get a bus. It was close to 11 so I thought there might be one leaving soon and I saw one and ran for it but the driver was still resting on the bus. A couple of minutes later though he opened the doors and we headed off into town. I didn't check the map at the right point and missed a stop and then I rung the bell but the bus went all the way to the terminal stopping at a red light on the way. I didn't have much time if I wanted to get the 12.30 bus but there was supposed to be a 1.00 one as well. I headed to the museum which was a couple of blocks away and the gate was open but the man there told me the museum was closed for renovations. I went back to the hostel and picked up my bags, put my shoes on and the girl running the hostel wanted my photo so I posed in front of reception and then headed off. I went to get the 303 bus from the city terminal and bought some bananas on the way for 3.40. Then the bus was 2 ringitt and when I got to the terminal it was 12.23 so I didn't have long. I paid for my ticket upstairs and had just 1 ringitt left, not enough for a local bus if I needed one. I loaded my bags on the bus and I only had 3 minutes to spare, not long enough to visit an ATM so I got on the bus and got 2 seats to myself. The bus was playing some music so I listened my own on and the journey was uneventful with some stops for people to get off and on. It wasn't so comfortable as there was an arm rest between the 2 chairs and it rained for a while but cleared up later. We arrived quite late around 5pm and went past the floating mosque which looked a bit plain to me so I wasn't so keen on going there. The bus station was central so I could walk to the hostel from there but I didn't see it when I went down the road. I went around the block and got some money out from an ATM and checked the address of the hostel. I went back round and it was the right road and I could read the addresses so I found the place not as far up the road as the bookmark was. I checked on, paid the 27.50 cost and was given a single bed at the end of the dorm. I left my things, took what I needed and headed out. I thought about going to the floating mosque and back but then decided I would look around at the things nearby first and maybe miss that one as it was far. I found a shop selling Indian food and picked up a few small items to eat and went to the first bookmark called turtle alley. I went in the alley and there were tiles with a story of a young girl who went to see a turtle kingdom but the turtles were all being killed by things people did so there was a save the turtles message. It was quite good and I went to see Chinatown which was a small area with one temple only that I could see. I carried on and came to a market that was closed up but would have sold fish and meat and maybe fruit and vegetables but it was all tarpaulined over. I went to the last bookmark, a white mosque that was nice and had rows of tables with food on waiting for sunset so people could eat. I went to the main street and was going to walk to the floating mosque but it was gone 6pm and it would be a 3 hour round trip or more. I also wanted to see the crystal mosque at night lit up so I decided to just go there instead. I went along the road and bought some food of rice with chicken and some veg for just 4 ringitt. I walked along eating it and when I finished I found that I'd gone the wrong way back into town. I went to the waterfront where there was a funfair set up but not being used and walked along without much of a view along the river. After a bit I had to walk along the road and I was disappointed that I hadn't got s good view of the mosque yet. It was a fair walk before there was a big motorway with a bridge over the water which must have a good view but there was no pedestrian access. I went to the river instead and walked on a jetty and got a view of the mosque which looked pretty special but wasn't lit up much. I headed back and got there after 8 and went to see what time the busses went but the booths in the bus station were closed. I went into a shop to see if I could get some glue and picked up some sewing things and some biscuits and then I headed back to the hostel. They had a computer at reception which I went on but it wasn't very good so I didn't get much done. I shaved so the scuba diving would be easier, tried to catch up a bit on my blogs, read some and then went to sleep as I was tired, maybe from the heat.
0 Comments
|
|