South East Asia on a Hamstring - 2000

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Suka Suka, Malaysia - February 1, 2000

We put our packs on our back and walked in a line to the bus station. It was a short walk, and there was a Dunkin' Donuts at the bus station ready to reward us.

We found the bus and all piled our bags into the baggage compartments. Then, as we lined up to board and Peter handed the tickets to the conductor, we got a surprise.

"No, not this bus," said the conductor. The conductor pointed to another nearby bus. It was about to leave.

We all grabbed our packs and ran to the other bus. We made it without incident.

After two hours of driving through the Malaysian countryside - alternating limestone cliffs and high-rise apartment complexes - the bus pulled into a rest stop. The five of us who had been in Java were delighted. It was a clean, proper rest stop featuring KFC and Baskin Robbins.

I ordered fried rice noodles and veggies from "Sizzling Wok" and excitedly watched them as they cooked. Our trip leader stopped by with a friendly warning.

"Don't eat the hot food," he said. "It could be unsanitary."

I stared at him, uncomprehending. How could this man still be alive and in Asia? Did he survive on Pringle's? I thought about the fly-infested rest stops I'd eaten at in Indonesia and laughed.

We arrived in Kuala Kangsar and transferred to two mini-vans. Now we got to see who was a novice traveler and who wasn't. Only one of our group was new to developing countries. As she sat in the back of the mini-van and watched the driving around her, she broke out in a sweat.

"Tailgating," she yelled. And then, "oh JESUS Christ!!"

Um, yeah.

Driving in Malaysia is similar (but safer than) driving in many developing countries. Drivers pull right up to the bumper of the car in front of them and then start to inch slowly around the car, until the driver can see into the oncoming traffic lane. If there is any space whatsoever, the driver takes advantage of it and zooms into the oncoming lane, barely pulling back into the proper lane before the oncoming traffic slams into their headlights. Our newest recruit was voicing exactly what everyone of us has felt at one point in our travels, except that most of us had probably been quieter about it.

Plus, we'd been forewarned by previous-tour-leader Andy on Day One. We'd been told about driving practices and warned not to comment as we'd offend our drivers and that could potentially distract them from the business of not getting us killed.

The mini-van I was in made it to the pier without incident. The other mini-van got totally lost and no one in the other van knew the name of the destination. It took a while to find us but they did and we all loaded up into a boat and went to Suka Suka.

Suka Suka is a small island resort owned by Aziz and Asiah, longtime friends of Intrepid's. The accommodation is basic - there were two shared toilets (don't flush paper, put it in the bin) and two cold showers. The cabins were small wooden A-frames with tin ceilings. Every cabin was assigned two mosquito coils and the generator provided power and light each evening until the fuel ran out.

Aziz's role was that of guide and boat driver. He would be taking us through nearby villages and forests. Asiah, meanwhile, had the responsibility of cooking all kinds of interesting Malaysian meals for us.

Our first meal was at 8pm. Gerry and Lorraine were late. We had all kinds of interesting chicken and soy and fish dishes, most of which I avoided due to strange allergies. Gerry and Lorraine still hadn't shown up by the end of the meal.

"That's not like them," we told Peter. Gerry and Lorraine were usually a little early and they were never late.

One of the Aussie girls had seen them going for a walk right after we'd arrived, at about 6pm. Aziz and Peter took flashlights and went out looking for them.

About 40 minutes later, they all returned. Gerry and Lorraine were agitated but in good humor. They had been lost.

The island is an 'S' shape and is full of tributaries and swampy bits. They'd gotten lost pretty quickly and had started to worry when it got dark. After Lorraine got a twig in the eye, they'd stayed put. They'd found a piece of tin and beat it periodically, knowing that eventually someone would come looking for them.

Finally, they had heard Peter and Aziz. They had seen their light and Aziz told them not to move. It took a long time for Aziz and Peter to get to Gerry and Lorraine but Aziz knew the island well. They had brought them back safely.

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