11/18/2009, Langkawi, Malaysia
Hard to believe but it was exactly 3 years ago on November 6th 2006, that we sailed under the Golden Gate bridge and turned left. We have been moving generally west since then. Time seems to fly.
After arriving here in Langkawi, we immediately jumped from boat to land, when we were invited to participate in the local Hash run by our American friends TC and Vanessa who now reside on the island. (Hash house Harriers are an international group of non-competitive running, social and drinking clubs. An event organized by a club is known as a Hash or Hash Run, with participants calling themselves Hashers).
Our last hash run was in the Pacific island of Niue, we always jump at the chance to join one since they are such fun. Along the pretty trail we encountered leeches much to Kara's disgust and we were still pulling the nasty suckers from our bloody feet many hours later.
Langkawi is a duty free island, so here's the place to stock up on booze. A bottle of Bombay Sapphire sets you back a mere $US11. We may even have to throw out some school books to make room. Undoubtedly we will never again see such prices.
Kara has plenty of company with her friends Nina and Lucas from sailboat Kleiner Bear, and together they have enjoyed many daily adventures, such as riding up on the cable car which overlooks the island, riding elephants and building a little hut on the nearby island beach at Telaga harbor anchorage-a perfect playground, since we can see them from the boat and there is no way for them to escape.
Presently Magnum is hauled out in a boatyard to complete the much needed task of having her bottom sanded and repainted. We are camped out in other digs while we wait for the job to be completed, which despite the many downpours and endless humidity, we hope will not take too long. Its important for Uwe to be present daily to encourage the progress since there is a tendency for the workers' breaks to increase in duration in absence of the owner.
Once we are back in the water, we will move up to the Phuket area for Christmas.
And by mid January, after much thought, we have sealed our decision to proceed toward the Red Sea hopefully reaching Europe by the end of May.
Much planning to be done, many tasks to be completed, much stuff to be loaded onboard.
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11/04/2009, Penang Island, Malaysia
This picture illustrates the early morning exoticness found at Tanjung City Marina in Georgetown on the island of Penang.
On top of the trash, it could quite possibly hold title as being THE rockiest marina to ever exist. When the ferries zoom in and out at regular intervals, the swell causes the boats to rock so much that even the tips of the masts sway to embrace and kiss.
Add another undesirable factor: the strong current washing directly through the marina making landings tricky as we experienced firsthand, resulting in a few scratches on the hull. Apparently the marina was washed away completely some years ago, but clearly lessons were not learned since it was re constructed in much the same manner.
But the city itself was interesting, a flurry of bustle and activity, where street corners vibrated with loud Indian music emanating from bass speakers, surrounded with stores selling everything from Bollywood movies to gold and trinkets fused with a compelling mixture of aromatic Indian spices and freshly massacred fowl, we succumbed easily to the lure of Indian cuisine. More importantly, Uwe sought out the best coffee shop since leaving Sydney, in a quiet yet sophisticated back street, which in itself was worth a stop at Georgetown. Operated by an Indonesian recently returned from New York after a 25 year span, the simple and suave ambiance analogous to trendy coffee houses, with real tasting coffee and espresso had us briefly entertaining feelings of being in Berlin or New York. For now, we are bound for Langkawi.
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10/31/2009, Palau Pangkor,Malaysia
We love Ratatouille, but have less of an appetite for real live rats.
Even the numerous and very friendly ones that are purported to stand in line on the pontoons at Port Klang ready to embark without invitation. And so we abandoned the idea of leaving the boat there for 2 days to go to Kuala Lumpur. I was discouraged at even a 1% chance of returning to rats on board-no thanks.
Instead we decided to anchor in the outskirts of Port Klang and continue in the early hours of the morning, while still dark, to the island of Palau Pangkor where we now sit.
Bikes were pulled out, and we circumnavigated the island on pedal, a delightful 20km or so round trip, up and down steep hills through the tropical forest. Its always so nice for us to get around on the bicycles and I realize how much I miss this not being a more regular part of our lives.
There's a somewhat unspectacular old Dutch fort to see, and a sort of replica of the great wall of China, but there was no information displayed as to who built it, or why it was built. Where Port Dickson seemed to contain more of an Indian population, this island appears mainly Chinese. Today is Halloween, and since we are at anchor, Kara and her friends from Dandelion will have to trick or treat by dinghy in the hopes of garnering some treats from the other 3 boats anchored. We're off to Georgetown Penang early in the morning.
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