From the desert to the adventure

As mentioned in the last post, there is really nothing here and I was actually a bit sad about not visiting Taman Negara.

But my host mother noticed that I was bored, that I would have liked to see something, and she spontaneously arranged a wonderful morning for me.

First, she took me with her (I think) mom and her son to a tiny family 'restaurant' in a place called Kampung Pulai, where I got a traditional Chinese breakfast. There, I finally got to try a noodle soup with -quite a bit of- fish. But at that moment, I didn't care, because the moment was just too great. I also had a mixed drink of coffee, black tea, milk, and sugar. That was pretty awesome.

Right in this place is a big, over 100-year-old temple that I was also allowed to enter with her. It smelled like incense sticks and the hand-painted wall art seemed somehow mystical. She then told me that during big ceremonies in the temple and on the courtyard, several thousand people party together.

A few hundred meters away - on the other side of the river - there is a mountain that surely not many tourists can see. You can reach the mountain by stairs, which is a mixture of a dripstone cave and a temple from the inside. First, she showed me the inside on pictures and I thought...'hm...nice pictures'. But shortly after she took out her phone and called a buddy, who showed up two minutes later with a totally beat-up scooter in front of me and gave me the signal to get on. Without hesitation, I hoisted my now ample body onto the seat and tried to find some grip on the stumps that were probably footrests in the past. I honestly wondered how he would get to the other side of the river, as I only saw a narrow, shaky suspension bridge. But when he confidently steered his piece of junk scooter towards the suspension bridge, the question became irrelevant.

Across the bridge, through mud and forest, he brought me directly to the stairs and I was able to explore the mountain completely alone and listen to the sounds of the bats.

In my opinion, the statue in the mountain actually makes the international sign for 'let's have a smoke'.

Back again, my host mom showed me another mountain and forced me to buy food & drinks for the further journey, so that I would arrive safely.

It's now 2pm and I'm waiting for a very special part of my trip to start at 3:55pm. More on that later or tomorrow. I don't feel like writing anymore now.