Malaysia: Pink Taxis and Mischievous Monkeys

Pangkor is a little island, about a 20 minute ferry ride off the western coast of Malaysia. Although our bus journey there took over seven hours instead of the scheduled four with no apparent reason for the delay, we were delighted to have arrived. We were met at the port by a bevy of flamingo-pink taxis.

It was an easy-going place of battered pink taxis, narrow roads and scooters,  a place where roosters strutted along the beaches and the sea was tranquil and warm as bathwater. Most mornings a Hornbill, a bird that looked like it carried a spare bill, watched us with large eyes as we ate our breakfast of fried rice, scrambled eggs and samosas with wedges of watermelon on the side. If the trees shivered, it was because of the Macaque monkeys were swinging from branch to branch. They were also partial to jumping and rolling on the roof of our accommodation or performing acrobatics on the overhead wires.

The first night saw brief torrential rain which hammered on the same tin roof, followed by a cloudy dawn which rapidly turned to sunshine. Our accommodation in Teluk Nipah  was at the top of a steep hill, a hill that the pink taxi we got from the ferry port refused to ascend, dropping us at the base. Although we didn’t mind walking and we didn’t have heavy backpacks,….we were hyperventilating by the time we trudged up the almost-vertical slope. But what a view from the top, a turquoise sea dotted with small islands spread before us.

After three days and several up and downs a day,  our bodies began finally acclimatizing to such exertion in the heat. The days were about 33C but humidity made them feel much hotter and the nights never dropped below 25C. It was gorgeous weather for swimming with no need of a towel to dry off and strolling around in shorts …..especially  as it was January and we were escaping the (almost) incessant rain at home.

The interior of the island was mainly jungle, the beaches were sandy and the sunsets were magnificent, especially when watched with our toes in the soft sand and a cold drink in our hands. Most evenings there were birthday celebrations on the beach, where elaborate birthday banners with fairy lights were set up over a table, decorated with sequined cloths. These weren’t large rowdy parties, with popping champagne corks as a large proportion of the Malaysian population do not drink alcohol. Often it was just a lone couple,  celebrating with fruit juices and mocktails A huge part of the celebration involved videoing the proceedings and taking copious photographs, sometimes by a professional. If there was a cake, Happy Birthday was played on a phone but nobody sang or clapped……absorbed with smiling and posing. If the camera angle wasn’t deemed right, the cake was produced a second time and even a third time, much like a movie production.  It was all highly entertaining to watch. The pleasure for the participants seemed to be in reviewing ‘the perfect moment’ after the event. But hey, aren’t we all guilty of not living in the moment?

After three days in Teluk Nipah, we moved further south on the island to Pasir Bogak, a slightly bigger town but also with a long sandy beach. This move should have been a short taxi ride of about 6 kilometres along the coast but that road was impassable for taxis. It was washed away in heavy rains about a year or two before so the taxi had to head back to the ferry port taking a circuitous route. This other road looked as if it mightn’t withstand  a bout of sustained torrential rain either, with many steep drops and crumbling verges.

Here we stayed with Mr Lin, a Chinese Malay man with a huge passion for the music of Christy Moore – he has been a fan for at least thirty years since his brother bought a tape of his. Mr Lin had never been to Ireland and we were the first Irish guests to stay at his homestay.

We were welcomed with fresh calamansi juice (calamansi are small tangy fruit) and plates of watermelon. Mrs Lin, known only as ‘the Boss’  was an amazing cook so each evening we ate delicious food to the sound of ‘Lisdoonvarna’ being played on Mr Lins Spotify account, on repeat.  We like Christy Moore but it became almost a form of Chinese torture so we introduced Mr Lin to Kingfishr and Amble, to get a break from Christy’s dulcet tones. Although, he enjoyed them as well, he kept reverting back to his first love. I wonder if Christy is aware that he has such an ardent fan on a small island in Malaysia?

We also took a boat trip with Mr Lin and a German woman who was also a guest at the homestay. On the way down to the beach, a monkey dropped from an overhead branch to open a black rubbish bags under the table of a closed noodle stand. They might look adorable to us but they can be real pests, scattering rubbish and grabbing things that are left on tables…like phones or keys.

Of course, Christy came along for the boat ride. Mr Lin brought his ‘speaker’ and his fishing rod, he danced around the boat while we were snorkelling. At one stage my goggles fogged up  and although there were a few boats nearby, I could find my way back to the correct boat just by listening.

Unfortunately, the coral was quite damaged, apparently by the extremely warm waters of a couple of years ago but it’s likely that pollution also plays a part. The fish were scarce until Mr Lin threw some rusks overboard and the water churned in a  frenzy of tiny swishing tails. The colour of the water and the calmness of the sea was like a photoshopped holiday brochure.

We will miss Mr Lin and the Boss and their wonderful hospitality when we leave which we plan to do tomorrow. Now that we have fully acclimatized to the heat, we plan to head inland to do some trekking in the cool of the Cameron Highlands.