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Kuala Kangsar, the royal town of Perak (one of the 13 states of Malaysia) and meaning town of 99 rivers, was the setting for out time at the homestay with Azman and his family. They live on a picturesque island, named Suka Suka in the middle of a lake. Our accomodation on Suka Suka was a quient wooden hut with no hot water and electricity for only six hours a night. The electricity came from a generator which Mandy proceeded to blow on the first night when she tried to use her hairdryer! With power restored (pulling back the curtain of our window we saw Azman trudge off down the garden to the generator) Mandy decided that wet hair was not so bad, and needless to say we kept quiet about the incident at tea! The wooden hut was also home to a few gecko's (we love these creatures as they help keep the mosquito population down!) and both mornings we awoke to monkeys playing on our roof!
The food during the homestay (as well as in the whole of Malaysia) was superb (although a little spicy). Every meal we had was homemade and we were treated to the delights of traditional Malay cuisine. On the second evening we also ate in traditional Malay fashion, sat on the floor and with no cutlery. As the country is predominantly Muslim we could only use our right hands and to add to the authenticity of the meal we all dressed in traditional Malay attire.
On our only full day at the island we took a boat to the local kampong of Batu Ring to see how the villagers live and then to trek in the surrounding jungle. Following our guide, Wan, we headed into the forest to our final destination of a beautiful waterfall. Along the way we saw gibbons swinging in the trees, water buffalo grazing in the pastures, and lizards sunning themselves. Mandy got very friendly with the local leeches who seemed to like the taste of her blood (it must taste good as the mosquito's love it!).
Once we reached the waterfall my childish over-exuberance got the better of me. Thinking it would be a good idea to video the waterfall upclose (I had bought a waterproof video camera in Singapore) I proceeded to drop the camera whilst swimming (arrrrh). Despite numerous attempts by members of the group to duck-dive down to retrieve the camera the water was too murky and deep. Our guide, Wan, even broke the conditions of his Ramadam (Muslims cannot eat or drink between dawn and dusk during September) when he dived in and swallowed water.
When we returned to the village word quickly spead of my stupidity and Aziz, a local rubber and fruit collector as well as expert tracker, decieded to take the afternoon off of work to help scour the waterfall for the camera. We where totally blown away by this act of goodwill from people we had never met before and as Mandy and the rest of the group headed back for lunch, Aziz, Wan, another local and myslef headed back to the waterfall. With fishing nets and goggles we searched for an hour and a half but unfortunatly even with the guys terriffic efforts we could not find it! Although slightly disappointed by the loss of the camera the kindness and humility shown to us by our new friends meant more to us than the worth of the camera ever could (those who went underwater will have to fast for an extra two days!). We have left our address with Azman whose quote, "What the river takes she can always give back." gives us the faintest of hopes that one day we may get the memory stick back.
With the video camera incident behind us we spent the late afterrnoon fishing with the son of the household, 4 year old Akman. Although none of use caught anything (we could see the fish but just not catch the damn things!) we had a great fun, even when Akman's wildly aimed cast resulted in his hook scratching Mandy's cheek! We then spent our final evening chatting to the family as they recalled tales of an 8ft python in their kitchen, being awoken by elephants on a neighbouring island, and spotting a male Malaysian tiger swimming in the lake six weeks earlier.
The next day as we headed towards the bus station and with stories of the tiger fresh in my mind, my heart skipped a beat when I spotted a tiger on the other side of the river adjacent to the main road we were driving on. Mandy's excited voice confirmed my sighting and Azman slammed on the breaks bringing the car to an abrupt stop. Much to our embarrassment its was not the majestic Malaysian tiger...but a cow!
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