Road Trip east and north Malaysia 3

Leaving Kuala Koh National Park was not as tedious as when we came. The route seemed easier time taken was short. The Malays believe that when one goes to a new place one will take longer time because along the way all trees, leaves, insects etc will give salam and unconsciously you respond. Hence the road seems further and takes longer than when you take a return trip.
We took the road to Kuala Krai to go to Stong Hill. Along the way we stopped at Gua Ikan. Again frustration awaited us. The ground of Gua Ikan is so beautiful and scenic but was littered with uncollected rubbish. The toilet was unfinished, vandalised and dirty. This is unbelievable! Isn't there anybody responsible to take care of such beautiful spot? Since some visitors are so brain-damaged as to litter as they wished, some enforcement is much needed here. The government should impose fee to enter the cave and pay for using toilet. At least the money collected can be used to maintain the majestic cave. Oh Malahysia tanah airku, why do your people so thoughtless? (Photos at Gua Ikan above)

Finding our way to Stong Waterfall was another nightmare. Signage was so poor, we have to stop several times before we found our way there. Stong Hills Resort was featured in TV, magazine and listed as tourist spot in internet. I was looking forward to be there, at least to see nature at its best. What I found was an abandoned complex with piles of uncollected rubbist. We went down the river to soak ourselves in the river. I just couldn't do it before picking up the plastic bags, papers, water bottles, wrappers etc. etc being thrown by brainless picnickers. Sharipah called me Alam Flora. Yes, I can't just look at the rubbish and plunge myself in the cool river. So about 20 minutes was spent picking up the rubbish but where do I put them? - no rubbish bins around! Oh my God, such frustration! (sighhhhh................) I got no choice but to dump them at the piles of rubbish there.

Please people in Kelantan who read this, can you do something about this? I suggest teachers at nearby schools especially with PRS to make a program volateering to clean these beautiful spots like Gua Ikan and Stong Hill. Discuss with them the role they could play in keeping the environment clean and the implication to their future. Those ex-students of mine in Kelantan, please buck up and do something. You cannot rely solely on government but the people should play an active role to make sure our own country is clean and safe.

Soaking and frolicking in the cool, fresh river water was just sheer bliss. How wonderful if life is such fun and free all the time! We spent more than an hour there, reluctant to leave but we had to get out of that enchanting river to continue our journey to Kota Bharu.

All the way to Kota Bharu, the road is good and well-maintained. We enjoyed seeing the Malay villages and small towns along the way. We stopped for lunch at Jeli. The town though still small has experienced some changes. I remember about 35 years ago when my family passed this town it was gravel road, potholes with people selling durians cheaply along the road. The north-east highway was just opened then and they said tigers still could be sighted there and communist terrorists were still creating trouble. We were allowed to travel during day time only. Now the town has changed somewhat and has a lot potentials to grow. While driving, Sharipah and I reminisced the time we traveled with our happy families along this way which has become history. We wondered whether our children remembered the time spent on the journey then since they were still young.

Scenery coming to Jeli town with commanding view of the mosque dome.

Coming into Kota Bharu town I contacted Ashaari, my ex-student who is now MRSM counsellor in KB. He has made arrangement for us to stay at MARA guest apartment in KB at very low rate. Thank you Ari for making our stay in KB a comfortable one. One of the missions for me to come to KB is to look up old friends who have helped me while I was working in IAB and Ministry of Education in the 80s especially in promotig PRS program throughout the country. The other is to meet ex-students who cared enough to see me and also to meet new friend, Ramlah, whom I befriended while touring Iran in May 08. I saw this funny advert along the way in KB town.

I was so pleased to meet Nazmi who came with his wife Maryani and Ashaari and had satay dinner at the apartment. We talked catching up with news of the others who weren't available when I was there and joked about students' antics while they were studying at Unimas. I was proud to see Ari being so matured and enthusiastic about his job and Nazmi, the Imam, who was so qiuet and now talked about his work and life. Sharipah shared her experience as a school principla and officer in Ministry of Education. Ari, Nazmi and Maryani, thank you for taking time to meet me.

Ramlah came to take us to Rantau Panjang on 22 Oct 08. It was an interesting trip. What I thought a large Chinese temple being built by the road on the way to Rantau Panjang turned to be a Chinese design mosque. It is still under construction and I bet it's going to be magnificent when it is completed. This reminded me of mosques with Chinese architecture in Beijing, China.

Another feature that attracted us along the way to Rantau Panjang was this very gaudy house which belongs to a businesswoman. Though the house is gaudy and over the top, it was a landmark and an attraction for her business. We stopped to take pictures, met the owner who knows Ramlah and kind enough to show us her collection of diamonds and precious stones before they went into a vault in a bank. At the same time we bought some serunding and dodol. We were honoured to be invited as her guests in her house. Ramlah posed with the owner's diamond and ruby set of jewelry. Thank you Pn. Wan Sabariah.