Kota Bharu

8 July 2010

Kota Bharu (KB) is an interesting city. It is a stronghold of Malay culture situated at the NE corner of Malaysia just south of the Thai border. Infamously, KB is the heart of conservative Islam in what amounts to an already very Muslim country. It is governed regionally by an Islamist party (the PAL, which seeks to combine religious beliefs with other matters of governance) and Islamic law is stuck to pretty strictly. For example, Muslim women who are caught not wearing headscarves can be fined or even jailed. Luckily for us, these laws to not apply to tourists.

Other notable things about KB include the people’s admiration of birdsong. The residents of the city keep birds and join together for bird singing contests weekly (unfortunately we were there on the wrong day to witness a contest). So much do the people love birdsong that they broadcast chirps and squawks from buildings across the city.

Our day in KB started after a 15-hour epic train journey from Kuala Lumpur. We arrived weary and hungry and immediately sought out a recommended Indian restaurant close to our hostel. The restaurant was not immediately appealing, but we decided to try our luck nonetheless. What arrived shortly after ordering was sublime. Served on a banana leaf, we sampled spicy curry chicken, fried rice with pineapple, vegetable curry, savory, marinated pineapple and crispy, fried flatbread-yum! All of this cost about $6. As a side note, the food here in Malaysia is very cheap. Meals for both of us combined have ranged from between 4 and 13 dollars. Rejuvenated we walked to a local produce/meat market (I think I can still conjure up that smell), and a beautiful museum, Istana Jahar, which is devoted to local Kelantan culture.

After a rest at the hostel we headed to the famous night market. The market is situated in a large square and the food stalls are located in the center. Outside the food stalls are tables, and these are flanked by merchants selling drinks to each of their sections of tables. The drink merchants also provide entertainment to the locals in the form of TV or movies on screens located at their booths-not at all a bad setup. The food stalls served a variety of noodle and rice dishes, as well as many different skewer based meats – most of which were unrecognizable to us, and a variation of a crepe called a murtabak. While we had heard that this market specialized in blue rice- it was nowhere to be found. After scoping the available food I settled on a meal of chicken murtabak and delicious chicken and beef on bamboo skewers while Rachel enjoyed a banana murtabak.

From KB it is on to the Perhentian Islands, jewels in the emerald sea home to snorkeling, sun, scuba, and relaxation.