The following morning, after a
fly-laden dinner the previous night, we got up early and proceeded along our route. We had the choice of going back via the jungle road (passing through Gua Musang, Taman Negara etc) or the road by the coast (passing through Kuala Terengganu, Cherating, Kuantan). We decided to take the coast road at the end. I thought it would be interesting to check out Cherating, which Lonely Planet raves about, contrary to some online reviews that Cherating is a sad and lonely place past its prime.
Everything in its due time. Before getting to Cherating by nightfall, we would have to pass by the whole stretch of Terengganu. (Cherating is in Pahang, just by the border. I always wonder how the boundaries are set - what are the chances that Pahang got Cherating instead of Terengganu?) Lunch would be taken at Kuala Terengganu and we may have some time to go to Sekayu Falls, which is 50+km out of KT.
The road from KB to KT was quite pleasant really, everything was green and there were occasional glimpses of the sea. Occasionally there would be kids whizzing by with motorcycles, which is the major vehicle for transport in the villages. There were stalls selling warm food and keropok lekor, where some villagers or truckers would hang out.
Kuala Terengganu is busier than Kota Bharu, as we made several rounds looking for stuffed crab, supposedly a delicacy that we should try. With no success, we decided to eat an ala-Thai lunch instead, and it turned out to be pretty good as well, without the flies and all. With our limited time in KT, we were only able to walk briefly in its Chinatown, here:
Nice right? The archway is very nicely built, and the buildings (on the other side of the archway) are painted very tastefully as well. Examples below. Love the colour.
And this one below looks like it has some Islamic influence (Terengganu is also primarily Islamic), which is really nice as well. I'm no architecture connoisseur so my descriptions are limited to "nice" and "really nice" =P
Bought a pack of fish keropok to eat in the car, mouthwatering.
Then we went to the waterfront, so briefly that I didn't even have the time to go into the Bazaar Warisan to have a look at the batik and other crafts. However, if we wanted to get to Cherating before dark to choose our accommodation, we needed to leave KT soon.
A badly taken photo of a Tourist Information Centre, our own version of i-Site! There were i-Sites in Kota Bharu and Kuala Terengganu, both were housed in really nice buildings, air-conditioned and all, and provided maps. There aren't enough of brochures, like NZ, but I think it's a good start. The staff are friendly and helpful. In fact, most people that we've met on our trip are friendly and helpful, especially at the East Coast I think. And I found that I speak Malay better at the East Coast! Now that is interesting.
Bazaar Warisan, something like a marketplace for selling arts and crafts. I think. I didn't go in (I know I've been repeating myself but I'm quite disappointed about that!). The Bazaar Warisan is at the waterfront, which looks like this:
I don't know why the colours of my pictures look so dull. Is there any setting that I could tweak, or is it the problem of an aging camera?
Then we went to take photographs of the Floating Mosque. It's fully painted in white - the first thought that came to my mind is that wouldn't it look really rundown in the near future? But pushing practicalities aside, I liked the Floating Mosque. Its full name is Tengku Tengah Zaharah Mosque. It's surrounded by a moat of clear water and there's a bridge for people to walk into the mosque.
Here's the bridge.
And here's an advertisement of Celcom featuring the mosque, from yet another different angle. Took it at Cukai town, which is a town quite nearby Cherating.
*Deep breath*
I MISSED THE CRYSTAL MOSQUE!!!! WTF WTF WTF HOW COULD I..........?!!!! When I got back my uncle asked me if I saw the mosque, which I didn't... Lonely Planet didn't have it, and it was officiated during my local news blackout period in New Zealand, in February 2008. It's only 4km out of the city, I didn't actually see any signs (Signs for the Monsoon Cup though, were a-plenty - but I didn't go there either though I wanted to have a look. No time.) but maybe it was because I was looking for "Floating Mosque" or "Masjid Terapung" all the time.
The Crystal Mosque cost RM250million to build, it's on Pulau Wan Man, and I heard you have to pay (for a boat) to access the island and the mosque itself. It's in an "Islamic Park" with replicas of 12 world famous mosques around it. It even
has wifi and its own (albeit badly arranged)
blog. And - I - missed - it. :'((((
In fact, in retrospect, I really regret not giving Terengganu enough of time. See lah its
official tourism website is so canggih. I did catch one big mistake though - the Crystal Mosque is not mentioned within it, which means that these people don't update their website as often as they should. And it's the Crystal Mosque!!!
Counting other attractions in Terengganu that I want to go but didn't:
1. Sekayu Falls - just because we missed it.
2. Sungai Berang - I saw this really enticing brochure on a two-hour cruise at Sungai Berang, where it is 100% guaranteed that you would see a whole list of wildlife. I checked at Ping Anchorage later though and it looks like
the cruise is quite expensive, at RM169.00 for four pax and above (or RM289 for two pax) for a half-day trip.
3. Malaysia's largest museum (and some say in Southeast Asia as well) - the Terengganu State Museum Complex. 27 Hectares of land, fuiiyooh.
4. Pulau Duyung - for the Monsoon Cup, just to see how the taxpayers' money was spent.
5.
Turtle Sanctuary - you can volunteer at the Turtle Sanctuary, at RM250 per adult (RM150 per kid) for a weekend, and activities include "helping to monitor turtle landings, collecting eggs for transfer to the hatchery and releasing hatchlings". Quote from Lonely Planet.
I will be going to Terengganu again when Val comes, but it is only for the Perhentian Islands, because we don't have the transport to traipse around, and of course two weeks is not much, as I will be showing him other stuff as well.
Who wanna go Terengganu, ajak me!!!
Next, Cherating and Kuantan.
Previous links:
- Photos in
Ipoh Taiping Penang and
Kota Bharu.
-
Reviews in accommodation for this road trip.
