The conservative Corner
Yesterday an 8h bus ride brought me to the north-eastern part of Malaysia. It was another of these really comfy buses, definitely not the worst way to travel and definitely better than any train I’ve seen in SEA. At a time the ride got a bit painful when they started playing some Malay pop music. Worse than anything the 90s ever brought forth.
We stopped twice, once for lunch and once at at mosque. That place had toilets as well so not sure if it was a prayer break or a piss break.
In Kota Bharu I went to find a hostel. And finding them is really difficult here. The whole budget accommodation situation in town is mediocre and places change names and addresses. The place I was looking for, Denai Lodge, was described as being situated ‘behind the Pizza Hut’, so at least I had something to ask people for directions for.
After a lot of straying around (and I’m usually good at reading maps) I finally tracked the place down. I wasn’t impressed but I hadn’t expected much so I checked in and was very glad to get those backpacks of my sweaty shoulders. During the evening I couldn’t help the impression that this place is run by a few teenagers who want to play hostel.
At some point during the night I heard people shouting in the streets, for some reason they were changing between Malay and English. It was something about ‘Muslim Women’ and ‘I didn’t do anything’. The hostel guys must have been involved as the bunch ended up in the ’living room’ and continued their discussion.
Judging by the smell that was creeping into my room, they must have been smoking there as well. All-in-all an unpleasant first night in town. Going to change hostels now.