Teluk Nipah, Pulau Pangkor
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Mon 29 Nov 2010 03:43
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04:14.290N 100:32.300E
Monday 29th November
When we woke at around 07:30 we realised it
was slack water and within 15 minutes we were on our way. Blue Magic, Bionic and
Miss Tippy were early birds and slipped away at around 6 am so we set off with
Sol Maria. Taking a different route out of the river we began our journey to
Pulau Pangkor, an island just off the coast of Malaysia near to the main town of
Lumut. The whole day was spent motoring at a leisurely pace amongst the dozens
of fishing boats. It really is like the Spanish Armada, they just appear out of
nowhere and seem to steam right at us or cut in front leaving us to quickly
alter course and navigate around their trailing nets. It's been fun and games!
Nightfall came and with it the rain! A few hours away from Pangkor and a huge
storm hit us, torrential, painful rain and thunder and lightening all around,
the worst we've seen in a long time. Blue Magic waited up and left all their
lights on to enable us to see where to anchor as the bay, Teluk Nipah, was pitch
black - one of the benefits of sailing with others!
In the morning we awoke to a very pretty
anchorage with strong winds blowing straight in to the bay making it a bit
of bumpy ride, we decided to move to the other side of a little island
called Giam where it was more sheltered. This south part of the bay has a small
town, and as we now felt it was safe to leave Jackamy, we ventured
ashore. We liked what we found, the town had a great laid back feel with a small
street lined with stalls, restaurants, bars and hotels. After a spot of lunch in
a lovely little restaurant named Ragu's (I think) we hired a taxi to drive
around the whole island as it'd be a shame to pass through without seeing it
all.
It turns out that Pangkor has been a pirate
hideout in the past and a big player in the battle to control the Selat Melaka,
otherwise known as the Melacca Straits. In the 17th century the Dutch built a
fort here in their bid to monopolise the Perak tin trade, but were driven out by
a local ruler before returning briefly some 50 years later. In 1874 a contender
for Perak throne sought British backing and the Pangkor Treaty was signed,
ushering British Residents and the colonial period.
 Main street
 Pink taxis or
teksis............The Teksi stand
 Happy happy people........Our
driver wearing an England shirt
 Beautiful beaches
As we drove through the dense
jungle from the west coast to the east we came across all the villages, a
thriving fishing community. Most of the local villages, including Pangkor Town,
the main settlement lie on the east coast, while the resorts and stunning
beaches can be found on the west. On our whistle stop tour we drove through
Chinese villages, Indian villages, and Malay villages and
the outlook changed from place to place. The rock formations, rain
forests and tarmac roads hugging the coast reminded us of the Seychelles but
everything else is different. From a fishing village we headed inland for 5
minutes to the Chinese town to see the Foo Lin Kung Temple. It was huge and
quite gaudy with bizarre figures dotted around the place but it was colourful
and interesting to look at. We spent some time looking in amazement at fish in a
pond, Dragon Fish, one of them was over a metre long. Apparently they eat one
another so it would appear that he was the king pin and had no doubt eaten a few
of his friends. There was a short walk around the temple in amongst the trees,
with a miniature Great Wall of China, does that mean we can say we've walked
it!?!
  Stilt houses and
piers
 Boat builders, building huge
fishing boats
 The coast
road.............leading to a Hindu temple
 The fishing fleet, or just a
few of them anyway
 A back road leading
to...........Foo Lin Kung Temple
  Beautiful
roof..........Watching the dragon fish
 Great Wall of
China........These were burning coils with messages attached, we presume they
are offerings to the gods of some sort?
 He'll never
change!
Back on the road for
our whirlwind tour we passed more stunning scenery and caught glimpses of
the simple way of life of the island. It was past a huge land fill piled
high with rubbish and on to the Dutch fort which had been restored and the
surrounding area modernised so it had lost its authenticity. On our way back we
passed through Pangkor town to see the satay dried fish being sold in all the
shops.
 Beautiful
 The Dutch fort
 Satay dried fish
  
 Monkeys and a monitor lizard by
the side of the road
The town had really come alive by
the time we returned, all the 'shops' were open and 'restaurants' had their
fresh catch laid out to tempt you in. One drink in our lunch time restaurant and
we were all ready for bed. It was only when we went back to the dinghy that we
realised we could have had a drink in one of the restaurants backing on to the
beach. Feeling the sand under our feet whilst drinking a beer would have been
lovely, never mind, we needed to get off bright and early for
Penang.
 The street came alive at
night
 Rays, fish and squid for
dinner, flies are an added bonus!
  A hat, sunglasses and a fan,
all-in-one, what else could you need!
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