I was dwelling around Georgetown for some time, food hunting as always and exploring Penang hills. David sent me a message to invite me to visit him in the more rural area in Penang. he was a cyclist and given my poor cycling skills I thought:" Would he ever except me?" But I'm so interested in rural life and not an all that bad hiker.
I decided to take the plunge and David rang me on my mobile phone. It was noisy in the Penang Hill funiculaire and I could hardly hear his voice. The next day I took the ferry to Butterworth and the bus to Parit Buntar. It was a small town and at first not very spectacular compared with touristy areas. But my reason to travel was not the end but the journey into another lifestyle and culture.
Arrived at the bus station I nearly followed a taxi driver because he looked like him. Finally a jovial man who looked exactly like on the picture and approached me with "Soraya" came towards my direction. I felt comfortable with him straight away and we drove to his cozy house in the village.
David is the type of host you can only find in my old traveling days or in rural areas. He went out of his way and gave me the most comfortable room with own bathroom. And guess what:" He is a hasher." Of course a member of the Hash House Harriers is like a family to me and he was not less surprised as I introduced myself with my Hash name Miss Carriage.
http://www.hashhouseharriers.com
Hash House Harriers off the beaten track in the Malaysian bush
David drove me around the village a bit and we went to visit an Indian temple. It was the Thai Ponggol festival and people were doing the rice cooking ceremony everywhere. It was cooking sweet rice in a huge clay pot on charcoal fire. While the women were stirring, the drums were playing faster and faster. The children rang the bell and it also went faster. The kids were not shy and as I came with my camera they already put themselves in a pose.
I never expect to find Hashers in such a rural area. The on on(Hash party venue) and trail was at the foot of the mountain amidst beautiful palm oil and coconut trees. This club didn't have the usual cheeky ritual that I knew from any HHH(Hash House Harrier) club but we started the run straight away. The run was quite off-track, bashing through thorny muddy bushland.
From bush walking I know about wading in the water and jumping over little creeks. It was just that I was not prepared for this kind of off the beaten track running or walking. In fact it wasn't even possible to run because in order to climb up and down we had to hold on to certain tree stems. I was happy that I didn't bring my camera but it was too much a pity that I was not able to shoot a picture of this memorable experience.
After the run I had totally dirty shoes and was not used to the humid weather either. We had coconut wine which the Malaysian government didn't allow to be traded in the shops and restaurants because it was hard to control tax-wise. So only certain plantation owners received a license and had to pay the tax. It was interesting but it did have a taste which I really must admit that my palate needed to get used to it.
The final on on was in a Chinese restaurant where we had heaps of beer and great food, as always.
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