Review and Tips: Kota Bharu, Malaysia

Please be aware that these posts don't provide comprehensive, guide book level information. We're not claiming a lack of bias either ;) These overviews are simply a record of our experience which we post in the hope that they may occasionally provide more up to date, specific or detailed information than you've been able to find elsewhere...

Most of the travellers we met in Kota Bharu were either passing through on the way to the Perhentian Islands, or were hanging out for a few days before heading back to Thailand on a fresh visa. KB's not a destination in itself - more of a transit point where most move on as soon as possible. Unless you're an Islamic culture, history or architecture enthusiast, I guess there's not a lot to keep you entertained in KB for longer than a few days...

Getting There:

Kota Bharu is well served by bus, train and air. The airport's about 9Km out of town and from there bus no 9 will get you to the old market in the center of town. A taxi should cost about MYR(Malaysian Ringgit)20.00. If you're coming in on a long-distance bus you should be able to get off in the middle of town too. We were coming from the Perhentian Islands and negotiated a taxi from the ferry terminal at Kuala Besut to our guesthouse for MYR40.00. That's probably a bit above the going rate, but our driver was happy to divert to show us a Buddhist Temple and stop for photo opportunities on request. If we'd driven straight through the journey would have taken about an hour.

Our next destination was Taman Negara, the big national park in central Malaysia and we'd decided to take the Jungle Railway to Jerantut and arrange onward travel from there. The Jungle Railway receives mixed reviews and it is a rather long ride. We arranged a taxi from our lodgings to the Wakaf Bharu train station for MYR10.00, leaving predawn to catch the LT57 train at 0623. Wakaf Bharu to Jerantut in the air-conditioned Superior class carriage cost MYR21.00 per person. You can also go Economy class for MYR15.00, but as that equated to a saving of two Australian dollars each, we figured we'd opt for the extra legroom.

We made the trip during Ramadan, so the food and drinks normally available weren't, but the flip side was that the train was fairly empty and it was easy to wander around or stand between the carriages to get some fresh air. Remember to stock up on food and water if you make this trip at that time of the year! I loved the journey. We arrived at Jerantut at about 1.15pm after seven hours of jungle, winding mountain track, tunnels, bridges and inland towns and villages. Ramadan helped there too I think - we'd heard the trip could take up to 11 hours. Under those conditions, perhaps the bus would be a better option...

Accommodation:

We stayed at the Asrama Pelancong "Ideal" - the Ideal Travellers' Guest House. The Ideal is owned by a friendly Chinese family and is centrally located in downtown Kota Bharu in a lane that doglegs between Jalan Pintu Pong and Jalan Kebun Sultan. MYR25.00 per night will get you a large double room with fan. At the other end of the spectrum, a bed for the night in a shared dorm will cost MYR10.00. The rooms are clean enough and the lady hired to keep them that way will give you the quickest and best lesson in sign language you'll ever get. She conveyed the gender and occupations of her three children to us with seven quick gestures. Bathrooms ("cold" water only) are shared - it can be a bit of a wait when it's busy!

The Ideal has a reliable fast internet connection. You can use one of their machines or you can pay MYR5.00 for access to their wireless connection. That'll buy you unlimited access for the duration of your stay. An absolute bargain for one of the best wireless networks we've run across so far. Please note though, that if you're using a Mac machine you're outta luck. Although you can connect to their network, something about their configuration prevents access to the internet from Macs :(

All the services you might require are available at Ideal. Money changing, onward travel arrangements, bike hire, tour packages - all at reasonable rates. There's a fridge stocked with fairly cheap beers and softdrinks, chocolates and snacks. Basic breakfast is available for a couple of Ringgit. There's a large, roofed garden area that's great for relaxation and socialising, although the condition of the terrapins awaiting their fate in a large tank is a bit off-putting. Most of the kitchen's food scraps are dumped in their tank and it's not great when the wind's blowing your way! Don't look in there - the poor things are in soup already...

All in all though, we wouldn't hesitate to recommend Ideal. It's in a quiet, central location and the folks there are all friendly and helpful. Mama had taken quite a shine to us by the time we left and gifted us chocolate and drinks for our train ride when we left. Terimah Kasih Banyak Mama!

There are of course other accommodation options in KB. The other ones we saw in the central district were similarly priced to Ideal, but in far noisier locations. We should probably mention here that the number two recommendation in our guidebook (Zeck Travellers' Inn) was the only place we heard negative comments about...

Eating and Drinking:

First up, we're both vegetarian, so this section's gonna be useless if you want info on the full range of gastronomic options. That said, there were a few great places for vegetarians in KB.

If you head out the front of Ideal and turn left toward Jalan Kebun Sultan, there's a great Chinese food stall on the left corner of the lane and main street. By far the cheapest place we ate, there are undercover tables available while you wait for the jovial Chinese chef to fry up your noodles and veggies. It's popular with the locals, so the wait can be a while sometimes. Cheap beer is available to take the edge off..

Also on J Kebun Sultan (to the right and on the opposite side of the road - about 2 blocks or 100m) is Restoran Sri Devi. Indian food at its best. MYR15.00 for two huge meals with excellent mango lassies.

Turn left from Ideal onto JKS and just past the noodle stall mentioned above is the extra happy, raucous environment of "Steamboat 55". The half-dressed ladies serve huge smiles, lots of laughs and copious quantities of alcohol, but speak no English or Bahasa Malayu. We were the only foreigners (and Mau the only woman apart from the staff) and noticed the occasional puzzled glance, but everyone was having such a good time, they forgot about us pretty quickly. This place is a must for the atmosphere, just be sure you know what you're ordering!

If you turn right from Ideal's gate, you'll wind up on J Pintu Pong. Turn right again and keep an eye out on your left hand side for a glass fronted bakery. Sharing its doorway is the staircase to Restoran Sayuran which has an amazing array of specialties served buffet style. MYR13.00 gets two people a plate load from the buffet and glass of fresh squeezed juice of your choice. Sayuran amazes because it extols the virtues of vegetarianism, claims all its offerings are vegetarian, and yet has menu items that include prawn, shrimp, chicken and fish. These items sure look and smell like the real thing, but local folks have told us that they're actually convincing soya and veggie based imitations. Too much for me! I figure if it looks like prawn, feels like prawn, smells like prawn...

If you continue down J Pintu Pong, you'll come to the night markets where there's an abundance of food hawkers, but you'll need more Bahasa Malayu than we have to communicate that you don't want any animals in your meal!

Our guidebook directed us to Natural Vegetarian Food, which is another purely vegetarian place on Jalan Ismael, just north of the central clocktower. NVF is another buffet style restaurant and was fantastic on our first visit in late afternoon, but a bit disappointing on our next (late morning) one. It's a sweet place and has quite a range of unusual drinks and dishes as well as free vegetarian and Buddhist literature. I think we probably caught them at a bad time of day and an hour either side would have been more like our first visit.

Oh - if you've a hankering for pizza, there's a cluster of western fast food franchises along J Padang Garong to the south of J Pintu Pong.

There's laws prohibiting the consumption and sale of alcohol among the Muslim population of Malaysia, but these don't apply to non-Muslims. Alcohol's highly taxed though, so it's never really cheap. Beer's available in most Chinese food outlets, stronger drink is much harder to find. I'm pretty sure I saw whiskey being served at the old "Steamboat 55" though...

Facilities:

Banks are everywhere in downtown KB, almost all have ATMs (cash machines).
All the hotels and guesthouses we saw advertised internet services, but we didn't see a single business dedicated to providing them, although we've heard they are around. Then again, we didn't need to look too hard...
Pantai Timur shopping centre on J Pintu Pong had the full range of wet and dry goods, clothing and appliances.

Activities:

There's a cluster of interesting and historic buildings a short walk from the western end of J Pintu Pong. Around Padang Merdeka (Independence Square) you'll find the Kelantan State Mosque and Islamic Study Center, the Royal, Royal Customs and Islamic Museums and the War museum. This building served as the Japanese Secret Police headquarters during the second world war and now houses a collection of photographs from that time. The museum is surrounded by a garden strewn with various interesting artifacts from the era, some of which could do with an interpretive sign! The wide, brown Kelantan River is a short walk to the west of here.

If you head south from Padang Merdeka you'll enter a delightful area of the old city that seems unchanged from the 1930's. On the way, keep your eye out for Kelantan's first state treasury - it's a small stone building to the east of the square that could easily be mistaken for a pump shed! If you have a map (or a good sense of direction) you can loop through the older parts of the city to the south to find the clock tower and more cultural museums adjacent to it.

The central markets on Jalan Pintu Pong are a panoply of colour and activity worth exploring. The ground floor meat and fish sections can become a little overpowering later in the day! The fresh fruit and vegetable markets outside are the place to go if you've a craving for some sensational tropical fruits.

Displays of cultural activities are regularly scheduled at Gelanggang Seni. This cultural center is south of the town centre on Jalan Mahmoud, which is the southern extension of Jalan Kebun Sultan. If coming from that direction, it's on your right on the block after the unmissable Sultan Muhumad IV Stadium.

Environment:

Hey, it's a city! Like many in SE Asia, it's hectic and ramshackle, with a spattering of modern buildings. You certainly need to be aware of traffic and the condition of the footpaths when wandering - those can be quite dangerous - but air pollution was minimal when we were there and the streets and public spaces were pretty clean. Birds and butterflies are surprisingly common and there's quite a few green areas and lots of street trees to keep those flying critters happy. The mosquitoes aren't too bad and there were plenty of geckos around to keep them that way. The street sewers are home to the biggest rats and cockroaches I've ever seen, but thankfully they tended to keep out of our way. Lots of frogs whenever it rained too, which is always a good thing - especially given the number of hungry cats we saw.

Impressions:

Kota Bharu is the most conservative Muslim city in Malaysia and it was nice to see that the western media bias about such places was proved untrue. Sure, all the women wear the veil and you'll certainly be a focus for disapproval if you don't make any effort to respect local customs, but disrespect earns disapproval at home too. Everyone we met was ready with a smile, welcoming and happy to chat - it's a friendly town.