This is one of these situations you normally want to avoid as a solo traveller. But let’s start from the beginning: I took the 10am local bus from Taman Negara to the next bigger town Jerantut. Unfortunately when I arrived there I had missed the 11am bus to Kuantan, a large city at the east coast which I have to pass on my way to Mersing (this is the town from where ferries leave to Tioman Island). I had to wait in Jerantut for 3 hours for the next bus and I used the time for Internet and lunch. The bus to Kuantan didn’t take the fastest route. Instead we had a stopover in Temerloh where we had to change bus (I guess because our bus was almost empty and they wanted us to be united with other passengers to make the trip more profitable). I arrived in Kuantan at 6pm and headed directly to a guest house recommended by Lonely Planet which is very close to the bus station. From the description I already knew it wasn’t really nice but I thought that for one night it doesn’t matter. Unlike what’s written in LP, the staff was not friendly but the rooms were ok so I accepted.
I started to explore the city (which has half million inhabitants) but found out quickly that there is nothing to see. Unlike other places in Malaysia, it’s quite dirty and the buildings are ramshackle. The missing sidewalks are an additional challenge for pedestrians, who are already busy watching out not to fall into the stinky drains. I arrived at the riverfront from where you can already see the mangroves on the opposite side which indicate proximity to the sea. I sat down in one of the restaurants and ordered some food. Actually I thought that it was impossible to get bad tasting food in Malaysia but in Kuantan it’s possible. After this experience I was looking for a McDonald’s, Burger King or Pizza Hut which can normally be found at every corner in Malaysia but obviously not in Kuantan. There were only KFCs which I hate. Finally in one of the shopping malls I found a Pizza Hut where I filled my stomach.
As I had nothing to do in this horrible city I was looking for an Internet café (of course in my guest house there was no Internet). I went to the bus station where according to Lonely Planet there is a cybercafé. It was still there but seemed abandoned. The door was open but the stairways were not lit and garbage was lying on the floor. I thought that it was better not to proceed because who knows which surprise would have waited for me in the darkness! Back in the guest house I asked for a cybercafé and the guy at the reception pointed towards a shopping mall around 500m away. He said “maybe” there is one. I asked if “maybe” or “sure”. Then he changed to “sure”. I arrived at the shopping mall sweating (because thanks to the missing sidewalks I had to jump several times in order not to hit a vehicle). Of course there was no cybercafé. Can you believe that in a city with 500.000 inhabitants there is no cybercafé? In addition to all this the people here are strange and staring at me all the time. It’s needless to say that I haven’t seen any other tourists in Kuantan. I know why! I hate this place!
I am now sitting in my hotel room and writing all this offline. I cannot wait taking the bus tomorrow morning and leave Kuantan. When you read this it’s already over for me and I will hopefully be in a much better mood somewhere else!
One day later: Yes I am definitely in a better mood now! I arrived on the paradise island Tioman and I will go diving here :-) By the way, there was another cybercafé inside the bus station of Kuantan but I hadn’t seen it yesterday...
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