Goodness Grays!

When living in Malaysia (2015-2021), Lawrence and I had planned to make a video documentary about the travels of Isabella Bird in Malaya in 1879. Sadly, Covid restrictions prevented us from travelling within Malaysia to do the filming so we had to abandon the project. Covid restrictions had also meant that when we left Malaysia, we could not meet up with friends for farewell dinners etc. So, in February 2024 we returned to Malaysia for almost one month to make our proper farewells and visit some of the places new to us on our filming itinerary. One of the highlights of Isabella's book, The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither, was her description of travels on the back of elephants. She was an accomplished horsewoman, even devising her own respectable trousers to wear when riding, and foregoing Victorian society's insistence on ladies riding side saddle. But she never took to elephants!

So we went on a brief road trip with Hanis to see what we had missed. In the back of our minds was always the thought that we might return for three months and actually make the documentary. Who knows?

We stayed with Hanis in Johor Bahru so started our adventure driving up the east coast of Malaysia to Penyabong where she had the soft launch of a new resort complex called Radiant Teluk Sari. We have always loved coming to this region of Malaysia for its natural beauty and delicious food. Being February, we were in the tail end of the winter monsoon season and the strong winds coming from offshore really served to remind one how trade with the East Indies and China in the days of sail was completely controlled by the monsoon winds. If you missed the wind, you could not return back to England, or you could not take your goods to China. One of the reasons that Malacca became a favoured port as it was safe to lay anchor there and enjoy the facilities on offer while waiting up to six months for the winds to change direction!

For me, the highlight of this trip was always going to be seeing the elephants. We arrived at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary (Lanchang, Pahang) just in time for the show which consisted mostly of watching the elephants being bathed in the river and being fed with sugar cane bought by spectators. These would have been working elephants in the past and the sanctuary employed locals who were trained in the handling of the elephants. It was only when I look closely at my photos that I saw the sharp sticks which they were using to control these animals.

We drove south from Kuala Lumpur to the Royal City of Seri Memanti (or Sri Memanti) in Negri Sembilan. The palace was built in 1908 but is currently closed for renovation. But there were lots of interesting , and sadly derelict, buildings near the palace. The buffalo horns over the road are symbols of the Minangkabau people who came from Sumatra and dominated this state, and also produced buildings with these distinctive curved roofs.

We stayed over night in Seremban and then headed to Port Dickson where Hanis had a meeting to attend. So Lawrence and I walked up to the lighthouse at Tanjung Tuan and wondered how on earth we'd managed to lug all our camera gear up here to film part of The Hidden History of Johor Lama (available on YouTube!).

Then we took Hanis to see the megaliths at Penkalan Kempas which she had not seen before. It's always fun to show Malaysians their own history!

If we had made our documentary on Isabella Bird, then the Linggi River would have to have been featured. It was from here that she, and the two young daughters of the Governor of Malacca, boarded a boat at night to get to Seremban. Today there is a jetty marked as the location where the Chinese landed in west Malaya in the 1800's. It is likely that the nearby village is the location where Isabella was bought some coconut to drink!

Next it was off to Rembau and its rather underwhelming museum housed in a replica of the Royal Palace Melawar. But we did learn that when Raja Melawar had been invited from Minangkabau to be the first ruler of Negeri Sembilan, he had to lie on a bed of nettles on a stone bench for two nights to prove his worthiness to be crowned!

And after tasting some delicious dishes local to Negri Sembilan (smoked foods coated in coconut milk, turmeric, and chilli), it was time to get back to Johor Bahru and meet up with all our old friends. We managed one last outing with Hanis and her husband Faizal to visit Tanjung Piai which is the southernmost piece of mainland Asia. You walk out over the mangrove swamp, past rather aggressive monkeys, towards the muddy coastline.

All that is left for me to show you now is a few shots of wildlife I took around Hanis's house, and to thank Hanis and Faizal for being such generous hosts. And if you want to learn more about Isabella Bird and the eccentric Malays, Chinese, and British she met in 1879, then Lawrence has a whole series of videos found in a playlist list called 'Travelling in the footsteps of Isabella Bird'. Just click here.