Kota Bharu

Truth be told, I was a little nervous about stopping over in Kota Bharu because it lies in the most religiously conservative part of Malaysia. I’m completely ignorant of local customs and worry that I may offend in my actions. To my relief, the people here are exceptionally friendly, probably more so than in any of the other places I’ve visited so far.

Evidence of the strong ties between government and faith (the Islamic party has held power in this state for more than a decade) can be seen all around Kota Bharu. For instance, loudspeakers have been set up at every street corner for broadcasting daily prayers and religious programming.

Almost all women wear headscarves here:

Separate checkout lines in grocery stores are set up for men and women (sorry for the bad photo – I couldn’t get a better one without getting kicked out).

There’s not much to do here so I’m using my time here to recoup (I’ve developed, if you can believe this, a blister underneath a blister from all that walking in Penang) before I head off for my next adventure in the Perhentian islands.

I only managed to go to a couple of sights near my hostel, one of which was a museum of some kind but I got put off by their no backpack policy. I didn’t want to leave it in their possession while I wandered the exhibits because my passport and a couple of other valuables were in there. They also have a rather dubious pricing scheme:

The museum in question:

My second stop was the local market, which is much like the other markets I’ve been to with the exception of an entire floor dedicated to headscarves. It’s easy to get lost in there when every store looks exactly the same.

They don’t have pork buns here so they've gotten creative with ingredients. In related news, God, I miss bacon:

A huge microwave tower was built in the town center. It’s right across from my room. I can almost feel my gonads tingling with cancer.

I would like take this moment to remind you how badass I am: