Sultan Ismail Petra airport looks, from the runway, like a two-storey concrete car park encased in the walls of a mosque. Kota Bharu itself is a city with a small-town feel, typical of so many places in Malaysia. New buildings nestle between old wooden ones, Chinese shophouses flake away looking slightly unloved, potholed roads are bordered by drainage channels covered wonkily by concrete slabs, some of which are of course missing.
I stayed at the delightful Zeck Travellers’ Inn. This little backpackers has basic but pleasant rooms and a nice communal area out front. Zeck and his wife are a lovely friendly couple and it was them who really made the place what it was. Zeck gave me plenty of useful information about the town and possible excursions and Maria filled me in on the local foods I should try. I took her advice the first evening and went to Yatie’s stall at the night market for nasi kerabu, a delicious combination of rice, fish, salady vegetables and herbs and spicy nutty sauce which immediately shot to somewhere near the top of my top eats list. In the morning she urged me to join her family and friends for breakfast which turned out to be a sociable and entertaining way to pass the morning. She had cooked an excellent fish curry, making second helpings quite irresistible. I only wish I’d asked her for the recipe or even a cooking lesson.
So, well set up for the day, I headed out to explore Kota Bharu.
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