OK. Let me group the states of Kedah, Perlis and Pulau Pinang together. Besides they are best known as the northern states of Malaysia. To be more specific (as one could argue parts of Kelantan and Terengganu as being north of the Peninsular, in fact Sabah is even further up north albeit at the most extreme east of Malaysia), let the states be grouped under the subsection North East Coast. It is interesting to note that both Perlis and Pulau Pinang used to be parts of Kedah before becoming separate states in the years 1840s and 1780s respectively.
I have been up north many times, perhaps more than 20 times but often only up to Pulau Pinang. Of these trips fewer were made up to Alor Setar, Kedah and even fewer all the way to Perlis, the northenmost state in Malaysia. Hmm... perhaps I should extend my words below the respective links...
1. Sungai Perlis
Like I've said before I've been all the way up to Perlis only a number of times. Let me try to recall. OK, If memory serves me right the first time I went to this smallest state of Malaysia was while riding my big bike alone all around Peninsular Malaysia in 1997. I remembered parking my bike behind a shoplot somewhere on the jetty of Kuala Perlis before taking a ferry to Langkawi, I also remembered riding to the northwest-most point of Perlis only to look with my own eyes where the Thai border meets the sea.
Between 1997 to 2007 I could have gone to Perlis 2-3 times but I really couldn't remember well. After 2001 was a period of much uncertainty in my life when I travelled all over Peninsular Malaysia many times without much thought. I'm more certain of the trips from 2007 because I have started blogging then and wrote down stuff. There's the one in 2007 where I took a ferry to Langkawi via Kuala Kedah only to return to the mainland via Kuala Perlis.
There's also a working trip in Dec 2008 where I brought my then newly-wedded second wife and another working trip all the way to Hatyai by train in May 2010. In fact I went again bringing the wife and our then 10-month-old baby by car in August where I paid more attention to the state's main river, Sungai Perlis. But I have yet to post stories on this one. So at the moment be contented with this one small article ya...
2. Sungai Kedah
I should have paid more attention to this river which is named after the state but I only did so in the most recent trip in August. So again, at this juncture just be contented what could be seen in an article...
Views on top Alor Setar's telecommunication tower...
3. Sungai Merbok
I must admit that I only started taking notice of rivers up north when I first arrived at Tanjung Dawai, a small town at the northern banks of the Merbok river estuary Jan 2007. The main river of olden Kedah, it has one of the biggest and widest estuaries I've ever seen anywhere. It's just that I should have also taken notice of its upriver parts such as near Sungai Petani. Although I've seen those parts including that closest to the source at the foot of the mountain Gunung Jerai I took too few pictures when I should have taken enough to be made into articles fit for this fascination of rivers.
A look at Pantai Merdeka, Kedah...
4. Sungai Muda
The river of Muda which forms the natural state boundary between Kedah and Pulau Pinang only caught my attention when I learned that the fishermen village there suffered from the Tsunami which had wrecked havoc in extensives parts of Asia, even Africa 26th December 2006. I finally had a look about a month later but as it turned out the Penang side was not so badly affected. It was the Kedah side that took the brunt and I only went there in the August 2010 northern trip.
5. Sungai Kerian
The natural border between the states of Kedah and Perak since Pulau Pinang was still a part of Kedah, I have passed it many many times when travelling up north. But I only took notice of it when using a rural route in the August trip and will feature it in an article later.
Note: First article for this river, Sungai Kerian, the natural border between Perak and Kedah added 25 Jan 2011.
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