Visiting old tombs in Kuala Berang...

Assalamualaikum... Peace be upon you all. After leaving this blogspot rather quiet for the last 10 days, let's continue rolling in the stories. Now, for the last few months or so regarding my travels (except once in a while), I have used this blogspot mainly as a support platform for the actual story-telling and summation of events featured later in the Malay language blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU . Today however, I like to make the summation here, that of what happened in Kuala Berang, Terengganu... I wanted to reserve and concentrate a particular part of the trip specifically for the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU and thus in keeping to the tradition of distributing evenly (almost...) pictures of selected locations for storytelling across all my 3 blogspots, let what happened in and around Kuala Berang be featured here. Come! :]

You could say this story continues from the posting Kuala Terengganu dan makam-makam lamanya... Tapak untuk cerita ke Kuala Berang... made in the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU 10 days ago... You could also say this continues from the article View of Kuala Terengganu from 14 floors up... Or is it 15 or 13? Never mind, just enjoy the view... which is the last posting in this blogspot, also made 10 days ago... Whatever, after I'm done having a look of Kuala Terengganu from a certain apartment building, I took a bus to Kuala Berang... Hmm, forgot the actual distance from KT, should be 40-60km away to the south-west...

After a quick look at the town, I decided to head for the main mosque... Once, I spent a night at its damp basement, I think that was some 4 years ago...

I've already done my prayers in Kuala Terengganu... So actually I dropped by this mosque to let go of something in my stomach... You know... Hehe!

Guess where the above picture was taken from... Picture a cubicle, hehe again.... :]

Then I head back towards town and found the local pasar malam just starting. The words could be literally translated as the night market... But it's more a variety market as in variety of goods offered including food and clothings... In Malaysia this sort of market is normally held at selected locations once a week or so. The time then was almost 6pm...

I practically spent the whole evening around here, next to Kuala Berang's main field while trying to figure out my next move... By then, it's already too late to head for the places I'm really aiming to be at so better to figure out where to spend the night first... But where? Here, inside the town itself or should I go somewhere closer to the places I aim to visit around Kuala Berang?

I have about 6 places in mind, at different locations, some quite far away from each other and this is not easy as I don't have my own transportation... Even harder as there is no local bus service in Kuala Berang, only the inter-town service to Kuala Terengganu... Thus locals have to rely on vans and they only cover the main routes while some of the places I want to go to is slightly off the beaten path...

This is the inside of newly built mosque...

Outside is this cemetery area... Seen also is a surau (small praying hall), an old one which used to be the main place where locals converge at to conduct the congregational prayers...

I walked passed that surau and further on the have a look at this river known as Sungai (river of) Tersat...

Then I walked back to the mosque and saw this rather ornate tomb within the nearby cemetery area...

Oh... This is the mosque, the new main mosque for the village known as Kampung Buluh around 2km from the town of Kuala Berang... For information, this was where I spent the night at.

The last time I was in Kuala Berang was at the end of 2006... This mosque was still being built and I spent the night at the old surau nearby which used to be the main place for prayers here...

From there, I walked and reached one of the places in my itenary, the memorial for the historical Terengganu inscribed stone... For information, the memorial is built nearby the site where the stone, believed to have been inscribed more than 700 years ago was found in modern times...

The stone is very important historically as the inscriptions suggested that the religion of Islam has been in Terengganu since that time, in fact perhaps earlier! Previously most historians were of the opinion Melaka was the earliest kingdom in Peninsular Malaysia to have embraced the religion and that happened sometime 600 years ago.

For a pictorial story on the stone, click Memorial (of) Batu Bersurat Terengganu (the Terengganu inscribed stone) in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) ...

As I've said earlier, there are no local bus service in Kuala Berang. Thus locals have to rely on vans acting like taxis for public transport... While some vans serve this route I'm taking, it is not so reliable if I have many places to visit... The vans are move at irregular intervals depending on the amount of customers wishing to head for a certain direction...

Luckily I'm used to hitchiking... Although traffic around this area is scarce, once in a while there's locals moving about on motorcycles and that is how I got to this spot where there's a certain tomb of much historical significants, the tomb of a major Pahang Malay figure who fought against the British colonialists at the end of the 19th Century...

For the story click Makam (tomb of) Tok Gajah... , also in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) .

Then I went to another area...

I won't go into details here as I don't want anybody to abuse the place... Here lies a pair of tombs, one is believed to belong to an early ruler of Terengganu who some believed is the man who wrote the words on the Terengganu inscribed stone more than 700 years ago... That's all...

Oh... Along the way, I was told by the locals that there is another tomb of interest situated not far from the tomb of Tok Gajah... So after visiting the mysterious tomb mentioned above, I decided to stop by the other tomb...

By then, I was already very tired after all the walking to reach the previous tomb. This other one is also situated on top of a hill and thus I decided to leave by big rucksack down a tree before climbing the hill.

For the story, click Makam (tomb of) Tok Raja Ri in SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) ...

Then I headed back to Kuala Berang as the remaining places I aim to visit lies on another route... This is a picture of the river Berang entering the major river Terengganu taken from inside a van... This is the estuary, the place that gives the name Kuala (estuary of the river) Berang!

From Kuala Berang, I got another van up to this area...

There's a road leading to a certain area which I think deserves it's very own article for the storytelling... God willing, I will have the story posted in the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU later, that is once I'm done with this and if there's no obstacle... God willing!

Then I head back to Kuala Berang... Managed to hitchike a car to this place which is among the places I aimed to visit...

Look... Two trees marking the tomb for an ancient personality simply known as Tok Kawah...

Then time to go for one more place... On the way back to Kuala Berang...

Couldn't get a ride yet so have to walk on... Although I should be very tired by then having visited 5 separate locations and walked for quite a distance at times, I was just too excited to simply sit down and wait for a ride...

Just one more place to go before my visit to Kuala Berang is complete. So you could say the hard part is already done and I could afford to go all out... Perhaps...

Saw this river entering the Terengganu river on the way...

Sometime later, I got a van to my last destination in Kuala Berang, a place called Kampung Pauh...

For here lies the tomb of another saintly personality, one known as Tok Pauh...

Once that is done, I went back to Kuala Berang... Had something to eat first before the East Coast journey continues, through Kuala Terengganu that is... But before that I must stop and spend a night at a certain place en-route...

The story will be continued when I feel like it, at least when I have the spare time and opportunity ya... So that's all folks. Take care... Cheerio! :]

View of Kuala Terengganu from 14 floors up... Or is it 15 or 13? Never mind, just enjoy the view...

OK. As regular visitors here should know, I run 3 blogspots... This one, the Malay-language blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU and the bilingual SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) . Since last year, whenever I went out travelling far, I have made it a point to relate back what happened by dividing selected pictures of certain locations as seen fit across the blogspots and then start the story-telling based on what I feel and what is recalled upon seeing the pictures. Then only would I do some sort of summation on my main blogspot which is CATATAN SI MERAH SILU ...
Regulars should also know, I'm now in the midst of telling the story of my latest travel up the East Coast which was completed on Wednesday last week. Currently I'm making stories based on what happened in Kuala Terengganu 27-28 March. Now come the time to show some pictures of the city seen from one of the high buildings. Here it is...

Now, Kuala Terengganu don't have much skyscrapers, unlike in Kuala Lumpur which should have hundreds. As far as I could see, there's probably only about 10 buildings higher than 10th floors.... I could be wrong but that's what I saw when looking at the skyline from the city centre.

So imagine my feeling upon seeing this building shown in the picture... Less than 300 meters away from the cheap hotel I was staying at in Kuala Terengganu and it looks like I could have a look from up there without much obstruction...

I'm not sure how tall it really is... I couldn't remember the number on the button I touched in the elevator to get to the top but it should be anything from 13 to 15. What is sure, it is an apartment building... Easier to sneak into than a hotel or an office building...

True enough, there's magnificent views waiting to be seen. This view of the Terengganu river estuary could be seen immediately upon stepping out of the elevator...

I walked on the corridor towards the south...

Then a look to my left shows this... The imposing white mosque known as Masjid Abidin features prominently...

A look ahead and one could see the main bus station to the left, next to a new shopping complex not yet opened. Also in the view is what I believe the tallest building in Kuala Terengganu, I think the state government building. Should be around 30 floors high...

A look to my right and one could see the hill Bukit Besar...

I looked down for perspective. My cheap hotel is somewhere on the street running up in the middle of the picture...

Then I decided to walked down the corridor again to have a look at the north side...

A look to my right reveals the island Pulau Duyung with its yatch terminal and supporting buildings built for the Moonsoon Cup which started about 2 years ago if I recall correctly... Closer in the picture is parts of Kampung Cina... See Walking along the Terengganu river to Kampung Cina...

A look ahead. Pulau Duyung which lies in the middle of the Terengganu river still looms large...

A look to the left shows the main bridge from Kuala Terengganu across Pulau Duyung and on to the other side. There's also another island seen here...

I pointed the camera at the same direction but slightly downwards...

Then I headed the camera towards the extreme left as much the building permits and saw a new skyscraper being built...

Looking down towards Kampung Cina and the nearby area... Enough. Now I have completed the process of dividing pictures across my blogspots... Time to do the summation process in CATATAN SI MERAH SILU !

Ooppss... Now I remember. Last night I had a look at the collection of pictures taken in Kuala Terengganu 27-28 March (there's another collection taken 30-31 March) which totals to some 150. Then I realise there's a few pictures which I believe deserve its own individual posting at that blogspot before I could do the summation. So have a look there later OK... Cheers! :]

Walking along the Terengganu river to Kampung Cina...

After spending some time up Bukit Puteri, I feel like walking along the Terengganu river. Here are some of the pictures...

This one is taken at a jetty where one could get small boats to ferry people across the river to either the island of Pulau Duyung which sits smack in the middle of the waters close to the estuary or to Seberang Takir, the northern banks of the estuary...

From the jetty one could see a floating restaurant and some boats waiting for customers...

Then I visited the bustling market of Pasar Payang, a pride of the locals... The place has a wet market and a bazaar selling mainly the famous Terengganu woven and coloured clothes, the Kain Batik and Kain Songket...

Afterwards I headed for Kampung Cina, literally translated as the "chinese village", an early settlement for Chinese immigrants which is still famous for its quaintness... Along the way, saw the Masjid Abidin, also known as the white mosque not so far away...

Soon enough, I am in Kampung Cina...

A look through the walkways...

The street itself is quite narrow...

Once in a while, one could take a peek across the Terengganu river...

And there's a few rather magnificent old buildings such as this...

This...

And this...

Soon enough, it's time to go... The gates seen at the end of the street marks the end of Kampung Cina... Or rather the start as I actually entered from the opposite side. Ends! :]