Waiting out Ramadan

Local bus station
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Ramadan is the Islamic month of fasting to practice self control.  That essentially boils down to no eating or drinking from sun rise to sun set.  It also includes abstaining from other things such as smoking, lying, sex, gossip, and other personal indulgences...

For us, most of the last month has been relatively easy to live a normal travel life (whatever that is).  However, the last few days we have been in Kuala Terenggau on the eastern coast of Malaysia.  It is a city that is 90% Muslim, and quite conservative in terms of the religious beliefs and practices.  We came here by choice in hopes to participate in or at least witness the celebrations that come at the end of Ramadan, called Hari Raya.  People go to mosque in the morning for prayer, then to family to forgive any argument, etc for the past year and start anew.  We had heard mixed reviews about how we could participate in this - still not quite sure what the biggest celebration day, tomorrow, will bring.  However, the city has become all but deserted, all of the shops, restaurants, banks, buses, etc shut down.  And people flock to their "hometowns", which is usually more rural than the city, to be with their families.  A bit like Christmas I suppose.  And it is beginning to seem like it is more of a private celebration.  We have yet to see.

Waiting for any bus they can get on...
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Yesterday we took the public bus here from another very small town called Cherating on the east coast.  Cherating is listed in our guide book as being a quiet retreat on the beach.  Well, being Ramadan and a couple weeks out from the monsoons there were about a dozen tourists in the whole town.  There must have been just as many hotel/resorts to accomidate for the busier times.  It was kind of nice to have the whole beach to ourselves for a day.  But when we arrived at the bus station in K. T., it was absolutely packed with people waiting to get on the bus to go back to their home towns to celebrate Hari Raya.  Bus tickets sell out super fast, and so people end up waiting and waiting and waiting to get on a bus.  It made for a colorful picture though!  It is amazing how many vehicles are on the road during this time of year.  We have been reading the paper every morning and it has given us a good sense of what the country is like during this time of year.

A lovely group of 3 girls from England we have been traveling with for a few days.
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Oh yeah, while we were in Cherating we watched the first Malaysian citizen, and first Muslim to go up n space (to the space station) during Ramadan, live on tv.  It was pretty neat.  We spoke with the guy running the restaurant we watched it at.  He said it was neat but that he was a realist and believed it was more of a show than any great achievement.  So, one perspective from a Malaysian. You can see this text for more info: Ramadan in Space

Islamic Mosque
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We are going to head to a beautiful Island north of Kuala Terrenganu for some sun and snorkling.