Mika Lappalainen | Friday, 10 June 2022
You have heard that I made lot of questions to Paul before our trip. And some I didn't make until arriving Malaysia and I was uncertain how to do something. Some of the question were around fishing but most not, lot of them were also made by Satu. So I decided to gather some of those here. And they have absolutely no order.
Is there crocodiles? No only east coast.
Is there coffee machine or how you cook it? Coffee is important, that's how you kick your morning and we made several questions around that. There is coffee "machine", kind of pan. It is always polite bring some coffee powder.
Milk you can have from shop.
What are the temps? Water around 33 celsius and air over 30 daytime and just little bit under night
Do you need blankets or towels? No, towels will come from house, you need Sleeping bag.
what fishing gears to bring? For snakehead min 8 wt, gourami 6wt. Lines floating and for tropical weather. If going rivers then trout stuff. No need for landing net, Paul has them. They might have some bigger holes. Paul have leader and tippets for lake and some flies also.
Is there monkeys? Yes one in the boat as captain and you when arriving. Also there are some monkeys, gibbons etc in the jungle.
What other animals? Lizards, snakes, elephants, tigers etc. One or even two gekko living in the boat, one called Mika. He is really noisy one. Also there are lot birds and also otters.
Fishing times? Normally avoid fishing between 1 pm and 4 pm, is burning hot. Have a swim and rest.
Sun protection? Yes 50, don't forget your ears and lips. Hat with sides is good. And off course sunglasses. I used shirt with sun protection and that was great. Also you will need socks to protect your feet, sun will burn straight up. No shadow. And remember to drink a lot, water etc. We also used lot of salt so water won't go just thru .
Do Paul and Ashly need something as souvenirs? Yes, good cheese for both and olives for Ashly, Paul will die for liquroice.
What is price level in Malaysia? Food is cheap, also gasoline etc is cheap. Alcohol is expensive compared to other stuff. You will have great dinner in restaurant for around 200 RM with few beers for 4 person. 200 RM is around 42 €. with 1 € you get 4,5 RM. I noticed that lot of prices are similar than Finland except our currency is euro.
How to get to Paul? Kuala lumpur or Penang, I would recommend Penang, from there is only 2 hours ride when from KL almost 5. Of course you can use bus or rent a car.
Phone connection? At lake now and then. Best is to get Celcom unlimited internet, it was 35 RM for month. We had one old phone where we put sim and shared connection from that. Worked well enough when on Battleship.
Toilet? Yes, gents pee on the lake, ladies use toilet. Personaly I preferd to do no.2 in the jungle also.
where to sleep? Roof is always option (not best idea if rains). Cabin had place for two, that is also where Paul trains and cooks. We loved to sleep in hammocks on the back. There is also camper bed but hammocks where better. Especially if you go little bit like from corner to corner.
Leech? Yes in the jungle, you don't need rambo knife to get them out, just pull them off. They are really small and go bigger when having your blood. We haven't personal experience about those.
Rain coat? Yes absolutely. If you get under rain like we on one day, rain coat is best what you can have. It didn't keep me totally dry because so heavy and much rain, afterwards it kept wind away and wet inside, so it was not so cold. Paul has umbrella in both boats, for me it looked like that they might have small leak.
Shoes? In the boat no need for shoes, something which you can go down and jungle if need is good. We used barefoot shoes. Those were enough when staying in the paths.
How the toilets work in Malaysia (public place)? Some place they have just hole in floor just like doing shit in the nature, except no paper, they use water to clean their ass. Some places things works like you are use to.
Food? Paul will cook, food is great, spicy maybe but good. Vegetarian food but I have to say I didn't miss the meat. It was absolutely good stuff.
How is fishing? Fucking difficult and hard, and extremely great, exciting, you have to do it.
Casting? Paul will give lessons during the trip if you want, just make your homework before going, it will make you life so much easier. Reach cast, slipped cast etc.
Local money? Rinng use ATM to get, easiest and cheapest. I checked forex exchange and one in KL airport, difference is not big, still you save money using ATM
Those are some of questions and answers. I think we made lot more but those are kind of which might interest you when going first time.
Book your trip and go nail it
Have a nice weekend and go fishing
Mika the Legend
Ps. Words in Subtitle are pronounced pretty much similar way in Finland