Jahai Tribe of Belum Rainforest - Temenggor, Malaysia

The Eid celebration this year has been a memorable one. My family and I decided to be close to nature. We spend this whole week in Belum Rainforest area. Apart from trekking, yesterday we visited the Jahai tribe, the sub-ethnic group of the Negritos. 

There are 18 indigenous tribes living in Peninsular Malaysia forest and about 5,600 of them comprising the Temiar, the Jahai and the Kinchu tribes live around Temenggor and Belum Rainforest.  The Jahai tribe is a sub-group of the Negrito, generally short, dark skinned with tightly curled hair. Although today most of the Jahai population live in settlements provided by government, there are families who still retain their forefather nomadic lives outside these settlements. 

He responded well when called - sparkling eyes with thick lashes

We visited a group of Jahai families who just moved to a hilly spot near Banun about 12km from Banding Island.  They speak their tribal language to their children but the adults are able to communicate with us in our national language. We spent some times talking to the mothers and youths and were told that they moved to the spot about 2 weeks ago. Last night, their  area was encroached by a herd of elephants and they didn't sleep the whole night guarding their huts and families. We found fresh feces of elephants all along the path which confirmed their claims. 

When asked about the age of their kids, they didn't know their children's age. There were three mothers with many children.  Their men were not at home and they must have gone out for fishing or gathering of food. Due to their excellent sense of smell, they are usually hired as guide or porter for  trekkers into the Royal Belum Rainforest.  

We distributed gifts to the kids, gave the families some food and money. Initially the kids were reluctant to come close but their mothers spoke gently to them in their native language and it didn't take long for them to get close to us.  Soon the kids were responding very well and they happily collected their gifts one at a time.
    

New Mosque (Yeni Camii) - Istanbul, Turkey

Iznik tiles work

Interestingly, New Mosque (Yeni Camii) in Istanbul is not that new after all. The construction of Yeni Camii also known as Valide Sultan Camii (Mosque of the Queen Mother) had begun under the instruction of Valide Safiye, mother of Sultan Mehmet III, in 1597. Work on the mosque ceased when Valide Safiye died. Daud Aga, a student of Sinan (the great Ottoman architect) was the architect of the building and after more than half a century, it was completed in 1663. Regarded as a work of piety, it was the queen mother of Sultan Mehmet IV, Valide Sultan Turhan Hadice who completed this mosque.

It is easy to reach this mosque, from Sultanahmet, we took a tram and alighted at the Eminönü tram station. The mosque is adjacent to the Spice Bazaar and overlooking the harbour next to Galata Bridge. You will be amazed with hundreds of pigeons on the yard between the Spice Bazaar and Yeni Camii. Like any other Ottoman mosques the exterior has a huge courtyard, two tall minarets and cascades of domes (66 domes), whilst the interior is decorated with blue, green and white Iznik tiles and marble. Although the tiles decorations are considered to be somewhat inferior to other mosques during the period, but to me, the rustic calligraphy is still impressive. 

We spent some moment sitting on a bench near the mosque to sip our coffee and enjoy the huge giant ‘pretzel’ while admiring the exterior of the mosque,  watching people passing by and the pigeons flocking every space for the thrown morsels. 

Huge giant pretzels

You can buy the pigeons' feed from the folks 

The pigeons pecking their morsels

Ornamental ablution fountain in the center courtyard

Exterior of Yeni Camii

Remind me of Cordoba Mequita

Tiles work in blue and white

Decorative ornament with beautiful calligraphy

Yeni Camii from Eminonu 

One of the two minarets

Silver Leaf Monkeys of Bukit Malawati - Kuala Selangor, Malaysia

Great pose of the mama and her baby

Depending on the traffic, Kuala Selangor which is about slightly more than an hour drive from Kuala Lumpur is well known for its fireflies sighting in Kampung Kuantan and Kampung Belimbing. However, there's another interesting spot within the town of Kuala Selangor that should not be missed - Malawati Hill.

He's cool...enjoying his long beans on a visitor's car

We happened to be early for the fireflies, so we decided to visit Bukit (Hill) Malawati to have a look at the silver leaf monkeys. It was interesting to be greeted with troops of friendly monkeys waiting to be fed. There were so many visitors carrying with them bananas and nuts but the petty traders there sold bunches of long beans and water cress for feeding. I am surprise that the monkeys love the water cress!

Interestingly, these monkeys have silvery colour furs and punk hair style...not sure who copied who...but the monkeys must have had it much early than mankind :). Their babies have orange fur but as they grow up the fur will get darker and finally become silvery grey like the others.

These monkeys are safe to play with and all you have to do is to lure them with food.  As more people flooded the place so were the number of monkeys, almost out numbering the visitors. It was monkeys' party with laughter, shouts and everyone was busy photographing themselves with these camera friendly creatures. Thanks to these monkeys...The kids had a good time with them.

Nice pose guys :)

Perhaps a family meeting

The Koreans close encounter with the monkeys

Monkey party

Looking for something!

Greeting the visitors

He's begging for food

Friendly monkeys

Climbing for the water cress leaves

A day with the elephants - Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary, Pahang, Malaysia

Into the river for a bath

Malaysia Department of Wildlife and National Parks set up the Elephant Relocation Team in 1974 and Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary was officially established in 1989. For the last 25 years, more than 300 elephants have been relocated due to human-elephant conflict. The center aims to promote public awareness of the elephant’s plight in Malaysia and support research in the conservation of elephants. Hence, this center would be an ideal place to help maintain healthy elephant population in Malaysia and prevent its extinction. Currently, it is estimated that the jungle of Peninsular Malaysia has about 1,500 -1,800 elephants.

Riding the elephant

This is a place where the kids love it very much and during school holidays or weekends, buses of school children from all over the country will visit this site to have hands on feeding the elephant, riding the elephants and bathing the elephants. Currently, there are 40 elephants in the center and ten (Mahouts and Khoonkie) are trained to help in the operation of capturing wild elephants. 

As much as the kids enjoy the place so are the foreign tourists and locals. Located about 170km from Kuala Lumpur, it takes about one and half hour driving on the expressway and after exiting Lanchang, you have another 15km to get to the Sanctuary. Though the center opens from 9.00am to 5.00pm, the best time to be there is at 2pm as most activities will take place at that time. If you are coming in a big group, it would be better to call the center for reservation since only 150 visitors are allowed to ride and bathe the elephant each day. We came in the morning and had to wait until 2pm for the main activities to happen.

The skin of an elephant's trunk

Having the experience of interacting with human, these elephants are very friendly, playful and they listen to their skillful master very well. Some of these elephants are star and celebrities as they are used in the movie, Anna and the King, featuring Jodie Foster. However, security needs to be observed at all times since after all they are wild animals. Their bodies are rough and their hairs are stiff. You may want to wear pants when riding them.

There is no admission fee but you are encouraged to donate in the cause of the elephants. The center operates on government grants but maintaining the place and animals are not cheap. This place is a great place for kids!

The 16 years old Abott

She prefers the nuts in the package

The elephant gets a real scrub

The elephant man working hard

Naughty elephants splashing their masters

The elephants took a bath before taking the visitors for a ride

She is playful!

Clean and ready for next activities

Cleaning

Visitors queuing for a ride in the afternoon

Observing the elephants bathing from the platform

Skin of a young elephant

Half the World - Isfahan, Iran

Nash-e-Jahan Square

The flight from Shiraz to Isfahan took about 50 minutes. Here we are in the city that retains much of its past glory and was once the capital city of Iran during the Safavid dynasty (16th century). It has a population of about 1.5 million and the third largest city after Tehran and Mashhad. Our schedule in Isfahan was rather tight but with Maryam (Islamic Azad University student) around throughout our stay everything comes pretty easy.

Isfahan is famous for its Islamic architecture, with many beautiful and huge boulevards, covered bridges, monuments, palaces, mosques, and minarets. We visited the famous Si-o-se-Pol Bridge with 33 arches twice in the day and at night and spend hours roaming around the huge Bazaar-E-Borzog in Imam Square. The bazaar stretched kilometers away and it is impossible to see everything in a day. The grandeur scale of monuments and buildings with intricate, dazzling tiles work and designs reflects the richness of the history and culture of the Persian civilization.

The city is described in the famous Persian adage "'Esfahān nesf-e jahān ast" which means Isfahan is half of the world. Indeed, the grand Nagsh-e-Jahan Square (also know as Imam Square and Shah Square) is one of the biggest city squares in the world. It has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. In the late afternoon, the square will be flooded with locals having a picnic and perhaps the biggest picnic I have ever seen all my life!

A section of the Bazaar-e-Borzog

A view from Ali Qapu

Another view from Ali Qapu Palace

Intricate tiles work

From the window of the palace

East entrance of the bazaar