Remember Backpacker Rule 8, ie, Make sure toiletries are adequate. Abang Kocik had to hunt around for a 7-Eleven to get a toothbrush. Now, backpackers must know the simple rule that toothbrushes cannot be shared, the others can. Furthermore, mana ada 7-Eleven in Krai country.
To correct what Joey said, I was not really complaining about the hygiene mentality of the people of Kelantan as we see them along the way. Backpacker Rule 9, ie, Never ruffle local Feathers. Remember, we are guests. Remember this is Serambi Mekah. I was just making observations. And these observations are not new. The mosque is quite a good place for you to start with. The carpets can do with some vacuuming. The Imam's enclave need sweeping, curtains changed, the windows soaped with water, clean simple chandeliers should be hanging from the ceiling, not sawangs. The mosque is new. And the outside. As you saw, the jawatan of Tukang Kebun is vacant. But that is not the point. No need to mention the privy. The surroundings of the other bigger mosque, Krai's Masjid Jame', is the same. Observe the areas around and below the houses. No doubt these are old
wooden kampung houses, but still...Compare with those kampung houses in Melaka, Muar, Mesjid Tanah, or Kuala Pilah...The clothing of the Sufi may be rough, but it is white, white, white. Filth has nothing to do with poverty. As far as cleanliness is concerned, I feel Kelantan is a cultural shock.
When Michael Jackson arrived in Africa, he had his fingers on his nose all the time. The Africans were angry.

"By 0800 hrs in the morning we were ready for breakfast. We elected for Nasi Dage'. Abang Besar recommended us to take a historical look at "Bradley Steps" (now known as "Tangga Krai" , a flood marker used during both colonial and present times to monitor the flood situation in Kelantan, before going for breakfast. On the way there we bumped into a charming and colourful vintage, TA 423 (a very old Ford model - couldn't remember it's model name). Ateng took some photos as he likes antique stuff. I always wondered why he didn't marry one of the old ladies (Wans of Negeri Sembilan with few granchildren), since he liked antiques stuff so much."??Ijoi.

Bradley Steps or Tangga Bradley has been renamed Tangga Krai. Kelantan is flood country, and Tangga Krai is testimony to this. Bradley saved a lot of lives with his Steps. There is no harm keeping his name with his Steps. This is one piece of colonialism Kelantanese should be proud of. The Steps are still being used today to warn the whole state of impending flood water level rises. Various marks on the Steps denote the various river water levels that correspond with flooding of
particular areas in the state. This gives adequate warnings for evacuations to begin. For keeping such an important function, these Steps are sadly in a state of disrepair and appear derelict. There are no security measures around. One can easily alter the markings of the water levels and you can imagine what chaos this can cause to the whole state during a flood.

"Bradley Steps was found to be untouched by Abang Besar since his last visit. We admired the ambience of the riverside scene with the hope that the place will remain as it is for us and our children to continue enjoying for generations to come."?.Ijoi.

Alongside the Steps is a rumah rakit jetty on which is a canteen. You can reach the rakit across a small single plank connecting the Steps to it. This is one hell of a floating restaurant for us. We thought of taking breakfast at a Nasi Dagang stall in front of the mosque, but then when we saw the rakit bobbing up and down on the waters, the scene is too much for us to bear. Before that we had some pictures taken on various levels of the Steps with the rakit and river in the background.

"As the jetty has a small warung inside, we had our first round of breakfast without nasi dage' over-looking the Kelantan River. The atmosphere was very relaxing and peaceful which everyone of us enjoyed. Abang Besar, as usual "The Man of the Show" started talking to the local folks there, introducing ourselves and so forth. Inevitably the focus of conversation confined to the Kampung Gobek UFO. Apparently the locals do not subscribe much to UFOs and they don't give a damn either. One of them even asked where the landing was. We ended up being their subject of pity that there still are nerds in this world who believe in the existence of ETs interested in planet earth beings. The warong operator had the impression
that we were from TV3. This was perhaps from the way of Abang Besar's lines of questioning and the manner of Abang Kecik's Press uniform! I was impressed with them too and they indeed looked like TV reporters. I guessed the Mok Cik noticed it when Abang Kecik was taping some of the conversation using a tiny Sony's tape recorder."….Ijoi.

Over tea, coffee and milo and delicious pulut udang, we watched farmers bringing in their produce from the other bank of the river heading for the local market. A boatman skillfully manouvres his engine across the fast waters to transport students and office workers to and fro - Sunday is working day in Kelantan. We marvelled at his dexterity. The fare is still in sens, not even ringgits. Without insurance, no doubt.
The way Teng stretched his legs on the wooden bangku in the canteen on the rumah rakit alongside the Steps with eyes far across beyond the river margins told us that this is one Yuppie who is really starved of tranquility and inner peace of mind. He does not have to white water raft down Colorado to achieve this. There are things he did later in the day that made us worry more regarding his mental health status. We felt a little bit guilty pulling him away from his seat as we had other projects to cover.

"We were off from Bradley Steps for Nasi Dage' at 0915 hrs. Abang Besar indicated how to get to the place to Ateng, a roadside warong in front of the first mosque en route to Machang. Unfortunately Nasi Dage' was in short supply and we ordered white rice with Nasi Dage's dishes instead. It was still not bad for at least we had half done Nasi Dage' and it was better than nothing. However Abang Kecik had Nasi Kerabu instead. Nasi bungkus for breakfast is the tradition in Kelantan, for the very filling high carbohydrate content is energy giving for muscle work in the fields and farms. Ordering toast with jam or butter is un-Kelantanese. In fact breakfast is not prepared formally in Kelantan homes, as they prefer to buy it at warungs including the morning coffee or tea."…..Ijoi.

Now the BIG task of the day had come. We left Kuala Kerai for Tanah Merah at about 1000 hrs. Throughout the journey Abang Kecik reminded Ateng to buy somes films the moment we arrived Tanah Merah plus the agenda we were to follow when we reach Kg. Gobek, also the people he was going to interview and so on. We arrived at Tanah Merah at about 1100 hrs.
Abang Kecik and Ateng immediately rushed to the photo shop. We also took the apportunity to shop some food stuffs at Pasar Besar Tanah Merah. I managed to grab something for my wife, the 'serunding' and the 'keropok' she requested the night before I left for Kelantan. About 1115 hrs. we were on our way locating Kg. Gobek. Abang Besar and Abang Kecik were far more excited than Ateng and myself."…..Ijoi.

At the Tanah Merah market we had a lesson in Kelantan phonetics. We were asking for directions to Kampong Gobek from the lady womanning the keropok stall which was strategically located near the entrance. She told us the kampong is near Ipus. We asked, "Is it near Ipoh?". "Nope," she said, "Ipus!". Sure enough, when we got there, we were going through Kampung Ipoh. Backpacker Rule 10, ie, Be wary of local Lingo.
The last Backpacker Rule 10, ie. Be wary of local Lingo means Etak is etok, the black small smooth shell kerang like edible, packaged like kacang rebus which I decided not to buy after the Kak Nik vendor at the Tanah Merah market translucently confessed that it wont last the journey to Kajang as it would petrify our pod racer interior even though it had been rebussed (boiled). Kelantanese tongue does not respect Baku vowels, their 'Ooo's sound 'Aaa's. That is why etok is spelt etak. This is scriptwriters' freedom of the press.

"TO BE CONTINUED!
                · on how we finally got to the landing site,
                · live interview with the folks of Kampong Gobek,
                · the history behind the name of GoBek,
                · the Re-Discovery of fascinating Malaysian Rain Forest on the
                  East-West Highway (Tanah Merah/Jeli /Banding/Grik),
                · the Shower of Nature at Pergau Dam,
                · Unplanned meeting with Orang Asli at Banding Island Fisheries,
                · Understand your Stomach from Abang Besar,
                · and MORE all done and captured within 24 hours!
                  Unbelieveable...
                .....Ijoi