15 April

One of our main reasons for staying in the mock capital was that the Thai Consulate was there. We got up, drank tea, ate toast with kaya (coconut, egg and butter type of jam - very nice) and headed to the consulate only to become drenched in the rain and having to put on the poncho we purchased in Jerantut - first time we've needed it. When we arrived at the consulate we were informed that it was close for the public holiday of Songkram festival (the water festival). It was a 30 minute walk one way in rain, we were not to chuffed. This meant that we needed to stay another day or leave it until the boarder and only take a 15 day visa as was now the regulation for $25pp. In the end we decided to stay, visit the cultural centre, markets and relax. We headed for the markets looking for DVD's which could be purchased for RM 5 per DVD (RM 1 = R2.5), I got the 3 newest DVD's for RM 11 and we went to the market to buy other sundries which were not available or very expensive in tourist areas. After this we headed to the cultural centre where we watched a musical team perform, a martial art display (in slowww motion choreographed to the local music) and the traditional paintings of Batik. In Batik, the artist draws the outline of the picture with heated wax from a utensil working similar to a fountain pen, after this the painting is colored in with different shades of paint on the silk or cotton. Due to the use of the wax no paint spills over and remains in its enclosed markings, this makes the painting appear extremely accurate or well defined with regards to the bigger picture. We liked the art so much that we decided to buy a painting, unfortunately the bigger ones were to expensive so we opted for a smaller one of a hut with a palm tree next to it.

From here we headed back to our accommodation, switched on the computer and watched a movie while the rain pounded away outside. After the movie we headed out once again to the night market to sample what had not already eaten. The delicacies included spicy beef in meehoon noodles, pancake with banana (absolutely divine), pancake with mince, fish ball, vegetable ball and for desert a rice ball with banana interior and sprinkled coconut outer, something different.