Our last day in Kota Bharu came round very quickly and we spent it being chaufferred around in a Mercedes/Nissan from the late seventies. Our taxi driver “Mun” took us first to a kite factory, the work going into these amazing flying “moons”, “birds” and “cats” is painstaking and so fragile. We wished that we could buy one but they would not last a week in our backpack.
Next stop was the shadow puppet maker. On the 30 minute drive we established that the taxi had airconditioning and that it was on but that all the windows were open. That would make it quite tricky to cool the car down but I could not coax the drive or anyone else to shut the windows. Then Susie leans out of hers and her hat blows off so we have another conversation in pigeon English to get Mun to turn round. I wish I could speak some more Malay but even the little I would have learned would leave me wanting trying to explain “my daughters hat blew off while she was leaning out your window.
What really floated our boat was that he took a genuine interest in teaching the children and getting them to have a go at all of it. He was so welcoming. We ended up buying the one in the picture.
The puppet maker was a true joy. In a ramshackle tin hut by the river he first traces a design of a character on paper and then glues this to a piece of cow hide he has de-furred and ironed flat. Then he punches along the lines with a hammer and nail to make the patterns.
Next he paints the character in bright, water-fast dyes and articulates the joints if required.
There is not much more to it than that but I have massively over simplified the task. It takes about 8 days for each piece! Because it is hide the characters last for ages. He showed us one that was 130 years old.
We also saw the batik factory but this was not significantly more amazing than doing it ourselves except that the scale and professionalism was magnified ten fold.
Much love to Mun our taxi driver who then got us to the hotel to pick up our bags and drop us at the train station for the overnight express to KL.
The train ride was fantastic. Bumpy yes, long yes but a great way to see people, countryside and another part of malay life. We are now safe and sound in a lovely hotel.
