As soon as we arrived we learnt that it’s pretty much the Muslim hub of Malaysia, which is a predominantly Muslim country anyway. The first day here we spent walking the streets and visiting the tourist sites such as the War Museum and the Craft Museum. This day, we also found out that because we were travelling during Ramadan (Muslim fasting month) pretty much next to nothing was open until at least 3pm, including McDonalds. We found a supermarket open and bought some bread rolls and chicken for lunch.
The guys at My Place spoke to us about Ramadan and its far more intense then we imagined. From the age of 10, they fast from dusk until dawn, that’s a whopping 14 and a half hours from 5:00am until 7:30pm, this includes smoking, eating, sexual activity and more importantly, drinking of any kind, including water. Which would certainly explain why it seemed everyone in Kota Bharu were more laid back - lethargic even - than the other places we have visited in Malaysia. They also gave us to directions to a Ramadan night market, which was only a 15-minute walk from the hotel. What a feast it was, the biggest food market we had been to and definitely the most crowded!
I better go, our taxi is beeping at us to take us to the Airport.