EAGER ARRIVALS
We had arrived in Kijal, a typical east Malaysian village – they are called Kampungs, and they count around 4000 inhabitants, but on the road to the beach we saw more water buffalos than human beings! Excited kids showed up quickly after our arrival and watched every move we made. Are we the first windsurfers at this remote location? Before I answer that, let’s rewind a little.
HISTORY
I have travelled to Malaysia twice before, always during the windy season, which starts in the end of October, when the north easterly monsoon season kicks in. This period normally lasts till March and can bring some heavy rain during the first months and hits the coasts of Taiwan, Penghu Island, Hainan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and the eastern coastline of Malaysia. A cold winter on the mainland in China produces a strong north easterly Monsoon. From May till September the Monsoon shifts direction by 180° and blows from a south western direction.
During the 90’s huge races were held in Malaysia, even World Cups between 1991 and 1993. Some of the superstars were battling for up to 30.000 US dollars prize money!. The Asian tour had a stop there once a year from 1998 – 2007. In 2007 I was invited to the Monsoon Madness race event and flew in from the Philippines, where I was attending the Boracay Cup. The event was an attempt by the local tourism to promote windsurfing and make water sports more popular in Malaysia. I was staying in nearby Kuantan for almost a week in January and was competing with a few dudes from Australia, Poland, South East Asia, Japan, Singapore and even the UK. It was a tough race. I remember drinking six bottles of water during one competition day. The climate was really extreme to compete, not just the Formula 1 racers suffer in Malaysia in their cockpits year by year! We struggled with the high humidity and temperatures, especially when competing during midday hours. The tough race event didn’t change anything in my attitude to Malaysia. I really liked it. The relaxed atmosphere in the local restaurants, the stable wind and the warm water temperatures. All you needed were board shorts and a lycra during the day when windsurfing. I knew I would return one day to drive around and discover more beaches where Kerstin could shoot new angles of a relatively unknown country on the windsurfing map.
We were around in Bangkok, testing some gear for Starboard and saw a nice dry weather forecast for the region of Kuantan, Malaysia for the following week. It was relatively simple to book a flight from Thailand’s capital to KL (Kuala Lumpur) and an inland connection flight to Kuantan in the state of Pahang, the third largest in Malaysia.