Thursday, November 20, 2014

Day Trip: Pulau Ketam

As I’m still on a financial diet, we decided to check out Pulau Ketam on 25 October 2014. We parked near the police station at Port Klang and went to the jetty to board the boat. There were supposed to be scheduled departures and we arrived at 0930 – the same time as the boat was supposed to depart. We half-ran and thought we made it but the boat only left at 1010. So much for scheduled departures then! The ticket cost RM7 for adults (RM4 for children, or was it RM5?) and it took about 50 minutes to get to Pulau Ketam. I was appalled at how dirty the sea off the coast of Port Klang was. It’s like the Klang Valley inhabitants think the river is one big dumping ground and that it could swallow their rubbish whole. Well, no. The Klang River emptied out into the Straits of Malacca of course.

We arrived at 1100 in the baking mid-morning sun. The new MB was recently there too but his visit didn’t seem to have any effect on the locals. The island was dirty with the islanders nonchalantly throwing rubbish under their stilted houses. I was glad I didn’t decide to spend overnight there because before long I was wondering about the water supply.

We walked (you could rent a bicycle and cycle around but we didn’t plan on being there long anyway) and explored the village before turning back. The sun was already shining down mercilessly and we sought shelter while having apam balik from the only Muslim stall there. There were a few seafood restaurants but I wasn’t enticed.

We left before 1 pm. Well, we walked to the jetty and had to wait for the first boat out. In the end, we took the speed boat (RM10 for adults) back. I couldn’t wait to leave to be honest. I was glad I went there if only because it means I would never have to consider it as a destination again. I’m not being catty but the visit almost made me feel crabby at the end of it. Never again. Never.