Port Dickson

I have been missing the beach!

On Saturday Dennis and I decided to ride to Port Dickson to check out the beach there.  We are taking the students there in May and we wanted to check out some places.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it only took us an hour and 15 minutes to get there!  Hey, Hey....we have the beach practically in our back yard!!

Port Dickson

Known locally as PD and a weekend retreat for many city dwellers.

18 km of almost unbroken white sandy beaches on the west coast of Malaysia on the Melacca Straits.

PD used to produce charcoal but was later developed as a small port by the British and evolved into a busy trading center.

PD is the first place where competitive sailing was introduced in the country.

We went drove along the beach area to find a place for a shaded picnic area and swimming area to take the students to.

These are the pictures I took as we wandered along the beaches.

Port Dickson does have a large military base there.  On the way in we passed the soldiers in formation.

One group was standing in formation in misstep.  I did not get a picture of them as we had to stop at the entrance to the base to take a picture and the guards started yelling at us!  I was a little nervous so this is the only picture I was able to get.

These stands were all along the road right at the beach.

This is the area where we decided to take our “crew”.

It has this picnic area that is adequately shaded so those who do not want to be in the sun all day can sit and relax.  It has picnic tables under shelters where we can enjoy our lunch.

There is the beach on one side and a sheltered bay area on the other side of the point.  There is also a bridge as you can see from one of the pictures below where you can go and just watch the water.

We saw this couple having wedding photos taken.  It looks like another Tamil Muslim couple.  Who wants this color for their wedding dress and tux?

We made our way down to the “strip” where there were more people hanging out and we stopped and had lunch.

Hamburgers.....not your typical American Hamburger (not the first time we have been surprised by what we got....can’t think Western over here!)

 The prices are in ringgit.....3 rm per $1.  So our hamburger was $1 (US)

We got the special burger.  It came with egg.  The hamburger was very thin and looked like it had been shot with that red dye they used to put in the hot dogs (that I loved, by the way!)  The hamburger was encased in the egg....king of like a hamburger omelet with the hamburger being whole.  It has pickles, mayo, slaw on it.  The bun was grilled....it wasn’t your typical burger but it wasn’t bad either!  

Sorry for the half eaten hamburger but I always forget to take a picture of it before I eat...

This is the guy who made our burger.

 People here love their coconut milk.  The top is cut off and then put back on, given with a straw and spoon. People drink the liquid and use the spoon to dish out the coconut and eat it.

 Banana Friters

This is the strip right at the beach edge.....tables and chairs on the right for eating and restaurants and shops on the left.

This sign was on the sidewalk at the beach edge.  Interesting!

What do they consider immoral activities....looks like all they are doing is standing next to each other....I might would have thought a picture of kissing...

The Beach Area:

 The umbrella and chairs are all for rent

The whole day I never saw one single woman in a bathing suit.  What women I did see in the water were in their clothes.  If it was a muslim woman then they still had their hair garb on.  I would definitely not feel comfortable in a bathing suit here.  

Muslims do have swimming attire.....it is a one piece suit that covers the legs and the arms, usually black.

We continued down the beach and found some other interesting beach area to take pictures of

These boys were joined by other adults and they went to the water’s edge and started digging.  I don’t know what they were looking for....maybe clams.

On the way out we passed a Muslim cemetery.  Not very well taken care of

All in all a nice day at the beach.  Back to the city life.  Glad to know the beach is so close though....however I think we would need to go to one of the less visited areas to feel comfortable in a bathing suit.

Have a thought....maybe we could rent a hotel room for the day and be able to use their facilities and beach area!

May have to give that serious consideration....as I LOVE the beach and miss it!

...till next time...