Trengganu in The Early 80's : Dungun and Rantau Abang (Turtle Sightings)

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My love affair with Trengganu started in the early eighties!!!!

It all started when my husband had finished his basic degree course in medicine and after the elation of getting his MBBS was faced with the stark reality : a posting as an MO (Medical Officer) in the east coast!!!!!

I was a teacher...and at that time it was our (the newly qualified teachers') nightmare too, to be posted to the east coast, so to avoid such a fate, I applied for Johore and got posted to Parit Sulong, Batu Pahat.

My husband, being a Kuala Lumpurian, had no escape, he got HBKB (Hospital Besar Kota Bahru). It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because of that, we got to travel the length and breadth of the East Coast! This will be the story of my blog :
East Coast Dreams from the eighties to the new Millienium.

Thus started my Trengganu Trek at Dungun when my husband had to "follow" through a Malay woman's pregnancy right up to the time she gave birth, as part of his practical. Me? I "followed" him on a Trengganu holiday.

It was a rural posting where student doctors had to check and study the living conditions in the rural kampong, for example the pit latrines,and the general health conditions that influenced their state of health.

the interior was so remote, you had to cross this menacing looking river

in some parts, you had to come down and wade!

During that posting, they took the opportunity to go upstream into the really rural areas, and my husband still had the priceless pictures of the rural health (ibu/kanak2) clinic as shown below:

can you see Dr Tay? ha ha ha..the skinny one with a cap!!!

This is a rural Maternity Clinic circa 1970's ....KELINIK BIDAN!!!!!!! You can see that it was very busy and full with Mothers and babes in arms overflowing out the door of the clinic to the steps!

I pondered my future sitting here on a rock in Dungun, while husband learnt the ropes of delivering babies with the help of bidan (traditional midwives) without the sophistication of state-of-the-art equipment of modern hospitals. Don't underestimate the role of midwives, they are an important link between country mothers and high-tech medicine. Many a generation of Trengganu babes were brought into this world by BIDAN

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When my husband was not busy delivering babies and treating mums and babes
with their ailments, he took me on a holiday to catch a turtle delivering her eggs!

We stayed at Dungun, the place where he had his posting and chose this rustic inn

called "Rantau Inn" ...wonder whether it still exists?

pristine and sandy beaches of Dungun...they are still pristine and sandy, till this day!

Untouched and undeveloped, the wilderness and natural beauty behind the inn.

Apart from this, there was not much "landscaped" sights to take photos with!!

The no fuss, no frills Merantau Inn. You have to sleep here, then,

when turtles are sighted, they will wake you and call you!!!

Then you have to travel to the beach and wait for them to come up to shore.

Even at that time, we took lots of photos...

in and around the resort

the spartan room!!!

we had to stay another night because no turtles made night calls that night!

Checking out the coastline all along Trengganu. This is a stretch of the beach

that we stopped the car by the road side to take snapshots.

Many years later when I visited Trengganu again, this rocky outcrop
with a bonsai tree is still there. I will show you the picture....sadly,
the girl in front is not the same anymore, she has aged!!!

Lots of poses, even without a digital camera!

Lost in the force of nature...can you spot the mere slip of a girl? (woman?)

(click on picture to enlarge!)

That night, we got lucky, we were beckoned to Rantau Abang, the turtle

sanctuary and hatchery, because a giant leatherback turtle has been sighted
and would probably come ashore to lay her eggs.

Can you see the hatchlings! Cute!!!

They would instinctively head towards the call of the sea and go into the ocean.
Many years later, they will come back here, the place where they were born,
to lay their eggs. They can go as far as the Atlantic Ocean and grow as big as the Giant Leatherback, but their internal radar will take them back to Trengganu.

People are millilng about, torchlights ready, cameras on ..it is a wonder why

the mother turtle bothers to come here to deposit her babies.
No wonder the numbers have dwindled: they cannot stand the papparazi.

Look!! At Last!!! One, only one GIANT LEATHERBACK TURTLE!!

she comes up slowly and labouriously to the shore, digs a hole,
breathing heavily, then the eggs drop.....her eyes tears,
and she covers them with the sand using the flippers, turns and
goes back to the sea where she disappears as suddenly as she appeared.

Even as she heaves and lays her eggs, people would not leave her alone,

hands are on her, flashlights are popping in her eyes and spotlights are trained on her.
Remember this beach was pitchdark before the turtle came.
She is oblivious to all the commotion around her.
My friend and colleague Hasmah Hussin who is from Jerteh, says they even ride on her back.

Take a good look at this giant leatherback turtle...you cannot see one anymore.
The ones that come here are now hawksbill turtles and green turtles,
sometimes, even no turtles.

This Rantau Abang Turtle Sanctuary is near the Tanjong Jara Resort.
Now there it so much development and plundering of turtle eggs the phenomenon
of turtles returning to their birthplace to lay eggs are going, going, GONE.

Read how Rantau Abang has become a ghost town here:

http://www.journeymalaysia.com/MI_rantauabang.htm