Cooler in the Mountains

After another day in KL and eight in total, it was time to move on. I decided to run for the hills to the Cameron Highlands which from all reports is the place to go. So back to the crappy temporary bus station and on to a bus that had seen better days. There were only 5 passengers including me - I think most travellers book mini buses from their guesthouses around 12.30 but I like to get an early start (and do things the hard way). After 2 and 1/2 hours up into the mountains we reached Tanah Rata, the main town in the highlands (and where every second restaurant was Indian). A mini bus from the guesthouse I'd booked was waiting for me, a blessing once I'd seen the steep stairs to get to it! I was there early enough to get my pick of the rooms and chose the one with a view. The guesthouse was one of those old, colonial places that had been converted years ago but now consisted of hard beds, paper thin walls and dubious shared bathrooms. Now I think about it a bit like school camp - though my first impression was it resembled something out of The Shining... At least there was beer. And good company. I spent my evening drinking with like minded travellers and my days doing not much - reading, playing patience, eating. The weather in the Highlands is mild and doesn't get much above 25 degrees, a welcome relief from the hot and humid lowlands. I did a half day tour to some tea plantations and the mossy forest - ancient, perpetually damp and well, mossy. It was beautiful as was the view from the highest peak with the mist rolling over the hills. The telecom towers spoilt it a bit though. Most exciting for me were the tea plantations - I got to both walk through one and have tea and scones overlooking another - bliss for a tea freak like me!

The Highlands are also known for their hiking trails. Many of my fellow guesthousemates had slogged their way up and along them but the day before I was leaving I was yet to check one out. I hadn't planned to but as these things go... I wandered away from the town for a look around when I saw a sign to some waterfalls so I followed it. This turned out to be track 9A which Lonely Planet claims is the easiest. The track was paved initially but as it went deeper into the forest became a dirt track. I started to double back being a wuss (or sensible) but met a girl from Scotland who let me tag along with her. Just as well, I wouldn't have made it without her! The track disappeared a few times and we both fell at different points. If this was the easiest track I doubt I would have survived the more difficult ones. I was very happy to see the end of the 2.5km track but the fun wasn't over. We decided to walk 7km uphill to a tea plantation. It seemed the better option as we were far from town and the call of tea and scones and a taxi back to Tanah Rata was strong enough to get me up that hill (but sooo not running). So I felt I had done justice to the Cameron Highlands and who knows if the heat gets all too much I may have to head back for a few days!

I wanted to check out Ipoh regardless that it is not on the backpacker trail. Ipoh and the surrounding cities of Kuala Kangsar and Taiping have some amazing colonial architecture. The train station in Ipoh is palatial, as is the town hall. The "new" town of Ipoh also has some interesting architecture - Chinese shophouses, art deco and many other styles. But I'd really gone to Ipoh to try the local speciality - chicken rice with bean sprouts. Apparently its the local water that makes the sprouts the best in the country. I tried 2 variations - one with noodles and the other with rice. They were both good (if a little monochrome) - the one with the rice won. And the bean sprouts were indeed tasty. I did a day trip to Kuala Kangsar, the old royal capital of Perak but my day didn't go so well as I kept getting lost - and in the midday heat. But I did see the school where Anthony Burgess taught in the 50's. I had an odd time in Taiping where my hotel room overlooked a mosque and I was the only backpacker in town. I did get to the museum - Malaysia's oldest. A mix of animal dioramas in the full sun and newer displays in climate control. I then rode the rails to Butterworth, the jumping off point for Penang and hopefully a cooking class.

Until next time.

Hot in the City

On my last day in Melaka I did some touristy things. The Melaka River Cruise does a 9km run up the river and was quite underwhelming. The local government has spent huge amounts of money (including 3.5 million - I'm not sure if that's ringit or dollars - on an amusement park that wasn't running) beautifying the riverside but honestly from the boat there is not much to
see. I checked out the Stadhuys museum where the history of Melaka was told in paintings (with the odd mini diorama and object thrown in) - the building itself is beautiful. Had popiah (a sort of fresh spring roll) for lunch at a traditional Nonya house and discovered egg roti. I'm now seriously addicted to its eggy bread-y goodness! I did enjoy my time in Melaka. The Riverside Guesthouse is wonderful and I met lots of lovely people there. But Melaka only needs a couple of days so it was time to move on to the big city - Kuala Lumpur.

A 2 hour bus ride in Club Class (essentially 3 seats across where there are normally 4 - so much leg room I couldn't reach the foot rest!) which despite my concerns about New Year traffic left and arrived on time. The main bus station is KL is currently being renovated so we were unceremoniously dropped at the temporary bus station out in the suburbs. But I managed to navigate my way to my guesthouse in Bukit Bintang. As the title suggests, KL is hot and humid but I'm coping OK, even with my insistence of walking everywhere. If it all gets too much I can always escape into the nearest mall. It took me a few days to get to grips with navigating this sprawling metropolis. The public transport is good but none of the lines connect particularly well, especially the monorail, my closest form of transport. Not to mention the freeways and flyovers that bisect the city. Outside of the gleaming malls KL is a crowded, dirty place with lots of construction adding to the madness. Chinatown is not very inviting and the famous Petaling Street is just another run of stalls selling knock off Gucci handbags and dodgy DVDs. However the Petronis Towers are pretty awe inspiring and before you ask, no I didn't go up to the Skybridge. I'm not a big fan of heights - certainly not just for the sake of it!

The bits I have enjoyed:

Islamic Arts Museum - one of the most beautiful museums I have ever seen and really informative especially about the Qur'an, the Holy Stone at Mecca and mosque architecture.

The Planetarium - the building from the outside is amazing (left) and they have a full dome set at an angle. I watched Passport to the Universe, a American Natural History Museum production narrated by Tom Hanks. Not sure what system they use as I couldn't find anyone to ask. (Yep, I'm a nerd on holidays too!)

The Batu Caves - 200+ steps past a massive statue into caves containing a number of Hindu temples and lots of monkeys. A bit empty but considering they get a million pilgrims at the end of January for Thaipusam they need the room! Around the corner near the train station is the relatively new Ramayana Caves - kitch concrete dioramas of scenes from the myths. Its even
easier to get to caves as the train line has been extended and drops you at the door. So new its not in the guidebook.

Klang - one of my day trips from KL. To be honest I just liked the name but I spent a lovely couple if hours there wandering around, drinking coffee in a proper kopitiam and checking out the old Sutan of Selangor's palace (from the outside) and the museum dedicated to the most recent but one Abdul Aziz. It was a really well developed museum but sadly empty of visitors - the guard had to power on the AV's as I went through. I think I may have been the only tourist in Klang that day - a shame as its a nice respite from the concrete jungle of KL.

And the food. Lord, the food. My guesthouse includes a very generous breakfast and I've been having egg roti every day. I love nasi lemak (coconut rice with sambal (hot!), egg, fried anchovies and usually chicken curry. Teppanyaki, char kuey teow, lots of chicken rice. There is so much more to try but the heat is suppressing my appetite to 2 meals a day. Not necessarily a bad thing!

I've met lots of great people at the guesthouse and have been getting into conversations with local women in the women only carriages on the trains. The owner of the guesthouse invited a group of us to celebrate Chinese New Year with her family. Yes, New Year is still going and families from different regions of China have their main celebrations on different days. I celebrated Hokkien new year with firecrackers, fireworks (all in the front yard!) and witnessed a lion dance. We then feasted on roast pig and duck underneath 5ft tall joss sticks. An incredible experience!

All this an its only day 12! Until next time....

Chinese New Year - the festival of the closed

The flight from Singapore was great - Singapore Airlines' A380's rock! The in seat screens are huge and the service impeccable, we even got to Singapore half and hour early. Got the shuttle bus to the hostel all to myself - $9, certainly cheaper than a taxi. I was told the reason was Chinese New Year, something I would hear many times (and many times more in the next few days I'm sure). The hostel is a bit out of the way but the train system is so efficient that it's a matter of minutes between trains. In my one full day in the city I spent the morning wandering around. First stop, Chinatown. Empty, so empty. As was most of Singapore. At times I felt like I had wandered onto the set of 28 Days Later or Day of the Triffids - without the zombies or killer pot plants. It will be interesting to see the difference when I get back. After Chinatown and its empty hawker stalls I headed to Orchard Road, home of the mega mall. Again, pretty bereft of people. But then it was time to catch up with an old work mate of mine who recently moved here. We met near Arab Street and he showed me his favorite street, Haji Lane. He says it reminds him a little of Gertrude Street, lots of little boutiques. Alas, all closed. We then headed to Clarke Quay, one of the more touristy spots complete with outside air conditioning! Very odd. After a few beers and a catch up it was time to part. So nice to see a familiar face.

The following day I made an early start to cross the border to my next destination - Melaka. Now, those of you who followed my last adventure will know I don't do things the easy way. I start off with good intentions and it ends up taking twice as long than if I'd bought a ticket straight through. But with the local bus running near my hostel and my trusty ez link transport card (like myki but it actually works) I got on the 170 that goes over the border to the big bus station in Johor Bahru. It was a lot of getting on and off the bus between checkpoints, but I got there in the end. $6 later I was on my way to Melaka. Doing it this way saved me $20 which is almost half my daily budget. Despite my worries (and memories of bus trips in other parts of Asia) the bus left on time and didn't stop once. Got to Melaka, another local bus and I was at my guesthouse. Excuse all the details but no guide book really tells you how these things will be, so if I can help another traveler through the finer points of getting around so much the better.

So. Melaka. Not at all empty. Packed to the rafters (damn, that never used to be a loaded expression - now its a show on channel 7). But still half closed. In my first afternoon and evening I managed to knock over most of the sights. The old Portugese fort is quite atmospheric at dusk. As night falls you get to see the trishaws at their crazy best - decorated in lights, flowers and god knows what else, they travel through the streets blinking crazily and blasting out music - I did hear Justin Bieber at one point... The Jonker Night Market in Chinatown was shoulder to shoulder - lots of stalls selling useless crap - Facebook thongs (of the feet variety) anyone? Away from the action I had a banana leaf tali in Little India - remembered to eat with my right hand.

Day 2 was more wandering. I visited my first museum, the Customs Museum. Small, free, airconditioned. Lots of displays of confiscated goods - knives, animal skins, porn - the usual. Had a new food experience - fresh soy milk. Laced with sugar syrup and surprisingly refreshing and nothing like the stuff from the carton at home and cost 30c. I still haven't quite got into the food as most of the hawker centres are closed. I did try an assam laksa that was so spicy I couldn't finish it. But don't worry food lovers, food will feature more as the trip goes on. So tonight is the last official night of Chinese New Year and I was treated to a fireworks display from a local backyard across the road from my guesthouse. Ahh, the days when fireworks were legal... And that is probably a good place to leave you for now. Hope you're all well.

Off Again!

I know its been a scandalously short time since my last trip but when you have the travel bug as badly as I do...
This time it's 6 weeks in Malaysia, starting and ending in Singapore. So I'm reinstating this blog to keep you posted about all my adventures and no doubt a bit of whinging about the heat.
My first adventure? The A380 to Singapore which will probably translate as long queues at the airport to check in, some so so films and maybe an inflight meal, then a long wait at the other end for my bag. At least I hope it goes that way - boredom and waiting are preferable to a mid flight emergency!
So au revoir my friends and I'll chat to you next from Singapore.

Home

I'm back!

The flight home was uneventful and and I did lots of duty free shopping as you do. I can't sleep on planes so it was 24 hours of awake time before I crashed. I took a couple of days to reacclimatise but I'm thrilled I can now drink water from the tap and no long have to put toilet paper in the bin next to the toilet. And I can have a cup of tea whenever I want!

Statistics:

Flights - 9

Visas - 4

Overnight trains - 3

Sleeper buses - 1

Border crossings - 4

Times I got sick - 1

Currencies I still have floating around my bag - 5

Haircuts - 3

Photos taken - 1507

The number of photos worth looking at - 183

I hope you've enjoyed the blog - it was lots of fun to write.

A slide show with live commentary is available on request.

H.

Books read

The Children's Book - A S Byatt

A sprawling family saga with a bit too much historical detail (it felt like a history lesson at times as opposed to a novel) but enjoyable none the less.

PopCo - Scarlett Thomas

All I wrote in my journal about this one was "a good, easy read". Not sure if that's damning it with faint praise...

Shades of Grey - Jasper Fforde

The new one (and a new series) from one of my favourite authors. Doesn't quite reach the heights of his Thursday Next series but contains the usual Fforde wit and pop cultural references. I do look forward to the next in the series.

Smile When You're Lying - Confessions of a Rogue Travel Write - Chuck Thompson

A book about what the official guide books leave out. Thompson pours witty vitriol on the travel writing industry. Lots of fun and highly recommended.

Revolutionary Road - Richard Ford

A book group book. It felt a bit more like a play than a novel in tone. The characters felt a bit one dimensional and the dialogue like a script.

The Three Musketeers - Alexander Dumas

I was inspired to read this after reading The Dumas Club. Surprisingly engaging - a real page turner. The writing was a bit simplistic but that may have been the translation.

The Northern Clemency - Phillip Hensher

A doorstop of a book at 730 pages but it was so damn good I finished it in five days! The story of two families from Sheffield that follows them over 20 years - sounds simple but the writing is so carefully considered it was a joy to read.

The Secret Scripture - Sebastian Barry

An interesting novel about memory with two unreliable narrators. Not sure about the ending though.

So there you go - 15 books in 3 months - not bad going! My current read is Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel that I picked up at KL airport.

Hanoi Part 2

I arrived back in Hanoi in the late afternoon after a mini bus - boat - minibus - coach (and the nicest one I've been on in all of SEA) combination. Quite tedious. I shared a cab into the Old Quarter with some fellow travellers after escaping the mad rabble of drivers that descend on any bus arrival. I treated myself to a boutique hotel (Impressive Hotel - and it was - big TV, computer in the room etc.) and settled in for my last few days, not just in Hanoi but for the trip. To be honest it passed in a blur of shopping and sightseeing. I won't bore you with the shopping other than to say that it was exhausting. The weather was hot and humid making my already short fuse even shorter. On my one shopping free day I made and early start and walked to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. After 45 minutes of queuing and security checking I had my 30 second walk past the coffin. The preserved body of Ho Chi Minh is dramatically (I may even go so far as to say eerily) lit and is guarded by four soldiers in immaculate white uniforms. While grand in scale the interior feels like the foyer of an office building - but I suppose the veneration of a national icon is a business of sorts. From there I caught a cab to the Museum of Ethnology that the guidebook says is one of the best museums in the country. While the objects are interesting the whole thing could do with a lick of paint - its certainly showing its age. One of the more interesting parts is the "open air museum" where you can wander around examples of houses and tombs of some of the ethnic groups of Vietnam. The Ede long house was my favourite - the epitome of open plan living. From there I returned to the Old Quarter intending to buy tickets for the water puppet show that evening. After a half hour wait I discovered all the shows were sold out and I was lucky even to get one for the following day. The show once I saw it was very sweet and it is quite an amazing sight especially the Dance of the Fairies where 10 puppets are on the move at one time. Other than that I hung out at the backpacker bar at night and chatted to people. Several asked if I was sad to be going home. I wasn't - in fact I was quite looking forward to it. Don't get me wrong I've had an amazing trip as this blog will attest but to use a cliche - all good things must come to an end...