Another New Country

It’s been an interesting and exciting few days. On my final day in KL with Carole we went to the Batu Caves where there is a Hindu shrine which this Thursday becomes the focus of a major Hindu festival and pilgrimage, called Taipusam. Then we went to a talk about the festival given by a member of the local cultural circle who is also a great photographer and had a great collection of photos from the festival in previous years.

I left on the 10pm train to Butterworth, which as well as being the place to catch the Bangkok train, is the mainland port for ferries to the nearby island of Penang. There was 8 hours to wait there, so several people made the short ferry trip over to Georgetown – the world heritage site on Penang. I teamed up with a Canadian guy and as we explored Georgetown we stumbled upon a Hindu temple where they were having a festival very like the one that’s due this Thursday but on a smaller scale. We saw the worshippers gathering with the weights strapped to their heads as an act of sacrifice, and the priests giving blessings, and then great excitement as a statue of the god is carried on a chariot pulled by to decorated oxen.
We were so lucky just to be in the right place at the right time, and I was especially glad that I understood so much more, having been to the talk the previous day. I also didn’t hesitate to ask people there what was happening as it all seemed so relaxed and jolly.

Then we got on board for a 24 hour train trip to Bangkok. It actually took quite a bit longer. In the night I was woken by a very loud bang and jolt and thought for a moment that the train had crashed, but then everything went quiet, and I went straight back to sleep. In the morning it turned out that the train had crashed and we’d been stationary a lot of the night. The train crew played it down and I still don’t know what we hit, but on the grapevine I heard that some people had been hurt and taken to hospital.
On the journey I got to know a large Indonesian family and a Swiss woman so I had company and entertainment.

Now I’m in Bangkok. I arrived too late to see anything last night. I’m staying in a hostel which has single rooms as well as dorms – so I have a single room, en suite, with air con, for about £9 a night.
Over the last few days I’ve had to become increasingly adventurous with what I eat. Near Butterworth station for lunch I had rice and veg for about 20p from a very non-touristy place. Last night I had an eggy pancake, cooked at a street stall, which was delicious, for about 30p. On the train I had a set breakfast that consisted mainly of chocolate biscuits. For lunch today I ate somewhere where there was no english menu, so I asked for rice and vegetables. I got the most delicious fried rice with egg, chicken and vegetables, cooked before my eyes, and I did see the chef/proprietor/waiter wash his hands first. With a fizzy drink it came to about 80p.

Today I really enjoyed a visit to the Jim Thompson House. He was an American who settled in Bangkok after the war and revived the Thai silk industry. His house is a collection of traditional Thai houses brought together, and houses his fabulous collection of Thai art and antiques. Then I spent a peaceful afternoon at Lumpini Park watching games of Takraw (like volleyball but with the feet - the aerial overhead backward kicks are amazing, and risky on a concrete pitch!).

It's been sunny today after the grey weather of the last two cities - but it didn't seem any hotter.

The pictures on this entry are the entrance steps and statue of the god at the Batu caves, some young participants at the festival in Georgetown and the Jim Thompson House. I'll also add a photo to my last entry as it didn't have one.

Temples and towers

Having a great time with Carole in KL. Yesterday we went to look at the Petronas Towers, which form one of the more interesting and beautiful high rise buildings I've seen on my travels. You can only go up about a third of the way as a tourist, so we didn't go up. While Carole attended to family duties, I also visited a heritage Malay House which was fascinating, and had a look at one of the main mosques.
Today, after an early morning walk in an area of jungle, we headed into the city again and visited two Chinese temples and a Hindu temple. Quite a contrast to the simplicity of the mosque and also much more relaxed. We witnessed the "waking the gods" ceremony at the Hindu temple - very noisy and there are a lot of gods to be woken and revered!
This afternoon, I'm going to take advantage of the ex-pat lifestyle, and have a dip in the pool.

Kuala Lumpur

Yet another country and they're getting a bit more exotic. I crossed from Singapore to Malaysia yesterday on the bus - but not one of the buses you read about in travel books, with goats on board and people on the roof; this was a very luxurious one - much better seats than on planes. Last night I ate "drunken chicken" at an open air restaurant in a very chaotic street.

Today I've been seeing some of the sights, including Merdeka Square, which was the old colonial centre and the site of the independence handover, marked by the world's tallest flagpole. I also went to the central market where I experienced the highlight of my day - fish therapy. You let lots of small fish nibble at your feet, giving you a foot massage and chewing off the dead skin cells. It's very ticklish at first and decidedly weird - but your feet do feel refreshed afterwards.

I've also booked for the next stage of my travels - a two night train trip to Bangkok.

Tomorrow I meet up with my next host - Carole, my friend Lynn's sister.

I guessed my remarks on Singapore's cleanliness might provoke a comment; I'll admit that compared to here, Singapore is very clean!

Sentosa Island

Having spent two days in Singapore exploying the city itself, today I got a cable car over to Sentosa Island, which is a bit of a tourist trap, but great fun. There are a lot of ways to spend money! I went on a chair lift and a luge/toboggan/go-cart ride, went up inside a giant statue of Singapore's symbol, the Merlion, and visited Butterfly World and the Insect Kingdom, as well as sitting for a while on a pretty beach, finally enjoying a glimpse of blue sky.

Singapore is certainly a very varied place, from the huge air-conditioned underground shopping malls, to the little streets of the Indian and Arab quarters, to the grand old buildings of the colonial era, and the rather artificial touristy areas full of restaurants and cafes. The old chestnut about it being so clean and litter-free is a myth, by the way. I saw a normal amount of litter here. And at the moment quite large parts of the city are a bit of a mess because of construction work, either on new buildings or on the underground rail system.

Yesterday I did a short river boat trip, and visited the museum of Asian Civilisations which had some fascinating objects and lots of information about how the civilisations of India, China, South-East Asia and the Arab world all inter-acted over the years, with this region as the hub of their trade and cultural exchange.

I'm glad I decided to stay a couple of days here rather than just dashing through on my way to Malaysia and Thailand. It's certainly grown on me!

Singapore

My souvenir from Singapore will be a very nice umbrella which I had to buy today! I've been exploring on foot, as usual when I arrive in a new place, and the choice was air conditioned shopping malls or very warm, wet and humid streets and waterfronts. I've finally left behind the entirely western world of the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and have arrived somewhere which is a bit of a halfway house to entirely different cultures. It's a real mixture of the British heritage and all the other cultures that have established themselves here - Malay, Chinese, Indian, and more. The hostel reflects this, with its eclectic architecture, and just yards from a big mosque.

Goodbye to Australia

This is my last night down under. I head off to Singapore tomorrow. I've enjoyed a fairly resftul last few days in and around Sydney. I had a fun visit to the Taronga Zoo yesterday - so far on my travels I've visited several aquariums but no zoos till now. The stars of the place were definitely the young gorillas who were very entertaining, but there was also an amazing display by various birds, flying free above the audience but doing exactly what they were meant to do, right on cue. And I saw the new baby elephant who is the big attraction at the moment.

Today I met up again with Nik, Steve and little Sammy who I stayed with before Christmas and we played on the sand at Manly.

I think I get free wireless internet connection at my next hostel, so I won't feel sorushed when I'm doing my blog entries.

Fireworks

This is me enjoying the New Year fireworks at Darling Harbour in Sydney. We were on the terrace of the hotel where Margaret was staying, so we didn't actually have a view of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, but we were able to wander in and out from a lovely buffet with unlimited sparking wine, and enjoy the views in style and comfort rather than with the general crush. It was great to see a friend from home, and Margaret and I also enjoyed exploring various parts of Sydney on foot and ferry, eating and drinking at outdoor cafes and going up the Sydney Tower for the views.
I stayed over at Margaret's hotel for two nights in the end, but now I'm back at my hostel, which has the youngest, liveliest clientele of any hostel I've stayed in, and the dirtiest kitchen! But it does have its own rooftop swimming pool so I had a proper swim this afternoon.