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THis post brings you news from our time in Pulau Penang (and other news from Malaysia). Of course, my posts are weeks behind now but I figured better late than never...

Seemingly every alleyway Pulau Penang's historic capital, Georgetown, leads to a surprise

The majority of our time (almost the entire second week) in Malaysia was spent on the island of Penang, located in the far northwest of the country, quite near Thailand. We made the decision to spend longer there based on a number of factors, most importantly being the cost and hassle of transportation in getting to each new destination.

 

The Cameron Highlands was a parking lot!

 

We really enjoyed Malacca and could have spent one or two more days there, but we had heard such good things about the Cameron Highlands that we decided to squeeze it in. In hindsight, it wasn't the best decision.

I cannot in good conscience recommend that anyone go to the Cameron Highlands at this point, either from either a tourism or environmental standpoint. The landscape is being completely ravaged by over-development, and (as usual) the marketing people are way ahead of the infrastructure. I haven't seen traffic jams of such severity since leaving Atlanta, hundreds of cars packed with people sitting at a standstill on two-lane mountain roads. The rainforest is disappearing at a rapid rate to make room for hotels and farms. Because the climate is cooler, the Highlands are a magnet for city dwellers who visit during holidays and weekends. Ironically, the deforestation is resulting in warmer trends and other associated problems such as pollution from farm run-off.

The Cameron Highlands wasn't all bad - the BOH Tea Plantations are a beautiful place to visit and away from all the traffic and chaos that plagues the main town centers.

The CH landscape and lush rainforest that remains is quite spectacular, but there seems to be no interest in either preserving it or providing (free) information or basic facilities to enable people to see it. Most visitors to CH seem to want to sit in air-con buses and get out occasionally to eat strawberry ice cream. Seriously. For those who are seeking a nature experience, it's still possible, but it will take effort and you need to be willing to get well off the beaten path. You'll also need to have decent outdoor skills. Walking trails were in poor condition (I can't tell you how many fallen trees we had to climb over during one of our walks), the maps are very poor and lack even the most basic details about distances or difficulty, and signs of any kind were almost non-existent. If you wanted more information, it didn't seem to exist in printed form (though later I found some decent track descriptions on the web).

In CH, we "discovered" the Malaysian Breakfast of champions:  Roti with Teh (tea) Tarik!

The world's largest flower, Rafflesia, is found in the Highlands and we really wanted to see it, but the tours were quite expensive. When I inquired about finding one on our own (assuming we were willing to get there ourselves) a tour agent replied that the nearest ones were some 40 km away. He explained that sometimes other tour companies were known to intentionally destroy any flowers that should bloom closer to towns or on public trails so that people cannot see them without booking a tour. To his credit, he then explained that this was the reason that his company didn't offer tours to see the flower. Nature tourism should provide economic benefits to the local population, but not like that. It was sad, really, and surprising (I don't know why – by now we should be used to it, right?) to see such short-sightedness. If there had been more opportunities / information provided, we might have stayed longer (resulting in more money for the hotel, local restaurants, etc.) but as it was we were ready to go after two days.

The entrance to Fort Corwallis in Georgetown, Pulau Penang - just one of many, many historic sites on the island

On the other end of the 'visitor experience spectrum' was Pulau Penang, or more specifically, historic Georgetown, the largest city on the island. Here was a place that 'got it' and you could tell they cared about both the community and their visitors. They must be doing something right – in 2009, Pulau Penang was named #2 of 44 must-see destinations around the world by the NY Times. Georgetown (along with Malacca) is designated a World Heritage Site in recognition of its outstanding cultural, historical and architectural splendors. In many ways, the two cities are quite similar, both being important ports of call for traders and colonial powers for the past 500 years (and earlier), but Georgetown is notably larger and more vibrant (and busier) than Malacca.

Georgetown's City Hall, a lit up at night

Chinese Clan Houses (and rickshaw cyclos!) are EVERYWHERE in Penang

To facilitate the exploration, the local arts councils and heritage trusts provide a number of terrific (and free!) walking tour brochures with maps for exploring the town's many temples, mosques, crafts centers, historic buildings and other heritage sites. Even foods were showcased (in not one but three different brochures!) highlighting the very unique and special local cuisines and trades/crafts that are distinct to the region. We used the maps to track down vendors all over town creating strange and tasty dishes like bubur kacang, assam laksa and rojak. After dark, the streets of Georgetown come alive with night markets and street stalls selling all kinds of weird and delicious stuff, and amazingly cheap. One can hope that perhaps these age-old traditions will continue to flourish if supported by the interest (and money) of tourism.

The AMAZING Chinese Clanhouse of the Khoo Khongsi. Words and this pic simply can't describe this building, which is said to have rivaled the Emperor's palace in China.  I so badly wanted to move the piece-o-crap car out of my photo!!!  This building was featured in the 1999 film "Anna and the King" starring Jodie Foster.

Kek Lok Si, a Buddhist temple complex on the west side of the island, featured beautiful temples and a gigantic 30.2 meter tall bronze statue of the Kuan Yin

I really can't say enough good things about this place - we had such a good time there and could have spent another week exploring Pulau Penang's hidden gems. As if the central city offerings weren't enough, there are also many points of interest around the larger island that are worth seeing. The public bus system is excellent (new air-con buses, awesome printed schedules, and even a free town belt bus!) and we used it to visit Balik Pulau, a town on the far west side of the island, as well as the Botanic Gardens and Kek Lok Si, an enormous Buddhist Temple (Kek Lok Si). Great fun, and there was still plenty more to do in the region that we didn't have time for.

Kuala Lumpur's iconic Petronas Towers, until 2004 the world's tallest buildings

Sadly, our time in Penang (and Malaysia) had to come to an end and we're back to Kuala Lumpur to get ready for our our next destination. Considering that Malaysia was not originally a strong part of our planned itinerary, we're both pleased to have given it more time (even despite the higher costs). No other country on our tour will have the complex and diverse mixture of different peoples, religions, language, foods, architecture that make it so unique. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest city, is in many ways representative of the country itself – a place of stark contrasts – great wealth next to extreme poverty, a melting pot of cultures, and a sense that the place is a rising star (with all the good and bad that comes with that status) in Southeast Asia. It will be very interesting to see what Malaysia looks like in 10-15 years.

Next stop: Hanoi, Vietnam

Images from Malaysia

The historic city of Malacca, second stop on our tour of Malaysia

I'm several cities / stops behind now, so have decided to resort to just showing some photos with short captions rather than writing at length about everything...hopefully will have a chance to do a more detailed post when we get to Viet Nam.  In the meantime, here's some pix from our travels in Malaysia, from the cities of Malacca and Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands (follow the links for more info about each place / thing)   ~William

Colourful trishaws compete for your attention among the old alleyways of Malacca

Our visit to Melacca coincided with the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts!

   

Stacey tries out being Royalty, I try out being the servant!

Night market in Chinatown of Malacca - there's Stacey in front looking for good veggie food stalls!

 

  
Speaking of strange foods, we're trying them all.  Left to right, clockwise:  Baba Cendol,  Nasi Lemak (eaten for breakfast), and Kaya spread (put on toast - very yummy, reminded me of pumpkin butter) and Laksa, a hot spicy soup. Malaysia's food is amazingly good and cheap if you eat at night street markets.  Why would anyone want to eat at McDonalds?

Some things are the same, some are very different!

The Dutch dominated Malacca for a little while as well (and the British and Japanese after them!) and left this fort to prove it.

Flor de la Mar, the "Flower of the Sea" - a replica Portuguese galleon at Malacca reminding us of their colonial presence.

A waterwheel - also called a "Noria" - which would have been around at the time of the Malay Sultanate

We stayed at Emily Traveller Home in Malacca.  

 

 

 

The Sam Poh Buddhist Temple in the Cameron Highlands

 

 

 

Picking tea at the Boh Tea Estate in the Cameron Highlands. 

 

 

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur
2 Sept 2010

Jalan (Street) Petaling -- a.k.a. "The Gauntlet" -- and one of the entrances to Chinatown

Arrived late (around 9) in KL. Took the KLIA express train from airport to Central Station. Was very impressed by all of the helpful people at the airport and train platform that pointed us in the right directions and even helped us lift bags (Our bags are sooooo heavy.  We have to shed some stuff. But what?) into the rail car. Because I’m in “Westerner-Expecting-to-be-Scammed” mode (which is an unfortunate but healthy attitude), I kept waiting for the catch but it never came. Even the taxi from the train station was relatively painless: you buy a voucher from a special counter at a set price, and away you go. This easy-going, no hassle atmosphere would change once we got to Chinatown, but more on that shortly…

Sze Ya, a magnificent Taoist temple in the heart of Chinatown. There was so much incense burning in this place it looked like it was on fire!

Our taxi took us to the Monkee Inn, our budget accommodation, located in the heart of Chinatown. It was about 10:30, and already the area was buzzing with activity – but after the 8-hour flight from Sydney we were just too wiped out to do anything other than hit the sack. Thankfully, our room reservation was fine and they were waiting for us. 

KL's Chinatown comes alive at night and *everything* is for sale

Before going any further, I want to say that this was an overall delightful place to stay and also acted as an oasis of peace (and air con) during our two days in KL. But, initially, I wasn’t so sure.  Put simply, this is our first backpacker/budget experience and I was frankly not prepared for the size and Spartan nature of our room. It was about 8’x12’, with a double bed, a single chair, and that’s it. To be sure, this was the first test of our ability to be ‘backpackers’. We silently looked at each other in horror, and then quickly crashed in the bed, just thankful to be horizontal.  

Sri Maha Mariamman Dhevasthanam, built in 1873 and the oldest of KL's Hindu temples, is hidden in alleys of Chinatown

The morning gave us a chance to explore both Chinatown and the Inn in more detail, and we were pleasantly surprised by how overall clean and nice the facilities were at the Inn. They had a nice common room with free internet, TV and DVDs (the younger backpackers were glued to the tube watching bad movies) and decent shared bathrooms/showers. The breakfast was simple – an assortment of breads and spreads, with coffee/tea, and was in the lower bar area where they had Al Jazeera news (which Stacey appreciated since she is a news junky and hates to be out of the loop about what’s going on – it was on there that we first heard about the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand).  The owners of the Monkey Inn are (I think) expat Americans who had a very matter-of-fact quality about them that I found refreshing – and they gave us great advice on using local transportation, which was very helpful for our budget.

 

The beautiful central rail station (Stesen Keretapi) in Kuala Lumpur

But enough about the Inn – the room isn’t where you want to spend time anyway! - what about Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown???  Well, I have to be honest and say that what keeps springing to mind for me is a rather famous quote by Obi-wan Kenobi used to describe Mos Eisley in the movie Star Wars: “A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy”.  Sorry. That’s what it reminds me of!  And it was indeed a hive, filled with masses of people buying and selling all manner of goods – alive and dead, real and counterfeit, junky and…junky.  At every corner, you are assailed by “salespeople” pushing pirated DVDs, fake brand name items (purses, sunglasses, shoes, watches, clothing).  Caucasian tourists are apparently their target market, too, so they come after you with a vengeance. No matter how many times you say “no, thank you” they stay on you like a sniper with a laser beam. Haggling is not only expected here, it’s mandatory.  You’re a complete pushover if you don’t. Cautiously, I waded in to the fray to get a new pair of “Ray Ban” sunglasses. To my horror (and mild amusement) my salesperson opponent was a 10-year old Asian girl who was cute as a button. A tactical sales approach to be sure, putting children in such places. I’m sure the shop owner was nearby smirking at his/her genius! Needless to say, haggling with her was a hopeless endeavor. But I did get her to come down from 45 ringets to 12.5.  Sounds pretty good, but I assure you it could have been lower. 

 Vegetarian fare in Chinatown included assorted "meat" dishes!  The "chicken" was surprisingly yummy.

One of the main reasons people go to Chinatown, beside shopping, is the food – and it’s pretty amazing.  The streets are filled with drifting smells that are delicious, strange, disturbing and intriguing (enough to make you seek out what is causing it). Trolleys and carts line every lane, roasting stations, portable grills and steamers. Want a 10” giant prawn? No problem. Have a hankering for pig’s face?  It’s there. Fruits both exotic (e.g Durian and Jackfruit) and mundane (e.g. watermelon, apple) are pounded into smoothies and icees and juices (very nice in the heat) while sugar cane stalks are ground into a sweet nectar. Beer is another way to beat the heat and Tiger (Singapore) and Carlsberg (Dutch, I think) appear to reign supreme. Overhead, casting a strange otherworldly illumination on the entire scene, are colourful lanterns, flashing neon and glowing giant LCD signs. Bakeries and tea houses are hidden gems in the nooks and crannies of the hive, offering Moon Cakes and Red/Green Bean-filled pastries. Walking further back into the dark alleys is where things get really interesting, as this is where the locals gather and the work of preparing the food happens. Outdoor butcheries dealing in everything from soy “meat” to cats and chickens and beef. It was enough to reinforce our vegetarian tendencies – and fortunately we did discover a really good vegetarian vendor offering a huge range of vege options.

 

Sugar Cane Dude says "Peace Out!"

In hindsight, we were incredibly naïve to think that a couple of days in KL Chinatown would be relaxing and non-stressful. The smells, colors, sounds, people – it’s all a barely controlled chaos that bombards the senses from the moment you enter it. We came to refer to walking down Jalan Petaling (the main Chinatown strip) as “running the gauntlet”.

Interior prayer rooms of Masjid Negara, the National Mosque of Malaysia

One brief moment of escape came during shorts trips to see the National Mosque and Batu Caves.  This is probably a good time to mention, in case anyone out there didn’t know it, that Malaysia’s official state religion is Islam (the others – such as Hindu, Buddhism, Christianity, etc., are here but in the minority). At the mosque, we donned our robes and removed our shoes before entering the interior. The mosque itself was quite modern in terms of architecture, and frankly a bit underwhelming in that regard, but that’s not really important to the congregation I suppose. As a guide informed us, the determination of a good mosque is it’s size. “The more people, the better.” He also offered us some helpful brochures that further explained such things as Islam and the historical relationship between the major world religions. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to hear about all of the Prophets in complete detail (though he was enthusiastically prepared to do so) and we had to head back over to Chinatown and get some rest for one last night before heading out of KL the next morning.

A giant golden statue of Murga and 272 concrete steps stand between us and the dark caverns of the Batu Caves!

I leave you with this photo from the Batu Caves, another most interesting must-see destination for anyone visiting Kuala Lumpur.  Simply put, it's an amazing spectacle of a place and unfortunately my internet time for the day is done so I can't describe it fully.  I hope you will follow the link provided above and read more, it really is a neat place. 

Next stop: Melaka (also spelled Malacca) - one of SE Asia's most ancient and noteworthy port cities!

Blue Mountains, Australia

  

One more post from Oz before we move on to Asia -- this time just to show some pics from the beautiful Blue Mountains about 2 hours away from Sydney (by train). We enjoyed several of the walking trails that followed the cliffs and into the valleys of the park. Hard work, but worth the views!