Leisurely Langkawi

Well we had enough Starwood points to get us a week at the Sheraton Langkawi Resort, so that is what we did. Nice spot, quite upscale, private beach and surrounded by jungle. In other words, a tad remote. That, in itself, is not a bad thing, but it does bother me a bit that when there is a captive market the prices escalate. This goes right from the food and drink, to the twenty US dollars per day that they want for internet hookup. Wifi hookup is very nearly taken for granted in this present day and age, but not at the Sheraton apparently. Once you get over this small glitch, it is a great place to stay.

Langkawi is a group of about 70 plus islands, still on the Malacca Straits.

Langkawi islands

The main island is about the same land area as Penang, but far less populated. The Jetty, where the fast ferry docks, is about 30 minutes from the Sheraton, by taxi — about $7.00 worth. It is also the major town area, such as it is. But our intent is to lay back, and that is what we did. The Sheraton is situated on about a quarter section of land with a great deal of beach front. The accommodation is primarily comprised of four unit bungalows, each with a private deck area.

Bungalows and grounds, Sheraton Langkawi

Very comfortable, and I enjoyed taking my morning coffee on the quiet of the deck. Bonnie also enjoyed me taking my coffee on the deck, as it left her the quiet of the room, which she could enjoy — with  her eyes closed. One morning I was enjoying my coffee, deeply engrossed in my Kindle, when I heard a soft shuffling in the chair beside me. Thinking that Bonnie had rousted herself, and had joined me to enjoy the morning, I changed my focus of attention so that I could not be accused of ignoring her company. Imagine my surprise to see that it was not Bonnie who was sharing my morning, but a want-to-be, who was a bit of a look alike.

This is NOT Bonnie!

This was apparently a “long-tailed Macaque” monkey, and there was my  animal magnetism at work once again. These are not only probable ancestors of mine, but are no doubt relatives of the Macaque monkeys of Ubud, but with longer tails than both of us. This group of monkeys would come by most mornings on their way to the beach area. Most likely doing the beach thing in order too get a good laugh. Large older people, in small Speedo swim suits, burning to a crisp under a hot Malaysian sun. Even the locals were complaining about the heat, but in the immortal words of Noel Coward, “mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid day sun”.

One of the few touristy things to do on Langkawi, is to do the Gondola lift to the mountain top. Not to be out done by the tram in Penang, Langkawi has a Gondola ride to the top of a mountain. Actually to the top of two mountains, as it does a peak to peak thing at the top. Like Penang, this takes place at the 700 plus meter level, but the area is more rugged. There is something about swinging in a gondola, over a chasm, with very vertical walls. The peak to peak is not of the magnitude of Whistler, but the view is awesome. Add to all of this is a suspension bridge between the second mountain top, and yet another mountain.

Suspension bridge

Definitely the place for a view of Langkawi.

A mean first step

From an animal standpoint, there was a lot happening in the early morning, and I had become in the habit of taking my camera with me, for my time on the deck. This was an advantage, for one morning, a group of  “Dusky leaf Monkeys” came strolling by.

Dusky Leaf Monkey

More dusky leaf

There goes that “monkey-whisperer” bit again. Now these didn’t look like anything from my gene pool, but I include a few snaps for the benefit of any of you out there who may be doing a family tree thing.

I was starting to pick up on some of the local monkey dialects, and Bonnie decided that I had ‘way to much time on the hands’. The solution was to get us out of there, which worked out well as our time was up at the Sheraton at any rate. The only glitch was that we had come to understand that there was a flight from Langkawi to Phuket. Well there is, it just happens to go via Penang or Kuala Lumpur. The downside to the latter is that it makes a long trip out of it, and the shortcoming of going through Penang was that it didn’t work for the days that we required. Our solution was to take the fast ferry back to Penang, and then , if we were going to be in the area, we might just as well stay a few extra days, so that is the plan. This will work out well, as Thailand may be having its annual airport disruption, by the opposing political factions, and this will give us a test of the waters before jumping in. The blog will keep you posted as to what we are doing, if and when we know ourselves.

T

The Straits of Malacca

We took a day tour from Kuala Lumpur to Malacca, or Melaka, as it were. Some say toe-mah-toe, some say toe-may-toe, or whatever. Chinese New Year festivities made accommodation at a premium, so we settled on the day trip. It worked out well, as we did get to see the area at least, and it was quite interesting. Malacca started out as a small fishing village until the Portuguese explorers noted it’s strategic location on what is now known as the Straits of Malacca.

A little touch of home, in the Portuguese community

They established a trading post here, and soon the Chinese merchants moved into the area. Subsequently the Dutch became the dominant presence, then the British, and for a brief three year period during WWII, the Japanese were in control. The Portuguese, Dutch and British left their mark both in the gene pool and the architecture, and the Japanese are still making their presence known by means of the yen. The Chinese methodically stayed in the background during this entire period, until they were the dominant ethnic group in Malacca. They also brought the Buddhist and Taoist religions to the area, and Malacca boasts the largest Chinese cemetery outside of Beijing.

St. Francis Xavier

The Portuguese brought the Catholic religion to the area, and built a church on the highest point of land, later to be named for St. Francis Xavier. It is said that St. Francis was interred inside the church for a period of time, later to be relocated. A statue was placed in his honor at the entrance of the church. When the Dutch took over, they left the church intact, out of respect to the Portuguese who remained in the area. Under the British rule, this was not a consideration, and the church was promptly utilized as munitions storage facility. The fact that the walls were very nearly four feet thick probably entered into the picture as well. Still the old church stands, albeit without a roof, but standing none the less.

Open Air Church

The only other remnant from these times, is the entrance from the original fortifications. There is talk of rebuilding the walls of the original fort, but that remains to be seen.

Entrance gate of the old fort

There is a street in Malacca, known as Harmony street, as within a two block distance are both Catholic and Protestant churches, Buddhist and Taoist temples, and, of course, a mosque. Apparently these have all stayed in the area, without mishap, for many generations. Only time will tell if this can stay for many more.

Our next bus trip took us to Penang, an island off the coast of mainland Malaysia. The bus depot in KL was like most big city bus depots, way too busy, far too many people. We were not even certain that we might not be taking the “chicken bus”, as the bus was not the newest of the fleet, but it was comfortable, and there was no livestock to accompany us, as we settled in for our five plus hour ride. Now as I stated, the bus was comfortable and the roads in Malaysia are superb — very modern and in wonderful condition. No doubt a benefit for a robust oil and gas industry. Malaysia certainly doesn’t have the appearance of most of the countries in the area. I mentioned that Penang was an island off the mainland, I didn’t mention that it is connected to the mainland by a bridge. The bridge is 13.5 km long, and six lanes wide. Impressive to say the least. An additional bridge is slated to be built further south, that will be nearly three times as long — just add money.

Night view of the bridge

A very good call on our jaunt to Penang, as we thoroughly enjoyed the city. Probably the area which we enjoyed most in Malaysia, although there really was no area that we did not like, but to a lesser degree. Penang has a decided British influence, pip, pip, old chap, with many buildings built in the Victorian style. For the most part, these buildings have been very well maintained, with many more protected in a heritage trust.

A colonial private home

In order that Penang would be a “proper” place to live, the Brits also built botanical gardens and a tramway to a mountain top. For the view, don‘t you know, and as it was cooler at that altitude, a proper place for “high tea”. The tram is indeed an interesting achievement, in that the vertical lift was some 700 plus meters, and had to be built in two sections. The lower section takes you to just over the half way mark, at which point you change cars for the remaining distance. In that there are cars descending at the same time  that there are cars going up, and as there are but single tracks in both sections, a small length of double track is provided at a passing point.

Tram track

It is probably a good thing that this is all controlled by cable, as I suspect that the monotony towards  the end of the day, might provide some interesting events, if it were left in the hands of humans. The tram is slated to shut down shortly, so that some major renovations might be undertaken. The track is to be twinned, and a single run from top to bottom. I fear that it may lose some of its charm when this takes place, but will increase the ability to move passengers. Regardless, the trip will be interesting, and the view is spectacular. Certainly worth the time spent.

Passing lane

The botanical garden is an area to view the local flora and fauna, and surprise, surprise, the resident group of monkeys. Now my family is starting to call me the “monkey-whisperer”, but I swear that I am not searching them out. Perhaps the monkeys see a family resemblance and want to check it out, or maybe they just think I’m nuts.

Rhesus monkey

They are rather interesting, in a monkey sort of way, and as these ones were Rhesus monkeys, they were a bit different than those previously viewed. Come to think of it, I do somewhat resemble the older fur-faced one of the group.

Self portrait

In addition to bringing their architecture and engineering to Penang, the British also brought their East Indian staff, who have stayed and established themselves as an East Indian community. This makes for a wonderful variety of culinary delights, for along with the Portuguese and Chinese communities, and the native Malaysian cuisine, the palate can be treated to a new taste experience almost at will.

On the subject of a taste experience, I am a bit disappointed in my old buddy, Johnnie Black. I have run across him both of the last two years that we have come to Asia, and I just assumed that he would be in the area again. It seems that he also likes to winter in this area, but alas, he is not to be found. I did think that I had caught a glimpse of himself, at the duty free in the Kuala Lumpur airport, but I fear that I must have been mistaken. Perhaps, in this land of many mosques, he is a “persona non grata”.

As luck would have it, Bonnie managed to book us into a hotel that was within walking distance to a shopping plaza. Well, not just a shopping plaza, but the largest shopping plaza in Penang. Now this was no doubt divine intervention, as there was no where on the hotel site that made mention of this, but there it was, all the same. I believe that it must have caught Bonnie somewhat by surprise, as she could just not get into a proper shopping frame of mind. I can tell when this is the case, as she likes to keep me near, when in the mall. This, so she won’t become lost, or something. I have no problem with this, but I do feel somewhat uncomfortable, hanging about the “ladies loo”. For fear of possibly being mistaken for Tiger Woods, I try to place myself as far from the facility as I can, and still remain within sight. I was thus positioned, when I noted a Muslim gentleman fidgeting in the area of the “ladies”, and thought, perhaps, that he was somewhat confused and filled with indecision. Now I must point out that in order to assist foreign travelers, the facilities are identified by stick people, one with trousers and the other with a dress. In as much as the gentleman in question was attired in a nightshirt, dress, sort of a thing, I assumed that he was possibly confused as to which he should use. At this point his daughter joined him from the “ladies“. At least I assume that it was his daughter, she was wearing a dress — but then again, so was he. Maybe it was his son and they were both confused,— now I’m confused — and at this point I guess that it really doesn’t matter.

A view from the top of the tram

Our next stop is the island of Langkawi, also on the straits of Malacca, but less populated and more laid back than Penang. Time for some more R&R. We could have spent a bit more time in Penang had we known that we would enjoy it as much as we have, but “it am what it am”. The trip to Langkawi is a three hour boat ride by fast ferry. It should be interesting. We shall see.

Take care of yourselves, and enjoy each day!

T

Kuala Lumpur

One thing about plan B from Lombok, was that we got to spend a bit of additional time in Bali — at the airport mind you, but Bali none the less. On our taxi trip from the “fast boat” to the airport, I had occasion to study animal husbandry at its finest. I believe that I mentioned last year, that the Thai people had managed to skillfully breed the common dog to its lowest life style. I must reconsider this previous observation, as I have now come to the conclusion that the people of Bali, have exceeded this low point. The dogs of Bali seem to fall into about the 20 pound range and  resemble absolutely no breed what so ever. Their coloring is generally mottled, at best, and judging by the raised hackles, most closely resemble some form of Hyena. The hot climate has given them a similar degree of ambition to that which I also possess, and so, they can most generally be found lying about, doing nothing. No one seems to care for them, so the height of their ambition seems to be spent digging through the garbage, in search of something edible. It is just a good thing that they have yet to find out that fat-folk don’t move too fast.

About five hours of loafing about the airport and we were KL bound. This, of course put our arrival at about 11:00 PM, and thus our hotel arrival after midnight — and so to bed.

Daybreak showed Kuala Lumpur to be the vibrant city that it is portrayed to be. Although the economy has been adversely affected, it has not apparently spilled over into the construction industry. There are new sky scrapers being built everywhere. Of course, one cannot speak of sky scrapers without a visit to the Petronas Twin Towers.

Petronas Towers

These were a tribute to the oil and gas industry of Malasia, and was built by a consortium of world players in the industry, and includes not only the towers, but a very high end shopping mall and a world class auditorium for the symphony. The towers, themselves, have been surpassed several times as the worlds tallest, but are still a marvel in their general construction and appearance. The entire outer surface that is not window, has been clad in stainless steel, giving a boater fits of drooling, as ones imagination runs rampant.

Looking up

Looking down

Looking all around

Now, as there are a limited number of tickets given out each day, to go up to the viewing platform, and as it is imperative to get there at least 1/2 hour prior to opening, that one might be the lucky recipient, Bonnie appointed me as the official procurer of tickets. In addition, it was suggested that I get there more in the neighborhood of 1 hour early to positively ensure the acquisition. The fact that it would allow Bonnie some additional undisturbed sleep, was totally secondary, but she took advantage of this bonus anyway. It is good that I was very early, as I was about the middle of the pack. It is a delight to be standing on a marble floor for an hour and a half , in close quarters with about a gazillion sweating bodies. Did I mention that it is hot in Malaysia?

After our tower tour we managed to wear ourselves to a frazzle, strolling about the very fancy mall. There is obviously some money somewhere in Malaysia.

After the development of the Petronas complex, the downtown area was designated KLCC, or Kuala Lumpur city center, and so buildings in this area have their name followed by the tell tale KLCC.

Took a city tour via the “hop on, hop off” bus. This allows you to get on and off as many times as you like each day, for one set price, and allowed us to see a variety of different sights and areas. As we were strolling through Afghanistan, I happened to snap a picture of a young refugee girl, with haunting eyes.

Haunting eyes

Well, maybe it wasn’t me who was strolling through Afghanistan, but those of you who are older than DVD’s, might recall seeing the above picture in the National Geographic, back in 1982. The original picture was actually taken by freelance photographer, Steve McCurry, and we were fortunate to be able to view his exhibition which is showing until April 8th. He is an incredible photographer, and many of his pictures are totally awe inspiring. And, oh yes, I did actually take the above picture, as I snapped this view of a display poster.

On the topic of pictures one could fill a book with pictures of unique buildings, displaying both the old and new of  KL today.

New steel and glass

There is much activity throughout Malaysia at this time, in preparation for Chinese New Year. It is an exciting time, and holds great importance for the Chinese population. For those of you who were unaware, this is the year of the Tiger. Sorry ladies, that is not the year of the “Cougar”. I guess that you will just have to wait.

There is a lot to see, in both Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding area, and where another day may take us is still undecided, but I’ll try to keep you updated from time time time. In the meantime — take care!

T

The last of Lombok

Well, we got our tour of the south of Lombok. Not a great deal to see as the island is not all that populated, and of course, the tour guides try to direct you towards the local industry in hopes that you will make a purchase. We, of course, did our best not to disappoint anyone Our first stop was to a pottery making facility, where all types of pottery is made, by hand, for export.The items are mostly shipped to Java, and then for export.

Our next stop in the world of industry, was to a village noted for its weaving. Weaving had been done here, in the same fashion , for generations.

Hand weaving by tradition

Rather than go to school for a wasteful education, the girls are taught to weave, from about the age of seven. Now these looms are very basic, and the weaver must stretch it tight by means of her feet at one end, and a board across her back at the other end. This is done from a sitting position on a carpet of straw. You get to do this all day, which would amount to about 10 cm of weaving. You do get a bit of time off in order to give birth, and the children are then looked after the old folks, who can no longer weave. We had a local guide, who gave us quite an insight into the village life. She spoke very good English, which she had self taught from television and the tourists who had come to the village.

Village guide

In between showing her village to tourists, she wove cloth, along with the rest. She explained that cost kept the majority of the village uneducated, as schooling is paid by the individual families, and very few can afford this luxury, so most education is saved for the boys. The girls are taught to weave, marry young, and have many children. This outlook was slowly changing, and the present generation were only having one or two children.

Our next stop was to the Kuta beach region of Lombok, which is on the south end of the island, and has a white sand beach. It also has bigger waves, and is an attraction to surfers. This works out well enough as the area is not as well  developed as the Sengigi area where we were staying. The surfers tend to be of a younger generation, (if you can imagine), and are less fussy about their accommodation.  As it was a Sunday when we did our tour, there were many locals at the beach, Sunday being a family day and the beach being affordable.

Locals at the beach

The picture is of the kids at  play — miles of soft sand and they are all on the lone lump of rocks in the area. Go figure!

Back in the seventeen hundreds, when Lombok had a king, the royal family spent considerable time in the mountains to the north. This, because it was cooler, and if you were king, you could. It was, however, a bit of a pain in the royal rump, to travel back and forth to the mountains all the time, and so the king had a new temple and grounds built for his personal pleasure.

If I were king

The grounds were excavated to give the appearance of the temple situated upon the mountain to, and two lakes were dug to represent the two lakes which the king enjoyed at his mountain retreat. Although this was a Hindu temple it is still a very popular spot today, used by both the few remaining faithful to the Hindu philosophy, and the predominant Muslim population.

All that a king can see

From Lombok we are to go to Kuala Lumpur, in Malasia, and as swimming is out of the question, the most likely solution was to fly. We booked passage for the three hour flight with a local carrier called Merpati Airlines. Upon closer scrutiny, via the internet, I noticed that Merpati’s track record was less than stirling. They poked one in the dirt in August of 2009, and then repeated the performance in December. They were probably placed on this earth in order that even Air Canada might look good. A quick cancellation of our tickets and we are back to the “fast Boat” to Bali and an Air Asia connection to Kuala Lumpur. More to tell about this metropolitan area in the next blog issue.

Take care of yourselves.

T

Gone to Gili

Goodbye Bali, hello to the Gili Islands. We were quite pleased with our tour arrangements for a look about Bali, which we made at a street side shop in Ubud, and so booked our travel to the Gili Islands with the same shop. This may have been a bit of a mistake, as things didn’t quite work out as we had planned. Not bad, mind you, just not as we were given to understand. Now as the trip entailed a 45 minute run by car to the area where we were to catch our fast ferry, our private, air conditioned car was to pick us up at 7:00 AM sharp. Well we were on time but our air conditioned car was a tad slow, about 20 minutes, and actually was a mini bus — without A/C and packed full. However, thanks to some kamikaze manoeuvres by our driver, we made it to the fast ferry before it left. Well that, and the fact that all the passengers were in our van, but what the heck. Now the brochure of the fast ferry showed an impressive vessel of rather new construction. Now either the brochure was very old, or we got the standby ferry used for smaller crowds. I suspect the latter. But in fairness, it didn’t appear to leak, and it did get us to the Gili Islands.

What you see is what you get

Now the Gili Islands are a bit of a step back in time. The main island, Gili Trawangan, has a road around the circumference of the island. This, in itself is not that unusual, but the fact that you can walk this entire length of road in under two hours. Also, you are not going to take a car around the island as there are no cars, nor are there any motorcycles. Even the island answer to tuk-tuks are limited to a single horsepower. They are small passenger carts, with a roof, and pulled by a small horse. Freight is a bit different in that it is placed in a small cart, without a roof, and then pulled by a small horse.

Rapid transit, Gili style

Talk about laid back, you can watch the sun get up and the sun go down, and in between you could walk about, swim in the ocean, swim in the hotel pool, or shop in the few small shops. The rest of the time you must take it easy and avoid the stress of this hectic pace. Remember those idyllic dreams of a south seas island? This might well be it. It the hectic lifestyle of Gili Trawangan starts to get to you, a small boat will get you to Gili Air or Gili Meno, both smaller islands, without the hustle and bustle. In fact, without a great deal of anything. After just a couple of days on Gili Trawangan, I was contemplating quitting shaving and perhaps growing a pony tail, but we only had those two days and then we are off to Lombok.

A “quick boat” takes us over to Lombok, which is a similar size to Bali. It even has a large city, Mataram, and an airport. Our destination is on the west coast of Lombok, in an area known as Sengigi. It is situated on a bay, with a sandy beach, which is protected by a coral reef.

Sengigi by the sea

We are in a Sheraton resort, which I can assure you is quite comfortable. The grounds are immaculate and the staff very friendly and attentive. Add to this, there is probably not even a twenty-five percent occupancy in this, the off season. Cheap rates and no crowds, I like it all ready.

Me in the morning

Lombok is a volcanic island, as are most of the islands in this neck of the woods, and although there are no active volcanoes here at present, the evidence is quite apparent. On the north central area of the island is their tallest mountain, which, of course had a volcanic origin. As the mountain barfed out the lava to form the rest of the island, and then cooled, it left a bowl where the top of the mountain once was. This, of course, filled with water and formed a sizeable lake. The odd happening here was that a subsequent, smaller volcano poked its ugly head out of the lake bottom, took a look around, and quit. So what we have is a volcano, nearly encircled by a fresh water lake, within a volcano. To actually observe this rascal entails an overnight hike, so I will just close my eyes and picture it. Besides, we only have 5 days in Lombok, and a tour of the south central region is in the works before we leave for Malaysia.

Sunset from the beach

We will keep you posted, take care of yourselves —

T

‘nother day ‘nother sunset