When I was twelve I had, amongst others, a pen-pal (an entirely out-dated concept, I know) from what was then, Malaya, now of course, Malaysia.
William Foo would write to me with all manner of fascinating facts and statistics about his country, and one of the absolute MOST fascinating was the information that they had rubber trees that were TAPPED…..and that is, literally!! The trees are somehow allocated a tap (screwed into the trunk?) and a wee bucket is hung off the tap, thereby enabling the tap to be turned on and liquid rubber run out of the tree (the absolute details of this process escape me). This image has stayed with me my entire life.
Along with the rubber tree intrigue, I also had the romantic notion that Malaysian train-travel was next-to-none….whether that was due to William, I’m unsure…. Anyway, on this day, I was about to experience something I had waited a very long time for!!!
Out of the hotel at 7am looking for coffee…people friendly, and only a couple that appeared homeless!
We were due on the train at 9am….how fabulous, to spend all today’s daylight hours seeing what I had been waiting all my life for! First class, what’s more!! It was worth experiencing the very BEST!!
Oops….1st class, really??? All looks somewhat down-at-heel to say the least!! Train very slow….its going to be a long trip at this speed…Eeekk, is THAT the only toilet??!!
First impressions last….
Oh, I was feeling deflated….
Passing through the inner and outskirts of Johor Bahru….dirty and impoverished looking, lots of slums….
And once out of the city, looking for the famed rubber trees….NOT A ONE!! Thousands of acres of palm plantations! All the way to Kuala Lumpur, this was all we saw!!
I was flabbergasted and completely downheartened! I knew that the palm oil phenomenon was far-reaching and causing irreparable damage in many countries, and to much wildlife, but this was tangible proof of the insidiousness of this new cash crop.
Onward and upward….
KL, Chinatown….The Matahari Lodge. Sounds slightly exotic, but so not!! A hell-hard bed so out early to find somewhere else to call home for a week.
The Monkee Inn became the place….$23 for a lovely clean, quiet room with windows and air-con!! We settled in, then caught the metro, the LRT, into the city.
The journey was great, seeing a new city from the windows of a train is always a pretty cool thing, for me.
We disembarked in the central city and made our way to the famed Petronas Towers. These were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998-2004, and remain the tallest twin towers in the world. All gleaming stainless steel and glass, these towers really are quite impressive, although the obvious conclusion one comes to is whether the money invested in a landmark in the face of an awful lot of poverty is well-spent…..And then, once inside, I was astounded that stores with prices such as these even existed in a city outside New York!!
From the grandeur of the twin towers we progressed to the Aquarium and KL Kelly Tarltons. I don’t recall whether it actually WAS called KL Kelly Tarltons or if I’m just making that up, but in fact, an official I spoke to at the place did tell me it was based on our own Kelly Tarltons here in Auckland, and to all intents and purposes it was identical.
Fantastic, and a most enjoyable afternoon….
After which it was back to the slums for a cold Tiger!
The next day featured a locals market in the alley behind the Monkee….everything from false teeth (fitted one at a time), Chinese viagra and dodgy erectile aids, to brass rupas and electrical components! No Westerners in there….apart from me!!!
Then off to the Batu Caves on the bus, an amazing Hindu pilgrimage site up some hundreds of steps outside KL. This is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, and has at its entrance an enormous statue of Lord Murugan that dwarfs its surroundings…..almost 43metres, in fact!
As is often the way with such impressive tourist sites, rip-offs abound….Sage, at the time, was completely enchanted with snakes, so when an opportunity to be photographed with some of substantial size was presented by an enterprising chap, why not?…..The pythons were indeed beautiful, one in particular being golden, it would be a pity to be churlish….
Back to the city, and thence to Chinatown and the Monkee, street food on the way in the famous Petaling St, an excellent day!!
Another interesting experience had nearabouts to Chinatown was having my hair cut! By no means ordinary, and somewhat surreal….It began, at the outset, with the relentless 80’s music: the Thompson Twins, Cyndi Lauper etc, then my hair was shampooed, and neck, head and shoulders were massaged, at length, while seated, then I was moved to a lying position with a pillow-type thing in the basin for the hair-wash! Quite odd but very pleasant….the cut didn’t turn out so great, but, well, we cant have everything!
One day we awoke to rain, and the market traders all adhered to the sides of buildings gleaning whatever shelter could be had. Cleared by breakfast and business as usual!
Then steaming sunshine and a Hindu festival in full swing, everyone dressed in their colourful finery…..Some hours later saw the street sweepers busy bundling up thousands of polystyrene cups and plastic take-out containers.
No coffee to be found!!
On a smoggy day near the end of our KL stay, we ventured off to the ‘Sunway Lagoon’, an immense park ringed by bush. The park is in a basin, and after the bush, around the very top edge are the pick of KL’s top hotels, at least that is how they appeared to us… A far-cry from the high-density housing with caged balconies that we had passed through to get here.
This place was amazing…..it had everything! Amusements such as water slides and bungee, wildlife, water for extreme sports, a 500 metre long swing bridge….and NO crowds! Fantastic!
Our last day in Malaysia, we started out to the airport late morning and after a few minor hiccups reached LCCT (low cost carrier terminal) by 1pm. More hold-ups once on board due to passengers no-show, but all very exciting once on our way to Laos.
Travel Tales 