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Hi friends!
How is everyone back home? I hope all is well. After a luxurious stay in the fabulously clean and civilised Singapore, we catch a flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to see more of South East Asia. We have experienced a whole range of cultures over the past 5 and a half months and our latest, Malaysia, turned out to be a curious enigma to me. We only saw a few places, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Langkawi, perhaps an inadequate range of places to develop the beginnings of an understanding of a nation. The temples, for instance, have a curious mix of Chinese, Indian and Japanese influence. The Government buildings in George Town are modelled on a British colonial style. The cuisine seems to be a mix of Thai, Indian and Chinese. So much was the mix, that I felt inhibited from gaining a sense of Malaysia's unique identity.
In terms of western influence, Kuala Lumpur has their version of the Twin Towers, full of the most expensive and exclusive designer shops and some lovely restaurants. Striking though, is the contrast between these rich areas and the poor neighbours. I can only use South America as a benchmark, as the only other "developing world" place we have visited, and our only prerequisites for accommodation there were a private bathroom and double bed in a reasonable location. Arriving in Malaysia, using the same prerequisite, we have seen some pretty shabby areas with open drains, hideous smells (no doubt linked with the non-existent sewerage systems), scurrying rats, piled up bags of rubbish and unusual coloured liquids running freely down the streets. This, and worse, was present across South America, but we avoided these areas and stuck to the much more amenable middle road options. The middle road option in Malaysia is far below the aforementioned South American, upping our budget resulted in very little change and as our budget did not stretch quite so far as to the realms of the luxurious, I'm afraid our experience across all the places we visited in Malaysia was consistent with my first description.
Please don't get the wrong impression, though, we actually really enjoyed our time in Malaysia! Chris got an hilarious hair cut in KL from an Indian barber, complete with black slaps, switch blade shaving and some hair lotion; the finished product: a white-Indian version of Chris! We also saw one of the most impressive temples yet in South East Asia, the Kok Loi Si Temple in Penang. You can see some pictures of it in our collection. The central market in KL was also a bustling, lively highlight with lots of charm and character.
Thailand, on first impression, seems notably similar to Malaysia, unfortunately, including the attitude towards sewerage! Our first stop is the now famous, Ko Phi Phi, said fame with thanks to the Leonardo DiCaprio film, 'The Beach.' I can hazard a guess that the day after the film was released locals hurriedly erected temporary stalls and huts to cater for the vast amount of tourists that would follow. The tourists did indeed come, but Ko Phi Phi did not develop any more permanent solutions to the minimal infrastructure in place - the islands are struggling to cope. There's huge waste problems and rubbish piling up and no one appearing to be in a rush to do anything about it. On the plus side though, it is absolutely evident why they chose to shoot that film here and why it is still attracting the tourists. Huge and colourful mountains erupting out of the sea; palm trees, rainforest and the sweet smelling frangipani flowers sprout out from every corner; hidden coves, caves and bays with soft, white powdery sand; and a beautiful aquamarine sea make it spectacularly beautiful and a unique sight to behold. We enjoyed soaking in every minute of it, along with the other thousands!
Railay Beach, on the other hand, has a similar landscape and yet was a great find for us. It's much quieter and there's certainly not the pollution problems and smells and other problems associated with over-crowding an insufficient infrastructure. Whilst in Railay we took a day trip to the Emerald Pool, the Tiger Cave, the National Park hot springs and took an elephant ride through the rainforest. Fantastic! Tomorrow we are boarding a boat where we shall remain for the next 5 days, sailing around the northern Thai islands of the Andaman sea. It's meant to be some of the best SCUBA diving in the world; Chris will let you know our thoughts on that in his next blog!
Finally, I just want to say a HUGE congratulations to my best friend, Ayla, and her wonderful husband, Ian, on the birth of their beautiful baby girl, Thea Josephine on 4th January. We can't wait to get home and see you all; lots of overdue cuddles coming soon!
Loads of love, Emma and Chris xxx
- comments
Debi Hall always good to read your blogs i have just looked at all your front pics on your album board and it is amazing the contrast with each place you have stayed and this is so evident in just the first pic of each. Amazing time and such good memories and it aint over yet enjoy the boat and scuba diving. love Debski.
Selina Hi Emma - well done - yet another wonderful blog - am going to check out the photos now and with your words, I feel that I will have been to Malaysia, & Thailand, so no need to get a plane ticket!!
Lin Another brilliantly descriptive blog to help us enjoy and live every moment with you and boy we have !!! It sounds so interesting and different, and now as seasoned travellers you can compare each country!! It's been a wonderful journey for us, and a fantastic one for you two. Get ready for the question of 'what was your favourite place ????' That's a hard one to answer. Have really enjoyed reading your blogs and seeing your photo's - but am really really looking forward to you coming home (sorry - but I had to say it !!!). Take care both of you and enjoy the rest of your stay. Love to you both, XOXOXOXOX