Contrasts of Kampung Baru in KL

Inspired by Yomadic's post, I went for a wander around the village of Kampung Baru in Kuala Lumpur to check out the authentic Malay style of living, right here in the city.

Just one stop away on the train from the ultra-modern KLCC and it's endless maze of shopping and lights, this village has it's own stores and local restaurants, it's places of worship, and school. It was quiet in the middle of the day, with only a handful of people about the narrow streets.

The ramshakled houses and stores, and the stalls and markets, are a treat to see after all the steel and lights and windows of the rest of the city. All with the imposing Petronas Towers in the background.

As I walked through I was approached by a couple of locals at different points, keen to help me find my way to the station, thinking that I was lost. They clearly don't get many tourists among these streets, as they go about their usual life in this pocket of KL.

Why So Serious?

It’s 5 years since Heath Ledger was found dead, today. 5 years. I remember the day so clearly, with a couple of people calling for debriefing that morning, as we had heard the news, and were stunned.

A young Aussie actor, so talented and such a reportedly amazing work ethic about how he had gone about establishing his career and name in the industry. Such a sad loss, still.

This work of Heath’s most haunting roles, The Joker in The Dark Knight, was found earlier this month along Hosier Lane in Melbourne. So impressive, and equally disturbing.

Hmong Women in Sapa

The hillside village of Sapa, in the Northwest corner of Vietnam, was another highlight of my sidetrips whilst I was volunteering in Cambodia 10 years ago.

I took an overnight train from Hanoi, spent the day there, and returned on the train the following night, which was all my time in the area allowed for. Just a taste of this area of Vietnam, where the border to China was so close.

The characters, interactions and dress of the women of this village captured my heart the most, walking through the main street and seeing school girls walking to school, and then watching the women at work as they tried to sell their homemade wares at the market stalls. These Hmong women were dressed in their distinctive hilltribe colours and fabric patterns, in vivid blues and reds, and carried much of their wares on their back.

After experiencing the heat and humidity of Cambodia for the months before, the cold of Sapa was a shock to me, and I was so ill-prepared. Towards the end of the afternoon, having wandered through the village, the market and the stores along the main street, one of the women of one of the stores took pity on me, and I remember spending time huddled near her pot-bellied heater in her store, trying to keep warm. I wonder what she must have thought of this silly Westerner suffering the cold, as she went about her job. There were cute and shy attempts at interaction through this time before I could return to the station and the train, and back to Hanoi and the humidity.

This post is part of a series marking 10 years since I travelled to Cambodia to work as a volunteer. Hanoi and Sapa was one of my side trips.

Project 52: Thursday Afternoon

This week as part of our 10 year Cambodia reunion, we found paradise! We travelled down to Kep, and stayed in a gorgeous, gorgeous villa. The perfect catch up. On Thursday afternoon we spent more time by the infinity pool, catching up with each others lives, and taking in this view, as well as marveling about the house we were staying in. I will tell you more about it in another post in a few days....

This post is part of Project 52 with Jess from FuShMuSh.

The Big M in Kuala Lumpur

The sight of the twin buildings of the Petronas Towers is the iconic view of Kuala Lumpur; the view that confirms that you are in KL rather than any other big city in the world.

The night I arrived, I popped down to the KLCC to take in the view of the buildings from their foot. Here, hundreds of Malaysians and tourists alike had gathered around the pool in front of the buildings and the mammoth shopping centre, to watch the fountains and coloured light show.

I took in the view of the buildings from the pool edge, meant to be in the form of an "M" for Malaysia, with the bridge spanning across at floor 41 and 42.

I went back the next day to take in the view in the sunlight and blue sky - the detail and the balls at the top seem to twinkle in the sun, making the pillars of modernity seem pretty and enchanting.

With the idea of watching the sunset sink behind the Towers, and with yTravel Blog's view recommendation in mind, I found my way through the underground system from KLCC over to the Traders Hotel at the end of the day, and rode the elevator to the 33rd floor and the SkyBar.

I took a seat by the window to keep the Towers in view, and ordered a drink, as the clouds rolled in from the mountains to my right, and the sun tried to show it's sinking colours to the left.

This colour show, and the spectacular storm that ensued, gave me a totally different view of the Towers, occasionally disappearing from view all together through the heavy rain.

Ordering another drink to wait out the storm, and delighting in the bar with the hotel pool right through the middle, the sky then cleared and produced a perfectly clear view of the Petronas Towers once more, all lit up for the night.

Monk Procession At Dawn

One of the most talked about features of the little Laotian town of Luang Prabang is the procession of monks through the streets at dawn, collecting offerings and their food for the day ahead from the locals. It is certainly a sight worth getting up before the sun for!

I remember setting an alarm, and leaving my guesthouse room when it was still dark, not really sure if this was But it happens everyday, and is easy to find in the central streets. I tiptoed through the front entrance room of the guesthouse where the family who run it were sleeping, and made my way to the area I had been advised would be a good spot to view the procession.

Standing out on the streets with a few other people around here and there, but otherwise deserted streets, there was a slight wave of doubt again about what exactly I was doing out of bed at such an hour.

As the procession appeared and snaked it’s way along the streets, more and more locals appeared and placed something in the monk’s urns. Such a solemn and enchanting process to watch.

The behaviour of other Westerners during this ritual procession of magenta and saffron is the lowlight of this experience. People angling in, impeding the path of the procession, all on the quest for a photo, is embarrassing and shameful. Travellers really need to remember they are visitors to such an area, and that this ritual is part of life here in Laos, not a show put on for tourists’ photos.

My photos, scanned from print 10 years later, are not very good, but are the lasting mementos of that visit nonetheless.

This post is part of a series marking 10 years since I travelled to Cambodia to work as a volunteer. Laos was one of my side trips.

Kuala Lumpur

Picking KL for my stopover on the way to my return to SE Asia was a toss up, but spending a full day yesterday exploring the sights, I was pleased with my choice.

I made my way over to the Merdeka Square (or Peace Square), and admired the gorgeous Sultan Adbul Samad Building on the edge of the square.

Originally built as past of the British rule government, hence the Big Ben clock, following Malaysian independence the style and purpose of the building was changed. It is now the high court.

The building sits on the edge of the square, which is surrounded by impressive buildings. One of these is the Kuala Lumpur City Gallery, which has free entry.

I popped in for a break from the heat, but managed to take in the history of the city. They also have a room upstairs with a miniature model of the city, present and future, which gives you a great birds eye view, and also allows you to see the vision of the current buildings in construction. The world's second tallest building is part of the way to it's completion, which you can see below - the modern second tower on the right.

The Merdeka Square also has the Royal Selangor Club on it's other edge - and a concrete cricket pitch in the middle of the grassy square. Here is where the colonialists played cricket! Imagine!

From here, I walked around the back of the Sultan Adbul Samad Building to take in the view of Jamek Mosque, which is currently closed for renovations. Back to the train station, I got another train token to explore another area of the city.

Looking for the National Mosque, I thought that I had spotted it from the station, only to discover that the beautiful white buildings with it's domes and towers to be the KL Railway Station. Impressive!

The building across from this, the KTM Building, was equally grand and impressive, apparently combining British and Moorish architecture. Although there are no clues from the outside about what this building's business is.

By the time to did find the National Mosque, with it's modern take on it's features, it was prayer time and not open to non-Muslim tourists. I contemplated waiting it out, and I had read that you would be provided with appropriate clothing to be able to enter, but the heat and the lure of a cool break inside somewhere won me over. The view of the structures from the open entrance was intriguing, and so reverent.

At the end of my day exploring KL, I ventured back to Chinatown and the Jalan Petaling Market for dinner, picking an assortment of skewers, which were cooked up for me while I waited at the tables behind the stall. Delicious!