Luang Prabang - Lives Up to the Hype

I've been here less than 24 hours.  By the time I arrived yesterday, I wasn't feeling well so just did some walking around, had a fabulous meal and then relaxed in my cozy hotel room.  This morning, I'm feeling much better and will be heading out soon for breakfast and to explore.

A bamboo bridge crossing the Nam Kahn river, which is just behind my hotel.

View from behind my hotel, the Nam Kahn Riverside Hotel.

Why don't they have tuk tuks in Myanmar?  These were waiting for tourists along the river road.

This might not look very appealing but it was amazing - gnocchi with bleu cheese sauce. Not heart healthy but one of the best dishes I've had in a very long time.  I'll be indulging in a lot of French food in LP.

Country #70, Here I Come!

I set my alarm for 3:30 a.m. this morning, since my taxi to the KL airport was due at 3:30.  It didn't go off.  Luckily I woke up at 3:15.  I was showered, dressed and ready to go on time.

After about an hour in the taxi and 45 minutes in check-in/immigration/security, I've been relaxing in the Air Asia gate area.  I've also been thinking about my reactions to KL.

I've read reviews from other travelers of places I've been in KL.  I enjoyed the city, especially because it is very walkable, which is something Mandalay is missing.  What it lacked, though, even in the "historic" area where I stayed was a real sense of authenticity.

15 years ago my view would have been very different.  I, too, would have been oohing  and ahhing over every trinket and view.  But living in Samoa and Mandalay have spoiled me.  They both are off the well-beaten tourist path, where you can just get into people living their normal lives.  The stuff they sell at the market I go to in Mandalay isn't geared toward tourists.  It's the stuff that people need to live.  ..

Yes, there were some lovely crafts at the Central market, amid the piles of plastic replicas of the twin towers.  But unless my geography has failed me, Kashmir is not part of Malaysia, so those rugs are not authentic Malaysian crafts.  Beautiful, nonetheless.  And the curry laksa I had for lunch yesterday was pure Malaysian.

Luckily, after visiting Siem Reap a few months ago, my expectations were realistic.  I wanted good places to eat.  Interesting sightseeing and strolling around.  Nice people.  That's what I got.  Now, I'm looking forward to an uneventful flight to Vientiane and then on to Luang Prabang.

More Photos of Kuala Lumpur

Thanks for coming back for more photos.  Pinterest.com is probably more interesting, though.

Incense cones hanging in a Hindu temple near my hotel.

Typical kitchen at the restaurants that line every street.

Loved this idea for a recycled pot.

More beautiful offerings for sale.  I wish I could include the smells for you.  Walking down the street is a mix of smells of flowers, curries, barbeque and bus fumes.

A smaller, older temple.

Need a rolex?  Couture gown?  Starhill Gallery is the mall for you. 

In the restroom at one of the malls you need to remember to take toilet paper into the stall with you.  Inside is just the hose.  You have a choice of western or squatty potty.  I thought the thing on the right was a paper towel dispenser so was a bit surprised when I stuck my hand in hot air started blowing.

Every mall was decked out for Christmas.

Another lunch, another food court.  Tasty sweet and sour chicken and shrimp with curry gravy on the rice.

Food court stalls - just like America except not a burger in sight.  There was a pizza stall, though.

Malaysian fashion?  Seems the big hip look is in.

I loved the sign at this open air sheesha bar in Bukit Bintang:  "Hungry?  We have food.  Thirsty?  We have drinks.  Lonely?  We have WIFI."

Kasturi Walk, adjacent to Central Market.  More vendors selling tourist junk.

Entrance to Kasturi Walk.  There's even a Durian Cafe if you're craving all things durian. 

Food on sticks - in Asia they put anything on a stick and either fry it, barbecue it or stick it in a hotpot.  I'm a fan.

My two favorite fruits - mango and mangosteen, both out of season in Myanmar.

This rug was on display in the Central Market.  I have a very similar one that I bought in India.  They were asking $6,000.  Either rug prices have risen drastically or I got a real bargain.

I walked past the food court and opted for a sit down restaurant.  I knew it would be more but it was Christmas Eve.  The food at Ginger was just ok and I was annoyed at the bill.  When I sat down they brought "crackers" and a peanut dipping sauce.  Then charged me for it.  Sort of like going to a Mexican restaurant in the States and getting charged for the chips and salsa.

Did you figure out this is Central Market?  Supposed to be filled with hand-made traditional crafts.  Not so much, but still worth a look around.

It was a bit crowded on the streets of Bukit Bintang.

Had to laugh.  When I got my beverages for Christmas dinner the red wine was cold and the water warm.  Both hit the spot, though.

Dinner tasted better than it looks.  Plus I started with a salad that involved lots of iceberg lettuce!  Best steak to date in Asia.

Dessert was apple pie and a ginger cookie. I was too full for the pie but the cookie was delicious.

Back in Chinatown, they were transforming the sidewalks into restaurants - a nightly event.  The thing in the center of the table is a hot pot filled with very hot broth.  You buy whatever sticks of meat and vegetables you like from the vendor than find a table and start cooking.

These chiles are hot!

It's not hard to figure out what a restaurant is offering, even if you don't read Malaysian.

On the free GoKL bus.  A terrific idea - you hop on and get off where you like, for free.  I used them everyday.  Very easy since one of the four bus lines started outside my hotel.  Unfortunately, as I got on one after Christmas dinner a brief fight broke out between two groups of men (with me in the middle) on a VERY crowded bus.  No harm done, just a bit disconcerting.

Tomorrow I leave on a very early flight for Laos.  A couple of days in Vientiane then on to Luang Prabang for a week.  I'm loving this holiday break!

Photos from Kuala Lumpur

Enough words.  Here are photos of what I've been seeing in KL.  Nope, not a single picture of the twin towers.  They're tall and impressive but it was raining and the pictures didn't turn out well.

Lunch at the food court at Lot 10 in Bukit Bintang.  Korean bulgogi - barbequed beef.  Delicious and about $2.50.

View from my table at the Lot 10 food court.

Jalan Hang Kasturi - the street my hotel is on.  My hotel is the large building on the left.  Geo Hotel - nice room and excellent location.

Lots of fresh flowers.  This arrangement is about $15.

Artificial flowers and Christmas lights.

Tea samovars at an open air tea shop.

Another view of Lot 10 food court.  So many food choices it's hard to decide.  We have one tiny food court in Mandalay.  Here, they are everywhere.

I'm guessing the young lady with bare feet is a Kiwi.  Auckland is the only city I've been to where there were almost as many people without shoes as there were with.  The streets here, by the way, are not clean.

Chinatown - complete with an Amigo guest house and a 7/11, which are everywhere, worldwide.

I'd read a lot about Petaling street.  It is short, jammed with hawkers selling food and knock off watches, purses and dvds.  Many of the vendors are from Myanmar.  I see more Chinese people every day at my school than in KL's Chinatown.

MLB, this one's for you.  A knock-off Hard Rock shirt.  I also passed the huge Hard Rock Cafe.

I thought it was a pedestrian street.  Clearly not.

I took this about 11 a.m., before the crowds arrived.  If you were in Peace Corps Samoa the photo of the KK Mart sign will have special meaning.

I call these elephant pants, since most have elephants printed on them.  They also make women look like elephants - NOT flattering but worn by every backpacker in Asia.

Kuala Lumpur - Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

My vacation continues to be just what I wanted - slow, relaxed  with lots of walking and eating.  Well, except for one adventure, which I'll explain in a minute.

I've been staying up late, luxuriating in being able to read as late as I like, knowing I don't have to be up early the next morning.  That's going to be a tiny problem, potentially, since I have a 6:30 a.m. flight on Saturday.

On Christmas Eve I took advantage of the free GoKL bus and cruised around KLCC.  I like KL and would certainly recommend it as a place to visit, but think I'll stick with Bangkok for future visa runs.  If it was faster to get to, I might change my tune but so far I haven't seen anything unique that makes me crave coming back.

The city is much smaller than Bangkok (1.5 million compared to 6.5 million, as of 2010) and has more green areas.  It seems a bit odd, and pleasant, to have random patches of trees and banana plants butted up against blocks of highrises.

Shopping (and banking) seems to be the main thing in KLCC and Bukit Bintang, which is adjacent to KLCC and filled with malls and restaurants.  Chinatown and the Central Market, both a stone's throw from my hotel are worth a visit but I've found mostly the kind of hawker goods sold in every Asian city on the tourist trail.  I'll continue poking around but so far, China town seems much smaller and less authentic than the Chinatown in San Franciscio.  The good news - people are friendly and you can dine on the cheap with good food.

Speaking of food, I decided I wanted a steak for Christmas dinner.  I love Asian food but part of this vacation is enjoying some Western fare.  I did that yesterday with a visit to Subway.  Sadly, it was the first Subway whose food was below par.  It was bad enough that I threw half of it away.

For Christmas dinner, I checked out Fuddruckers in Bukit Bintang.  They had a set Christmas menu for 90 RYM, about $27.  It included salad bar, choice of entrees (I chose the ribeye steak with baked potato), glass of wine and a dessert of apple pie and a ginger cookie.

The best part of the meal was the steak.  Perfectly cooked, tender and flavorful.  The best (and most) meat I've had since moving to Myanmar.

To top off the meal was a bit of excitement as I headed back to my hotel.  The sidewalks were packed with people and there were more people than usual waiting for the GoKL bus.  The first bus which arrived was heading to a different destination I was, so I stayed in the back of the waiting crowd.  People tried to surge onto the packed bus before letting passengers off and that resulted in pushing and yelling.  During the ten minutes we all waited for the next bus there was more pushing and yelling among the crowd.  Nothing too much, but disconcerting in such a large crowd.

As our bus pulled up, people surged forward to get in.  There seemed to be a group of late teen/20 something young men together and they were riding roughshod over every one.  Sad since on the bus going to Christmas dinner I'd enjoyed watching a young local man offer a middle-aged local woman his seat.  Just the opposite, this group was mowing over everyone in front of them.

As they pushed forward, a couple of guys they tried to muscle out of the way started yelling and throwing punches.  By that time, I was on the bus, between the two groups of men.  Other than yelling, they stood their ground.  I just hung on to my bag (thinking this might be a distraction for pickpockets) and hoped for the best.

While we waited for traffic to clear for the bus to move into traffic, a young man started screaming and pounding on the window.  Both groups who had been fighting just turned and stared.  As the bus took off, it seemed apparent that the new entrant into the unhappy holiday bus ride was part of a family fight.  It appeared that the young man and his father were fighting and luckily, the mother was able to calm them down.

Most of the men got off a couple of stops before I did.  Things calmed down.  As I stepped off the bus the driver made eye contact and said "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!"

I was proud of myself for showing restraint and not yelling "Peace on earth, damn it!" during the melee.

Kuala Lumpur - Day 3

It was a good day today, although rainy here in Kuala Lumpur.  Some might consider a rainy vacation day a bummer but since we're in the dry season in Mandalay, I'm enjoying the rain.

I stayed up late last night and slept in this morning.  One of the perks of vacation  And suitable for KL.  When I finally ventured out to stroll around Chinatown, the vendors were just putting out their wares at 11:00 a.m.

After walking for about an hour, I caught the free Go Bus, which is fabulous.  I headed back to Bukit Bintang for more window shopping.  I strolled around the upscale Starhill Gallery Mall.  Very few shoppers, huge prices and subdued, elegant surroundings.   Staff were friendly as they said hello but clearly my attire did not indicate I was ready to drop $100,000 for a watch at one of the many stores charging those prices.  I don't think I'll ever understand the fascination with expensive watches.  The couple I sat next to from BKK to Kuala Lumpur looked at watches in the airplane magazine and talked pros and cons.  Snore.

Then I headed along the rainy street to see what there was to see.  After wandering through a couple of nearby (cheaper) malls, I realized it wasn't much different than walking through a mall a couple days before Christmas in the U.S.  Crowded and not much different than I'd see at a U.S. mall.

I stopped at a food court at one of the malls for lunch.  No burgers in sight, but lots of Asian choices.  I went with Chinese and it was tasty.

When I ventured back outside the rain had turned from a drizzle to a downpour so I opted to hop on another free bus.  I headed toward Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC) and my second view of the Petronas twin towers.  I'd seen them first when I drove in from the airport. They looked impressive, with their tops in the clouds.

The most surprising thing to me about the city is the amount of greenery.  Lots of high-rises.  Tons of new construction.  And lots of trees, banana plants, grass, etc. in between.  It's also a bit hilly.

After a tour around KLCC, I headed back toward my hotel.  I walked for another hour or so, contemplating which purse I should buy.  I clearly was not in the buying mood and passed on all. After more walking around the Chinatown area, I had an early dinner of duck and rice and then headed back to my hotel.

Another good day, but I was left with a question.  Why, in S.E. Asia, do they pave sidewalks with the most slippery tiles possible?  Even the locals were avoiding the sidewalks to walk on the streets.  Better to brave the traffic than the slippery sidewalks.  Thanks to most of the drivers for avoiding splashing pedestrians.  Big boo to the guy who gunned it and splashed another woman and me as he passed us.

All in all, a great day.  And so nice to enjoy clouds and rains after the dry season in Mandalay.

Kuala Lumpur, Day 2

This post will be brief.  I slept in.  It was rainy.  I spent the day in my jammies, watching tv, reading, surfing the 'net and napping.  It has been fabulous.

Tomorrow, rain or shine, I'm going exploring.  Or, I may take a nap.  That's the great thing about vacations and traveling alone.  I can do exactly what I want, when I want.  If I do go exploring, I promise to take some photos.