New Places / New Friends



Batu  Cave

This part of the World Cruise is a port intensive segment.  We have never been to this part of the world.  We have 7 sea days and 19 port days with an overland trip to see the Taj.  Add intense heat and humidity to tours lasting 5-10 hours in length, we come back to the ship pretty wiped, hit the shower and head to bed.  Good thing our only decision is to dress and go down for dinner or have it delivered, no dishes to wash.  But the fun part is being here, and seeing something new, exciting and different.  Every thing on this side of the planet is very different from life at home.

Our first stop this week is Malaysia,  the largest city, the Capital, Kuala Lumpur.  KL is a melting pot of Malay, Chinese, Indian and European cultures. All are well represented. It is an easy place to visit.  We headed to Batu Caves.  The cave itself is over 400 million years old.  This is a sacred place for Hindus, the most popular Hindu shrine outside of India. Every January there is a festival where 1.5 million people converge to climb these steps, all 272 of them. They must fast for weeks before they are pure enough to climb the stairs. I did not fast nor did I make it all the way up. I did meet some pesky monkeys that love to grab anything they can from the tourists. I also met some lovely babies visiting the shrine with Mom.


 
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We visited a pewter factory and hammered away, releasing the stress of sharing a 300 sq foot cabin for the last two months. We each pounded a piece of pewter into a unique highly collectible bowl. I am thinking Christmas gifts here.....

It took me an over an hour to try to capture this photo of a stop sign.... never 'catching it' until we got back to the port where I just walked over to one at the pier and took this shot.  Please admire it profusely.  Don't know WHY I had to have it, it was my obsession on the bus. I think it is neat.

Second stop was Penang.  Penang is a World Heritage site and is known as 'The Pearl of the Orient'. 1.3 million live here.  I did  back to back tours.  In the morning I went to see The Tropical Spice garden where over 500 exotic plants are grown in harmony.  I knew Meghan would be proud of me.  I was on The Spice Route now.  :)  Here our group discovered ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, lemongrass... you name it.  Touristy, yes but it was pretty and the mosquitoes healthy big and happy.  Lots to feed on during our tour.  We watched the chef make Lamb Rendang, a spice intensive dish containing lemongrass and coconut cream.   You can substitute chicken, beef or veggies for the lamb.  I caved and bought some spices.  Little gifts for my kids to treasure.

In the afternoon David and I toured Georgetown, walked Chew Jetty, visited the Khoo Clan Ancestral House, learned about the Blue Mansion and had tea at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel overlooking the ocean. The jettys are homes built during the 19th century on stilts over the water and are connected by rickety wooden walkways.  Families still live here.

dancin' on the jetty

The Khoo Homes are showcases of Chinese architecture and art.  It was buried off a side street through an alley.  Not an inch of space was left undecorated, unadorned or uncarved with dragons, Chinese figures or gilt.  Extremely hot but nice to see close up.  It was SO hot.  Did I mention how hot we were?

Next was the Blue Mansion ( "La Maison Bleu" for those people who took French) a flamboyant masterpiece of 38 rooms lovingly being restored to its original splendor.  A penniless 16 year old Chinese man grew to be a legend in his time built this for his 6th wife.  It is a B&B kind of place now with 6 rooms available to rent.  Electricity and plumbing have been brought in.  I am liking their choice of blue for the outside.... There are 220 windows in this house....rather unique.

    
Phuket was on Saturday, the third stop in 3 days.... Whew.  I LOVE Phuket and want to come back here. We got off the dock right where the tsunami hit in 2004.  It was eerie. We ended up tendering on the West side of the island by the resorts because the taxi unions were making their statement to the world.  Last week a cruise ship docked where we were supposed to dock. After the first 5 buses of tours went on their way the taxi drivers blocked the rest of the tours from leaving the dock.  Leaving the rest of the cruisers locked inside the port gate.  We wanted to avoid this so headed West and tendered.  Taxis are upset because cruise ships use buses.  Therefore they do not get a cut of tourism.  Well hello.... We had 18 buses go out today.  Our tour was 90 minutes each way with 4 hours of touring different places ...... Tell me how they plan to accommodate 700 people?  Crazy and stupid. 



Fishing village - fishing banned by government- now depend on tourism
Phang Nga Bay

cave painting

In Phuket we went to Phang Nga Bay National Park to see sights similar to Halong Bay.  It is unique, breath taking and just relaxing to be guided around this bay.  We boarded a wooden motorboat and headed out for a 3 hour tour of 80 tiny islands jutting out from the sea.  These islands were created 300 million years ago when a collision of the earths tectonic plates occurred forcing these lime stones above the surface. We saw where James Bond Man With The Golden Gun was filmed, Kao Ping-Gan Island.  We visited a Muslim fishing village on stilts.  The water is shallow here.  Our guide told us sometimes the water dries out and people can walk to the next island.... I find this hard to believe.  I may have to come back and explore this further.


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helping mom grind some spices- Muslim Fishing Village

Fishing Village on stilts

My new friend- Phuket