Kuala Lumpur and Malaaca Malaysia
Trip Start
Jun 22, 2008
1
175
219
Trip End
Jul 04, 2013
Where I stayed
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Another stamp in the passport. Jane organized a group from the AWCP for a tour to Kuala Lumpur and Malaaca in Malaysia. There were only six of us but that kept decision making and keeping track of people much easier. We arrived in the early evening and the view of the illuminated Petronas Towers welcomed us to the city. After dinner at the hotel it was time to get some sleep for the long day of touring ahead. Our first day was spent visiting the Dutch and Portuguese influenced state of Malaaca. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Malaaca (aka Melaka) was a settlement from the old trade routes in the days of the Dutch East India Company. There are still obvious influences seen in the form of Dutch inspired architecture and Portuguese items on menus. Malaaca is a quirky, artsy, seaside town with lots of funky shops and cafes. It would be a nice place to chill out for a few days. But we were on a schedule. We stopped at the ruins of the Portuguese fortress A' Famosa which was built in 1511 but was destroyed when the Dutch took over in 1641. We also visited The Stadthuys, once the official residence of the Dutch governors and believed to be the oldest Dutch building in the East.
Its said that life is short, eat dessert first – so that’s what we did. Before lunch our guide, Narin, treated us to a bowl of the Malaysian dessert called Cendol. It’s an unlikely dessert by
western standards – shaved ice and coconut milk sweetened with brown sugar syrup and topped with green bean noodles and red beans. It was surprisingly good as evidenced by the empty bowls. How can a dessert with beans (and no chocolate) be that good? Lunch was at Taragon with a variety of Malay, Chinese, and Indian inspired dishes. Malaysia is a mix of these three ethnic influences and their religions, cuisines, and cultures. It’s must be a good mix because the food is an excellent blend of flavors. We ate family style and nothing was left at the end of the meal. In fact, I think that was true of every meal we ate on this trip. After lunch we walked along a canal lined with cafes very reminiscent of Amsterdam except for the giant lizard swimming in it. We walked to Jonker Street and other side streets exploring temples and shopping along the way. Flora won the shopping award. We practically had to drag her out of a couple of places kicking and screaming. Tired from a full day of traveling, a couple of people decided to turn in early while the rest of us hit the streets of KL in search of a Chinese restaurant Russ found in the guidebook. After stumbling around a bit and asking directions, we finally found out the place was closed for renovations. We found a quick plan B and decided to eat at Super Noodles. After the big lunch we probably could have skipped dinner altogether but we got tempted by a variety of dim sum selections and noodle dishes. We weren’t quite sure what we were ordering but it was all good. We decided to do a bit of extra walking to work of the food until it started raining. Unlike the Philippines, there is not so much of a rainy season in Malaysia. There is a chance of daily rain any time of the year. Every day we were there, a shower or storm broke out at some point and then moved on. Umbrellas proved to be very useful.
Day 2 began with a trip to the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia – FRIM. At FRIM a guide lead us along the hiking trail that lead to the canopy walkway. The hike was a more strenuous uphill climb
than we were led to believe - as usual. We really have to learn to ask more questions in advance. But we all enjoyed being out in the woods and getting some exercise. Along the way we encountered some interesting wildlife including a giant ant, a chameleon, and leeches. The leeches were found the hard way – attached to Leanne’s leg. Leanne ended up winning the award for most leeches - 3. Michelle had one and it caused a gusher of a blood letting when it was removed so she gets the award for most blood shed on the trip. Surprisingly, no one was grossed out or upset by the leech incident. They thought it was pretty cool. Leanne called it a badge of honor. Jane was secretly hoping that the incident would be the last straw causing a revolt that would remove her from being the AWCP tour chair. After making them endure the rice terrace treks, cave exploration, the strenuous hiking and leeches, she thought for sure she’d be on the way out. These ladies are tougher than she thought. Guess she’ll have to ramp it up for next time.
The walk along the planks in the tree tops was a nice way to get a different perspective on the forest. It was a bit unsettling for some but everyone made it to the end without total panic. Then it was time for the long hike back down the mountain to the van, a quick stop at the hotel to change our sweaty clothes, and on to our next stop – lunch. Our lunch was another excellent array of Malaysian dishes topped off by corn ice cream, another surprisingly good and unlikely dessert. What we really wanted after all the hiking was an ice cold beer but… this was a Halal restaurant. No alcohol. We were in an Islamic country, and even though it’s a progressive one, it’s still more likely you’ll encounter places that don’t serve alcohol. We also noticed that in some places we traveled, we were in the minority of women who were not wearing head scarves and that there were more women wearing full burkas than we expected. Malaysia is a mix of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists with the Muslims being in the majority and the others also having significant representation. Christianity is also in the mix. They all appear to live relatively peacefully together. The guide made note that the Embassy’s of western countries, including the US, are not heavily fortressed like you see in other places because they don’t feel there is a threat.On day 2 our afternoon tour was of the city of Kuala Lumpur. Our guide told us it wasn’t a typical sightseeing tour. He was giving us the good, bad and ugly tour of the city. We saw the historical buildings from the days of British rule, we visited little India, we walked through alleyways, learned some history, visited temples, got some insight into social issues. At the end it started to rain hard so we bagged visiting Chinatown and went back to the hotel for the beer we’d been wanting since lunch. Jane had been fighting a cough since before the trip and tonight she felt it would be better to stay in rather than go out again in the rain. Tomorrow there would be monkeys and elephants and she didn’t want to risk missing that!
The morning of day 3 we spent at Batu Caves also known to Hindus as the Sri Subramaniar
Swamy Temple. The climb to the cave entrance where the temple is housed is 272 rather steep steps guarded by an enormous statue of Lord Murugan. We had all been unsure how hard that would be on our legs but in the end we all agreed it wasn’t a big deal. There were plenty of landings to stop on the way up and there were lots of monkeys to entertain and distract us. We were warned not to bring any food or bags with us because the monkeys have a reputation for being rather nasty and snatching things. They sit along the railings and stare at you as you walk by. Rather unsettling. People stop and take pictures of them and some people feed them. We never saw anyone get jumped on but Jane got hissed at. In the temple itself there are people going about their religious devotions while tourists swarm around taking pictures and buying souvenirs. It’s kind of strange that they allow so much activity in a religious place. The only indication that they wanted you to restrain from any behavior was a sign at the entrance saying "no exercise beyond this point" . I’m not sure what type of exercise people were engaging in that prompted that sign. The temples were interesting but we spent more time watching the monkeys run around and eat bananas. There were a few cute babies with their mothers. Next stop, the Kuala Ghanda Elephant Orphanage. But first a stop for a picnic lunch and to buy some bananas and peanuts to feed the elephants. Unfortunately, the elephant orphanage is a popular spot on Sundays so the place was overrun with people. They first brought out the elephants for a bath in the river. We had intended to take part in that but there were so many people around and things were a bit disorganized. We opted for watching while Russ did his best to shoot photos while keeping the camera above water (unlike the guy who took one step too many and splash!!) When they brought out the baby elephants for feeding time it was difficult to fight through everyone to get the elephants attention. Too many people definitely take something away from the experience. But when we finally worked our way to the front past the whiny 5 year olds it was lots of fun to have the elephant reach out to you for a banana or a handful of peanuts. And once they saw you had the good stuff and you weren’t afraid to bond you’d better watch out because those trunks start searching for more. One elephant tried reaching down Jane’s shirt!
The reason for the elephants being at the orphanage is actually quite sad. Malaysia is now the #2 exporter of palm oil. It has been a great source of wealth and so lot of land has been
turned into palm oil plantations. But that’s the land the elephants and other wildlife used to call home. The elephants become a danger and nuisance when they continue to roam the land that was once their’s. People kill them or trap them. One of the baby’s we were feeding lost its leg to a trap. The government has managed to capture and relocate some of the elephants to the National Forest. But when an injured or sick elephant turns up they take it in at Kuala Ghanda for rehabilitation. Some stay there for life. Palm oil production is a definite source of debate. Our guide knew this and said he’s done a lot of research on the subject since he gets a lot of questions during his tours. He told us Malaysia is trying to transform the land sustainably unlike Indonesia which is losing its forests in an unchecked manor through slash and burn activities to create palm oil plantations. Whether this is true we’re not sure. For our last dinner in Malaysia, Michele found a Malaysian restaurant on the ground floor of a swanky mall where there were a variety of restaurants facing onto a common area with a jazz band playing in the middle. One last meal of satays and curries with another odd dessert choice – black rice in coconut milk. Definitely time to leave Malaysia before we gain too much weight. As usual, we could have spent more time exploring but it was time to go. KL is only 3 ½ hours away by plane so maybe we’ll return to pick up where we left off. On the other hand, there are so many other places on our must-see list, who knows if we’ll find time for repeats.
View pictures from our trip
Comments
Sounds like you had a great time! I wish I could have come.