Cameron Highlands
So the Cameron highlands, thats a very malaysian sounding name? well no, its not. Those great name imperialists the Brits have been at it again spreading names in the interests of growing the ubiqitous drink of empire - tea. Leaving KL was a bit of a relief, not because i disliked it, on the contrary, i found it grew on me over the days. However the pollution also grew on my lungs and the heat on my pores so twas time to get to a more civilised environment.The bus to the highlands was more of a local affair than the ones i had been previously accostomed to. Perfect! i thought, local buses will surely lead to entertaining stories of how we had to bump start it, or how i had to save a wedding by stepping in as last minute best man due to a spot of cholera. But no, no such romanticized tales, more like being stuck for 5 hours in a small refrigirator on a rollercoaster. The road to the highlands was predictably precarious, steep drops, oncoming trucks etc etc. Lining the road were shanty villages of the local hill tribes. The tribes people were engaged in their traditional persuits of selling durians to passing motorists. I mean, what is it with these fruit! They seem to be an euDURing obsession (try to control laughter). A single durian on the high street of tanah rata can be smelt at either end, such is the pungency of its odur. In fact, along with smoking and drinking, durians are banned on public transport in singpore! This is not only because they present a serious hazard to the nostrils but also as these large spikey skinned fruit have a nasty habit of impailing people when dropped/thrown. Ok, so i should probably say something about the highlands itself. Tanah Rata is the 'capital' of the region and is where i stayed. Tanah Rata is an odd blend of malaysian style shops/restuarants and mock tudor black beams on white clad apartments. Activities in the area translate as hiking through rainforest and trying not to get lost and sampling the local tea. Rainforest walking was wet, spongy and dirty. The forest also possesses slightly confusing signposting whose singular purpose seems to be to keep the local guides in a job. Climbed the highest peak in the area for views of forest and mountains and wandered through numerous tea plantations. The endless neat rows of tea bushes reminded me of hampton court maze, only on a massive and time consuming scale. Also visited tea making factory, with machinary dating back 80 years. Its quite amazing how little has change in that time. The fact that everything down to the picking is still done by hand on huge estates shows how little these people are paid. Each estate has a small village for the workers, repleat with school and temple.Each afternoon the heavens opened, a timely reminder that this is the monsoon season. The streets are instantly awash in up to a foot of water. The pavements here are also paved in a type of tile that turns instantly to ice rink viscosity as soon as they are touched by water - making walking in flip flops totally deadly.
Kuala Lumper
KL (get it) as an example of industrialisation through architecture. Take one old developing world city, build a whole bunch of towering towers in the middle and call it developed.I stepped off of the bus yesterday from Malaka into a melee of people crammed into the bus terminal. Feeling (and being) conspicuous, i shoved my way through the throng, my ever heavier packs on back and chest. Deciding that the best way to tackle the monsoon like (i say 'like', but this is the real thing) conditions outside would be to walk through it i waved off the shouting taxi drivers. Lonely planet in hand, open on the map page(quickly becoming soaked)i set off in the general direction of a hostel. 30 minutes later, for reasons i naturally bare no responsibility, i was still standing in the rain trying to find a street name that matched one on my map. Frustrated but refusing to ask for help (male pride, moi?) i eventually located myself on the wrong side of the map. I mean, how is anyone supposed to triangulate their postion through this smog?Spent most of the afternoon perfecting my haggling skills. With absolutely no intension of buying anything i frustrated endless store holders trying to sell me mont blanc pens for 10 quid and rolexs for 14. Well - its all good banter. Today i set off ludicrously early to get tickets to go up the petronas towers. Arriving at 8.45 i managed to secure a ticket for 1.45. Towers very impressive although you can only go to the bridge on the 41st floor for the view.
Melaka
Asia, its big and its a daunting. My hostel is a large, old, colonial style affair. Wooden floor boards underneath, high ceilings and whiring fans above. The one paperless toilet and not totally hygenic smelling shower reminders why it cost 1 pound a night. Now i know this is real travelling.I was woken this morning by the strains of a brass band playing auld lang syne whilst parading around the streets below holding up chinese banners. I guess that makes in Chinese new year.... Venturing out of my hostel into the street the town is abuzz with activity. The crumbling shop fronts hold 1001 vendors, standing in front of an ecelctic mixture of goods, piled randomly around them. Motorbikes and scooters screach by, practically brushing your arms. I am, as yet, totally unable to fathom the traffic laws, the danger coming simulanteously from almost any direction. Crossing the street here being some kind of olympic event, some local made the peace sign at me whilst coming within an inch of running me down. Malaka itself has been a trading town from the 15th century, first as a sultanate and then under a succession of european powers - portugese, dutch and british - underwhich its importance dimished. With the trade came a mixture of cultures, leaving a strong indian and chinese presence. Not suprisingly much of the interest here is historical, the old town being littered with portugese buildings and the remains of a fort. So have spent time exporing the town and museums.Well, starting to get my head round this asia place but i think it'll be a week or so before really at home..
Singapore
Hello everyone, since my last entry i have just relaxed in darwin for a few days enjoying the sun. Then flew back to sydney, where i spent of couple of days before catching a flight to singapore on the 30th.Singapore, is pretty much exactly how i'd imagined it - like its namesake noodle dish - stick everything in the same tub, chuck in some chilli and expect it to work. Hindu temples, huddle next to mosques, chinese temples and churches. Grand colonial style with modern high rise. Its really amazingly easy just to while away hours sitting by the river sipping ice tea and taking it all in. This is also perhaps the most capitalist, consumer driven places i've seen. Have only been conned into buying one thing so far (funky big zoom lense for camera) but almost came out of shop repleat with tailor made suit, shirts etc managed to drag myself away, after serious internal battles. The salesmen really have perfected the hurt look and i have a starving family to feed routine. The locals wandering down orchard road - the main shopping street wearing more designer gear than can really be healthy. I have been recieving no end of strange looks shambling around in ancient, grubby combats which now are torn in 5 places and generally look like i've been out hunting the viet cong. Have been also to the zoo here which is the best i've ever seen by miles. I feel like i've seen practically every type of animal ever now. How polar bears and comodo dragons both can live in the same enviroment (not togeather obviously) astounds me. Actually, its just the wonder of air conditioning but still. Air con is the only thing that makes life for humans possible round here aswell. The average journey anywhere, just consisting of a series of small sprints between conditioned enviroments. Even the zoo is littered with air-conned glass boxes at regular intervals so as to allow visitors to get their oxygen fix. Being a cultured type i've also sampled the local museums and art gallerys which are both of quality - far better than anything in Oz in this respect. Of course the great and amazingly cheap food also deserves a mention, my friend Cher from MS s'pore introduced me to some flavours that i really didn't know existed - what the hell is a duriam anyway??
