Made it to Malaysia...Kuala Lumpur!

We flew from Bali to our next country, Malaysia. The flight took 3 hours on Air Asia as we flew into Kuala Lumpur airport...

The airport is located 50kms from the city so we had a pickup arranged to bring us to our guesthouse. It is the first time we have arranged a private driver where it was a family picking us up in their car. I guess it was some extra money for them. This is one of their two boys who was very curious about the strangers in the back seat!

We are staying in a guest house owned by a couple from KL and it is located in an row of 100 year old houses very close to the city centre. The rooms are comfortable and bathrooms clean so it meets our criteria...

Our room is the second set of Windows from the right.

Kuala Lumpur is the capital city of Malaysia with a population of about 1.6 million and is the business and economic center of the country. The city is quite chaotic with lots of construction everywhere...

The first day according to my FitBit we walked almost 15 Kms around the central part of the city as well as taking the free purple public buses which are quite crowded. The city also has a monorail system which we didn't use...

One of the symbols of KL, which is what the locals call this place, is the Petronas Towers. When they were built in 1996 they were the highest twin towers in the world...

We took a tour to the top, got the seniors rate even though we didn't ask, so guess who the attendant thought was a senior? First we went to the sky bridge which joins the two towers and then to the very top!

View from the Sky Bridge...

Below the towers is a large park right in the middle of the city...

When we got to the top we got a great view of the city which is located in a valley surrounded by mountains in the distance...

The first tower was built by a Japenese company and the second by a South Korean company and they are home to Petronas Oil Company, a large multinational company with interests everywhere including Alberta.

We could also see that the city was changing a lot by the landscape which seemed to be building up and overtaking the traditional neighbourhoods. In the picture below you can see a neighbourhood of small wooden houses which is one of the last in the city....

The architecture of the new buildings is also quite modern...

The city is also a mecca for shopping with a street called Butrit Bintang that is filled with luxury retailers...

And fancy malls, this one is called Time Square and has over 1000 stores, a hotel and a large theme park...

A lot of the public spaces are decorated for the upcoming Chinese New Year which is the Year of the Monkey and starts on February 8 and runs for two weeks. It is a big holiday here and people tell us we may run into some difficulties travelling and finding accommodations because so many people travel at that time.

Here are some decorations we saw that were quite colorful...

Kuala Lumpur is a very diverse city with three main ethnicities, Malays, Chinese and Indian so there is great food to be had all over town. We spent one afternoon in Chinatown which is quire colorful...

We were sitting at one of the tables watching the street scene.

Petaling street which is full of stalls selling junk!

Waiting around for the Dragon Dance to begin...

Of course, I had to try the local street food which in this case was obtained by choosing a variety of meats and fish from sticks which they grilled for me and vegetables which I had to cook in boiling water in the middle of the table. 

Frogs and octupus...

Cooking my mushrooms 

They delivered the sticks of food to the table and had three types of sauce...spicy, sweet and peanut!

Don wouldn't eat here so we went to another food street where he had grilled calamari. This place was full of small restaurants and people...

This guy was selling barbecue chicken feet...

The next day we took the hop on hop off bus which was a disaster! No air conditioning, no commentary to tell us what we were seeing and a bus that broke down and we had to wait in the hot sun for an hour, can't win them all I guess!

We did see a few sites however...

The National Palace

Built in 1928 as a home for a Chinese millionaire it was later bought as the home for the Malaysian king. No entry is allowed but it is a popular spot for tourists to visit. It is a little outside the main part of the city and to get there we passed through a beautiful green belt...

One of the main religions of Malaysia is Muslim so there are lots of mosques around the city. We went to tour the National Mosque but it was closed for Friday prayers...

It has a beautiful blue roof and covers quite a large area which was very busy.

Great outfits!

Not far of a walk is Independence Square where Malaysia declared independence on August 31, 1957. The country had been ruled by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British, who lost their control over the country when the Japenese conquered it during WW11. After the war there was a lot of civil unrest which led to the eventual forming of an independent Malaysia.

We spent two full days here so only got a glimpse of the city. We found it to be very chaotic and not easy to get around. The streets are full of construction, very few crosswalks and most streets are four lane highways so we were always dodging traffic. It seems to be a modern city with lots of traditions and a diverse culture. We are happy to have been here for a few days but are also glad to be moving on in the morning.

Oh yes, forgot to say it also rains everyday so here is Don waiting out the rain under a tree!

Our last week in Bali...Amed and Ubud

"After leaving our homestay we spent over 3 hours driving to East Bali, only 100 Kms away but again the roads were terrible. East Bali is a semi arid region so very little rice production, they grow crops such as coconuts and corn. As we drove we went through beautiful areas of valleys and mountains...

Amed is one of the small villages in East Bali that stretch along the ocean, it is very quiet with fewer tourists, the ones that come are here for diving. The main industry is fishing and the boats are lined up along the beach...

The boats look like the outrigger boats that we saw in Hawaii, they are very narrow with pontoon like sides. It seems that everyone here is a fisherman as every space on the beach was taken up with them.

The beach here is rocky with black sand and seems to be the focal point of the village, in the evening the fishermen come down to watch the ocean.

This little boy was his father's shadow...

These little girls were peddling their wares up and down the beach with perfect " Hello how are you?" In English...

And these little ones were enjoying the swing...

In the evening the fishers would also come down with a net to catch mackerel that were close to shore...

We stayed in a small hotel which was run by a family of brothers and cousins who were very helpful. They served us a hot breakfast with fresh juice every morning and we enjoyed our stay there. They also had a great, little pool where we spent some of our time every day...

 One day we walked up the hill to see the sunset but it was too cloudy but there were great views of the bay...

We stopped for awhile to have something cold to drink which we bought from this woman's stand, she is here with her son. She told us she married at 16 and her son is now 5, she looked so young we thought they were brother and sister...

There was a lot of fish on the menu...we tried tuna and barracuda, one with satay and the other fried with garlic sauce...

Another day we came upon a funeral procession with the corpse wrapped in cloth and being carried by six men at the head of the procession with all of the villagers following behind. In Bali, with the majority religion being Hinduism people are cremated.

As we walked around this little town there was always something to see, like this little woman weaving baskets...

And everyone getting their fish in the morning...

This is rainy season in Bali but we have not seen much of it since our visit, the locals say there has been little yet this season. However we did have one day in Amed when the rain came, the sea turned grey and the waves were higher...

The fishermen then came down and moved all their boats further up on the beach...

But after that there was a beautiful sunset...

We then moved back to the central part of the island to a town called Ubud, which is the busier place we have seen so far with many tourists. Ubud is the cultural Center of Bali with lots of arts, crafts and dance. It was made famous from the book and the movie Eat, Pray, Love starring Julia Roberts, she found love in Ubud!

Our hotel is unbelievable,one of the best hotels we have ever stayed in for 30 dollars Canadian a night! It is a series of low buildings that stretch along the rice fields...

Here you can see the storm clouds gathering....

Being served a welcoming drink...

We spent a lot of time relaxing and some exploring of the town, although it rained heavily most days for a few hours in the afternoon, so we would duck in somewhere to wait it out and then have an excuse for something refreshing to eat and drink.

Can you see the rain just coming down? One bad thing is that the drains overflow and it smells of sewer, reminding us that we are still in a developing country.

This was our snack that day, lemon ginger fizz and duck spring rolls....

Speaking of food, here in Ubud there are so many international restaurants here serving food from all over the world so we ate Korean, Mexican, Italian, and French. Food here is more expensive than any other place we have been in Malaysia, however you can still get a meal for 5-6 dollars.

Korean....

Mexican, all with very fresh ingredients.

One night we went to a traditional dance performance, called the Kecak Fire and Trance Dance. There is no music except what is provided by the human voice, a choir of a hundred men sitting in a circle, swaying, standing up, or lying down as the story progresses.

It was performed in the dark with fire light so my pictures aren't great...

The chorus of men in a circle, making what sounded to us as clicking and clacking noises.

The story is from an Hindu epic with princesses, princes and bad guys....

An evil character...

A princess...

Hanoman, the white monkey trying to save the princess..

Garuda, King of all birds..

When the battle is over there is a Trance Dance, the Sanghyang, designed to protect society against evil forces. Here a "horse rider" dances on a bed of burning coconut husks...

A very interesting evening!

Ubud also has a large central market filled with handicrafts of all kinds....

Lots of wooden items...

Colorful items...

Woman selling flowers for offerings...

Since we only travel with a carry on we don't buy a lot, but we bargained hard for a shirt for Don and some earrings for me...

Gotta make sure it fits! Notice Don's expression...don't take any more ***** pictures of me!

Bargaining was very easy here...they start at 15 dollars and you say 2, then the back and forth begins! I really enjoy it and if we come to a price both with smiles then we have had a good time! We were early to the market and noticed a tradition with the transaction, they take your money hit their head, their body and then their goods to bring good luck for the rest of the day.

A frosty treat at the end of the bargaining session, we have fresh juices every day...pineapple, banana, dragon fruit, papaya.

When we walk I am always taking pictures so here are a few around Ubud...

Beautifully carved doors are everywhere...

As well as colorful flowers...

Delicately carved figures...

Both small and large...

I also like to stop and observe daily lives and one thing I noticed here is how hard the women work and not at what you would traditionally think of as " women's work". We passed a number of construction sites where they were either digging big holes or filling them and almost always it was the women with buckets of sand of their heads doing the heavy lifting and carrying!

On our final day I took the opportunity to visit the ARMA Museum of Art that is located on the grounds of a very exclusive resort. There was traditional Balinese art which in some cases was very dark and in other cases quite colorful. 

And also lots of modern art, my favourite...

The gallery buildings were beautiful...

As were the grounds...

So finally our time in Bali is drawing to a close, it is a place that we really enjoyed visiting, it is peaceful, green, amazing food, beautiful scenery and gracious people. We weren't going to include it on our itinerary but thanks to our daughter, Dawn, we are glad we did. So long Bali and next stop Malaysia!

Our Bali selfie....a little darker than three weeks ago...