After 554 nights sleeping in a 6 meter van (minus a couple of weeks visiting the family in America) I am ready for a bit of luxury. Our 18 month road trip covering a good bit of Europe plus Türkiye and Morocco was a whirlwind of history and culture, and while there are big differences between Belgium and Bulgaria, Marseille and Mostar, it’s all Europe, variations on the themes of Roman conquest, medieval architecture, and religious oneupmanship. I was ready for a change of scene. We generally live by our Travel Rule #1: Don’t Go Back, but lately we find ourselves returning to familiar places where we can take a break from figuring out the currency and transit system and street food. We also need affordable medical and dental care. So Malaysia it is, for now.
We arrived at our semi-lux hotel in Kuala Lumpur near midnight and fell into a deep sleep in a bed where Jack didn’t have to climb over me in the middle of the night to use the loo. The breakfast buffet includes fresh papaya and dragonfruit plus tropical juices like green guava and mango. After the fruit course I loaded my second plate with roasted potatoes and scrambled eggs from the western side of the buffet, then smothered them with vegetable curry from the eastern side and added a side of spicy fried noodles. That was before hitting the pastry table for a croissant. I love these multicultural buffets.
We hightailed it over to the enormous Pavilion Mall, an old favorite, not to buy anything but to indulge in wide-eyed window shopping. Our feet took us unbidden to Auntie Anne’s for a soft pretzel (I’m still a Philly girl) and because we’re in Asia I got mine with seaweed.
We happened to arrive on the eve of two big events, Diwali (known here as Deepavali) and the ASEAN Summit which will be attended by many world leaders, causing complete havoc in the city center area with increased police presence, rolling street closures and more than the usual traffic snarls.
We first experienced Diwali in Trinidad in 2013, and try to find the local celebration wherever we are. Jack and I think it’s a bigger deal in Penang with its more prominent Indian population, than here in KL. The mall did have a pretty impressive sand painting.
It’s good to be back in a world where there’s never a 4th floor and durian is both desired and not desired, like Schrodinger’s fruit.
The next day we started our dental appointments and a few days later visited a clinic we’d been to before for flu shots and general consultations.
We’ll follow up with a couple of specialists in the coming weeks. Mostly we’re enjoying our week in a fancy hotel before we move to cheaper digs for however long we’re here.
We first visited Kuala Lumpur back in 2018 when we sailed in company with other yachts in an organized rally. We docked in Port Klang, the nearest harbor to Kuala Lumpur, then went by bus for a tour of the city, ending at the Batu Caves. To commemorate that first visit we again visited the Batu Caves and once again climbed the 278 steps into the cave temples. We’ve climbed more steps elsewhere — Meteora, Pai, a few more — but these are steep and straight up and with annoying macaques.
It hasn’t changed a bit, and it’s good to know our knees are still up to the task.
For the past couple of nights the Petronas Towers were lighted in colors for Deepavali and we heard fireworks off and on overnight. On the last night of the festival there was a display right outside our window. What a great welcome back to SE Asia. We’ve missed it!
