Our timing in Malaysia is during a Hindu Festival, Federal Holiday, and the lead up to Chinese New Year. This is in addition to the the regular tourist travel and international conferences at the hotel and convention center. Busy traffic and a crush of people invade the city like bees to a hive.
The number one holiday activity in Kuala Lumpur and in Malaysia is Shopping! Unlike the malls in Australia that become ghost towns after 5:00 p.m., shopping is full on 7 days a week from 8:00-10:00 pm.
Shopping malls are multi stories, spanning acres of land and host cinemas, restaurants, and indoor amusement parks in addition of course to every conceivable brand name store that most Americans are familiar with and more. The consumerism fuels the economy but is ludicrous in terms of what we as humans desire, want, and need. It's a gluttonous overload.
The mega malls, stalls, shops, and traditional markets are glutted with people bartering, buying, and hawking their goods and services.
One of the most unusual services we came across is the Happy Fish Foot Spa. The men in this photo are from Atlanta, Georgia, and they frequent this spa during business tripsso that the little fish can eat the dead skin from their feet. There was one young woman from San Francisco that we could not see but did hear as she squealed either in terror or delight as the fish nipped at her feet.
Our experience has been one of a cultural explosion... Muslims, Chinese 23 percent, Malay, Indians, Hindus, and International tourists. Because of the multicultural population in Malaysia every traditional holiday for each and every group is celebrated throughout the country and markedly more so in the cultural centers for a given group.
We took a one day excursion to the historic port town of Melaka located two hours from Kuala Lumpur and halfway to Singapore. Originally the seaport for ships in the 13 and 14 century to and from China and India, also the hangout for Melakan Pirates in the Melaka Straits. Eventually the port was seized by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. Influence from these conquering countries can still be seen in sections of Melaka. Landfill has swallowed up most of the original port and it is no longer deep enough to support large ships. Melaka boasts the first Chinese Temple, and the first Mosque in pagoda architecture.
On Sunday, we took the train out to the Batu Caves. These are large limstone caves in the peripheral mountains on the border of KL. The caves are geologically interesting, but are also home to the Hindu temples and festivals as well as lots of monkeys. Since we were there on a Sunday and the last day of a Hindu festival, the caves were swarming with Hindu monks giving blessings, followers seeking blessings, site seers, consumers snapping up last minute bargains, merchants bartering, and all types of food and drink being consumed, garbage piling up everywhere and monkey's pawing through the trash for food. It was quite a spectacle. We definitely knew we weren't in Kansas anymore....or Australia.
Russ and I spent our last day touring the Petronas Twin Towers skywalk and observation deck. Buildings that look very tall from street level, look like miniatures from them 86th floor. After our visit, we alked through the park and found a geocache. It was a good way to end our time in Malaysia...making sure our travel bugs got distance credit for all of their miles. We are off to Bangkok, Thailand in e morning.
All is well with the 2 Travel R's.
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