(Our camera is broken so it’s on way its’ back on a plane to John Lewis to be fixed!
The phone camera will have to do from now on….
AHHHH Asia ! It’s great to be back in SE Asia.
We make a quick 24 hr stop in KL. It was bad planning stopping here, should have gone to Bangkok instead – a bit nearer to where we want to be, Hey Ho we are here. We spot our first Christmas tree, and this feels weird, as we haven’t seen any other signs at all. It feels disconnected,
Jemima is feeling a bit dizzy, so I set out to pick up some stuff for a picnic supper in our guest house, imagining local supermarket supplies. The streets, like Cinderella, have magically dressed up for the night-time food scene. Tables and chairs deck the pavements, where there was nothing during the day. Red lanterns now adorn the lamp posts and the BBQ is sizzling, roasted cockles are being tipped onto plates, with a quick squeeze of lime and chilli. Corn is roasting, wontons are deep frying and chicken and pork skewers are sporting blackened zebra stripes. Whole fried fish are grilling, and my mouth is drooling. There is a cacophony of noise – scooters hooting, and waiters shouting out their orders. Girls are eating on their own, in pairs, in mini skirts. A much more free feeling here, I feel myself relax, in that sort of-less-to-worry-about-motherly-way. Some corn, sate skewers and wontons will do for us, popped into a banana leaf then a brisk walk back home,to keep it hot – shame not to be eating it here on the streets, amongst the hustle and bustle!
We are not here long enough to comment on Maylasia, a quick stop in a shopping mall to pick up new bathing costumes for the girls, as all of ours have been wrecked and turned a sludgy brown in the thermal baths on the Nepalese mountains. (I now fully understand the convenience of shopping Malls.)
Then we test our new cozzies out, by gate crashing the swimming pool in a posh hotel on the 15th floor – there is no one there and no one asks us for our room number, so we get away with it for a few hours, but then feel guilty and so up and on.
Our impressions of Malaysia are good and I have that greedy feeling of wondering if I have done the right thing not putting this country on our travel map. I suppose we can’t go everywhere.
Next stop Vientienne, capital of Laos. I know very little about Laos, I know it’s a land-locked country, bordered by Thailand and Vietnam, Burma, and Cambodia. I think it is Communist, I think it was occupied by the French, I seem to put opium and Laos together and that’s about it.
We only have one night here, but the feeling is lovely. Low level buildings, beautiful French Colonial style houses with shutters and wooden verandahs and wide boulevards reminiscent of Paris and beautiful white pagoda temples. And of course the Mekong, big and wide. We will be constantly seeing this river as we wend our way up north.
A real Europe in Asia place, baguettes and croissants stacked in the shops and cafe au lait on the menus. Mmmm, this is a good feeling. I have good vibes about this place, oh and delicious Thai food too, at least Mark and I will be happy.
Five Go Round The World 