Days 1 and 2 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Siem Reap, Cambodia

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We finally arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after a couple of brief flights...25 hours after leaving Birmingham. We got an e-mail from Delta right as we were leaving for the airport on Sunday saying that our flight from Birmingham to Atlanta was cancelled (due to under-booking, I'm sure). They re-routed us through Cincinnati, then to Amsterdam (8 hours), then to Kuala Lumpur (12 hours). Rich managed to negotiate a $200 travel voucher for the inconvenience but no business or first-class upgrades, unfortunately. Actually, though, despite the worst screaming baby I've ever heard in my life on the Cincinnati flight, the flights weren't bad. I had empty seats beside me on the Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur flights. I slept most of the way.

We arrived in KL around 6:00 a.m. yesterday morning. Will sent a driver to pick us up at the airport...great Malay guy whose name escapes me at the moment. Because of the British control and influence over Malaysia, it is a "drive on the left side of the road" country. The drivers are pretty crazy...there are moped drivers everywhere, none of whom follow the rules of the road. Amazingly, though, they don't seem to get hit.

We headed to Will and Jenny's place, which is in a high-rise building just a few minutes from the center of KL. After a quick swim at the insistence of Annie, Will and Jenny's hilarious three-year-old, we headed downtown to meet Will for lunch...met at the Petronas Towers (made famous by Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sean Connery hanging from the side of them in "Entrapment"). The twin towers used to be the tallest buildings in the world, until recently taken over, I believe, by the new skyscraper in Dubai. We ate lunch from a "stall" on a side street by Will's building...had some great Indian food (I think that's what it was). Glad I got that Hep A shot. Although I feared the worst with my stomach, I had no problems (yet). In addition to the native Malays, Malaysia's population is heavily Indian and Chinese, so the culture is also that mix. There are also a ton of Saudis around...the women are fully covered but for their eyes. According to Will, the Saudis vacation to Malaysia around this time of the year seeking cooler weather...it must be pretty damn hot there.

After a quick visit to meet the guys who work with Will at Navis before Will headed off to Bali for work, Rich and I headed to the Central Market (begining to feel a little jet-lagged). The Central Market is full of small shops and booths selling local crafts, rugs, etc. We haggled for a bit at one stop over some rugs from India, although we didn't buy them. Probably should have...they would have cost the equivalent of US$350, and the same rugs in the states would likely be 5 times that.

We then headed to Menara Kuala Lumpur, or the "KL Tower," which is a space needle-like tower in the middle of the city with an observation deck at the top. Pretty touristy...although, the view from the top was pretty cool.

After the KL Tower, we headed back to Will and Jenny's. I immediately crashed for about 3 hours before dinner. Given the serious surge of local fare that we had at lunch, Jenny took us to a local western fare restaurant for steaks, after a cab ride with a very annoyed Asian guy who didn't appreciate the fact that we really didn't know where we were going. Had a great time catching up with Jenny. Called it quits after dinner and hit the bed to try to catch up from the day of travel.

Woke up this morning and met our driver to head back to the airport for our Air Asia flight to Cambodia. We flew from the "LCCT," the low cost carrier terminal...gives you a lot of confidence in the airline when it's described to you that way. Unlike the international terminal, I think Rich and I were 2 of only about 4 Westerners in the entire place. Our flight to Cambodia was no different. When we first got on, the cabin appeared to be on fire...full of smoke. Turns out, it was just the air conditioner (I think). We made it to Cambodia in one piece.

Arrived in Siem Reap a few hours ago and were greeted by cold towels and our driver from Shinta Mani, our hotel here until Friday. The road from the airport to our hotel is a strange site...completely run down buildings with very large, new hotels mixed in. There are lots of street vendors, mopeds (again) and tuk-tuks...which are the bike-pulled carts that you think of when you think of SE Asia. It's pretty third-world...as I've read, Cambodia is still recovering from the control of the Khmer Rouge over the past decades. Arrived at the hotel for more cold towels, some kind of fruit drink (again, thank goodness I got that Hep A shot) and a scarf (which I assure you we don't need...it feels like the jungle here). Had a very spicy lunch to add to the heat factor and got checked into our room, which is really very nice. This hotel is run in connection with the Institute of Hospitality, which provides technical skills training to a group of young Cambodian adults who come from areas of high risk. The education is free, and the students receive meals, a monthly stipend and 4kg of rice weekly for their families. Although I do feel compelled to put my valuables in the safe in the room, the workers have all been extremely nice. There is also a very nice spa here. I think Rich just went to get a facial...what a weirdo.

Better sign off for now. We meet Kim, our local Angkor guide, in about an hour to start our tour of this area and all of the Angkor temples.

More to come later.

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Comments

[CROFTER]

DADDY?
Dear Daddy, Please write and let everyone know how your trip is going. I miss you alot. I go on these things called "walks" almost every day. I don't like them one bit. Also, they gave me a "bath" and I don't smell like sour cheese anymore! Did you get Betsy a fantastic present last year for keeping me and teaching me to read and write? I think this year you should bring back something sparkley for Courtney (or maybe one of those rugs). Love from Me and The Brizzle's