Tranquility

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Hello my fellow travellers!

This morning Rizqin dropped me off at the bus station where we said our goodbyes with hopes of meeting again in the future. I told him truthfully that he'll always be welcome in my home, and since he is fascinated by Viking culture I gave him a promise that if he comes to visit I will take him on a round trip in Scandinavia to follow in the footsteps of the Vikings.

In Taiping Chandra was a bit delayed but there was no troubles waiting at the station, I had excellent weather there where no people pestering me, I really appreciate that about this country, there are no droves of people trying to scam you or cheat you in any way. There is an aura of honesty and sincerity about this country and I truly feel safe and appreciated here, people are interested and interesting in return.

When Chandra arrived we started by eating a light lunch at a restaurant with delicious food, Chandra is from here and knows a lot of good local spots so I have a feeling that my dining here will be excellent. Chandra is also very determined to give me a genuine experience so all of the food that we'll eat will be local cuisines. After our meal we drove to a popular hiking trail up the mountain side but since we were pressed for time we didn't go for the hike today but will do it later instead. I did get to see more macaques there though which was very nice, but also heartbreaking as one of the females was carrying around her dead infant, that sight really tugged at my heartstrings and put a lump in my throat.

Chandra ameliorated this by bringing me up to her favourite spot as a child, a small Hindu shrine up in the mountains. It was a beautiful spot but unfortunately, since it is such a popular spot, it has become very littered with trash. That really made me sad and Chandra felt the same, she was sad that people didn't take better care of this beautiful spot where she used to bathe in the stream when she was young.

On our way driving back down to Taiping we drove past a cemetery and I asked Chandra to stop there which she did. As I suspected it was a war cemetery for those that fell during World War II. On one side of the road was the graves of the British soldiers and on the other side was the graves of the Indian and other colonial soldiers. Many of them was unidentified, many of them no older than 18 or 19. It really gives you perspective to visit such a site, bearing witness to the sacrifice of young men that died in a conflict so far away from their homes. I was glad to see that the cemetery was well kept and that no one had littered here.

After our visit at the Taiping War Cemetery Chandra took me up to the Residency which is the ruins of the home of the assistant resident, it was built in 1894 and the pillars still standing amongst the green give a powerful impression.

Chandra had to go to a meeting together with her son so she dropped me of at the Taiping Lake Gardens where I could walk around on my own for a couple of hours. It is an absolutely marvellous place, very calm and serene even though it is filled with young locals. This is a popular spot for loving teenagers who come here for a romantic outing or friends going there to hang out together. Despite it's popularity and it's young demographic there is no littering or disorderly behaviour, I can tell you that a park inhabited by teenagers in Sweden would not feel as safe with the sun setting on the horizon.

I talked to several of them and they very all very kind and interested in this white guy walking around on his own. Some who didn't quite dare to approach me for conversation came by several times to take a look at me. I can understand why as there is quite literally no other white person here. I don't just mean that there are few, I mean there are no one, I haven't seen a single one here and it was confirmed to me by some of the people I spoke to. I guess this place is a bit of the beaten track for western tourists and I for one love it! I will certainly recommend that you visit here, it's beautiful and everyone is smiling and are just so genuinely friendly, I really feel blessed right now for being at such a wonderful place.

As the sun was beginning to set I was also fortunate enough to come across a pack of langurs jumping from branch to branch in the trees, I couldn't get very close to them though as they are far more shy than the macaques are but just getting to watch them up in the trees with the sun setting. This part of the park was left alone as well, no other people around, just me and the langurs in this beautiful and tranquil place.

After she was done with her meeting Chandra came back and picked me up and we went for a late night dinner at a great seafood restaurant where we ate a real feast, dish after dish coming in. I ate until I felt like I would burst! Afterwards we returned to her beautiful house, I will have the whole place to myself as Chandra is staying at another place to be able to tend to her father who has some problems moving around. She is such a strong person, caring for both her father and her son while also working and running her own business. Amidst all of this she still takes the time to show around a traveller from Sweden, words are not enough to express what a wonderful person she is.

Tomorrow I will explore the colonial centre of Taiping, we drove through it several times today but never actually stopped to take a closer look at it. I will also need to buy some new shoes as there ones have, well, let's just say that they have served their time by now. After all, they've carried me through nine different countries now.

Until tomorrow I wish you all peace and happy travels!

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