Seoul to Kuala Lumpur

Okay, so it would have a lot quicker to just go to the Caribbean or Florida. The first leg of the trip was 14 hours. Left left Washington DC and few over Toronto, then across the Bearing Strait, across parts of Russia and China and then down to Seoul. It was really just a 24 hour layover, but I was a chance for a quick glance. Maniac taxi driver broke every conceivable law in the one-hour trip to town. Which cost 130,000 Wan or whatever the hell they were. Turns out he was Catholic, and maybe that explains it.

Made mental note to check the weather before next trip. I knew that the weather in Malaysia would be about 90 degrees F every day, and as a result, I did not bring any shoes or socks, only sandals and sunblock. Turns out Seoul was 45 degrees in the day and as the sun went down, it got really cold. Okay so I put on two t-shirts and gave it my best. Everyone else had on gloves and hats. I had on sandals. What the hell. But the people were warm at small family-oriented Korean barbecue place-- that saved the day. No tourists. No English. Everything by sign language. Not sure what I had, but it was good and the beer was helpful.

A little sightseeing with the time I had available. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namdaemun for a little info onn Namdaemun Gate and Namdaemun Market.

Next day, a six hour flight from Seoul to Malaysia. It went across parts of China and down to Kuala Lumpur. No need for sweaters or shoes here. Unfortunately, the georgeous clouds that we went through to land are filled with water that tends to pour in the afternoon, but somehow it's all good.

Earlier in the day, went to Menara Luaka Lumpur. It is a 421 meters high (sorry I have no idea either) communications tower and also has an observation deck overseeing Kuala Lumpur, including the Petronas twin towers. It was built using Islamic designs within and outside. It was breathtaking. Their website is www.menarakl.com.my and you can get a look at what it looks like.

But the amazing adventure was Batu Caves. Batu Caves is a limestone hill or small mountain to the north of Kuala Lumpur. It has a series of very large caves and Hindu cave temples. The inside of the main cave is as large or larger than a cathedral. There is a formal Hindu temple outside and inside are several grottos containing Hindu altars and statuary. And you have to climb 272 very steep and narrow steps to get there. But it was worth it.

Inside the main cave at the roof of the cave is a large round hole where you can see the sky-- but when you look up, it's waaaay up there. When I went the first time it was a downpour from that hole in the cave roof and so I couldn't go quite all the way in. When I went back I was able to go all the way in and was surprised to see a bunch of small monkeys running around, playing games with each other, and eating the fruit left for the Hindu gods.

With all that talk of diversity back home, it's the real deal here. The largest group are Malays, who are Chinese ancestry Muslims, many people of indian decent--mostly Hindus but some Christians, Chinese Buddhists, and lots of other folks. A smattering of Muslims from other parts of the world on vacation. So the occasional fully-veiled woman with only her eyes showing and dealing with the heat with her husband in a t-shirt and tennis shoes.

I was going to go to Singapore for the next few days but I cancelled it because I like it here. But you sweat just thinking about walking out the door. This aint no Korea.

-- Mim

---

---