Malaysia

In an earlier post I described that, in order to meet Thai immigration requirements, we had to have some sort of transportation arrangements in place to leave Thailand before we could go in. So, we were booked on a flight from Bangkok to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia on the day our first 30 day tourist visa expired, which just happened to be Sunday of the day Labor Day weekend. We went from Chiang Mai to spend the night in Bangkok on Saturday, as I had booked another early morning flight (will I ever learn?). Of course, that meant no sleep the night before in the Bangkok hotel and up and about before anyone with any sense would consider on Sunday morning.

We were greatly impressed with Malaysia. Our flight landed around lunch time, so we were able to see the countryside for the first time in the daylight hours. Up to this point, we always arrived after dark when it’s hard to tell what anything looked like. Our taxi driver spoke excellent English and was very informative about what we were seeing. Jack always asks dozens of questions, and he finally had someone who understood and could talk about our new surroundings without a lot of shrugging and saying I don’t know. The highway was very modern, and except for driving on the left side of the road, reminded me of the new toll roads back home. Also, like our new toll roads, a private company had constructed the Malaysian roads and charged tolls to use them. It was a very comfortable ride, especially after Bangkok traffic.

North-South Expressway in Maylasia - Looks like it could be a new highway back home or on the way to Kerrville.

The countryside was really beautiful on the way into Kuala Lumpur and everything looked very neat and clean, with palm tree plantations everywhere. The native rainforests have been replaced with palm trees because palm oil is very profitable and is a main Malaysian export. Palm trees literally cover almost all available open space, with very little rainforest remaining.

View of a palm tree plantation. They are all over the place.

There are many electronic companies with manufacturing plants located around Kuala Lumpur. We felt right at home when we went past the Dell manufacturing plant. We also drove past the new city being built to replace KL as the administrative capitol of Malaysia. Our taxi driver explained that KL is too crowded, with too much traffic, so they are moving the administrative functions of the capitol to a new administrative capitol city called Putrajaya. Maybe we could do that with Austin, move the state agencies to La Grange or something. There are also a lot of new houses and apartments under construction for the government workers to live in Patrajaya, along with the other goods and services that will be necessary, like grocery stores and shopping malls. All are very modern, and, needless to say, we liked what we saw.

Upon arriving at our hotel, the Impiana, we were even more impressed. I had booked online and you never know what you’re going to get, no matter how many guest reviews you read on Trip Advisor. It was truly a five-star hotel for a three-star price. The hotel service was excellent, the restaurant was excellent, and the whole feeling at the hotel was very welcoming and upscale. If we ever get back to Kuala Lumpur, we are staying at the Impiana.

Lobby of the Hotel Impiana. Really big.

Flower arrangements in front of the elevators.

Picture of the lobby from their website. That's me in my good clothes.

After we got settled in our room, we wanted to see a little bit of the city that afternoon, so we took a sightseeing tour. The tour guide, however, thought we would be more interested in the stuff at his friend’s factories, and took us around to see them instead. This is a common tourist trap just about everywhere we’ve been in Southeast Asia. The taxi drivers or tour guides get a little commission on whatever the tourists buy at the factories, so they want to take as many people to them as they can. Whenever a guide or driver asks if we want to see some nice factories, we know to say no. That’s because we have been on a few factory tours when we accidently said yes. The best factory tours have a good overview of how the products are made before they encourage you to purchase anything. For instance, we learned how silk was made from a good factory tour in Chiang Mai.

The silk worm chrysalis is put in boiling water. A very skillful worker then pulls the silk strand and it is unwound and spun into a fiber, which eventually is woven into fabric. Unfortunately, the worms don't survive the ordeal.

Weaving the silk strands into fabric.

However, sometimes the guide doesn’t ask if we want to see his friend's factories and hijacks the tour so you wind up at the factories anyway. Which is what happened to us.

First, we went to a batik factory and store. We wondered if this was on the itinerary and just didn’t remember reading it. The demonstration on batik was good, so we were pretty cool about it, even though the prices were too high to buy anything. We realized we had been hijacked, however, when next we went to two chocolate factories. We never would have signed up for a tour with so many factory stops. Each factory had different chocolate varieties to sample, but no demo, just retail shops. Next was the leather factory where our demo consisted of showing us some leather pelts on a ring, then ushering us to the showroom to make our purchases. Needless to say, we were pretty aggravated about the way the afternoon was going and we were not going to buy anything after being hijacked.

It was obvious that the other folks with us, an Indian couple and a single lady from the Philippines, were also unhappy with the factory tours. The guide finally realized that no one was buying and started taking us to the places listed on the itinerary, where he would drop us off someplace and wait in the parked van for our return. The usual process is to go as a group through the destination with the tour guide telling about what we’re seeing. At one stop, he dropped us off at the very ornate gates in front of the Governor's Mansion and drove off. When the guards saw us standing around, they locked the gates and wouldn't let us in. Then it started raining. So, there we were, no van, can't get in, standing in the rain. Upon his return, the single lady from the Philippines got after him for doing a bad job, and he finally came with us into the market place so we wouldn’t get lost. We did get some good pictures from the Chinese Buddhist Temple, so the afternoon was not a total waste of time.

Chinese Style Buddhist Temple in Kuala Lumpur - Very different architecture and style than what is in Thailand

A closer look at the top of the Temple

The front

Close-up of one of the carved pillars

Chinese-style Buddha

Chinese-style Buddha - Not as much gold and mirror sparkle here as in Thailand, but a lot more colorful and ornate paintings, and stone carvings

Other icons in the temple

Mountain Village and Buddhist Temple near CM

We heard that we should not miss seeing Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, which is a Buddhist Temple at the top of the highest mountain around Chiang Mai, and is a sacred site to many Thai people. We booked a half-day tour so we would have a guide to tell us what we were seeing. Of course, there are almost always shopping opportunities for tourists on booked tours, and this was no exception. We stopped on the way at a small village to watch some of the hand-crafted goods we see in the markets being made. The village was on the side of the mountain, so of course, the paths were all very steep, some almost at 45 degree angles.

The long winding path in the village


Handmade goods for sale.

Another booth with items for sale.


One woman was sitting at a picnic table drawing a batik design on a piece of cloth about the size of a bedspread. Jack asked her what she was using to draw with, and it turned out to be a stick she was dipping into natural rubber that had been heated and liquified. She showed us some of her completed pieces, and they were totally covered with geometric designs. There were no spaces left unadorned larger than the size of a dime. It was excellent work, very intricate and precise. Jack wanted to buy something she made, and although we could come up with enough money to get something, we could not think of one thing we would do with it when we got home. So, although it was great handiwork, we decided to pass it up.

Making the batik design with melted rubber at the picnic table.

Getting everything just right.

We continued up the mountain in the van, and at one point, the driver had to turn off the air conditioner so we would have enough power to climb some really steep places. After riding for about an hour, we were dropped off in from of the Temple steps. Unfortunately, we were immediately descended upon by the most aggressive and rude hawkers we have come across so far, anywhere in our travels. I was very surprised and disappointed at this. This is Thailand, after all, where everyone is usually so polite. The only way I knew how to deal with the hawkers was to ignore them and walk away, which was harder than you might think, as we were completely surrounded. There was no way I would buy anything from anyone so obnoxious and aggressive.

We did get away from the hawkers and stood at the bottom of the stairs that led to the top of the mountain and to the temple. I didn’t count the stairs up, but it seemed to be about a million. Seriously.

Seriously, count the stairs! The green bannister sides look like the body of a dragon.

But in reality, there were only 309 steps. However, I decided that it would be better for my knees to take the monorail to the top. I was expecting a fabulous view of the surrounding mountains while riding to the top in the monorail, but it turned out to be a big elevator to the top. No view, except for looking at the 30 other people in it with us. When we got out at the top, however, all of the hawkers were gone, and we were in a quiet place of meditation, devotion, and worship, with misty clouds all around us.

The Wat, or temple grounds, consisted of several buildings. Many were ornate and extravagant shrines to Buddha. Each shrine had an alter, an extraordinary, very large Buddha statue (sometimes more than one), candles, offerings, and open floor space to sit or kneel to meditate and worship. In addition to the candles, there were lots of mirror tiles, gold leaf, and metallic painted finishes that made everything glow and sparkle. Everyone takes their shoes off before entering. Our group went into one shrine where a very young monk gave us a blessing and sprinkled everyone with water. The Buddhists in our group knelt down and said prayers.

Buddha in one of the shrines

Our tour guide told us the legend of this temple, and here is the legend as appears in Wikkepedia:

According to legend, a monk named Sumanathera from Sukhothai had a dream; in this dream god told him to go to Pang Cha and look for a relic. Sumanathera ventured to Pang Cha and is said to have found a bone, which many claim was Buddha's shoulder bone. The relic displayed magical powers; it glowed, it was able to vanish, it could move itself and replicate itself. Sumanathera took the relic to King Dharmmaraja who ruled the Sukhothai.

The eager Dharmmaraja made offerings and hosted a ceremony when Sumanathera arrived. However the relic displayed no abnormal characteristics, and the king, doubtful of the relic's authenticity, told Sumanathera to keep it.

However, King Nu Naone of the Lanna Kingdom heard of the relic and offered the monk to take it to him instead. In 1368 with Dharmmaraja's permission, Sumanathera took the relic to what is now Lamphun, in northern Thailand. The relic apparently split in two, one piece was the same size, the other was smaller than the original. The smaller piece of the relic was enshrined at a temple in Suandok. The other piece was placed by the King on the back of a white elephant which was released in the jungle. The elephant is said to have climbed up Doi Suthep, at the time called Doi Aoy Chang (Sugar Elephant Mountain), trumpeted three times before dying at the site. It was interpreted as a sign and King Nu Naone ordered the construction of a temple at the site.

Statue of the Legendary White Elephant

The temple grounds were also very interesting. There was an enclosure for a huge metal bell, and sets of large bells outside several other shrines. There were also displays of smaller Buddha statues in different poses that had special signficiance for Buddhists.

The largest bell has its own building.


The Reclining Buddha represents Buddha's moment of death, when he achieved total enlightenment. Everyone else gets as close as they can to total enlightenment, but Buddha is the only one who has ever achieved it.


Twelve Buddhas lined up in different poses - one for each month of the year. People light candles in the pots in front of their birthday month for special blessings.


These snakes are to protect the Buddha.


Statue of a fasting monk. He must fast until noon, so he's watching for the sun to get directly overhead before he starts eating rice from the bowl he's holding.


There were many different sets of these great bells all around the temple grounds.


Bells dedicated to loved ones and hung over the door.


Another set of large bells.


Rennovation in progress.

The view of Chiang Mai from the Temple can also be great, but on the day we went it was rainy and overcast, so we didn't see its best.

View from the top on a cloudy day.


Another view on a cloudy day.

We decided to take the steps down the side of the mountain, all one million, I mean 309, of them. In retrospect, I should have taken the monorail (big elevator) back down because my knee was really complaining by the time we got to the bottom. I don’t have a bad knee, it just gets cranky from time to time.

About half way down, with our tour guide.

One more view of the million steps looking up from the bottom.

Sunday Night Market

Chiang Mai was built as the capitol of the Lanna Kingdom around 1296, and was surrounded by a wall and a moat for safety. The wall and moat were renovated in the 1960’s and surround the center of town now, which is called the Old City. The guesthouse where we stayed for several weeks is inside the wall and just a short walk from one of the busiest gates, called the Thai Phae Gate. Every Sunday night, the roads into the Old City are closed to vehicles and are transformed into The Sunday Night Market.

Getting setup for SNM starts in the morning, but at a slow pace. You see folks riding down the road on their scooters, wheeling big cages along next to them. At first, we didn’t know what the cages were, but after awhile, Jack and I realized that they were the framework for the vendor market stalls. We don’t know where they’re kept between market days, but there are lots of them.

About 4:30 in the afternoon the traffic police come and barricade the street at Thai Phai Gate to vehicles and start ushering people across the street into the market.

Policeman directing traffic


People flooding through the Thai Phae Gate


One Sunday, Jack and I went to the Black Canyon Coffee Shop that’s on the corner across from the Gate, to watch the action as everyone moved in for the evening. There was a lot of activity as everyone draped awnings, ran extension cords, unpacked stuff, and arranged it just so.

Getting setup


Making sure everything is just right


Breaktime before the crowds hit


Directly in front of the coffee shop where we were sitting, two ladies about my age were setting up a waffle stand that made fresh, hot waffles. Waffle stands are a big thing here. I can understand why. They smell so good while they’re cooking, it’s hard to resist. Jack and I usually don’t resist, and will split one as a treat on Sunday nights.

The Waffle Lady


Coke-a-Cola Shadow Box


Goods for sale


Helping setup


The streets eventually get lined with stalls on both sides, and where the streets are a little wider, small music groups take over the center of the road and play for contributions. One of the best groups consists of four blind young men who sit cross legged, one behind the other, playing their instruments and singing. They do a really good job and probably make a good amount in tips. Jack always makes a contribution. Some of the other singing groups are good, while some of them are young kids goofing off who haven’t practiced enough.

Band playing for tips


We see some of the same vendors every week. There is one lady who has a booth of lacquer ware. She has painted everything she sells in the stall. Jack took some time and sat with her as she demonstrated how she drew the flowers on with the tip of the paint tube. She was really talented and we bought some of her things to bring home. Jack was very attentive and appreciative of what she was doing, as he is with everyone who does crafts and works with their hands.

Jack getting lessons


I had an odd thing happen to me, as we sat at coffee shop one week. I had my camera out taking pictures of folks setting stuff up and of the tourists, etc., when I got a picture of a Buddhist Monk, maybe about my age, buying a lottery ticket. He noticed me, and started talking to me, very loud, from where he was standing. He was saying how good it was that I was in Thailand, spending my money and helping his country. I felt a little awkward and the center of attention. Then he gave me a box of specialty cakes wrapped up like you get at Christmas from a department store. I kind of felt as if he was angry with me for taking his picture. Jack and I both thought it was a little strange. Later that afternoon, I asked our landlady about it and she said it was good luck to have the Monk give me something. That’s probably true, but on reflection, I think he was somewhat annoyed, or even angry, that I caught him buying a lottery ticket. I gave the cakes to the landlady at our guesthouse when we left, spread some of luck around. However, in case the good luck part is true, I use the gold elastic band that was wrapped around the box to keep my day planner closed so all the stuff won’t fall out. Just to keep all the bases covered.

The Gambling, Good-Luck Monk


Besides all the cool stuff to buy like lacquer ware, clothes, artwork, etc., there is food for sale everywhere! One of the Wats lets food vendors setup inside its grounds and there is any kind of food that you could want. One of my favorites is an Indian Food guy that has the best chicken kabobs - which are made from roasted chicken, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, some kind of spicy sauce, and yogurt sauce. They are cheap, about $1.50 each, and delicious. So besides the waffel ladies, we get supper at Sunday Night Market for such a good price.

Great food


Fruit smoothies


Thai specialties