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Post by Baz Faz on Jan 23, 2018 3:56:33 GMT 2
Good morning Potters. This is just to reassure you that Mrs Faz and I are alive and well and almost recovered from jetlag. Every time I fly I think that a lot of the world's problems must be caused by presidents and prime ministers flying across multiple time zones and then going into meetings and issuing declarations and not understanding what they have just agreed to.
Turkish airlines is OK. The plane was new, the cabin crew efficient, the toilets kept clean and the meals did have food that reflected Turkish cuisine. My one gripe was that the seat pitch was not generous enough (though all airlines are getting increasingly mean). Fortunately on the overnight stretch I could stretch out a bit as the neighbouring seat was empty. No, I don't mean I have ditched Mrs Faz; she was on the other side of me and engrossed in the Times main crossword. I helped her with 4 clues; she did the rest herself.
KL airport is newish and we found it efficient. I have read compiaints about long queues at passport control but not for us. I remember transitting Bangkok airport once when a Thai woman firmly took us through the diplomatic channel. Similat at Manila. I don't think I look like a diplomat so I don't dare do that on my own.
The hotel I chose in KL is right next to the historic centre. It is new and I would call it flashpacker. Our room is compact and has everything we need. The aircon is particularly impressive. It keeps the room at 24 and doesn't blow on the bed so we can leave it purring softly all night. There is a terrace on the roof with views of various towers, a Christian church (luckily no mosque within hearing distance of its muezzin) and a communications spire. We take a vodka and Coke up there for an aperitif before going out for dinner. We seem to be old residents but I realise we have been here less than 48 hours. In fact we have only been out for one dinner (Chinese last night) because we were too tired on the first night and I went out and found an Indian restaurant and got a take-away.
Yesterday it was a day of getting over the flight and getting our bearings. We had a good wander round the historic centre and got lost on the way back to our hotel and walked in the wrong direction for an hour until we paused for breath and I saw the communication spire near our hotel way over behind us. Never mind - the exercise was good for us after being trapped on the plane.
Tmorrow we take the train north for a couple of hours to Ipoh. With luck the hotel will have a computer like the one here because I can't abide writing on Mrs Faz's iPad (though I will when necessary).
This computer is in the entrance lobby of Thousand Miles Hotel. Looking out through the window I see the sun shining brightly (unlike Chipping Sodbury). It is time to put on some cream and venture out.
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Post by Scrubb on Jan 23, 2018 15:55:17 GMT 2
Thanks for the update, Baz. Hope your day is interesting, fun, and involves some great food!
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Post by auntieannie on Jan 23, 2018 23:44:30 GMT 2
super! and when you come back, will you be visiting westward ho in Devon?
I do wish you and Mrs Faz an excellent time.
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Post by Netsuke on Jan 24, 2018 7:16:14 GMT 2
Don't have time really to post now, Have to dash off, but glad you and the missus are doing alright and um you might want to rethink the title Baz. When I read "Eastward Ho", I thought this was about a er lady of the night somewhere in the the east. I blame the Americans. I really do. That's an American word which seems to get plastered over the net everywhere. Plastered as in put up all over the place, not plastered as in having a close look at the footpath.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jan 25, 2018 16:35:03 GMT 2
Yesterday we took the train from KL to Ipoh. This was the newish ETS service which I thought meant it was an express. It began well at KL where there was a designated area where we sat and waited abd then were summoned when it was time to board. But express it was not - it averaged 80 kilometres an hour. At least it wasn't one of those crowded Asian services - the whole of our carriage had only one other passenger.
We have enjoyed Ipoh but it takes a little getting used to. The old town is what attracts he tourists and they are doing up the old (mainly Chinese) buildings rather than tearing them down to put up concrete blocks. The centre of interest is Concubine Lane where rich Chinese used too keep their mistresses. Lovely narrow lane, interesting old buildings - so what have they done? Stuck in shops with tourist souvenirs and fancy cafes so you can barely see the old houses. All the charm has gone. Never mind, there are nice old buildings that survive among the conrete soulless new blocks in the rst of town. The other excellent thing is that they have encouraged street art. This is not the bulbous grafitti you see everywhere else but real artistic works that disguise blank walls. The tourist office actually hands out a leaflet so you can track them all down.
Yesterday afternoon there was a dramatic thunderstorm but today has been unexpectedly dry and sunny. This afternioon we made our way to the park which has a small lake and Mrs Faz had a great time birdwatching. I was happy on a bench under a shay tree reading Philip Kerr's first Bernie Gunther book. Tonight we found a good Chinese restaurant. It struck us while we were eating that over the 5 dinners we have eaten here in Malaysia we have only encountered one other western couple. We must be doing something right.
OK, all for now. I am using the hotel computer which has Windows XP on it. How old is that? Some of the keys don't strike and I have to go back and struggle to get what I want on the screen. Capital t is a particular pain. Enought for now.
omorrow it is off to Taiping which is reputer to be the rainiest town in mainland Malaysia. Luckily we brought umbrellas.
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Post by auntieannie on Jan 25, 2018 18:51:25 GMT 2
in your tiny backpacks? really?
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Post by Netsuke on Jan 25, 2018 19:15:17 GMT 2
The centre of interest is Concubine Lane where rich Chinese used too keep their mistresses. When I got off the bus in Penang, I walked to my accommodation which was in a street called Love Lane. The hotel looked nothing like that shown on the internet, and Love Lane and the street it was off were both dark and dingy. The atmosphere was one of unpleasantville and sleaziness. Took a taxi to Georgetown, booked into The Bayview. Later, when heading out for a walk, I asked the advice of the doorman and mentioned Love Lane. He was horrified and became most concerned for my safety and strongly advised me to "On no no, you don not want to go there Madam. Very bad place. Not nice. Not good." It was (in)famous for prostitutes and other er unsavoury characters.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jan 27, 2018 10:00:06 GMT 2
in your tiny backpacks? really? Collapsable.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jan 27, 2018 10:48:32 GMT 2
Yesterday we moved on to Taiping. This is also known in Malaysia as Raintown. It has the highest rainfall in peninsula Malaysia. Annie will be pleased to known that our umbrellas have proved their worth. Then yesterday afternoon disaster struck - I lost my umbrella and had no idea where. Luckily there was a 7-Eleven just down the road from our hotel so I got a replacement. Of course today it hasn't rained (yet).
We find Malaysians polite, friendly and helpful. When we arrived yesterday afternoon there were no taxis outside the station and we had no map to find our way to our hotel. We asked a man picking up someone from the station where we could find a taxi and he insisted on giving us a lift. It turned out he lived at a town some distance away from Taiping and didn't know the address so first he drove to the hospital where a relative was working and this man got on his motorbike and led the way. How incredibly kind. Similarly today we went on an excursion this morning by bus and wanting to return by bus we went to the bus stop (no timetable) and asked a couple just getting in their car if they knew when the bus ran and they insisted on driving us into town. Lovely.
Today's excursion was to Bukit Larut which in colonial times was called Maxwell Hill, a hill station where Brits could escape the humid heat (though not the rain). You are free to walk up the hill if you want but it about 13 kilometres and rises up over a thousand metres. No private cars, taxis or motorbikes are allowed. The only road transport up is by government owned Landrover. The Landrover holds 8 passengers and there are 4 services a day. A couple of small jeeps with pre-booked parties followed us but that doesn't make a crowd. The journey was the scariest of my life. The narrow road goes up steeply, with sickening hairpin bends, lurching as if it was going to launch into space. The driver went the whole way with one arm out of the window, hairpin bends or not. Unfortunately Mrs Faz and I were in the back part on seats facing sideways and when we got out at the end she said I looked grey and ill. She negotiated that on the return I should sit in front where I could admire the driver's one-handed negotiation of hairpin bends.
The British villas are not grand and are gradually decaying. There are a couple of houses one can stay in and I had wondered when planning our trip about spending a couple of nights there. I am glad I came to my senses as walking in the jungle you actually see very little and the view down to the valley and Taiping got obliterated by mist.
Today has been unusual in that it hasn't rained. I have been using the computer (thankfully modern) in the hotel lobby. Looking out of the window I saw a man passing with an umbrella up. This time it is against sun.
Now I am off to join Mrs Faz whom I think is on the roof terrace.
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Post by auntieannie on Jan 27, 2018 17:34:54 GMT 2
glad you didn't stay in Bukit Larut, as it sounds rather dire. I guess many British tourists have heard wonders of the place, and I'm sure they have no trouble filling hotel beds up there.
and also glad you met with so many lovely people, although I am not too surprised - sometimes reputations are earned. May it be so everywhere you go on this trip and when you return. You both deserve it.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jan 28, 2018 4:28:06 GMT 2
glad you didn't stay in Bukit Larut, as it sounds rather dire. I guess many British tourists have heard wonders of the place, and I'm sure they have no trouble filling hotel beds up there. There are no hotels on Bukit Larut. There are a couple of run down villas to rent but you would have to take your own food as the only café up there closes by 4 pm. One villa has been transformed into a sort of guest house run by Methodists. I steer clear of accommodation run on religious lines. I suspect there would be prayers to be said before fork reached mouth. And I have no idea where the place is as the rotting villas are spread out.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jan 28, 2018 4:37:21 GMT 2
The centre of interest is Concubine Lane where rich Chinese used too keep their mistresses. When I got off the bus in Penang, I walked to my accommodation which was in a street called Love Lane. The hotel looked nothing like that shown on the internet, and Love Lane and the street it was off were both dark and dingy. The atmosphere was one of unpleasantville and sleaziness. Took a taxi to Georgetown, booked into The Bayview. Later, when heading out for a walk, I asked the advice of the doorman and mentioned Love Lane. He was horrified and became most concerned for my safety and strongly advised me to "On no no, you don not want to go there Madam. Very bad place. Not nice. Not good." It was (in)famous for prostitutes and other er unsavoury characters. We were in Penang about 8 years ago. We needed to get a tourist (2 month) visa for Thailand. Living in France this meant going to the embassy in Paris, handing our passports in in the morning and picking them up a day later - altogether 2 nights stay in Paris plus train tickets. I like Paris but if you are looking at the cost of a holiday this adds a fair chunk of money. In Penang there was a guesthouse where you paid US$10 and they took your passport and went to the Thai consulate and did it for you. Excellent. So we flew to KL and then to Penang. We were staying in the old part of Georgetown and walked down Love Lane 2 or 3 times on the way to our own guesthouse. It didn't seem too seedy but we passed through it in daylight.
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Post by Baz Faz on Feb 2, 2018 11:14:55 GMT 2
Mrs Faz here, just to let you know that Baz has fully recovered and we are loving Bali. He hates using the iPad and there are no laptops here so you will have to wait a while for his next instalment.
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Post by OnlyMark on Feb 2, 2018 16:44:34 GMT 2
Recovered from what? What did I miss?
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Post by auntieannie on Feb 2, 2018 20:57:24 GMT 2
so glad Baz is better. enjoy Bali!
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Post by Baz Faz on Feb 4, 2018 12:32:21 GMT 2
Sorry for the long silence but you know how it is when you travel. There are always a ton of things to do when you are doing nothing.
It didn't help that the moment we got to Penang and to our eccentric guest house my chest decided it was time for its annual bout of malady. We found a clinic and the doc inspected me and agreed it was what I said it was and gave me a course of antibiotics. So now I am fine. I really missed Penang. Mrs Faz went out on her own and came back with wondrous tales of the Hindu festival she witnessed. I lay in bed. She went out and bought a Thai take away and I lay in bed. However by the time the alarm went at 4 a.m to catch the taxi for our early flight I was on the road to recovery. I have read horror tales about arriving at Bali airport but I think that must be during the Australian holiday season. (Btw, in a shop window today I saw some boomerangs; are these failed models that couldn't find their way home?) The man from our guesthouse was waiting for us and drove us through the horrendous traffic to Ubud. Our guesthouse is lovely and modern, Good hot shower, comfortable bed, air con plus fan (fan is important for drying clothes) plus a terrace that looks out over a patch of jungle. The jungle provided plenty of birds for Mrs Faz to spot. In the evening we can sit out with a vodka before going out to eat and listen to the clucks and squawks and clicks and chatter coming out of the thick greenery. To add to the jungle atmosphere we have a burst of monsoon usually in the afternoon which is awe inspiring in its violence. On the first afternoon we didn't realise quite how violent it would get - like being under a waterfall - and got absolutely sodden. Umbrellas were hopeless as the rain hit the pavement and reared up at us. Now when the monsoon starts we seek shelter until it is safe to go out again. Ubud has a reputation as the cultural heart of Bali. Yes, there are paintings, statues, music, dances. It is also a centre of all sorts of slightly odd things with wellness courses, and cleansing diets (that means eating little except purging herbs) and yoga at sunrise but also after breakfast and before lunch and in the afternoon and at sunset. Enough yoga. And then there is the food. You wondered when Baz was going to mention that. Because Bali attracts a young crowd of westerners the restaurants serve presumably what they want to eat. "Hey," Wayne says, "I've a great idea. Let's go to Bali so we can eat pizza and pasta and hamburgers and drink cocktails." Well, that is what 99 out of 100 restaurants offer. There are some small warungs (local eateries) we have found so we do manage to eat locally. Frankly though I don't think Indonesia has one of the world's great cuisines though there are some tasty dishes. Tonight we are splurging And going to a well known duck restaurant. The duck is marinaded for 36 hours in spices and then fried until it is crisp. Let's hope the reviews are not over generous. We have done our fair share of sightseeing. We had a car with driver for a day and saw temples until we said enough. He also took us to a place to sample civet coffee. You've heard of that? Civets eat the coffee beans, they pass through their gut and are then cleaned up and roast and ground. The coffee was tasty but I shan't be shelling out big bucks for any in future. Enough for now. Mrs Faz will read it through for typos and then, hopefully, c & p into into the Pot.
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Post by auntieannie on Feb 4, 2018 13:31:05 GMT 2
So, do they keep the civets (this name is the exact spelling of a type of stew, particularly popular with game meat, so I'm having to constantly remind me we're talking about a live animal there) in secluded areas/cages or do they "hunt" for civet poo in particular areas?
How did that come about? I mean I'd heard of civet coffee and how expensive it was, but you might have gathered some factual information about this?
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Post by tiltedflipcurves on Feb 4, 2018 15:11:21 GMT 2
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Post by Baz Faz on Feb 7, 2018 10:12:44 GMT 2
We have had one of Those days that are nothing in the telling but which will live in our memories. We set off to go to a waterfall or two or three. Our guesthouse lady was a bit dubious about our doing this, partly because of our age but also because of the tremendous storm last week. We set off on a track through the the jungle with people's houses at intervavals. A woman bringing her young daughter back from school encouraged us but also warned that someone the bridges over the rivers had been swept away. The bridge on our track WA one of the bridges swept way but he been imeiately rebuilt (from bamboo) and we negotiated that all right. Then the awful bit began. The Ate was no longer what you would consider a Aath but simply a very steep ascent over rocks and vegetation. At one stage I grabbedabranch for support only to discover it was covered in big thorns. Letting go of that grabbed another branch with my other hand but that was also armed with thorns. So I gently fell forward but since the ascent was so steep I only feel about 20 centimetres. No problem apart from my bleeding hands. Anyway we reached a proper trac k and had a cup of coffee and continue. We have Amal or dubious authenticity and followed what we were told was the right track. Eventually having missed to turnoff E cause the re no signposts we found the right trac k. We bought meatballs from man who was peddling them round the houses and then n ice crew from someone else. On we went, admiring another waterfall and passing storm damage everywhere. The views through the jungle to hills and valleys were wonderful. People we pasesallgreeted us. And eventually we completed our circuit and got back to the main rod in our village of Munduk. We stopped to have coffee and I want Annie ro know that the civet coffee we had was ethically sourced. The cafe was the outlet for a cooperative which has its own coffee plantation where the civets are free to roam. In fact they have buy civets that have been trapped and kept in captivity and release them in their plantation.So altogether a great day and now we feel a little tired but triumphant. Apologies for all the typos but I do twang to check through al the rubbish I have were ten. I shall pass the iPad back to MrsFaz so she can get on with her photos.
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Post by Scrubb on Feb 7, 2018 17:46:28 GMT 2
That is not "nothing in the telling" - it sounds like a very memorable day. Glad to hear that you weren't off the trail for tooooo long, and I'm impressed with your perseverance!
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Post by sophie on Feb 7, 2018 18:45:50 GMT 2
Are your hands okay after the thorny grab?
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Post by kuskiwi on Feb 7, 2018 21:07:12 GMT 2
WOW... quite a thorny issue in more ways than one. Can't wait to see Mrs Faz's photos when she has time to sort them (even if it is from home). Hope the hands have recovered.
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Post by auntieannie on Feb 7, 2018 23:57:03 GMT 2
you haven't given yourself whiplash, have you, Baz? and I hope the thorns didn't make you bleed too much. have you had your hands properly cleaned and bandaged? Infection is not a small matter by any means in such a climate. I'm being serious here.
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Post by Baz Faz on Feb 8, 2018 2:55:44 GMT 2
One of my fingers is a bit swollen this morning so I have put antibiotic cream on it. Let's hope that does the trick. Yesterday just moments after I posted the heavens opened and the monsoon descended. It was biblical in its intensity. I don't know how're would have coped if we had still been out in the jungle. About autocorrect... I find it hilarious as well as enfiriating. In the para above I typed out in and it was changed to Putin.
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Post by OnlyMark on Feb 8, 2018 4:06:23 GMT 2
Of course you could always turn the autocorrect off if neither of you like it.
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Post by Baz Faz on Feb 8, 2018 9:52:48 GMT 2
Mrs Faz likes the autocorrect when she is writing French. I know I am not writing French here but the iPad is hers and I am not going to mess about with it. Today's walk was wet. It didn't start off wet. We did the long climb up the Main Street in our village and stopped for coffee/ginger tea at a cafe at the top. There was a bit of rain but we continued. We took the correct track to go through coffee plantations to a temple, asked directions and then took a wrong torn off. The big problem is that the tracks are for the benefit of locals who all know the way. Strangers like us get lost. Anyway we made our wrong turn but didn't realise it until it seemed too late to turn back. It didn't matter really since we are just having walks to enjoy the countryside. It got towards lunchtime and we found a warung and went in to have some noodles. The woman who ran it had a very sad tale about her husband dying, her father dying her second marriage not working out, last week's storm destroying her home, moving in with her uncle etcetera etcetera. The monsoon began so we stayed longer than we wanted. We found out where we were on our rudimentary map and when the monsoon eased we set off. We passed over a make-shift bamboo bridge (the concrete bridge had been swept away last week) and then the monsoon returned. We sheltered in a house being constructed where in half an hour three men managed to lay one floor tile. Now we were on a little road we knew and only had to shelter once more from the rain before we got back to our guest house.
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Post by Scrubb on Feb 8, 2018 19:23:50 GMT 2
Ha! Glad you keep finding places to shelter. Did you have to show them how to set the tile?
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Post by Baz Faz on Feb 9, 2018 3:57:14 GMT 2
Stubborn, I think those three men were doing things the Balinese way - one man doing the job and the other two looking on. This is our fifth day at our guest house in Munduk and they still have not fixed the steps to come down from the road. Sometimes we see a couple of men up there but they see to be waiting for the rain to start so they have an excuse to go home.
Oh dear Scubb, sorry that autocorrect. Got your name offensively wrong. Because I am using the iPad I seldom check what I have written.
Yesterday we had a rest from trekking on uncharted jungle paths and hired a car and driver. We saw lakes, waterfalls, Buddhist temples, markets and had lunch beside the black sand (actually brown) beach at Lovina. We ended up wallowing in a hot spring.
Today we shall attempt to find a bamboo forest and more rice fields.
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Post by Baz Faz on Feb 11, 2018 3:55:03 GMT 2
We had another good wak around Munduk yesterday, particularly going through lots of rice padis. We lost our way of course because the sketch given by our guest house is hopeless. Never mind, it is the views and experiences that matter not ticking off a concrete block that is apparently a temple. We turned into the Pied Piper of Munduk. A dog wearing a collar (so not a stray) picked us up right in the Main Street of our village and followed us for five hours. At times other hogs joined us and at one point we had four mutts following us. Apart from chasing a cat once our ordinal dog was no trouble. When we got back to our village the pooch just disappeared. This will be our last day in Munduk. I expect we shal get lost again.
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Post by Scrubb on Feb 11, 2018 5:01:27 GMT 2
Good luck! (By which I mean, I hope you don't get lost if you don't want to, and that you do if you do want to.)
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