In this cave and area are probably the most interesting of the places to visit around KL
Kuala Lumpur is affectionately called “KL” by the locals and everyone else in Southeast Asia and also by those who traveled here often. In general Malaysia is a very organized, well developed and nice place to visit. While I don’t get very excited about cities there are a few things in the city that are interesting before going out into the countryside. The Batu Cave is a place of worship and a highly recommended place to visit. The easiest way we thought to get there was to take Grab (like Uber) and it was not very expensive.
The cave entranceThe Hindu shrine insideA striking view of KLChinatown is a nice place to visit at night time. There are a lot of restaurants and things to buyShopping centers seem to be replacing the temples of civilizationDried communist duck feet and duck necksThe Petronas (big oil Company) towers seem to be the main attraction in KL. One of them was built by a Japanese construction company and the other by Samsung of Korea. The story some Malaysians told me is the Korean tower is starting to lean slightly so it might cause a problem with the connecting walkway high aboveA view of the towers from the hotel
Taiwan bubble tea is popularNighttime food stalls in Luwan PrabangThat’s one long riverboatGood spicy noodlesA very old stupah in A very small villageAdd a beer Lao sponsored festival they remind people not to fightLots of fresh watermelons for saleAt old Citroen sitting outside an elegant hotel in Luang PrabangA popular Korean personality displayed in a very good Korean restaurantHaving a lunch where President Obama visited 7 years ago.Warnings at the train ticket booth not to let your animals on the tracks and not to steal parts from the railroad
Only Lao and Chinese payment systems on the new fast train
the new fast train from Vientiane, Laos goes to Kunming in China. It is incredibly difficult to get tickets (Lao inefficiency with China’s communist paranoid super control mentalities mixed). The result is long lines in the city to buy tickets and the only pay methods accepted are Lao resident bank account payments (no tourists can get a bank account in Laos) and a Chinese credit card. Any tourists/non-residents have to hope there is a fellow standing by the window to accept cash and then use his local Lao bank account to transfer the money to the train company. All of this is done while people stand in a long line waiting to buy tickets. Some people are taking 15 to 20 minutes to buy tickets for various reasons. Then when you get to the train station you have to show your ticket and your ID to get inside the building to wait for the train. Then when they call the train you have to stand in a line to wait to get onto the platform. Once you’re on the platform you have to stand in line at the correct train car to wait for the doors to open to board the train. It seems to me like control freak obsessive compulsive disorder – China Communist Party! This is what Lao gets for letting China pay for the train.
bamboo used for baskets.splitting the bamboo into stripsstarting the basketa small coffee filter basket a stack of coffee filters sell for US$1 for quantity 10 to wholesalersa very cold waterfall pool swim and very refreshingkids in the neighborhood seeing their first white man in personDidn’t know they have Korean style cheese dogsThe local village TempleEntrance to the local templeNot always easy to control the cowsPeople enjoying at a local restaurantriver weed (not the cannabis kind)Buffalo skin, to be grilled for snacksRiver weed with local sausage and spicy saladI do like beer Lao!
A lunch in a countryside restaurant is a very relaxing and enjoyable experience Some traditional dancing during lunch A beautiful sunset in Vientiane, partly due to the smog
Vientian has very few attractions, but they do have quite a few restaurants out in the suburbs made of individual huts where you can sit and relax for hours, having a lunch, drinks and enjoy with friends some local music or possibly some modern pops.
Pakse is at the corner of two Rivers, the Mekong, and another river, and has a very beautiful views
pakse is in the south and it’s famous for the entrance to the mountains to the east which are famous worldwide for coffee beans, mostly arabic, as well as beautiful scenery and some fantastic waterfalls, some with swimmable pools. Rent a motorcycle and go around this area.
Visiting a friend’s teacher in PakseThis Monk from a temple near Pakse was, over 100 years ago, said to have magical powers, and thwarted some efforts by the French to subjugate him and his followersA very simple chicken soup lunch on the farm Visiting the farm The kids in the family and the dog A nice view for Valentine’s Day When you’re in Paksong you have some really beautiful views. This is coffee country In Paksong this resort had a spa, sauna A very cold but swimmable pool below a waterfall in Paksong The changing room at the waterfall A nice photo of the waterfall The beautiful waterfall up closeLuang Prabang is a world heritage site well worth visiting
Luang Prabang is a world heritage site and it’s a very walkable town with some more distant attractions as well. It is now very accessible by train as well as plane and is probably the most sought after vacation destination in Laos.
Coffee, flowers A busy street in Luang Prabang Luang Prabang night market Street This is not really beef. It is actually spicy red ant eggs. A very bad translation.A local restaurant anyone can get a license to drive a motorcycleA local wet market
Having a lunch where President Obama visited 7 years ago.Warnings at the train ticket booth not to let your animals on the tracks and not to steal parts from the railroadAfter checking into our new hotel room we find they have provided plenty of toothbrushes from VietnamThe air has somewhat improved overnight due to strong winds. It’s too bad we didn’t have rain to get rid of the rest of the smogCentury eggs, which anti-or called horse piss eggs, with a nice spicy sauce and some vegetablessun through the smogVery pretty sun but because it is through the smog it just reminds me of LA in the ’60’s
A poor farmhouse next to an extensive China funded development in Vientiane.We tried to escape smog in Vientiane so went to the countryside. Even Vang Vieng was covered in smog.RIGHT – Luang Prabang SOMTAM (papaya salad), Left – sticky rice, Luang Prabang sausage. Middle – grilled chicken and upper left – fried fish. Very deliciousCrowds are back at the food market – inexpensive food and drink.a delicacyanother delicacytake home for a big dinnerputting out a breakfast fire on the riverbank opposite the hotel. this adds to the smog.very smoggy even in luang prabang, the UNESCO city in Laosguests lined up to greet the wedding couplenow 4 people are watching the fire being put out
Nightlife on the restaurant street (other entertainment as well)
if you can picture Las Vegas with smaller casinos like clubs, a lot of drinking places, very raunchy entertainment venues, people pulling you into their establishments and a very large arrangement of visitors from all over the world…and a beach that isn’t quite clean enough to swim in, you have Pattaya. It isn’t as much a family place as a large single’s bar with hundreds of restaurants. Phuket is much more family oriented while Pattaya absorbs most of the fringe elements from around the world; some rich and quite a few are just looking for a cheap place to be entertained in almost any form imaginable. This is the wild entertainment center of Thailand where it takes some doing to find Thai cultural treasures. One stands out, The Sanctuary of Truth, an interesting and encompassing introduction to Buddhism and influences from many other ideas from many places on earth. Pattaya is an hour from Bangkok and originally started as an entertainment beach for US military personnel during the Vietnam war. It has it’s attractions, the lights and noise, but for people traveling to Thailand for culture it probably isn’t a place to visit. Go and enjoy if you are looking for wild fun, but hold on to your valuables!
The Sanctuary of TruthThe Beach where you want to make sure you don’t swallow any ocean water if you go swimming. The water is not very clean.The sunsets with a good beer are relaxing.See! Relaxing. Lots of entertainment.An overview.An interesting doorOpportunities to buy inexpensive goods.I think it was this boat that had a big lighted cross but it seems to be more of a casino
in Vientiane we saw a sign reading “free haircut” so we stopped since I needed to get a very serious trim.
These guys most likely have finished some training and are doing free haircuts to get experience with different types of customers’ hair. They set up a little space on the side of the road where people can stop and get their free haircut. Their next step will be to get a job in a barbershop or hair salon. But of course we bought them each a nice cool drink.
