Penang is an island in the northwest part of Malaysia which is actually very international and multicultural place to visit and eat and enjoy. The main town is on the east side just across the bridge and the beach areas are in the north west and south. All of them are interesting. You will see mosques, churches and temples very close to if not next to each other as a symbol of mutual respect and harmony throughout the Malaysian society. Even though there are many cultures in Penang the prevalent one is the Chinese population. I highly recommend putting this on your top three places in Malaysia to visit.
Nice name for a restaurant, especially a fast food restaurant The west side of the island has nice beachesPenang’s famous street artGrilled chicken with riceIsn’t a hiding place supposed to be secret?Stopping the street art from movingA typical restaurantJust sit here and watch a monkey stare at youWalking streets have a huge variety of foodEveryone loves the Vespa styleThe UNESCO heritage site, dock areaOf course there is a lot of dim sumA very cute and non-aggressive monkey with her baby on the telephone wires downtownLao mango sticky rice is world-famous. It’s so delicious the nation of Thailand claims it belongs to thembodyless in a caféNice cloudsNot too many touristsFood HeavenIt’s a good thing they put up the sign. You might think the Swedish are making DanishDreaming of becoming so popularTypical papaya spicy salad with some other good thingsArtwork down at the docksFamous Hainan steamed chicken and riceHer cat gets a free tour of the town in his own bubbleNot really something we want to rememberAn interesting Hindu templeThis is the first time on the bus when they’re filling it up with gasBy now you can guess what this isA very ornate Hindu templeWhen I first saw this walking down the street it looked pretty dangerous, I remember a movie with this kind of thing coming out of someone’s bodyGood message30 years ago these guys were plentiful. Now there are not manyA lot of beautiful old buildings everywhereYou can buy durian in many places in the city but there are very few places you are allowed to go with it, especially hotels. It stinks.What happens if you decide you don’t like the food after eating it all?Dried communist chicken feetDon’t whack or step on or poison or abandon cats and dogs. It’s just a nice reminderA very popular and inexpensive buffetLao sticky Rice is so famousVery organized and peaceful and prettyWow!
The Cameron highlands are very famous partly since this is the place Jim Thompson disappeared without a trace. He was the fellow who helped develop and promote the silk industry in Thailand after World War II, . The rumors are very fascinating since some of them tie him to US intelligence services and so he was kidnapped and killed by communist rebels in this area. This was a place where the British set up tea industries, probably Tea leaves imported from Burma (where I am told tea first became a drink) and developed an international trade in the product. The mountains are very beautiful and the air is very refreshing but it is very heavily populated by tourists and the services provided also have that tinge of taking advantage of the visitors. I found it interesting for a two day visit but I didn’t find much else very interesting. Those who want to go hiking extensively will find it pretty and challenging enough to be a really good vacation.
Limits where people can go so it doesn’t destroy the ecosystem, especially the mossThis leaf can be used to keep the leeches off of youtea the more modern transports are Toyotas since these older land Rovers are becoming very expensive to get parts and maintainThis plant collects water so when the insects come to get the water they fall in and die and the plant uses them for foodAdd the butterfly MuseumLarge gecko eggsBoh tea from the area and a cheesecake with tea powder on top
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
