Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Phuket, Thailand

This was our last day with Flat Stanley.  Did we mention Flat Stanley before?  He is about a foot high, flat, and has been traveling with us at the request of our great nephew Brien from West Chester, Pennsylvania.  Great fun to have him along, take pictures and have his view of our trip.  Other travelers enjoyed seeing him as well.
In Kuala Lumpur (KL), the capital of Malaysia, we docked at Port Klang and drove 1 1/2 hours to the big city.  KL is known for the Petronas Tower, the tallest towers in the world.  In fact Petronas Tower was built to get people to notice and stop in KL.  It worked big time.  We visited the Central Market where there was an abundance of batik shops, a national craft, as well as woodcarving shops and a great kite store.  The architecture reflected many different cultures, the old railway station is very British as is Selanger Cricket field and Officers Club.  Then there is the National Mosque, China town, and the Hindi Temples.

Tin mining used to be the countries largest contributor to the economy.  That has changed and now Pewter.  We visited the Royal Selanger factory and showroom.  Very interesting history lesson on money, tin and pewter.  Tin animals used to be the money system, you would twist off an arm or leg to pay for goods, based the weight of the tin.  Later they made coins attached to a tree, thus the term money tree.  Once the coins were used, the tree was melted and new coins attached.

Once KL became a free state they decided to have a king, but not heritary.  Each of the heads of state are hereditary and the king position passes from one to the other every five years.  If the king dies it passes to the next territory.  The PM is elected.  The national slogan is One World Under One Roof, reflecting their vision of a society that embraces a diversity of religions and cultures.  Islam in the predominant religion but it is a secular state.

Back to the ship and on to Phuket.  Phuket is an island roughly the same size as Singapore, significantly less populated.  It is mountainous and was known for its beautiful beaches.  It is now known for the Tsunami  Let's talk about that first:  You would never know it occurred if you had not been here before.  Building are back but have to keep the first floor clear.  A warning system has been installed and some places have been reclaimed by trees and bushes rather than buildings.  Because of the climate, things grow very fast and look mature to us after eight years.  The people have been trained on what to do incase this ever happens again.  We heard about the great volunteer efforts and the pulling together of the community is face of this disaster.


So what else does Phuket have besides resorts and beaches.  Pineapple, rubber, cashews, temples and a 45 meter high big Buddha on one of the mountain tops, working elephants and monkeys.  We visited two temples, Wat Phra Thong with a Buddha buried to its elbows.  The second temple was gorgeous.  We have seen a lot of temples, and never seem to tire of that.  At this one, Wat Cha Long, we would have loved spending a few hours exploring the buildings and images we found here. Intricate and beautiful.

Many places we have visited on this trip have working monkeys and monkey schools.  The monkeys pick coconuts at the rate of 1000 per day versus humans at 300 per day.  The ability to jump from tree to tree speeds the process.  Schools last two years and cost $1000 US.  Elephants can work in all conditions, flat, steep, dry, wet and muddy though most are now used in shows as more and more of their natural habitat is destroyed.

By the way, Happy Thai New Year, today.  We saw the early prep for this celebration.  The entire island is awash with water pistols, buckets, and any water conveyance.  The tradition is to soak everyone passing by including vehicles, and humans, visitors are not immune, nor are police, and local authorities.  It seems like good fun is had by all.  Our bus got a bucket full and we watched as tourist tried the local custom.  It is a five day holiday, including the water, but also visiting relatives and paying respect to family living or deceased.

Our last two stops the day were the Cashew Factory and the Sea Shell museum.  We now know why cashews are expensive--picked, cracked, roasted, re-roasted, sorted and flavored all by hand, one nut at a time.  But the end product is hmmm, hmmm, good.  World's largest sea shell at 500 pounds and the largest golden pearl at 160 carats were on display.  The range, color, size and shape of the shells was stunning.  We strolled through the port side market and could not believe the heat.  Managed a purchase or two before seeking refuge from the weather on the ship.  Pan Asian buffet for dinner, and an early night only to find we had to change the clocks back again.  We have been going back and forth but are now heading west so have a few more changes to make.

At sea today and tomorrow. Sitting on our verandah writing, and watching the endless.  Colombo, Sri Lanka will be the horizon in two days.

Cheers.  We miss you Flat Stanley.  Hope the trip is going well.