Pugsworth in Malaysia

Surprise, this is the bonus installment I had at the beginning of the trip, a few hours in Malaysia and they let me through immigration!

Firstly though, I had a good flight, an isle seat in the front row so I had heaps of leg room and my TV screen came out from under the front of the seat so I could put it exactly where I wanted it. I watched Meet the Fockers and National Treasure both not bad. Sat next to a very well behaved 8 year old and had a few little chats which was great.

Anyway we landed at Kaula Lumpur International Airport 5:40am local time and after watching the sunrise over a nearby hill I ran into Tarek from soccer who had been waiting 10 hours for his flight to Beirut, we chatted travel stuff for five minutes while he stood in the queue to board.

Then I went to enquire at the transit desk as to whether I would be allowed through immigration. They told me I'd have ask at the immigration desk. This required a shuttle train trip to 'the other airport building' but it was worth it because they let me through. So where I can I go in two hours? First I had to run the gauntlet of locals offerring taxi's or hotels. I clearly looked like a tourist with money who doesn't know where he's going! - true enough I guess.

I couldn't find the train station so I just walked out the front door - into the humidity. Across the road were some beuatiful hotels (presumably), balconies overflowing with cascading greenery - ah the tropics. I eventually found the train - a half hour express ride to KL Sentral (though not the CBD as it turns out).

The train trip itself gave me a chance to see the countryside and build on my airport impressions of Malaysia - basically the stronger pressence of Islam, with several prayer rooms at the airport. Once you leave behind the hotels the scenery is purely lush green plants. There were lots of coconut plantations which reminded me of Papua New Guinea, tropical growth where plants just grow like you wouldn't believe until you see it. Gradually the greenery becomes infiltrated with buildings and development. A couple of beautiful mosques and their domed tops stand tall above their green surroundings. Sadly this is about the only distinct man made structure visible as one comes to see that 'development' means the globalisation of western architecture and social design with raods, bridges, houses and buildings that all look just the same as back home. A stark contrast to the landscape and bush which could hardly be more different and of course the people themselves and their culture - beautifully different.

Getting into KL Sentral I find a train station and shopping complex no different from back home except that is took me twenty minutes to find my way out of it without using an exit that lead to taxi's and hotels. I couldn't find my way to the ground level streets (like being Blade Runner or Corrisant from Star Wars) where i could escape the tourist facade and find a bit of 'real Malaysia'.

Eventually I found my way and had about 45mins wandering local streets, carrying my 2 * 20 litre panniers in the stifling humidity. Humidity I would have been at home in 12 years ago in PNG but I've obviously adjusted to Melbourne's dry heat. (I'd looked at storing luggage at the airport but this was before I knew I could get out and required changing cash when the airport trolleys were free and convenient, so I decided not to - a mistake in hidsight.

It was great to wander around the local streets though despite the heat and my luggage. There were local shops, houses and apartments etc with quite noticable differences from street to street. There were a few alley ways I would have loved to go down down but I felt a bit vunerable in a foreign city I hadn't planned to come to, on my own, carrying all my luggage, with a plane to catch and clearly looking like a tourist. Had I been on my bike (in transit luggage) I might of risked it.

I tried a local jelly drink, a sort of pink milkshake in a soft drink can with little lumps of hard jelly in it - definately different, though not quite traditional I'm sure.

A big thing I noticed on the train and walking the street was what I first described as the 'diversity of wealth' but's let's be honest we're talking about economic inquality and the close physical juxtaposition of these contrasting statuses (or is it stati?). The train ride gave the impression of a range of well funded infrastructure contrasted against some 'typical' village scenes and the city was no different, the tourist train station and apartments of the well off contrasted with small houses and shacks of what I'd call poorer folk (but are probably Malaysian middle class, all within a couple of blocks.

So a few interesting lessons about how 'development' takes place and what it means, but I'm sure this doesn't compare to the experiences of those of you who've spent longer in Malaysia.