Last day in KL and Back Home

The 26th of November was my last day, and again my trusty umbrella has scared away the rain, so I thought it was time to do an open top bus tour of Kuala Lumpur. The only problem with this is that unfortunately Kuala Lumpur is a very large city with a lot of traffic, and a lot of the city is just not that photogenic.

Little India

We were driven at quite a fast pace and seemed to lurch from one side to another. Added to that the pre-recorded audio guide had the knack of announcing the places of interest just as we had passed them. This is the Parliament building.

National Mosque

The nearly new Merdeka 118 Tower. We got to see a lot of this. It’s the second highest building in the world.

The Kuala Lumpur Tower, the 7th tallest telecommunications tower in the world.

The Petronas Towers.

Kuala Lumpur Skyline

The Petronas Towers up close.

After the tour it was back to the hotel via a souvenir stall, to have a shower and to pack. Then to the airport. I was early to check in, struggled to find the actual lounge and then boarded my plane.

The business class cabin is the old dated British Airways herringbone seat layout which isn’t the greatest but the service on the other hand was top-notch, and couldn’t be faulted. 

Yours truly in my little cabin. It a little odd sitting backwards, but as I was asleep for most of the flight it doesn’t really matter.

A welcome orange juice (as the Malaysians don’t allow champagne at take off)

A delightful Gin-zing (gin, citrus and sparkling water) once we reached cruising height.

My starter of salmon with a glass of sparkling English wine. Very nice

The main course of Lamb which was also very nice. I had a top up of a rather delightful Cabernet Sauvignon.

And finally a pudding of Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Custard.

After a rather long sleep, it was time for breakfast. Firstly a fruit platter with yogurt, then as I didn’t fancy the cooked breakfast some more croissants and a coffee. We landed a bit early and I grabbed my bags by 515am. Decided to get a different coach back to Brighton at 610, so I changed out of my shorts and put on my thick socks and trousers. I’m glad I packed a hooded zip up top and a woolen beanie as it was very cold after 30 degree temperatures in South East Asia. And after 2 hours on a rather comfortable National Express Coach arrived in a drizzly Brighton. And by 830am tucked up in my own bed ! 

Cultural Day.

My purchase of an umbrella has managed to scare away the rain gods in Kuala Lumpur today, no rain ! However I decided to go to the National Museum to find out more about Malaysia.

The rather impressive building with 2 large mosaics was built in 1963. Malaya had become independent in 1957 but 6 years later the British colonies of Sarawak, Sabah (North Borneo) and Singapore united to form the federal constitutional monarchy that is Malaysia (Singapore would be expelled from the federation in 1965 however.)

There are 4 distinct galleries dealing with Early History,The Malay Kingdoms, The Colonial Era and finally Malaysia Today.

Some nice shiny daggers. May not glow blue if orcs are near.

A rickshaw.

A map of the different states of Malaysia, with their flags underneath.

Despite thinking that some of the galleries were rather sparse, I did manage to spend a good 3 hours and for the princely sum of 5 Ringit or 92p very good value. No audio guides were available and more seating could have been provided within the museum proper but there were several cafes in the grounds.

A Salted Caramel iced latte and a Rainbow Marshmallow cake as I needed a sugar fix.

However my perusing around museums wasn’t over. In the grounds are 2 more smaller museums, the Orang Asli Craft Museum which contains the heritage of the indigenous peoples that inhabit peninsular Malaysia with some mighty fine wood carvings.

I’m sure I’ve seen faces in Doctor Who. Or possible Star Trek.

And situated next door the Ethnology of the Malay World Museum. Why these too museums are not galleries in the National Museum next door is a bit of mystery, but for 5 more Ringit you can visit these as well. I spent about 20 minutes in each as they are much smaller, but well worth it.

Some traditional Malay kites.

Figures from traditional shadow puppetry.

To get back to my hotel I decided to walk back through an office building which connects to the Central Station via a covered walkway. I got some great views of the cityscape of Kuala Lumpur.

And so tomorrow is my last day on my travels but my flight leaves at 2320 so I have another day of exploring.

Kuala Downpour.

My flight from Ho Chi Minh City was uneventful, although getting through Vietnamese immigration and security control took a bit longer that I was used to. Fortunately I suspected that this would be a time consuming process so I arrived earlier than my usual 2 hours. Check in on the other hand was a breeze as I  had selected the premium bells and whistles ad-ons to the flight. For the grand sum of £53.43 I got speedy checking, checked bags, a small but rather delicious Bukhara Chicken Biryani, as well as my favourite emergency row seat (as well as the actual flight) .Also my bags were the first of the baggage reclaim which was nice. I did chuckle when the helpful Air Asia assistant mentioned how much I look like Santa Claus…

We flew over the Mekong Delta, was rather cloudy over the Gulf of Thailand and flew over Port Dickson and the shipping tankers in the Straights of Malacca into Kuala Lumpur International Terminal 2. This is the low cost terminal used by Air Asia and was very clean, and I must stay rather empty. The time it took me to get through the airport nearly lasted as long as my flight. But most annoyingly I had to use the e-gate, so no Malaysian passport stamp. Boo ! I had already changed my left over Vietnamese Dong at HCMC, and now was the time to change my left over Thai Baht. I had tried to do this in Siem Reap but due to the border skirmishes it was impossible to do so. No problem in Malaysia so now I have some rather colourful Malaysian Ringit.

My first full day in Malaysia, and it’s raining. So no open top bus tour for me today. However Kuala Lumpur like Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook (as well as Springfield) all have a monorail, so I travelled on that, and it was rather fun.

An actual Monorail.

Another Monorail.

It did rain quite a lot.

Through the mist you can make out 1 of the Petronas Towers.

It was a this point that I got a little peckish, so I returned back the shopping mall near my hotel. They have lots of differing food outlets as well as a food court. I opted for the Sweet and Sour Fish with Rice.

It was great. Roughly £2.50. I will be eating at the mall again.

The weather forecast. I have bought an umbrella, also at the mall.

Museum Day.

It’s another overcast day in Ho Chi Minh City, not that it matters as today I visited museums. The War Remnants Museum (formerly the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes, and the Exhibition House for Crimes of War and Aggression) in what was the US Military Intelligence Headquarters.

I have to say that despite spending 3 hours here, I was rather disappointed. I knew that it would obviously take the (Communist ) Vietnamese point of view but there was just not a lot about the history of the war, nothing about the Ho Chi Minh tail, nothing about the Tet offensive nor nothing about the actual end of the war itself. The various tanks, planes and helicopters outside the museum were also being repainted, so I couldn’t even take pictures of those either. Having watched the Ken Burns documentary as well as the recent Netflix documentary on the war, I don’t feel I learned anything new.

The Ho Chi Minh City Museum however was much more enjoyable. Although I only spend an hour here, there was a much wide ranging display of exhibits, and ironically their exhibition on the war was better put together than the War Remnants Museum.

There were also some lovely wedding dresses from different ethnic groups, which was rather ironic as because there is a lovely staircase, several couples were having wedding photos.

 After stopping to get some souvenirs, I returned to my hotel to pack for tomorrow’s flight to Malaysia. When that was completed I ventured into the night market that is opposite my hotel. This night market specialises in food, so I bit the bullet and tried some street food.

I chose a Banh Mi, which is a baguette filled with various kinds of food. Mine was a vegan mushroom Banh Mi which was very tasty indeed. I think there might have been some kind of noodles and other random vegetables  and for the princely sum of 86p you can’t go wrong.

My final leg of my South East Asia adventure is tomorrow, and I’ve booked another airport transfer for 730am. 

Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon

The first name is official, the second is the name everyone knows the city by, and the name Saigon appears everywhere, so for my first full day I decided to explore Saigon…

Ho Chi Minh City has a brand new metro, and it’s ridiculously cheap. I only needed one stop to take me where I wanted to go.

The Hotel Continental was a favourite of the press pack during the war. Several publications kept their Saigon bureaux here, many other journalists enjoyed the bar.

City Hall. Used by the French, South Vietnamese and Vietnamese local administrators.

A statue of Ho Chi Minh himself.

Independence Palace, the workplace of the President of South Vietnam.

The Hammer and Sickle, the flag of Vietnam, Santa Claus and a Christmas tree. 

Vietnam is still a communist country, and there were quite a lot of propaganda posters around the city.

There is an also a Christmas tree, and the coffee shops are playing Christmas songs on a loop. In one shop the staff are wearing plastic antlers.

One of the most famous pictures from the Vietnam War is this shot. It isn’t the US embassy but the offices of USAID, while the CIA had top floor. But is it still there ?

Yes its still there, although the surrounding area has a lot of new shiny glass buildings.