Hello, Laos!

Well, in the morning,  anyway. 

I did a bunch today bc I had all day to kill. I was going to not spend any money if I could. That didn’t work out. It wasn’t too bad, though. Only about 15 dollars for 2 meals, coffee, and some sightseeing. And a bunch of bus rides.

The Kek Lok Si temple was dazzling, alright, but the dazzle stopped right at the back of my eyes. There are just too many vendors there. Right in the temple halls, Chinese crap for sale. 😦

The weather was perfect. Cloudy and 85. Never thought I’d say that. 85 and 75 percent humidity! When I come home, I am going to freeze to death!!!

Another bus ride took me to the Penang Hill lower funicular station. I just love any kind of boat or train ride. What’s that all about?

The area at the top has been settled since 1789. Most of the homes have rotted to death. A few remain, and are now hotels and private residences. Lots of quiet paths to wander if your legs are strong. You could spend a couple of hours here, tops. So I did. There’s also a cheap food court. It always amazes me when I don’t get ripped off. 

A long bus ride back to the hostel to get my bag and charge my devices. The hostels usually let you hang out, shower, use the electricity,  leave your bag, after you check out. It’s nice bc they dont have to. Two people told me to get a bus way earlier than I thought I might need to bc of traffic. They were right. Now I can just relax and eat snacks.

See you all tomorrow!

Just didn’t have a lot of energy. So I rode the bus to the Tropical Spice Gardens. It was shady and delightful. The guided tour taught me some stuff, you know I love educational stuff. 

The rest of the day I rested, and planned the next step of my trip: Laos. Stephanie asked if I was going, but I hadn’t planned on it until then. I probably won’t get back this way for awhile, so….why not. 

The Wikipedia article alone is enough to intrigue me. It’s a poor country that’s struggling right now. Corruption is rampant,  and it’s a one-party socialist government. No real political freedom exists. The US bombed the ever-living shit out of it in the 60s and 70s, so the landmine problem is terrible. 

Sounds great!!!

I look forward to seeing what it’s like.

Ill take an overnight flight tomorrow and be there on Wednesday.

Slept in a little, and then slept in a lot. Finally got going about 11:00 am.

I noticed that a temple down the street has been a little more decorated every time I walked by. It was time to go see what’s going on. Well, lots of cleaning. The tile floor was shiny, and no cobwebs anywhere. It’s clear that even the older, non-tourist temples are getting ready for new years.

I saw evidence of getting ready for dragon dances and parade stuff. They were ready for lots of visitors. The building also serves as a meeting hall for a carpenters union. Nice to see that the historic significance isnt lost on anyone.

My other big thing today was a visit to another clan hall. This one did a better job explaining what the clans were  (and are) and just how important they were to the area’s development. These days the clans arent really any different: they still represent their members in politics and business,  run the clan’s real estate empire  (and it is an empire), and give educational scholarships to local youth. Kinda like a Malaysian mafia without as much murder, but with scholarships. No shit.

After that I just drifted along looking and snacking until 3:00 and a nap was needed. 

Dinner was Indian again. I cannot get enough of it.

Ill try to be more ambitious tomorrow. Maybe see some nature or something.

Goodnight 

What a great day. I saw a lot, and it charmed the pants right off of me!!

Georgetown looked into my heart and gave me everything I wanted in a tourist town. Good walking around,  great food, cloud cover, neat art, lots of people enjoying themselves, not too much traffic, lots of coffee shops. Amazing!

My only plan was to walk my feet off. Mission accomplished! Also, I saw lots of temples, cultural stuff, and interesting neighborhoods.

I only took 200 pictures because my phone died. Lol otherwise it would have been a lot more.

The highlight of my day was the Thai Reclining Buddha temple, formally called Wat Chayamangkalaram. So amazing. No tour groups to avoid, just people worshipping. It’s hard to convey the atmosphere there. Peaceful but not somber, calm and lively at the same time. The temple building itself is airy and well lit. Some canned music was playing; it sounded like a story was being told. Everything was clean and sparkly. Literally, cut glass tiles are all over that temple. 

Anyway I’m looking forward to Thailand even more now.

So, directly across the street….another temple! What a surprise, right?

The Dharmikarama Burmese temple is not as spectacular as its neighbor, but how could it be? That didn’t stop me from taking too many pitures of it.

The rest of the day I really tried not to have an agenda. It worked out well, I think. My feet hurt, so that’s good.

My brain is spinning from everything I saw today. I’ll see you all tomorrow 

❤