Selamat tengah hari

Location: Melaka, Malaysia
May 16, 2000

Good Day from Melaka, Malaysia.

We had no trouble arriving at the beautiful, brand new Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Friday night. It is a colossal, state-of-the-art facility. Yet, we stepped out of the air conditioning into an oven. It is super hot here and very humid.

The people, food and sites make up for the sweating and discomfort. Malaysia's population includes many ethic groups. There are Malay, Chinese, Indian and various indigenous groups. This makes for lots of diversity and great food. We are really enjoying the food stalls and different dishes (some are really hot!). An average meal costs 3 ringgit (RM) and there are 3.8 RM to the US Dollar. So eating is cheap, delicious and enjoyable. We have done a lot of it. We also enjoy the strange looking, sweet tropical fruits, so many different types.

Kuala Lumpur (KL), is an amazing, clean, techno-savy city. The malls are gigantic, full of expensive stores and American eateries. We had a root beer float at A&W Root Beer, we couldn't believe it. They also have Kenny Rogers Roasters, Chili's, TGIFs, the coffee bean, San Francisco's Best Coffee, Bud's Ice Cream, Baskin Robin's 31 flavors, and of course the standard 3: Burger King, KFC and the Golden Arches of McDonalds. It is hard to get away from the chain restaurants, it's a little distressing to see the world Americanized. Religion is a big factor here. Most citizens are Muslim and dressed accordingly with robes and scarves, I'm not sure how they cover their bodies in this heat, but it's a way of life. Most people and school age children speak English. They are very friendly and willing to help and offer various information and facts about life here. Other than Muslims, there is a large Hindu population as well as the 3 Chinese religions of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Lots of amazing temples, and mosques to visit.

We spent 2 full days in KL before traveling south to Melaka. Melaka is a very historic city; during the 15th century it was the greatest trading port in South East Asia and attracted waves of conquering Europeans. Lots of Portuguese, Dutch and British influence in the buildings that make up this colorful city.

Our next stop is the East Coast, we plan to visit some seaside beach towns, before traveling north to the Perhentian islands to dive and relax. Then across the Peninsula, visiting the Cameron Highlands and resorts of the West Coast (Penang and Langkawi), then into Thailand.

Any recommendations of yours are appreciated.

We are glad to be traveling in a challenging and diverse country. It is very safe and easy to get around.

For those of you concerned: The hostages taken from the dive resort of Sipidan are still being held captive on a Philippine Island. That is in Malaysian Borneo, very far away.

Selamat jalan,
Linda and Mike

PS-We sold all of our camping gear thanks to Linda's determination to make a sale.

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