Cape Town and Malaysia

The turquoise, pink and purples of the beautiful dresses shone through as the air hostesses walked through the cabin. We were headed to Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. After 13 hours of being cramped in to a tiny spot called my seat and smells of microwaved beef arse drifting through the cabin, we arrived in the heat of the day to KL international airport. In true backpacking style, even after no sleep and no shower, we would not be defeated and pay for a taxi so a train it was. After walking for around 20 minutes to find the station with around 35 kilos on our backs between us, we boarded a train heading for where we believed was the part of Kuala Lumpur we needed. Hmm…15 minutes later and we were heading into more and more jungle than the tall towers and business centre we were imagining. We decided to jump of the train and re board another train in the hope we were on the right one. The trains were very modern, computer run and streamlined. Finally we alighted somewhere near ‘little India’ and started our map navigation skills. Whilst walking to the hotel we had booked we passed many a 5 star hotel and many tall buildings under construction. After about 30 minutes of walking this time in the blistering heat of midday we made it to our very unusual looking hotel ‘ Tune Hotels’. The hotel was red and white striped, all over the exterior and interior. We checked in and left our bags with reception until we were allowed in the room. By this time we were exhausted, yet so desperate to either shower and just jump into a pool, we were so hot and bothered. We grabbed our swimming gear from our bags before they locked them away and headed to the luxury hotels to see if we could sneak our way into them. After 3 hotels we managed it. The Concorde Hotel was to be our rest bite for the afternoon. However there were many people fully clothed jumping into the pool that day, Terry had to shield me every time I got in or out.

Malaysia is very different to Africa, it is very green with gorgeous large palm trees everywhere and random patches of jungle dotted around the city full of tall towers. First of Terry’s list to visit is of course the Petronas Towers, he has put me through many a documentary on the building of these towers and so it had to been seen. We have 5 days in Malaysia so we are now thinking of some plans to make the best of it.

Just before we go and make our plans and chill out in our brightly coloured room for a while, I thought I’d quickly update you on Cape Town. Cape Town was fantastic, full of colour, life and vibrancy. The sea is turquoise and the air is sweet, fresh, free and sweet. Table Mountain surrounds the city like its protector and an array of clouds trickle down the mountain as if its smoking. After sleeping over in a hostel named Zebra Crossing and catching up with family from home we were taken by mini bus to the sights, sounds and smelss of Cape Town. Our guide was a local historian and wanted to show us the real South Africa. We were taking past famous sights of cape town and then into a shanty town built by blacks when they were sent from the city. Thousands and thousands of people lived there in tin shacks with dirt roads. As we got out of the van in the middle of a maze of houses we were shocked to see every sets of eyes on us. An unnerving experience to say the least. We went to the local ‘pub’ and sat down for a talk from a local. We sampled the local beer also and sat in silence wondering why we were actually there. Was it from interest to see how others live, was it to experience segregation and fear or was it to sit and stare at people who are on the poverty line? We went from house to house, looking into peoples lives noticing every tony piece of space being used. Families pushed together by necessity in tiny spaces no bigger than my room at home. Terry made a friend and a small boy took his hand for the rest of the walking tour. We traded with the locals as as we did not want to take money with us and gained some beautiful hand painted paintings. We waved goodbye to this destitution, headed away with our flashy cameras and filled bellies and were left wondering why we were so lucky.

We decided that the best way to see this part of the world was to hire a car. We hired two cars and 8 of us piled into them driving down towards Cape Point where the atlantic meets the pacific and the most southerly point of Africa. We stopped for petrol and in a few animal sanctuaries along the way, spotting penquins at Bolders Bay and braving the fierce wind with them. We reached Cape Point after 2 hours of driving and climbed the viewing tower, whilst being frightened by our first snake experience of the trip. We took a photograph of the snake and it turns out it was a deadly snake!

Terry finished Africa with a bang, plunging himself into the atlantic ocean and being faced with the great white shark. The chum was through in to help with the action and the sharks reacted accordingly. Rethinking about it all after the event, Terry felt quite upset that they taunt the sharks in this way just for human pleasure.

Cape town is full of life and history. So much sadness and happiness combined. Although apartied was over around 15 years ago, it still haunts South Africa in a huge way today. There is so much segregation and feeling of uncertainty as you walk its street.

We will hopefully get some more pictures up soon....Terry has just ordered us a pizza so we can go and relax to Malaysian TV for a while until we are ready to go exploring.