Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Have you gone through a hard week and then everything seems back to normal?  And you think, did that really happen?  What a week.  We departed Munnar, India on Christmas and we couldn’t find transportation.  Kelvis was sick again from spicy food so he’d been eating bread and rice for nearly a week.  At the last minute (everything was booked) we found a driver of a safari Jeep who agreed to take us to Theni for double the price (Ok, it was Christmas morning!).  The driver took us OFF-ROAD down the side of the hill on a NON-ROAD.  At some point he jumped back onto the road and we arrived at Theni in half the time.

One night later and we were on the road again.  The hotel manager corrected us before a major disaster (we were headed to the wrong bus station).  We hadn’t been to the bus station for 10 seconds and the bus conductor grabbed our luggage and yelled at us to get on the bus.  It was pulling out of the station as we arrived.  We had a fun two-hour bus ride with club music on blast to Madurai. (Spotify: Google Google by Vijay).  The conductor himself was half the entertainment, yelling and joking with every person on the ride.  Then coming into Madurai, Ken realized our hotel was on the bus route about 30 mins before the final stop.  With no notice, we jumped off the bus and grabbed our luggage (under the bus) all in about 30 seconds, as the bus pulled away.  With high fives all around we saw our hotel on that exact street corner, saving ourselves at least an hour of backtracking and extra expense.    

Ken and I had a fun date night visiting the Meenakshi Temple and the surrounding area (the boys stayed home).  We then grabbed the 3pm train to Chennai, enjoying a pleasant trip watching the lush tropical scenery outside the window.  After six hours as we pulled into the Chennai suburbs, we asked a nearby person how to get to our hotel.  A perfect stranger, he gave us directions to exit the train early, in almost the exact same scenario (jump off the train with no notice at an earlier stop and avoid back-tracking from the main train terminal to the hotel).  WOW!  Following the stranger, he led us through the chaotic train terminal, bought us tickets on a local train, and ensured we got to our destination.  We will never forget the kindness of that stranger who helped us with nothing asked in return.

We arrived in Chennai in the late evening hours and had a quick two nights. The boys ventured into town, yes, for McDonalds and more adventure on the local trains.  For Kelvis after 10 days of eating rice, he just wanted fries and a safe hamburger.  

At 5am on our way to the airport, a taxi tried to overcharge us by 50 cents and that made Ken crazy.  He refused to pay the exorbitant 50 cent up-charge and instead hailed down two tuk tuks to the airport.  Our flight was an easy four hours and exhausted, we landed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (another non-visa country for Ugandan visa holders).

 

Twelve years ago, we had a layover in Kuala Lumpur and thought nothing of it.  We didn’t even leave the airport.  WOW!  We were WRONG!  After a tough week in India, we had the most fantastic few days here, I almost can’t explain it.  It’s like breathing a sigh of relief after a hard week, like, finally, everything makes sense again.  We are in a modern apartment on the 23rd floor (of a 50-floor high rise with an infinity pool on the 8th floor).  All our favorites are on our doorstep: coffee (everywhere!!!), WIFI, comfy beds, A/C, glass skyscrapers (Kelvis is in AWE), washing machine, cheap clean public transit, beautiful roads, Japanese food (Everett), Garretts popcorn (Hillary), virtual reality zombies, Petronas Twin Towers, and the nicest high-end shopping malls we have seen on the trip.

All our love for the new year.  Who knows what is to come for 2024?  It’s a beautiful and wild world.  Happy New Years from our new favorite country, Malaysia!!!

Munnar, India

Twelve years ago, we visited India.  For twelve years Ken said he loves Indians, but hated India and had no desire to return.  Based on flights departing Mauritius, visa restrictions, and seasonal weather, I suggested India was the best choice for our next destination.  He reluctantly agreed with the caveat that he would only visit for ten days.  

I don’t know what’s changed.  It could be twelve years.  Maybe we are in a different region (the south vs. the north).  Or we’re staying in nicer places.  Or perhaps his perspective on life and travel have evolved.  But we landed in Mumbai (his previous “worst place ever”) and within one hour he looked with a devious grin and announced “What was I thinking, this place is great!  Why are we only staying ten days?”  I nearly strangled him.

We stayed one night in Mumbai (ate the spiciest food ever and all got stomach pains; Ken vomited) and then took a quick flight south to Kochi (Kerala).  Our first day was spent exploring via tuk tuk (rickshaw) to all the tourist sites – a mix of colonial era churches, temples, and a Jewish synagogue; Chinese fishing nets; local laundry site; and perfumery.  Ken ventured across town via ferry boat for a sim card – not an easy task given he doesn’t speak the local language and no one speaks English.  For Kelvis’ 19th birthday he wanted beef, fries, and Oreo milkshakes!

 

For the next two days we stayed on a houseboat in the Alleppey backwaters (a huge network of lakes and channels with thousands of cruise boats).  The first night we shared the boat with a newlywed couple from Bangalore and we had a wonderful evening with our new friends.  At one point off in the distance we saw a small motorboat and realized he was selling ice cream.  We asked Kelvis to get his attention so we could buy ice cream.  Kelvis, excited by the idea of an ice cream boat, proceeded to scream “Ey Ey Ey” at the top of his lungs and wave his arms in a crazy, frantic manner.  The ice cream boat sped over SO quickly, we made fun of Kelvis all evening for his wild attention-grabbing antics (very effective indeed).  

 

The second night we switched to a bigger, double-decker boat (with 3 new couples – unfortunately for Everett, he was the only kid).  The upper level contained our two bedrooms and the dining hall.  Unfortunately, we realized Ken was slightly taller than the average Indian, so he had to walk hunched over the entire ride.

The people in Kerala have been some of the nicest we have encountered on the trip – really, genuinely friendly.  Everett is seriously an anomaly-celebrity here because of his dreadlock hair.  He gets 10-15 compliments per day and people are constantly asking to take pictures with him.    

 

Then we spent six hours driving on the windiest road we have ever been on.  It was 160 km (100 miles) of switch-backs, climbing up a rolling mountainside to the town of Munnar.  The drive was beautiful – rubber trees, spice trees, waterfall, coffee and tea plantations.  To make the time pass faster we played the “alphabet sign game” so many times that by the end of the drive we were all car sick and going nutty. (Shout out to Grandpa Roy who used to play this when Ken was growing up. Ken shared the story of when Roy went as far as to even ask strangers in other cars for help on the hard letters.  Fortunately Ken did follow this particular aspect of the tradition) 

We made very last-minute hotel reservations and everything was sold out (duh, it is Christmas!!!).  In our ignorance, we wrongly assumed this was a Hindu country so maybe Christmas wouldn’t be a big deal?  WRONG!  There are many Christians here and Munnar is a major domestic tourist destination.  So… we slept in two TENTS in the middle of nowhere-ville an hour from Munnar, with no restaurant onsite, construction noise and pounding club music all evening, terrible smog, and no toilet paper.  

 

Today everything turned around.  Everett has good WIFI, Kelvis recovered from his stomach ailments, we are enjoying the cool mountain temperatures, and we ventured into Munnar via tuk tuk.  Turns out our tents are right in the middle of beautiful tea plantations (the smog cleared) and we leaned into the Christmas chaos while walking around downtown Munnar.  The boys got milkshakes and Ken and I enjoyed really good thali (sampler platter of veg dishes) for $1 each.  In town I purchased four rolls of toilet paper so no one is without and now everyone is happy.

Merry Christmas and belated Happy Hanukkah, we love and miss you all!  I hope you enjoy this poem I found to share with you.  

           

“When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,

Pray that the road is long, 

Full of adventure, full of knowledge.

The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops, 

The angry Poseidon – do not fear them:

You will never find such as these on your path 

If your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine

Emotion touches your spirit and your body.

The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,

The fierce Poseidon you will never encounter, 

If you do not carry them within your soul,

If your heart does not set them up before you.

 

Pray that the road is long.

That the summer mornings are many, when,

With such pleasure, with such joy

You will enter ports seen for the first time;

Stop at Phoenician markets,

And purchase fine merchandise,

Mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

And sensual perfumes of all kinds,

As many sensual perfumes as you can;

Visit Egyptian cities,

To learn and learn from scholars.

 

Always keep Ithaca in your mind.

To arrive there is your ultimate goal.

But do not hurry the voyage at all.

It is better to let it last for many years;

And to anchor at the island when you are old,

Rich with all you have gained on the way,

Not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Without her you would have never set out on the road.

She has nothing more to give you.

 

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.

Wise as you have become, with so much experience, 

You must already have understood what Ithacas mean.”

 

Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933)

Translated by Rae Dalven

Flic-en-Flac, Mauritius

Mauritius was a surprise!  It was not on our itinerary, nor did we know anything about this tiny island nation in the Indian Ocean.  [Ken on Tik Tok & Google Maps: Where is Mauritius?].  Since we are now traveling with Kelvis (Ugandan passport) we chose the country because it’s an easy flight from East Africa and it is visa-free.  (Sidenote: if you want to get us going on a rant, just say the word “visa.”)  It was definitely worth the visit!  Just east of Madagascar, it is one of the most stable and developed economies in Africa.  The land is strikingly similar to Hawaii – beaches, mountainous interior, waterfalls, hiking trails, and palm trees.  The main language is French (bonjour!) and most of the people have Indian heritage.

 

We spent our time in two seaside tourist villages – Troux-Aux-Biches and Flic-en-Flac.  We drove most of the island in our rental car.  The roads were crazy for a combination of factors: 1) super narrow roads, which would be fine except 2) there was no shoulder and the pavement ended with steep drop-offs, which again would be fine except 3) there was no parking along the road so cars LITERALLY stopped and parked in the road.  The result was narrow two-lane roads turned into one lane, but with traffic going in both directions.  Nuts!  In their defense, the roads were all well paved and mostly new with no potholes.

 

The beaches were top-notch, but our most enjoyable moments were sharing new things with Kelvis.  I think we had just as much fun as he did, experience all his “firsts:”

·      Flying in an airplane

·      Seeing the ocean, swimming in the ocean, and dunking his head underwater (oops, we forgot to tell him to close his eyes!)

·      Taking a bath in a bathtub

·      Using a washing machine and dishwasher

·      Having air conditioning in his room

·      Going to McDonalds (he loved it!)

·      Trying all kinds of new foods - fried noodles, fried rice, sushi, coconut soup, Thai papaya salad, Belgian waffles, pickles (he did NOT like!)

·      Going to horse racing (at the oldest racetrack in the southern hemisphere, there since 1812… who knew?)

·      Going on a hike – we spent a gorgeous day on two separate hikes at Black River Gorges National Park

And now… we are at the airport, heading to India!

Nairobi, Kenya - Where a Special Guest Joins Us...

Dar es Salaam was a whirlwind of activity.  We spent one night recovering from the sauna-train and a chaotic morning trying to reach the ferry to Zanzibar.  The touts (guys trying to sell us stuff) were in full effect as we arrived at the ferry – literally banging on our taxi windows, grabbing at us and our luggage, and following us once we exited the taxi.  Luckily, Ken purchased our ferry tickets online so we beelined straight for the office where we would get our printed tickets.  The ferry itself was enjoyable: on time, air conditioned, and comfy seats for a quick 2-hour ride to the island of Zanzibar.  

Our hotel was on the northern beach in a tourist town called Nungwi with a quick 5 min walk to one of the most beautiful white-sand beaches.  The boys took a half day boat tour to a snorkel spot (below average), dolphin sighting (too many tourist boats to really enjoy), and a random sandbar in the middle of the ocean (surprisingly fun!). 

 

A highlight was meeting with our German friends again (from the train).  We met at a local fish market and then enjoyed the evening with cocktails on the beach.  We laughed, laughed, laughed:

·      The locals were confused which of us was his wife (he kept changing his answer)

·      We sheltered Vera from the sun like a pale-celebrity-princess chased by paparazzi who mustn’t let the sun rays touch her

·      Compared notes on how to wash laundry in the shower (Nina recommended wearing a bikini, I recommended dissolving the detergent in the garbage can first).

On the last night we switched from our beach location to a hotel near the airport (for an early morning departure).  We surprisingly loved the area where we stayed (old Stonetown) and wished we had more time to explore.  The old port area of Zanzibar City had narrow streets that didn’t allow cars but only pedestrians.  The architecture was super unique with elaborately carved doors on most of the buildings – apparently to ward off elephants?  The streets were filled with bazaar-style vendors, which made for a very vibrant and festive mood to wander the streets.  

Then we flew from Zanzibar to Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.  Nairobi is supposed to be exceptional, but we were only there for one night so I booked a subpar hotel room near the airport.  It was NOT a tourist hotel, as affirmed by the questioning stares from literally every person on the street.  Even so, we had an eventful afternoon.  The lady at the bar (yes, our room was above a bar) happily let Everett do his homeschool work in the bar (it was early afternoon so it was empty).  Everett got a fade haircut for $1.  And we found a very packed local chicken BBQ restaurant.  When we asked for the menu our waitress said, “I’m the menu - I tell you what we have,” and then directed Ken into the grill kitchen and pointed to all the food options.  Someone (not sure who) gave us fake money as change (it was bound to happen at some point – it looked real!).

Drumroll…. Introducing our new featured special guest!

Some of you know Kelvis, Everett’s cousin from Uganda.  He is currently on winter break before his final year of high school, so we invited him to accompany us for a few weeks of travel.  We planned for him to fly solo from Uganda to Kenya to meet us (a quick one-hour flight) - after that we would travel together.  Unfortunately, as a young, solo, first-time traveler the airline gave him a very difficult time, demanding excessive documentation and money, and nearly wouldn’t let him board the flight.  You guys, I pulled my first “Karen” yelling at the Kenya Airways desk agent (via a very bad Whatsapp connection) – like an entitled white woman demanding they better allow him on the plane or else!  After a tense few hours he boarded the plane (his first flight, which he described as “fantastic!”)

It was around 11pm when Ken met Kelvis at the Nairobi airport – but he couldn’t get an Uber after multiple attempts and finally hopped on a boda (motorcycle) but the boda couldn’t go past the entrance gate (5km from the airport) so he started walking in the dark until a friendly couple pulled over and he hitchhiked … and then a taxi tried to charge him $30 for a return to the hotel when it should have been $4. 

 

Nonetheless, we made it!  We are overjoyed – Kelvis is ecstatic to travel and Everett is smiling ear to ear to finally have a buddy.  We slept for 4 hours and went BACK to the airport at 3:30am for our flight to…. Mauritius!!