Love Letters, Graffiti and Arts - Malacca

Lets continue of my Malaysian sojourn.

Next on the journey was Malacca. Its very weird having to pass through the city of KL to travel by bus to either Penang or Malacca. So the best thing I figured out we could do was to take any transport that we could from the KLIA instead of going to KL. KL is so so far from the airport.

There are frequent buses to Malacca from the airport and the roads are really good. But by the time we reached Malacca and made our way to the heritage area for a hotel; it was well over 12:30 AM. It was the Christmas week and impossible to get hotel rooms but more than that; they were all shut. It is an experience to walk around with heavy backpacks; banging on doors like a thief in the hope of getting a guest house. But it was good to get the entire town to yourself; I mean imagine. You can stand and stare at anything as long as you want :-/ Thats paranoid right?

Anyway; the taxi driver was also sweet and he explained all the things and where we could find hotels but at that ghostly time; it was a challenge.

At one place; the landlord was quoting such a high price. We had to walk more and we finally managed to wake up some guy whose guest house had no vacancy but he managed to wake up another neighbor and we finally found a room. The morning was refreshing since the landlord offered coffee and biscuits called "Love Letters".  A full jar of Love Letters got reduced to less than half a jar in no time. It was yummy and after washing it down with the coffee; we set out to explore Malacca.

Most of the historical sites are within the 1 sq. mile area. You could do it by a bicycle or a walk. I would prefer walking anytime. Many reasons. It gives me the flexibility to pause, click and indulge in a conversation at any place. Why have the hassle of parking the bicycle and all that. If Penang was excellent, Malacca was out of the world. There is nothing special attached to it - no jazzy nightclubs, no super museums and all that. The simple charm and a laid back lifestyle is its speciality. Walking around the city, exploring it at a leisurely pace was all that it was to it.

A town abundant with graffiti and arts doesnt need anything extra. See it for yourself!
A wall, a drain pipe, a door, a roof - nah! nothing is spared.

Pearl of the Orient

I am back! Yet again!! 4 weeks of absence was due to my travel activities and boy! I am glad to be back on this space. I havent done justice to myself in the past on few travel journals in the past. But this time I am gonna jot all of them down.

Well, the travel this time was to Malaysia and Indonesia. At KL LCCT; I didnt meet the janitor about whom I wrote in my latest post. It was very unfortunate. Anyway; I would remember him and his kind deed until death. So diving into my travel! I've always wanted to explore Indonesia and of course! the older towns and cities of Malaysia. So started with Malaysia and then continued to the lap of Indonesia.

The first stop was Penang in Malaysia. I've heard/read of Penang along with plantation and Indian migrant workers during the colonial era. It has always been my interest to visit places as these and study how the migrant workers have adopted their new home, whats happened to their lineage and how the descendants are now.

Penang offers a lot on these lines. The flight out of KL LCCT to Penang was an hour or so and the transport from airport to Georgetown was easy. Rapid Penang the public bus service is so efficient and frequent.  The old city of Georgetown is where the wealth is. From historic buildings to concentration of Malaysian Tamils; the city by itself is a UNESCO world heritage site. The quaint streets with colonial buildings on either side, nestled among them the old mosques and chinese and hindu temples, the lovely people from different ethnicity and culture is a treat to the eyes.

Never was a feeling of animosity or getting cheated; it was a breezy experience. Getting to see the town was easy riding a bicycle. At 10 RM per day; it was economical and the best way to roam around the town. Few things that was pleasantly surprising was the Tamil diaspora. Getting inside Little India seemed as if somewhere in Tamil Nadu. I did not want to go there again! Not because anything bad occurred but I wanted to feel being outside India not in India. The second thing that amazed me was how helpful and sweet people were. Always smiling, stopping by to redirect you and answer your queries. Penang in my view was the perfect start for the vacation.

Day 1 was just roaming around Georgetown and taking in the atmosphere and the scenes. It was marveling to see the architecture being preserved.

Pinang Peranakan Mansion. Magnificent townhouse which was the former residence of Chinese Kapitan Chung Keng Kwee. Its filled with thousands of antiques and collectibles and shows how the Kapitan lived then. Its hard not to miss the Scottish iron works, English tiles and Chinese carved wood panels

One of the many stained glass windows

Work on Mother of Pearl

Trying to click a selfie

A wedding photoshoot was in progress

The Clock tower

World War Memorial at the Esplande

The Esplande

The City Hall

Fort Cornwallis build by Sir Francis Light who made Penang as British East India Company colony

Enjoying the view from the fort

The Town Hall on the Esplande

I didnt get enough of the old world architecture

Street food - Appams, curry, Rice....

View of Komtar - 65 floor skyscraper the tallest in Penang from the hotel room

A Dargah parallel to Little India

This was just Day 1!! :-)

Bayon

Now, Angkor Wat is the name everyone identifies. But Angkor Wat is one of many such temples that exist in Siem Reap. Few of them older than Angkor Wat, few more grander and bigger. As such, its not possible to get a guide for whole day. For one; its not about the expense; but about the control of time. You have total control of your time and can choose where you want to spend more time and the ones you want to skip.

Nothing is worth skipping but since the sq km area clustered with these temples run into 100s an you may need over a month to visit each one. And if you are from India; you wouldn't really need a guide since the temples are designed around Hindu mythology. Even if you are not a Hindu; you will know most things and then the temples and the art are self explanatory.

After Angkor Wat, we visited Bayon. Bayon is just across Angkor Wat. Its a 12th century temple built by Mahayana Buddhist king Jayavarman VII. Note that Jayavarman VII covered to Buddhism whereas his predecessors were Hindu. The conversion happened due to the influence of Sri Lankan Buddhist monks who visited Angkor kingdom. The capital of Jayavarman VII was Angkor Thom. If you have to visualize, all these places are just less than a km away; but each king had his own capital and a state temple.

Whats special about Bayon is that unlike a conventional temple tower design, the edifice has distinctive feature of numerous and serene stone faces on the many towers. The 54 towers has a total of 216 gigantic faces stares at you. Some historians believe that these are the faces of Bodhisatva called Avalokiteshvara or Lokeshvara while there are also conclusion that the faces may also be of King Jayavarman VII as DEVARAJA "God King" since the stone faces bears a strong resemblance to the king himself. These two theories need not be mutually exclusive. Later part of the 13th century saw the temple undergo modifications when the Khmer empire reverted to Hinduism and further alterations when Theravada Buddhism was adopted.

So what was my reaction? Well, by now I must say I was too stunned to even react. I kept thanking God for blessing me to be able to see these marvels and at the same time; feeling the walls of the temples to confirm I was really there. The feeling is overwhelming; nothing prepares you for that experience. If you ask me to describe in words my feelings; I can't. Visit Siem Reap to understand what I am trying to convey

Such tours are common :)

Bayon first glance

A scene of a day to day life on bas relief. A VIP on his way

Men at work

Elephants at war

Amry at war

Dancers

War scenes

Everyday life of a Khmer

First look at inner courtyard

This is what i was talking about

Alterations - images and sculptures confirming conversion to Hinduism

Leaves you stunned; imagine gigantic faces looking at you which ever way you turn

Inner courtyard

A close up

Size comparison

Apsaras everywhere

A unique one; if you observe the image is smiling and the teeth are visible

I will die to be experiencing this

A very close up of a face. As you go to the top most courtyard; the gigantic faces come face to face with you