I can assure you my friends, that if you want to open your
mind and your senses, you have to travel. A trip to the east is always
rejuvenating, and in our case it involved over three countries and a travel
itinerary covering some 22 days. As my wife and I spent the days moving through
land and air between Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia, I could only marvel at
the ways the trading Indians had established bases at Malacca, Pinang, Bali and
at Siem reap amongst other places in the far east. These early South Indians
stamped their practices and their varying religious ways at all these port
cities starting roughly from the 9th century. Today the astounding temples, mosques and
buildings in many of these places are testament to their varying fates and
glorious lives and we had the good fortunes to see so many of them. But it was
not all related to history for we spent a good amount of time with our friends
Anju and Anand and also attended a nephew’s ‘interesting’ wedding reception at
Teluk Intan as well as refreshing our taste buds with many a dish at all of these
quaint locales, be it from the Malay, tainted Indian, Balinese or Cambodian
cuisines.
This time I will use less words and more pictures for each
of these places for the stories of their connections to India would take
separate articles, perhaps better attempted in future and so this will serve
only to make a quick intro.
Malaysia is a veritable delight and there is so much to see
and experience there, and it was our second visit after more than a decade and
a half. The country is very accessible though I must mention that vegetarians
would find the search for something to suit their appetite a little tiring while others would find the use of anchovies
or Natholi in most dishes a little overpowering, but the amount of sights one
can see there is a large number. You have the very important medieval port of
Malacca which was founded in the early 15th century and frequented
by the famous Chinese admiral Zheng He, enroute Calicut and later overpowered
and colonized by the Portuguese and the Dutch. Eventually it went on to become
part of the English Crown colony and provided many a consignment of spices to
the peoples of the West and the upper east.
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| Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia |
Kuala Lumpur the capital is a vibrant, crowded but modern
city teeming with huge skyscrapers like the Petronas towers, super-sized modern
malls and guaranteed to drive you crazy with its snarling traffic choke up’s, jams
and erratic drivers. The bars in Bukit Bintang, the shops in the Little India
and China town areas provide an interesting aside while the restaurants that abound
cover virtually every cuisine you can imagine.
And when you sit in the 57th
floor Marini’s bar adjoining the Petronas twin towers and look out at the
teeming city, sipping a cocktail and enjoying the company of marvelous friends
like Anju and Anand, you cannot be happier. Wandering on, taking in the
humongous Murugan statue at Batu caves, the monkeys that pester unwary
tourists, and the last remnants of British colonial life, you see a country
with determined people on the move. But well, you also see the ugly sides of
some arrogant expats who expose colonial and racial instincts that their
forefathers practiced vigorously. We did not pass up the opportunity to gobble Tamilian
inspired food at Kannas, Saravana and Betel leaves, finally topping it up with
some North Indian fare at Passage thru India, but not without sessions eating
Malay food like Mee Goreng and Nasi Goreng, as well as the many fruits
including Rambutan, Durian and Duku.
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| Penang - Malaysia |
Penang was an experience, and our friends Shyama and Ramani
introduced it to us, and assisted by Dr Ko, we had a quick rundown through the
vibrant and ancient trading capital city - George Town, another jewel in the
British colonial possessions. I doubt if Francis Light who founded it in 1786 could
have imagined that the sleepy little port with some 10,000 humans would go on
to become a bustling city, housing over 800,000 people. The Kek Lok Si temple,
Kapitan Keling mosque, the Khoo Kongsi temple and so many more wonders keep you
engrossed, but it is seeing that elusive bit of street art makes you jump up in
wonder. It is something that you have to see standing upfront, for no
photograph does justice to those marvels on Armenian and Ah Quee Street.
And then we were at Teluk Intan to spend time with family
who had come from India to attend Sujit’s wedding reception thence celebrated
in grand style, complete with a Bollywood style story line, some acting and
lots of music. This was a city created by the people who fled when the
Portuguese invaded Malacca, is now home to the word’s second leaning tower
built in a Chinese pagoda style, originally as a tank to store water. Once a
vibrant town, the economy declined after the Perak River silted and the younger
population moved to bigger cities. It is also home to a large Indian population
originating from Andhra and Tamil Nadu, people who came to work in the nearby
rubber and palm estates. It was fun to meet up with the younger generation and
many of my Malaysian cousins, exchanging news and tidbits and partaking in the
splendid reception ceremony.
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| Bali - Indonesia |
Bali in Indonesia, where we spent close to a week, is quite Hindu
based and was breathtaking, be it the beaches or the noisy and boisterous Kuta
area. The Niko resort at Nusa Dua where we lived was lovely and the daily tours
to the Hindu temples left us wide mouthed with their beautiful architecture,
though the slant eyed characters of the Ramayana and Mahabharata were a little
difficult to stomach. The Tanah lot temple complex was the most beautiful of
all, though most of the other temples were also lovely structures, but used
only for festivals. Most old homes had temples within, with ancestral worship
very much in vogue and the Kechak dance depicting scenes from the Ramayana was
something to see. Interestingly all invocations are still done in Palinese
Sanskrit. The trip up to see Mount Bator, an active volcano reminded me of the
Mount Rinjani eruption which I had written about earlier. But the rides through
villages, seeing the making of Kopi Luwak or animal coffee from the Civet
excreta, lives of ordinary people, the handicrafts they made etc was certainly
interesting. There is so much to do at Bali and the lovely food as well as the
pristine beaches and the renowned massages make it worthwhile to take a trip
all the way across the globe, as we did.
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| Siem Reap - Cambodia |
But if you ask us, we simply enjoyed the days spent in Siem Reap
at Cambodia, home to the famous Angkor Wat temple. Be it the astounding but
horribly poor floating village at the Tonle Sap Lake, or the hustle and bustle
at the pub street or the many temples that you will see at Angkor Thom and
Angkor wat, each presented a unique experience, and it would be so as long as
you have an open mind and some knowledge about the Hindu epics depicted there.
You hear frequent mentions of the Indian and European restorers at the temples
as well as Angelina Jolie and her adoptions and movie shot there, but you will for
sure like the simple people and their food. The Somadevi Angkor hotel was more
than adequate. Surprisingly we came across another Malayali wanderer from
Cochin and we saw a Kerala restaurant in the pub street run by a chap from
Trissur. Angkor Wat will take your breath away and unless you have read some
history you will be left to wonder why the Khmer Hindu kings Jaya Varman and Surya
Varman even created these massive temples in the middle of Cambodia between the
9th and 13th centuries, where there was nothing else. But
the trip up to the Kbal spean – where you see a 1,000 (let’s redefine it as
quite a few) Shiva lingas on the river flowing down the slopes of the Kulen
hills, is astounding though a little tricky to climb (1.3km) even if you are healthy
and fit. The temples at Banteay Srei, Ta prom and so many others get you a
little tired and sometimes remind you of an extended pilgrimage. Once you leave
the city the country is relatively poor and people around use batteries to
power their homes, charging them, once or twice a week, mainly to run TV’s.
Mobile phones ensure communication though. The town is also dotted with massage
parlors and tons of tourists.
Back home at last, after clocking close to 25,000 miles back
and forth and with aching limbs, a lingering jet lag and a torrid layover at
New York with winter and holiday related flight delays (the return trip took
close to 42 hours), but a good days rest will get me going, before office
restarts tomorrow.
Finally try to take a stab at guessing what these three
pictures above are about….
So it will be a trip to remember, thanks again Anand and
Anju..... Perhaps I will cover some of the details of these locales in forthcoming articles…..
Until then, here’s …..Wishing you all a merry Christmas and a happy
new year
