Apu Caba, Malaysia

I landed around 7 am and went back with Gretchen to her hostel on two different train. The hostel was almost booked but we were able to get two beds for the night. It's amazing. The rooms had about 6 beds each and air conditioning. The toilets were clean and showers had running water. There's also wifi here which was how I was able to post the last couple entries. After locking my bag in a locker and eating the complementary breakfast (5 peanut butter sandwiches). Gretchen and I caught train to the bata caves. Took about half an hour and cost about 50 cents to get there. The first cave entrance was about 250 feet above the street up surpringly steep steps crawling with monkeys trying to seal food from unsuspecting guests. Gretchen was wearing a dress and paid to borrow a wrap to cover her legs before we could enter. A giant gold statue looked out over the city with us. The cave was ..cavernous. 

We had been told that it was worth seeing taking the tour to see the dark caves and we walked around the side of the mountain to do that. The cave has 200,000 bats all making tons of noise. There were 4 of us on the tour and our guide pointed out all kinds of huge, foreign insects. The ecosystem is "guano-driven" and the hard hats we wore were solely to keep the bat droppings off our faces. We only had to be reminded once to keep our mouths closed when looking up. The cave formations were spectacular but the highlight of the tour had to have been the pond-sized pool of bat poop, surrounded by oversized cockroaches. She also told us to watch out for a specific neon centipede that we saw because it was venomous. More than once, I wished I was in my sperrys instead of sandals. 

About halfway through, the mist outside turned into a downpour and the trickles running down the stalagmites became waterfalls. The noise of the bats and rrain was peaceful and parts of the path flooded on our walk back. 

There was a final cave on our way out which had lots of statues and a religious storyline. It reminded me a lot of the it's a small world ride in Disneyland. 

We bought a bushel of the jolly-rancher bananas for the train ride back. There is no trash anywhere and it feels strange to hold on to garbage until you find a can. It's become almost normal to litter. The cleanliness here is refreshing though. 

Back at the hostel, we made some new friends and a Malaysian student brought us for some local street food. Joe from England, Gordon from Germany, Matt from Vermont accompanies us and Izad ordered for all of us. He and I ate with our hands and the rest used forks.

I'm so happy to be eating foods that aren't Indian. Southeast Asian food is similar but there are more options and it's nice to not have the same food for every meal. 

Afterwards, we tried Durian, which is a big thing in Malaysia. The fruit is like someone took a wheel with adjectives and spun it 5 times. The is no cohesion between the taste, appearance, smell, and texture of the fruit.  It's about the size of a cantaloupe, covered with stubby, brownish-green spikes and a long stem. The outside smells a little like rotten clam and the inside is many yellow sections, each about the size of a fat thumb. The inside has a different smell and biting into the meat is an experience. I've heard the texture described as a cross between an overripe banana and a pineapple but that doesn't quite capture it. It's stringy and mealy and the taste lingers in your mouth  long after you swallow. The flavor is a little like bubblegum or taffy. We've seen signs in hostels and public places that say "no smoking, spitting, or eating durian". It's not a fruit I plan to try again. 

After dinner, we wandered over for a look at the KL twin towers. They were beautifully lit up and we drank a beer while watching a light/water fountain show set to intense classical music. 

Back at the hostel, Gretchen and I looked through the guidebook and tried to make a tentative plan for the next few days. We hung out in the common area for a while before going to sleep. When I got back to my room, the bed I had planned on using was taken so I slept in a different one. 

 

*Note on Backpacker culture.  

Making new friends with other travellers is as easy as introducing yourself. Some very common themes emerged among the backpackers. It's not summer, so most of the travellers are on long trips after quitting work, or finishing school. Some have end dates but many do not. They also tend to stick to similar trips and experiences. It's also flexible. Making plans goes something like this "hi, my name is Alec, what did you do yesterday? Was it worthwhile? what are you doing tomorrow/can we come?" 

Swimming in the stream of backpacker culture is a way to see lots of unique  local places and make immediate friends. It's different from my experience working in India and doesn't allow for the same depth of experience or as much cultural challenge. I remember reading quote below somewhere. Here it is without attribution and paraphrased from memory. 

"He who has seen one cathedral multiple times has seen something, he who has seen a handful of cathedrals for a day has seen little, and he who has seen 100 cathedrals for an hour has seen nothing at at." 

My experience in India is spending lots of time at the cathedral of rural village life. I'm glad to be able to do both. 

-AB

Roads are paved and clean

See a hundred cathedrals 

Swimming in the stream

First day I've worn these clothes for anything but exercise.