From 1,5 million to 100, KL to Kota Bharu

After over three months in India, I must admit stepping out from the airport in Kuala Lumpur was a bit of a relief. Kuala Lumpur (KL), the capital of Malaysia, has a population of about 1,5 million and as hardened travelers we were prepared for the worst, but oh no, Malaysia was a different deal. Finding the right bus in India was not always an easy task, but here we got tickets and found the right bus without trouble as the buses were LABELED and people were HELPING us to find the right bus. The bus was AIRCONDITIONED and the seats were SPACIOUS and CLEAN. What was this place? Had we just spent three months on a different planet? It seemed as if Malaysia would be a walk in the park compared to the slippery rock climbing of India.

After about an hour on the bus and the minor hassle of finding a place to stay, we found ourselves in what seemed to be a five star guesthouse; The Green Hut. The room had ALL of the following:

• Bathroom INSIDE the room
• Hot water
• Mirror
• AC
• WiFi
• White and clean sheets

We spent the previous night "In Jail" in Calcutta, the room in KL was a nice  change!

Matt only had about 20 hours in Malaysia, so we would have to get our hands dirty right away. One stop on every traveler’s checklist in KL is the Petronas Twin Towers. We went, we saw, we took pictures and we left. Moving on, during the day we also made it to China Town and to the biggest outdoor aviary in Asia (where we got rained on, badly) and got some tasty Chinese food from one of the countless restaurants around the corner from our guesthouse.

The famous towers, there they are!

Unfortunately, that’s about all you have time for when spending ONE DAY in a country. Matt flew back to the US while I was staying in KL to await the arrival of my friend Niina, who had been traveling all over South East Asia the last few months. I spent the next day with my newly purchased Lonely Planet and much beloved WiFi, trying to figure out our route for the next few weeks. Niina arrived later that day and after a few beers and sharing travel stories from the last few months, we finally came up with a brilliant plan at 2 am. The weather forecast showed nothing but thunder and rain the following days in KL, so the next day we would head northeast to Kota Bharu from were we would make our way down the coast to Singapore.

From KL we headed to Kota Bharu and hit all the stars in Malaysia before our last stop in Singapore

So early next morning we got bus tickets on an overnight bus. Even if buses in Malaysia operate fairly well, there is always room for confusion. After a chaotic hour or so of waiting for the right bus to arrive, having no idea when or where it would, we finally managed to get on it. Even the creepy guy that had spent the last hour getting closer and closer to Niina, drawn in by her red hear, repeating “hello” about 87 times and giving us thumbs up, was seated in the back of the bus a safe distans away from our seats in the very front.

Seven smooth hours later we found ourselves in Kota Bharu at about 5 am, creepy bus station guy next to us. Great. Thankfully, a hostel we could escape to was close by and we even got a good deal for a few hours of sleep and a shower. There where two reason why we had come to Kota Bharu:

1. from here you can make your way down the coast and stop in various beach destinations, and
2. we had heard there might be a possibility to stay at a local village nearby.

We were planning to do both, so the next day we walked over to the tourist information and got some fantastic help from a happy Malaysian man who greeted us in Finnish when he heard where we were from. Only a few hours later, bags packed, we were heading to a small village just outside Kota Bharu with our host.

Our pretty host with her mother.

The village was situated on a small island, which meant getting on a tiny boat that would take us across the brownish waters. We learned that the village had about 40 houses inhabited by around 100 people and that it survived mainly by fishing. There was one school on the island, but older kids had to go to another island for school. We also realized that our host probably had the most of the money in the village. Her house was big, clean and bright and during my many months of traveling, this was the nicest place I ever stayed at. Chickens and goats were wandering around the village accompanied by 7-year olds on motorbikes and an ape on a leash.

Main road

We walked around the island and had some cute kids entertain us before walking back to the house and getting a Malay cooked dinner of rise, chicken and dried fish. Our hostess told us about the simple life in the village and said she couldn't imagine a safer place; she never locks the door to her house.

Pouring sand from the ground with a smashed coconut in to a bucket is a fun game!

The "simple life" intrigues me, but unfortunately we could only stay for one night. The next day we woke up early to make our way back into town and take the bus to our next destination. After months in India, I was in need of a vacation and that's what Malaysia was all about. Next stop: turquoise water and giant sea turtles!

Ghost Town Calcutta

I didn’t know a lot about Calcutta when arriving there, but I had heard a lot of bad things about it. Words like “intense”, “dirty” and “nothing there to see” sounded oddly familiar. So then why go? A good friend of mine from college was from Calcutta and he convinced me it’s a great city and it was also my exit point from India for continued journeys through Malaysia and Singapore. As a result, when I finally felt well enough to travel after my ultra-horrible sickness in Varanasi, we packed our bags and took the 15-hour overnight train to Calcutta.

Tired, but happy, travelers after a fabulous overnight transit.

When we got off the train we were prepared for a brutal attack from countless rickshaw drivers, but there were none. After a few minutes of walking, we found the ferry to the city and got our 5 or so rupee tickets (that were thrown on the ground after inspection) and boarded the ferry. I now knew I would like this city. Perhaps because of my continuous love affair with big bodies of water or perhaps because the city looked oddly modern from a far. But wait a minute; Calcutta is supposed to be a dirty city filled with history, isn’t it?

After the ferry ride, we learned rickshaws are hard to find and took the more luxurious and expensive alternative of a yellow cab. He kindly drove us to Sudder Street, the backpacker area in Calcutta, and after checking a few hostels we settled with a 350 rupee room that we quickly renamed “Jail”.

"Jail" had rigorous rules, bars on the windows and various writing on the walls. Extremely charming.

Once settled in, we knew we would have to do some heavy touristing, as we only had a couple of days in Calcutta. First on our list was Victoria Memorial, pretty but forgettable. I think travel buddy Matt and I both enjoyed the clean and green premises more then we did the white marble.

Can you spot the white marble in the back? There it is!

Next was a temple dedicated to the goddess Kali. This was my first Kali temple and it turned out to be pretty interesting. A priest at the temple showed us around, even though we told him we wouldn’t give any donations (we knew it was coming though). He told us about the goats that are sacrificed at the temple, a few unlucky ones waiting for their turn and traces of blood from the even more unlucky ones on the temple floor. We asked the priest why Kali is always portrayed with her tongue sticking out. He told us she is apologizing to her husband Shiva for accidentally stepping on him while she is dancing.

Apology accepted, Kali!

We were also asked to “cleanse our hands” before entering the temple with some yellow sticky water from the Ganga. Great. Most temples in India are “Hindi only” and white fellows like myself are usually not allowed inside (especially as I am a white WOMAN). This one, however, was a welcome exception. Inside the main chamber we found a rather disturbing statue of Kali with three orange eyes staring us down and as we left, people were grabbing our ankles. I was glad to be out of there, these types of things can be very intense and I was even happier to see a more upbeat side of the religion; kids were playing in a big swimming pool with water from the Ganga. 

After leaving the temple, we went around a corner and cleaned our hands with our remaining drinking water and headed for lunch. The plan was to get to a Lonely Planet recommended Bengali restaurant. Easier said then done. Finding a specific temple/restaurant/hostel or whatever you are looking for can be quite difficult in India, but fortunately Kali had blessed us with some good luck and we actually found exactly what we were looking for. Ordering food can be equally tricky when menus are not available in English and the waiter doesn't know any English. Thankfully, our waiter brought us some plates with food that we could simply choose from. The result was giant shrimp and some fish and a big bowl of rise, naturally scooped in our hungry tourist mouths with our right hand.

The first time I got a plate of food in front of me without utensils to go with it and didn't hesitate was in Varanasi, by Calcutta I was a hand-eating pro!

After two short days in Calcutta, I had come to enjoy the city more than I would have ever thought possible, but my visa was running out and we had to move on. So we headed for the international airport in Calcutta, expecting a busy airport of a 14 million people city. I am from a town of about 60 000 people. The airport in my town is busier then this one.

Good bye ghost town Calcutta of 14 million people, good bye India!

And that's it. My time in India was sadly up, but without hesitation we set foot on the plane that would take us to new destinations and new adventures!