I did threaten that there may be a second part to today’s blog – and here it is…
My earlier blog was more concerned with memories. This one’s bang up to date. Today I’ve been hanging around Kanchanaburi. Not the tourist bit near the bridge but the other end where most people (including me) are staying. I love street photography and here’s an ideal place. The roads aren’t too busy and the people are really friendly – and aren’t camera shy.
I spent a couple of hours sat on a street corner just watching the world go by my lens, and one thing really struck me. In Thailand, cars have become monsters. They’re massive and heavy, taking up far more of the public domain than they used to – and I hate to think what the fuel consumption is. Some of the SUV variants are bloody tanks! That was my project for today, look at the reality of life on the roads and here’s some of the pictures…
This is more like it. I’m saying nothing about health and safety, but I’m always impressed by how many people can fit on a scooter. The most I’ve seen is five.A brace of massive gas-guzzlers – and these aren’t even the worst examples. I couldn’t get a shot of them today but several looked like they wouldn’t have been out of place in a dystopian future like the one portrayed in the ‘Mad Max’ films.– contrast the gas-guzzlers with this. Pooch-friendly transport. Sadly, I wasn’t quick enough to get a shot of the pillion passenger on another scooter who had a Cockerel tucked underneath her arm.Then there’s this, which took me completely by surprise. It’s an old British MG. I don’t do cars so I haven’t the foggiest about it beyond its marque.OK, scooters have an environmental impact too – but at least you can do this and interact with people.Moody skies over the main drag outside my hotel entrance. Fortunately, the rain never arrived…The brilliant food stall where I had the excellent but fiery ‘Som Tam’ this morning. This time the lovely woman who runs it is preparing me pork fried rice.– and here’s the results of her labours. And all for 40 baht (£1). It was delicious.
So, here’s a little snapshot of life in Kanchanaburi and insight into why I’ve really grown to like the place. The people are lovely. Expect something a little different tomorrow as I’m going to be up early to take the train to the end of the line at Nam Tok.
Oh, before I go, I said I’d mention washing machines! There’s lots of launderettes here, mostly new but rarely beautiful, but there’s also this weirdly (to Western eyes) thing where you find a single washing machine plumbed in outside a shop. You bring your own soap-powder, load it with your washing, pay your money – then come back when it’s done. You take it away on your scooter to dry it at home. Sod tumble-dryers for chrissake – this is SE Asia!
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Bear with me as this blog is going to be long, rambling and covering decades of my life!
I’ve decided to stay here in Kanchanaburi for another couple of nights – which has surprised even me considering how I felt about the place when I first arrived, but that’s life for you. Then again, I wasn’t enamored by Thailand the fist time I visited. It’s a long story, but here goes. I’m dredging up memories from 30 odd years ago that I’ve never blogged about before…
In 1991-92 I was travelling through S-E Asia solo. I’d flown in to Thailand from Kathmandu in Nepal and it wasn’t an auspicious start. I’d loved Nepal, but getting out was “fun”. There was a lot of political unrest after the police had shot dead several students. We’d had night-time curfews which left us on the roofs of our hotels, watching armed police patrolling the empty streets below. The day I was leaving the opposition parties had called a ‘bandh’ (general strike) which meant there was no transport running. So I had to walk several miles from Thamel to the airport. I wasn’t alone, I met a few other Westerners on the way and a small group of us hung together for moral support. Meanwhile, we passed hundreds of Nepali’s walking the other way – to join in the protests. Some stopped to apologise to us for the fact we had to walk but all we could do was say ‘it’s really no problem – and you have bigger things to worry about’. After a couple of miles walking a car stopped and we were offered a lift by a Nepali family, much to our relief!
I remember sitting on that plane watching the Himalayas recede in the distance whilst thinking ‘phew’! But the ‘fun’ wasn’t over. I’d made the mistake of eating in a new place the day before I flew out of Nepal. It taught me a lesson that I stick to even now, because when I was queing at passport control in Bangkok my guts were on fire. I had food poisoning. I managed to make it into the country without shitting myself, but it was a close-run thing! As soon as I’d got my entry stamp I headed for the toilet, where things were ‘explosive’ to say the least.
I ended up getting a taxi I couldn’t afford from the airport to the Khao San Rd as all I wanted was a room – and a toilet – and fast! The Khao San Rd was very different in 1992. The range of accommodation was tiny and not great. I found a place where the ‘rooms’ were just studwork cells with walls that didn’t even reach the ceiling and we shared a toilet. I didn’t care – I was dying! I spent the next few days shitting and puking (mostly at the same time), grateful for the fact the sink was close enough to the toilet to let me do both! I remember wanting to post a ‘sorry for the dying noises’ note on my door as the other occupants of the hovel had to put up with them.
And that dear reader, was my introduction to Thailand. There was a lot of corruption in those days and travellers were often scammed. I got an overnight bus from Bangkok to Krabi which was fun as the a/c failed in the night. We all woke up drenched in sweat and then waited several hours in a truck-stop whilst it was fixed. No-one apologised. Next day some people found their valuables had been nicked from their luggage whilst it was in the hold. You’d been warned to keep important stuff on your person, but some folk didn’t listen. Oh, there was a general election in the UK whilst I was here too, the result of which was depressing as (contrary to expectations) John Major’s Tories beat the Labour party led by Neil Kinnock. At the time I remember wondering if I could claim political asylum somewhere as a result! All this meant I was happy to cross the border from Thailand into Malaysia and didn’t look back. Mind you, the political turbulence I’d experienced in Nepal was mirrored in Thailand. There’d be a military coup in 1991 and just a few weeks after I left the infamous ‘Black May’ shootings happened.
A lot’s changed in the intervening years. Well, apert from the military coups – obviously! I have a new respect for and understanding of Thai people now, which is why I’m very happy to be here and have the time to process so many memories. I kept diaries during my 1991-92 travels and I’ve always wanted to get around to digitising them and writing about my travels as backpacking was a very different experience back then. If you’d like to you can view my pictures from 1991-92 in this gallery. I’ll be adding pictures from today later on but for now – here’s a taster. This is the view from my verandah. Last night’s heavy rain has cleared the haze. A few days ago you could hardly see these hills.
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It’s Sunday here in Kanchanaburi. In fact it’s Sunday almost everywhere depending on your time zone, which is always food for thought – unless you’re a member of the flat-earth society!
Today here in Thailand I’ve been trying to relearn an old skill. That of just being. In the 21st century we all lead such hectic lives. My Asia trip has been focused on doing rather than being. I’ve been preoccupied with the things I want to see and those that I want to write about in the future – plus composing a daily blog, editing pitures and responding to events back in the UK.
Today, I decided to simply sit on the verandah outside my room and watch the world go by, without any lists, tick-sheets or any of the other ‘to do’ things we tie ourselves up with. Plus, it’s Sunday apparently, the biblical day of rest. Not that days of the week mean that much to me when I’m travelling, which is why I sometimes get caught out by events. But today I made the effort.
Whilst relearning to be I realized something. I haven’t got a single guide-book with me on this trip. I’ve a Kindle, but I haven’t fired it up once. This part of the world’s so familiar to me I don’t really need guide-books. Besides, I did most of the tourist stuff 20-30 years ago. I’m here for a different reason now, and part of that involves just being.
Oh, and eating.
I love Thai food. Dawn and I often make it at home but having it made for you in Thailand is hard to beat. Especially some of the regional delicacies like Khao Soi – or what I had for my evening meal today – papaya salad (Som Tum). It’s almost impossible to get a proper one in the UK because the real version uses a very young papaya as its main ingredient. In the UK you can substitute papaya with cabbage but it’s not the same.
It’s now late, I had a Whatsapp video call with Dawn earlier which was lovely following on as it did from yesterday’s mixed call with her parents. This time it was just the two of us. So, as it’s late I’m going to end this blog as I’ve plans for tomorrow. The rain I was hoping for hasn’t arrived here but the river’s at least a couple of feet higher. I know this by the fact the gangplank to my ‘floatel’ is now level to the land. Hopefully this will keep the air less hazy so I can have a day out with the camera. We’ll see…
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I’d fully intended to have a day out with the camera today but yet again, the weather conspired against me. When I looked out of the hotel window at 7am this morning the rain was already on the way through heavy grey skies, which put the kibosh on my plans. So, another day working from Bigland Towers KL branch it was then! It was a wise choice the day was one of perpetual heavy showers. I was here in January 12 years ago but I don’t remember the month being as wet as this. Ah well…
Having reconciled myself to working from home I did nip out for for food and enjoyed another excellent roto canai breakfast. For most people the holidays seem to be over which meant Chinatown was much quieter than it has been the past few days as a stroll around before returning home confirmed. Back at home I settled into a similar routine as the one I had when I was here over a decade ago. Work rest and play – only without the same photographic opportunities due to the weather!
The day passed speedily and profitably enough. The rain even held off long enough for me to have a wander, get my daily exercise and explore outside the bounds of Chinatown as I was looking to stock up on some Indian Ayurvedic soap. Malaysia’s one of the best places for buying it outside of India but the only place I could find sold it in bulk and I’m not ready to carry a couple of kilos of it around just yet!
By 18:00 I was more than happy to nip out for the beer that I’d planned to have the other night but just as I did the heavens opened once more and we were treated to yet another torrential downpour. I wasn’t going to let it put me off so I sat outside a familair haunt to shelter from the rain and watch the world go by as I recreated an old picture,
When I was here in Kuala Lumpur for several weeks in 2012 there was a particular Chinese restaurant on the corner of Jalan’s Sultan and Hang Lekir that became a favourite haunt. The food was good and reasonably priced, the beer cold and the location was ideal for people-watching. Across the road was a collection of hawkers stalls, one of which prepared and sold claypot chicken rice. I often used to sit and watch the chap juggling the various pots as it was a popular place and he was always busy. Here’s the picture I took from across the street on the 15th January 2012.
I went back in 2017 but my favourite restaurant had closed down and the pavement outside was covered in stalls. It’s still closed now but there’s a new Indian foodstall that’s taken over the pitch so I can sit, have a beer and recreate the picture – because the same guy is still cooking those claypots! Here’s how he looks almost exactly 11 years later. He’s wearing well!
Tomorrow’s my last day in KL so (come hell or high-water) I’m getting out to explore…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Having been pretty much confined to Chinatown these past few days so that I could catch up with picture-editing, blogging and financial stuff I spread my wings today. It wasn’t difficult. My hotel room window looks out over the new Pasir Seni underground station on the Kajang line MRT. When I was last here this was still a building site as the central underground section of the new line had yet to open although some of the outlying (elevated) route had. Fast forward to 2023 and history repeats itself, today I used the station for the first time to travel on the first section of the Putrajaya line which only opened in June 2022.
I’m always impressed by the Klang valley metro networks. They’re incredibly photogenic due to the fact most of the routes are elevated and they have amazing backdrops. They’re also a massive investment in public transport which is desperately needed to stem the rise of car dependency and improve air quality in the valley. My one concern is that in the time I’ve seen the network grow I’ve also seen car use grow. Central KL’s traffic jams appear to have got worse, not better and rail ridership remains low (not helped by the poor performance and cuts to the KTM ‘Komuter’ services). Here’s an example of how photogenic the area is.
Metros everywhere! – seen from Kwasa Damansara MRT station. The new Putrajaya services are the trains painted red.
One of the beauties of these routes is that they’re driverless so passengers get to experience the best seat in the house that’s normally reserved for the driver.
Having changed routes at Kwasa Damansara MRT station I travelled on the Putrajaya line as far as it’s currently open to the public, which is Kampung Batu, the interchange with KTM Komuter services from central KL to Batu Caves. What a contrast that was. KTM services have been reduced from every 30 mins to hourly, which is a PITH to be honest as they’re not that reliable at the best of times. Still, I did manage to make it to Batu Caves where I grabbed this shot of the local passenger services whilst I waited to see if one of the cement trains would turn up.
I was lucky as soon after one of the popular ‘Blue Tiger’ locomotives turned up with a long cement train and immediately ran round to begin shunting.
The ‘Blue Tiger’ was designed and built by ADtranz. 20 of them were supplied to KTM back in 2003-04. They’re probably the most reliable loco in the fleet. They’re certainly the most popular – and the most powerful. The ‘blue tigers’ weren’t a commercial success for ADtranz or Bombardier – who took them over. Only 61 were ever built.
Moving on from the caves my next stop was at Sentul which was the site of the railways main workshops – the Malayan Crewe that in its heyday was reported to have employed 5000 people. All that’s long gone but there’s still an EMU depot nearby and a few roads full of retired and redundant trains like this.
Literally put out to grass!…This is one of the Class 83 EMUs built by Hyundai and Marubeni in 1996. The 22 3-car sets were one of three different fleets that were the mainstay of KTM Komuter services until 2012 when the new Class 91 EMUs arrived from China. Many like this one are dumped and used as a source of spares to keep their sisters running as they’re used on the ‘Skypark’ airport rail link and also work local services between Butterworth and Padang Besar and Butterworth – Padang Rengas.
In keeping with the colonial theme my final stop was at the magnificent but sadly fading former main station in Kuala Lumpur. I was rather shocked to see how tatty and underused the place is now. It used to be buzzing – even just 6 years ago. Now it’s not just the buildings that are empty, the platforms are too…
Covid seems to have removed a lot of the traffic due to many of the nearby banks, offices and hotels having closed. This has been compounded by the opening of the new MRT route at Pasir Seni. Ironically, the two are linked by a new bridge but that sees hardly any traffic. The main station building is a delightful Indo Saracenic structure that used to house a hotel. I stayed there in 2009. It was very rundown but still quite an experience. Sadly, it closed in 2011. The restaurant on the ground floor has also gone. The concourse of the building became (yet another) half-hearted railway museum but that’s disappeared too, leaving parts of the building occupied by a few railway staff and that’s about it. Meanwhile, the structure’s in slow decline. It’s such a shame. There used to be regular daily freight services from sidings at the North end. Every evening a couple of bogie parcels vans would depart for the north but today I saw these sidings have been lifted, as have the others on the opposite side of the station where you could often find the odd loco stabled. On the bright side, these have been replaced by a pair of electrified tracks for stabling EMUs. Even so, it’s a story of decline, not growth. I’ll have more of a mooch around the building later this week.
Returning home I found the light had changed enough to finally allow me to get a decent picture of this major new addition to the KL skyline. Trying to gauge its size is difficult, especially up-close. That’s my hotel at what appears to be the base of the tower. In reality it’s at least 500m away! Having posted the picture on Twitter I’ve been informed that – at 118 floors tall this edifice is twice as big as the ‘Shard’ in London and is (in fact) the 2nd tallest building in the world!
After my travels I’ve had a quiet evening in, partly helped by the fact we had a very heavy thunderstorm with torrential rain, which was great fun to watch from my hotel room window, but it can’t have been good for business for all the street-traders. Once it stopped I did nip out for food but Chinatown feels very subdued. I’m assuming people are keeping their powder dry for the forthcoming New Year celebrations – as am I!
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Sorry folks, I’ve been spending much of today working my way through all the pictures I’ve taken this week which means the long blog about my rail trips being delayed. I’ve still got a lot of picture captions to do as there’s not much point blogging about the trip if I can’t identify the locations of some of the pictures. I’ve decided to have another day working from home here at Bigland Towers KL branch in order to clear the decks of everything I need to do.
To be honest, it’s been lovely not to be under pressure. I was up at 06:00 and pottering around soon after as I had a load of washing to get sorted. Clothes don’t get particularly dirty here, but they sure get sweat-soaked, so a constant rotation of fresh clothes makes life much more pleasant – both for me and anyone in my vicinity! At least stuff dries very quickly in the 30 degree heat…
Having done my dhobi duties I went for an early morning wander around Chinatown which is very quiet that time of day as most businesses are still shut. The empty streets gave me time to explore and look up and around which is how I realised just how much damage Covid has done to the Malaysian economy. Several very large high-rise hotels are now derelict having never reopened after lockdown. Some of the smaller ones succumbed too, including a few backpacker hotels and the associated bars frequented by their customers – like the well known ‘reggae’ bar. My tour through the backstreets showed me gaps where little stalls have vanished too. There used to be an old Chinese street barber on Jalan Sultan. He had a mirror fixed to the side of a building and a barbers chair bolted to the pavement and little else other tan a tiny metal sheet roof to protect his mirror and clippers from the rain. In truth, he was a miserable old bugger, he had a big sign up saying ‘no photographs’ and he refused to cut foreigners hair, but he’d been here for donkey’s years. Now he, his mirror and his chair have vanished. But then so has much of the trade. Tourists are reappearing but the area’s so much quieter than it used to be. The Chinese are starting to return, but the Russians are otherwise occupied at the moment and even the numbers of backpackers (or more likely ‘flashpackers’ nowadays) and European tourists are well down.
None of that prevents me feeling happy to be back and relaxing into life here. I spent a lot of time here 10 years ago as I was trying to get a lens repaired – but all the spares came from Thailand which had been devastated by floods, so it took weeks, but then I was working for the International Railway Journal then so took time to organise an interview with the (then) President of Malaysian Railways and spent an interesting couple of days with himself, his Senior Managers and other KTMB staff. Happy days!
So I feel quite at home here and I’m looking forward to wrapping up the bits I need to do before spending some more time exploring. In the meantime, here’s a few pictures from today showing life in Chinatown.
This is where I eat. It’s a great Malaysian street food place on Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, just around the corner from the famous Jalan Petaling. It’s run by a delightful Malaysian bunch like this woman who’re only too happy to talk you through what’s available. A massive mixed plate of rice, vegetables and a meat or fish dish will cost you around 7 ringgit 50, or £1.40! The food’s delicious. You’ll never go hungry here.The alleys off the side streets are some of my favorites as you never know what little businesses you’ll find tucked away in them. Here’s a traditional Chinese food stall getting ready for the day (and they work long days) with the chap on the red stool cracking on with the washing up from the night before.
A sight that’s become very common nowadays is pavement bric-a-brac stalls like this one as people sell stuff to help make ends meet. A shot from this evening’s perambulations. 10 years ago this street would have been chokka at this time of night…
If you’re interested in seeing older pictures from Kuala Lumpur that I have in my archives, click on this link. Don’t worry, they’re not all of railways – honest!
I’m going to call it a day at this point in order to get back to picture editing. Expect more stories from KL tomorrow.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’d fully intended to write a long blog about this fascinating trip but I’m currently holed up in my hotel in Kuala Lumpur after another busy day and I’ve realised I’m really not going to be able to do the trip justice is such a short time. I need a full morning to write about the trip, not just half an hour, so the trip report will come tomorrow.
After 6 days constantly on the move I’m having a day off tomorrow. I’m staying in a hotel with all the facilities I need like a desk, plenty of power sockets and wifi and if I get lonely there’s a big mirror over the desk so I can always talk to myself. I even have a TV with Netflix, so this is a cut above where I normally stay. I’s in the old Chinatown district where I’ve been staying for years – although it’s changed as Covid sounded the death-knell for many businesses. There’s a lot of vacant shops but life is slowly returning to the place. I’ll explore more tomorrow and explain as I’m having an admin and rest day, rather than gallivanting around the city’s public transport network. I’ve got plenty of time for that in the next few days. So, my apologies if you were expecting a magnum opus today. Still, here’s a couple of taster pictures for you.
My train heads North on the early part of the trip. As you can see, it’s not just a case of laying another track next to the old one. In many places there’s a completely new formation and all flat crossings have been replaced with overbridges. The lineside also has much improved drainage and many gradients have been flattened. An increasingly rare sight on Malaysian Railways, once there were a network of sleeper trains carrying you around the network. Now there’s just on on the ‘jungle’ line from Kuala Lipis. Here’s the Southbound working passing us at the huge new station and yards at Menkibol. The old Victorian colonial railway has well and truly vanished. A single track line with station that often just had a single platform and a loop or two have been swept away with four platform places like this which have level access to all areas.The old station at Gemas, the junction for the jungle railway with the new station in the background. This is currently the Southern limit of double tracking and electrification. The old stations’ been preserved but plans to turn it into a museum have fallen by the wayside. Even a few years ago it still maintained an excellent cafe/restaurant but this has fallen on hard times. Now it’s just teas, soft-drinks and boiled eggs. Still, it’s cool for cats (many occupy the station as someone feeds them). As for the rest of the place, Gemas isn’t exactly a thriving town, it’s not even one-horse…I made a friend…An all to common sight around KL’s Chinatown at the moment.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’m here in Doha airport in between flights. It’s changed a bit since I was last here. I take that back – it’s changed hugely! I’m currently sat in the indoor forest, listening to birdsong whilst a waterfall provides background sounds behind me. It really is quite a place, which is just as well as I’m here for the next five hours!
My flight from the UK was fine. I shared the row with a friendly and easy-going young Indian couple. The stewardesses were excellent and the food was fine. The only problem was when we hit some turbulence and I ended up wearing part of a glass of red wine! As it was 18:15 UK time when we took off there was no point trying to sleep so I watched a couple of films instead, including ones I’d missed at the cinema like ‘Dune’. Based on the Frank Herbert book I read as a teenager it was certainly a visual spectacular and very enjoyable. After that I dipped in and out of a couple of films based on the Marvel comic books but none of them were much cop.
Now tiredness is catching up with me so I’ll head off to a quiet part of the airport where I might be able to get my head down for a couple of hours, ready for the next leg to Singapore. Well, once the call to prayer has finished, it’s just shattered the peace of the airport as it’s piped across the PA system. In the meantime, here’s a couple of shots taken in the airport. I got told off for getting my SLR out, so these are camera phone pictures.
There’s acres of seating here but very few places you can lay down and stretch out without being chided by staff, so I’ve found the Male ‘quiet room’ which is equipped with a couple of dozen loungers and carpeted floor space where such activity is permitted.
04:00 (UK time, 7am Doha time).
I managed to get an hours kip in the (not very) quiet room, then went for another wander. By this time the sun was up and a lot of flights had arrived as the airport was far busier. I have to admit, it’s an impressive place. I couldn’t resist having a trip on the cable operated railway which runs the length of one of the buildings. It’s very swish. I’ll post pics later as I managed to get some SLR shots without being told off! Meanwhile, here’s the sun rising behind my Boeing 777 as it waits for us to board.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
This is my penultimate blog from the UK for a while as I head off to Heathrow tomorrow morning before catching an evening flight to Singapore. Today’s been spent preparing, getting (nearly) all those last minute chores ticked off the list before completing my packing and picking up a few last minute odds and sods. Anything I’m missing now will be acquired in Asia – but not Singapore as that’s ‘chingy’ (not Changi, that’s the airport). Much as I enjoy Singapore it’s economy means prices are steep for that part of the world. Even so, I’m looking forward to getting back there, although from what I’m seeing of the weather I’d better keep hold of my brolly! I’m going to be swapping a cold, windy and wet climate for a humid and wet one – so a brolly is ideal – and it can double as a sun-shade.
I’m flying with Qatar Airways whom I’ve used before but not for some time. This morning was spent reserving my seats as well as securing my Singaporean e-pass. It’s great that so many of these formalities can be done online nowadays as it removes the need for a stamp in your passport – which is just as well in post-Brexit Britain as mine’s now filling up with EU stamps (*mutter, mutter – brexitshambles*)…
Qatar Airlines gave me a 25kg baggage allowance but I’m not expecting to use it. Compared to most people I travel light. Well, if you ignore the camera bag! I’ve filled out my case with plenty of clothes, many of which I’ll probably never wear much – if at all, but they’ll provide padding, especially on the return trip for the exotic prezzies I’ve promised to bring back for Dawn!
Packing’s certainly changed from my old backpacking days when your rucksack would be weighed down and bulked out with books, batteries, film canisters and tape cassettes. Now there’s far more room for other stuff but what a plethora of cables and chargers I carry instead! A Kindle’s replaced all the acreage of books and I wouldn’t really need that if it wasn’t for the fact I can’t edit pictures on a tablet, so I carry different devices for reading and working. Plus, I wouldn’t really want to risk taking an expensive laptop to a beach just so that I can read the latest potboiler.
Now it’s time to finish off the final bits and settle down for final night with Dee before the adventure begins tomorrow. I’ll be blogging en-route and have a several hour stopover in Doha which should allow me time to write. In the meantime, here’s today’s picture which is from a previous visit to Singapore. I’ll be staying in ‘little India’ which – as the name implies is the centre of the city’s Indian community. Here’s a typical Hindu celebration outside the Sri Mariamman temple on the 5th October 2009.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
*for some reason my internal clock seems to be stuck in December – so apologies for those confused on seeing the titles of these blogs before I realise my mistake and correct them!*
Apologies for absence these past couple of days but I’ve been both a busy bee and social butterfly – if such things are possible at the same time! I’ve been trying to get various things in order before I head out to S-E Asia on Tuesday. Mostly stuff around the house, plus finishing off a few work pieces whilst prepping stuff to take with me to keep me occupied on quiet evenings or days when I’m relaxing by a beach – if I find the time, and a beach!
Plus Friday was a social evening as it was the last chance I had to meet up with friends in our local before I leave. Dawn joined me and the pair of us had a very convivial evening doing our regular quiz whilst quaffing a few ales (or in Dawn’s case, San Pellegrino) then chatting and joking with the rest of the pub. Saturday was in similar vein as Dee and I had brunch with her parents at Hinchliffes (billed as Britain’s oldest farm shop) where I enjoyed something I won’t be eating out in Asia – a full English breakfast!
Heading back to the Calder valley we said another farewell, this time to the fabulous Moorcock Inn at Norland Moor. We popped in for one last drink in order to say goodbye as Aimee and Alasdair are closing the place on January 20th as they’re giving up the lease. It’s a crying shame as in the five years they leased the pub for they’ve turned the place into a ‘must visit’ culinary experience with superb food and a great choice of drinks. They’ll be sorely missed by both locals and people who’ve travelled for miles to enjoy what they offered. We’ll certainly miss popping in after a bracing walk around the moor for a well-earned drink and a bowl of their sublime smoked roasted potatoes.
We continued our culinary these in the evening only this time it was just the two of us. Dawn took me out for a bon-voyage meal to a place neither of us had visited before, the Manor House at Lindley, on the Western edge of Huddersfield. It’s an old Victorian mill owners mansion which has been brought back from dereliction to become a hotel, restaurant and bar. The new owners have done an excellent job with the restoration. We had a drink in the bar before being shown to our table, which allowed us time to see what a mixed-age clientele frequented the place. The restaurant itself is stylish yet cosy and the food is excellent. As both Dee and I both enjoy cooking we’re not easily impressed and often find dining out a bit of a disappointment, but last night both of us were enthused by the inventiveness of the menu and the quality of the food. The place isn’t cheap but for once we felt we certainly had value for money. It’s not somewhere we’d go every month, but we’d have no hesitation in going back.
Today’s been more of a lazy Sunday, with a focus on more household chores and (in my case) packing whilst Dawn’s busying herself in the kitchen before we have a penultimate cosy night in – hence me blogging earlier than usual. So, all that remains now is for me to leave you with the picture of the day – but what to choose? I deliberately left my cameras at home these past few days as the time was about Dawn and I – not pictures – there’ll be plenty of time for those over the next few months! That means digging into the archives. One of the little projects I’m taking with me to Asia is another batch of old slide scans that need editing. There’s a real mixture (all from the late 1990s) but most were taken in India – including this one – which is of the delightfully battered and archaic Calcutta trams.
Sadly, the network has been cut back even more since those days. I’d love to go back and have a look at what’s left as I’ve not returned for a decade. Here’s how they looked in February 1998 when a queue of trams were stuck behind a common event – a derailment on the life-expired and rickety track.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 