My Travel Adventures

This weekend, I made a visit to Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market with my friend Reese. We arrived a little after nine o’clock while the air was still fresh and before all the stalls had been set up. There were enough stalls, however, to guarantee a wealth of breakfast options, of which many were vegetarian due to some upcoming religious festival. The market was a bit more touristy than I had hoped. There were no fruit and vegetable stalls selling local produce, and instead most stalls offered various snacks and drinks, which visitors would carry to wooden tables overlooking the canal. Nevertheless, the place was not completely overrun by foreign tourists, appearing relatively popular with Thai people looking to get out of the bustle of central Bangkok.

Today I got to undertake the tour because of which I had planned this whole journey. Having arranged for a private guide with my hotel, I was pleased to find out that he spoke English very well and enjoyed talking; throughout the day, I learned a great deal from him about local history, customs, and prejudices. As it happened, my guide turned out to be Hmong, which provided a valuable insight into life in Laos, as the Hmong are the country’s second largest minority group after the Khmu. I was told that both ethnicities are well represented in Xieng Khouang province, but they do not have their own schools because the only official language of instruction in the country is Lao.

It seems that the whole world meets in the small city that is Vientiane. Leaving the airport, one passes by big advertisement boards by Western beer brands and Chinese investment companies, after which a derelict Renaissance-style dome welcomes visitors to the town proper. Without making much of an effort, one can find both an American Centre and a Russian “Science and Culture Centre” on streets that still bear their French names. Thai and Vietnamese banks have a strong presence along the roads, which are traversed by public mini busses gifted by “the people of Japan” and tour busses from China and South Korea.

I saw most of the famous sights in Bangkok’s historic centre during my first two weeks in the city, and since then, I have been filling in occasional blanks. In early August, I set up a date close to the Grand Palace, as I realised I had not seen the Royal Clock Tower or the Drum Tower, and I wanted to view Wat Arun at sunset. On another date, I visited Lumphini Park, where I spotted several big monitor lizards and accidentally walked through wet cement in my excitement.

Since I had seen everything I had planned to see in Brunei on my first day, I could not escape having to make some last minute plans. That very afternoon, I stopped by a tourist office close to my hotel to book a river cruise. Since it was set to depart early in the morning, I decided to buy some durian crackers for breakfast instead of eating at my hotel. I also bought a whole bag of rambutans for only one dollar fifty, which – despite my best efforts – I was not able to finish by the time I checked out. That evening, I ate dinner at an Indian diner, having given up on trying to find local vegetarian options. The fresh garlic naan was one of the best I ever had, which is sad considering I do not foresee ever returning to Brunei.

Planning a weekend trip to Bandar Seri Begawan from Bangkok is not easy. As far as I can tell, the only direct flights are operated by Royal Brunei, the island country’s national carrier. While the airline schedules four flights a week, the timing around the weekend is a bit awkward, as the plane flies in on Saturday afternoon and departs on Sunday evening, leaving a visitor less than 24 hours to explore. That being the case, I decided to fly to Brunei through Malaysia: I arrived on Friday evening, stayed at an airport hotel, and left for Bandar Seri Begawan early next morning.

I dedicated my last day in Malaysia to exploring its capital. Kuala Lumpur is a relatively young city, having arisen from a tin-mining settlement in the nineteenth century. The period brought about an enormous demand for tin: it was used to make household items, line tea chests, and fuel the industrial revolution in the Western World. To harness the production of this valuable material, the local Raja invited Chinese miners and engaged Chinese businessmen in support of the venture, succeeding in expanding the town despite rampant malaria and other tropical ailments. Disputes over the flourishing industry led to the outbreak of the Selangor Civil War (also known as the Klang War) between 1867 and 1874, which saw Kuala Lumpur burned to the ground and decimated by an outbreak of cholera.