India Trip: Day 4

Woke up at 4 and couldn’t go back to sleep. Got up at 5 and went to breakfast with Drew. KL City tour, visited the King’s Palace on the day the new King of Malaysia was being installed. Nine of the thirteen states have Sultans, and the Sultans rotate as King of Malaysia every 5 years. We even saw the king drive by in a gold car, and he and his wife were totally dressed in gold as well. Visited other temples and mosques, and government buildings. On our way back we took a shortcut through the slums or “squatters” area. The government owned the land, but the people lived there, and now the government was clearing the land for development and they were giving the people new government sponsored homes to live in. The shop areas don’t look that different from downtown NYC.

Headed to the airport in the afternoon. Near the King’s palace we drove by a man-made lake, where they are building replica bridges from around the world. So far, they have one from Sidney, one from China, the Brooklyn Bridge & Golden Gate as well as the London Bridge.

--FLEW TO INDIA –

From what I remember, India is not much different, the smells, sounds etc. are much the same. There are most “western clothing” you see people wearing, but still mainly saris and long kunkas etc. Mom & Nate met us at the airport and all 8 of us & the driver & 10 bags w/ 12 carry-ons piled into the rented van. It was probably at least 25 years old.

The traffic was crazy, much more than Malaysia. There are no lines on the road & bikes, pedestrians, mopeds, auto rickshaws, cars, vans, trucks & busses are all together, the bigger you are the more sway you have. J The horn is used for “I am coming around a blind corner,” “Get out of my way,” “Hey, don’t run me over” and anything else you feel like at the moment.

Patti’s house is very different. It is still big, 5 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms with a huge loft. We have the biggest room in the house with a balcony on the front of the house. The house feels much much older the 8 years. Plaster walls, tile floors, bars on all the windows. Toilets are interesting, tank separate from the bottom & hot water you have to turn off & on. The fans make it decently pleasant, but our room does have a window unit, but Patti likes us only to use it at night.