Himalayas & China 2005: 19 - Dhaka, Bangladesh to Honolulu via KL

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

We hadn't seen anything like the included breakfast buffet for quite awhile. It had several tables loaded with food, and a chef to cook specialty items to perfection. After we had eaten our fill one of the waiters decided Marilynn needed to try Bangladeshi fresh fruit, so brought her a selection of it. He then insisted we try fresh juices other than those offered. After spending some time in the kitchen he reappeared freshly prepared watermelon juice and Bangladesh orange juice. Service here is quite exceptional!

We expected our car and driver at 10 AM, but he didn't show until 10:30. There was an Emirates aircrew in and he had been commandeered to replace someone doing the airport pickup. It took two mini-buses and a car to get the crew to the hotel, so it must have been a very large plane.

Shortly after leaving the hotel the surprises began. First, we passed a huge building, which we were told houses the largest mall in S.E. Asia. It apparently is a combination mall, theme park and recreation facility with swimming pools and so on. The second big surprise was how clean the city was - the streets were litter free. Another surprise was the excellent condition of the roads we travelled on - including the freeway from the airport, and the large number of green parks and tree-lined boulevards. It was certainly not the big dirty city we had expected. Noise pollution is right up there with India, however. Everyone drives with a hand on the horn.

The first priority was to ensure our Malaysian Airline flights were correct, as the Emirates staff put the wrong date on our modified tickets. Jaime in our travel office in San José ensured the right date was in the system and forwarded a printout, but I wanted to reconfirm It turned out all was in order, and a printout was presented to me to prove it.

It was then Marilynn's turn. Her shopping urges had to be suppressed up until now due to airline weight restrictions, but the rest of the flights will have higher baggage allowances. Our driver took us to a two story strip mall were a new bag was purchased, and then a large number of items to fill it. The mall had all kinds of interesting shops, from antiques to jewellery.

The next stop was at a fabric shop that had much more than fabric. It was a fixed price store that was teeming with Bangladeshi people. The driver and I retreated to the cafeteria while Marilynn worked her way through the store. Finally the driver left to watch the car and I sat alone people watching. Today is the second to last day of Ramadan, where Muslims are not permitted food or drink (including water) from before sunrise until after sunset. It was interesting to see a Muslim woman sitting with her non-Muslim friend, enviously watching her devour lunch.

We have found Bangladeshi people friendly and quick to smile. They have also been very willing to help whenever we needed directions or if we were stuck with a problem.

Once the shopping was finished we returned to the hotel to check out. They allowed us a 4 PM checkout, but made it clear that the computer would automatically charge for an additional day if we checked out after 4 PM. Once our gear was in the storeroom we headed off to sightsee with another driver. Marilynn had to roll her window down to take photos - it was impossible to keep windows clean due to child beggars rubbing dirty hands on them. Sometimes we had beggars on both sides of the car at the same time. Once they saw they weren't getting anything they would drop the pathetic look and start to laugh at each other through the car. These kids are sent out to beg by their parents - survival is tough here!

The streets swarm with bicycle rickshaws and three wheel motorcycle conveyances that in Thailand would be called tuk tuks. They used to be called mini-cabs here, but the government banned them due to pollution. They were allowed back onto the streets once they converted to natural gas, so they are now called "CNGs", because those letters are on the back of each vehicle. It stands for "Converted to Natural Gas". Bangladesh produces substantial amounts of natural gas, and is starting a drilling program to increase their output.

We wound our way through the narrow streets of the old part of Dhaka, enjoying the throngs of people and the colonial or earlier buildings. When it was nearly dark we stopped at the spectacular house of parliament. It looks like a brightly illuminated castle reflecting in the man-made lake around it.

Once the sun went down the water vendors were out in force along roadsides and at intersections. Parched Muslims could at last drink and were snapping up cool bottles of water like they were going out of style! Our driver was no exception.

The driver told us public education in Bangladesh is free for boys until grade 5 and for girls until grade 10. The prime minister is a woman, and is trying to combat the feeling that women are not worth educating by extending the free education period for them.

Back at the hotel we headed to the bar and ate bowls of popcorn while downing a few drinks. Marilynn headed off to use the internet, and returned furious, as the advertised rate in the room was 10 rupees per minute she was charged double. She had the duty manager summoned and after a serious donnybrook management blamed it on housekeeping for not changing the price list in the room to the newly doubled price. While the hotel has excellent service, it is obvious that even managers have no discretion to vary price policy - that minor amount of money soured Marilynn on the entire hotel. I got one email away off before my floppy disk crashed, but they didn't charge me anything. After Marilynn they were probably afraid to!

We were so full of popcorn that by the time we got to the restaurant we didn't eat much, but what we had was good. By then it was time to head for the airport, where all went smoothly and we were soon in the Malaysian Airlines lounge waiting for our 1 AM departure. The plane was comfortable, and we declined the offered meal to try to get some sleep. Marilynn was unsuccessful, but I took half a pill recommended by a friend in Victoria, Dr. Ralph Hayes. He said half a pill would knock me out for 4 hours, and a full pill for 8 hours, and it worked exactly as advertised. I woke up on final approach to Kuala Lumpur.

Thursday, November 3, 2005

Malaysia was entered with very minimal formalities and no line-ups. The Sheraton Subang had a car and driver waiting for us, which made good time on the excellent 6-lane freeway to the hotel. Highways are privatized and in excellent condition. At the hotel everything was ready for us. Registration required only a signature and credit card imprint and we were in our room in a comfortable king size bed by 7:30 AM. They had laid on an early check in for us at no charge.

After a couple of hours sleep the hotel organized a taxi for us and we headed off in search of camera equipment for Marilynn. The driver dropped us in downtown Kuala Lumpur, called "KL" by local people, at a recommended shopping centre; however it was closed. Another nearby was also closed, as were all shops. Ramadan ended a day earlier than in Bangladesh so it was the start of the largest Muslim holiday of the year. Malaysia is about 60% Muslim, and during this holiday most desert the city to visit family in their hometowns. Some malls were open, and most Chinese and Indian owned shops were also open, but most places were closed. There seems to be no racial conflict, everyone appears to get along fine.

In spite of the closed shops the town was teeming with people - heaven knows what they were all doing, but at least restaurants were open. We had lunch at an A & W, where the burgers didn't taste much like the North American variety, but were still a welcome change.

After considerable difficulty we found a cab. We requested the driver to take us to a recommended mall, but he was the second we had tried to refuse. They are very independent today, as business is good with all the throngs of people, and they were not using meters, but charging usurious prices. I finally struck a deal to hire the driver by the hour so we wouldn't have to wait for cabs again. He took us to a mall that was open, where he and I hung about while Marilynn dickered over huge lenses and other camera equipment. She didn't buy anything after all. Prices were not much better than in North America even though the equipment is manufactured in Malaysia. When we were last here camera equipment was a bargain, but KL is a pretty expensive city to shop in now.

I asked the driver to take us on a tour of Cyberjaya, the city that was just being started to attract high tech industry when we were here in 1998. It was stunning, and successful beyond the imagination of its creator, the former prime minister. There are numerous modern, beautifully designed and landscaped buildings housing high tech companies and government offices. No expense was spared on the presidential offices and parliament buildings. A huge artificial lake is the centrepiece, where tour boats cruise under many unique bridges. Residential areas surround the business core, linked by wide roads to make the commute of a few minutes painless. We were both dazzled by the place.

Back at the hotel we had a couple of drinks in the bar, then went to the Japanese restaurant, which is located in a palm grove outside the main building. To get there a path leads over a pool teaming with carp, then over a bridge by a waterfall from one swimming pool to another and ends at the beautifully done restaurant. The meal and accompanying sake were great. It was a surprise to see a number salmon dishes on the menu. The ones we tried were perfectly prepared, but the quantity of food was far more than we could deal with even after stuffing ourselves.

Friday, November 4, 2005

Well, another first! Today I was deported!

After enjoying a fabulous breakfast buffet we headed for the airport at 7 AM. At check in I was glad of the printout of confirmed flights from the Malaysian office in Bangladesh, as the computer had cancelled our flight to Bali this afternoon for some reason. The agent at check in was able to reinstate it.

The formalities were once again quick and painless, and we were in lots of time for our flight on a Boeing 737 to Medan on the Island of Sumatra, Indonesia, where we arrived at 9:25 AM local time, the same time we left Kuala Lumpur due to the hour time change.

We had come to have a quick look from the air, and also to touch ground in another destination on the Travelers' Century Club list. The clear day was ideal to see the tidy farms and small villages below. This part of the island is flat and green, but there were hills in the distance. The on board service was excellent, as we were the only passengers in first class.

Before returning we had to clear customs in Indonesia, check in at the airline desk and exit through customs again. I hadn't counted on that, thinking we could just stay on board or wait in a transit area, but the return boarding pass could not be issued in KL as they are not computerized in Medan. We had left our luggage in storage at the KL airport.

Needless to say, our quick turn around threw everyone into confusion, but the aircrew were great and an airline employee was there to rush us through the process, as it was only a 45-minute turn around. Fortunately the airport is tiny.

Things started to go off the rails in the visa purchase area. Indonesia requires a visa purchase on arrival - $US 10 for a 3 day visa, $25 for a 30 day one. Something I didn't realize is that these visas are single entry, therefore returning to KL to catch our flight to Bali would require a second visa purchase the same day. At any rate, I paid for the 2 $10 visas that will get us to the counter to check in for our return flight.

Moving on to booth 2 with the receipt for the visas resulted in Marilynn's being printed and installed in her passport no problem. My passport had pages with only one stamp on them, but no totally blank pages, which caused a crisis. The head of immigration, the station manager of Malaysian, our guide and the visa sticker installer were now in a huddle. There was no one else in the arrivals area, as the few passenger who were on the flight had cleared customs and were gone.

It was decided that there was no way the visa, which in Indonesia covers a full passport page, could be put over another passport stamp or even over the Indonesian visa from last year. That meant they could not stamp me in and out of immigration, and as there would be no Indonesian exit stamp, there could be problems re-entering Malaysia.

After much discussion it was decided that I would have to be officially deported. I commented that they were the nicest group of people who had ever deported me! Being deported meant walking about 30 meters back to the plane on which I already had a ticket, but the downside is that the airline gets fined for allowing me to travel with not enough blank passport pages. The Malaysian station manager produced my boarding pass with no problem.

In KL they didn't even look through my passport, just stamped us in and waved us through customs again. We met with the Malaysian Airlines manager, who gave us a voucher to have lunch while he contacted Denpasar, Bali to see if we would be able to stay in a transit area while connecting with our Continental flights, as entering the country this afternoon as planned was no longer a possibility. On our return he confirmed we would not have to clear immigration, so we went to ticketing where they changed the date on the tickets with no charge. They certainly cannot be faulted for service and friendliness!

Marilynn was hysterical about not being able to stay in Bali, as this was to be the main Christmas shopping spot, and she was going to get some dresses made. I suggested she go on her own, as the hotel and airport pickup were all arranged, but she didn't want to do that so we took a taxi back to the Sheraton Subang, where fortunately they had rooms for the next couple of days. I phoned the hotel in Bali to explain the problem, and while they were very understanding, they were not happy that immigration was turning back paying customers. Since the bombing Bali has had tourism fall badly again.

The next couple of days were to be a torture test of shopping. The hotel had a shuttle to a nearby mall that looked like it would be more at home in Las Vegas. Three story high Egyptian pillars supported the front, and a giant sphinx dwarfed the place. The complex had two floors below ground level and two above. When exploring we came across a full size ice-skating rink and a 50-lane bowling alley. We also came across a pub where I settled in to drink beer while Marilynn went back to browsing. We ended the experience with a good meal at one of the dozens of mall restaurants.

Saturday, November 5, 2005

This morning it was a taxi ride to KL central for more shopping, this time at the Central Market. KL has moved beyond street markets - the Central Market has been located in a clean, enclosed two-story air-conditioned building. The shops are small but have an interesting variety of offerings. We had a good lunch in a nice restaurant in the market. We've not had a bad meal since arriving in Malaysia.

The next stop was another mall to look at camera equipment again. After some time the decision was made not to purchase, so it was back to the hotel. Management had presented us with a 20% discount voucher for the hotel bar and restaurant, so we decided to try their Chinese Restaurant, however 78 people had reservations for the time we arrived. We waited awhile but finally gave up and walked across the street to another restaurant. It seemed pretty nice to me, but Marilynn didn't like the smell, it didn't have Bombay Sapphire Gin, and the bartender did not know what an olive was - he didn't speak English. That did it - I never did get the beer I ordered as we were off looking for another restaurant. An Italian one was picked, and as they had only beer and wine the olives were no longer an issue and I finally got a beer. I wasn't hungry, but Marilynn said her meal was good, and my beer was fine.

Sunday, November 6, 2005

A leisurely start today. We took our time over breakfast, got packed and had a taxi pick us up just before noon. As always the formalities at the airport were quick and painless. We checked the two bags that we purchased in KL to hold the shopping to Honolulu, as we didn't know how we could pick them up in Bali. When we headed for the lounge to wait for the flight we were packing 4 carry on bags, including my suitcase.

We have found Malaysian to be a great airline for service and comfort, and their business class lounge reflected that. It was possible to get anything from snacks to a full meal, plus anything one might want to drink. The snacks were not cheaply done - they included smoked salmon, shrimps and so on. So much less is offered by North American airlines, and they are the ones in serious financial trouble. Perhaps offering these extras pays!

It was a good flight to Bali. We were put directly into the departure area and told someone from transit would be along to assist us. The departure area is an enormous shopping arcade with lots of stores and many restaurants. We sat and waited over an hour until I became impatient and sought out the head of immigration. He agreed to let us go to the Continental check in counter without clearing immigration if we left him our passports. He also let us store our carry on luggage in his office.

Continental was not yet open for check in, but they called the baggage people as it was necessary to have our checked baggage searched. I was just as glad, as too much luggage is lost when transferring from one carrier to another. After half an hour the baggage had still not shown up, but the counter opened and we got checked in, including an upgrade for both of us as far as Guam. While we were checking in my name was called a couple of times over the paging system to report to transit, but the agent checking us in said to ignore it, that they would find us. They did finally find us, and so did our baggage. It was with the transit people. Everything was finally checked through to Honolulu again, boarding passes issued and we recovered our passports and cabin baggage from immigration.

Security is very tight in Bali. We had our carry on bags searched four different times, and we were in transit! There were few people around, and the prime minister of Australia was urging Australians to terminate their holidays and return home. It is a shame that such peaceful, friendly people are having their ability to earn a living cut off by a few fanatics and overreaction from government.

I took a pill once on the plane and fell asleep almost immediately, but that didn't last long. There was a meal service for which all lights were turned on, and cutlery banging on china sounded a lot like a Chinese New Year parade. The seats were not particularly comfortable either - once again Malaysian gets better marks. It is nice to see that airlines are back to using metal cutlery, even if it is loud!

Sunday, November 6, 2005

It was necessary to go through immigration in Guam, but that was quick and painless. I couldn't get an upgrade on the 6-hour flight to Honolulu, but Continental in Costa Rica had assigned us bulkhead seats that had a little legroom. It was still a tortuous flight, with crying kids to the right of us and my knee cramping up regularly, making it necessary to get up every few minutes to straighten it out. I finally stood up for awhile. I'd vote this the second worst flight of my life, the worst having been when I had to stand up for 9 hours on a red eye from Zurich to Newark, New Jersey.

Because we came from Guam we were able to avoid immigration in Hawaii, and the customs people waved us right on through. It was a bit of a wait for transport to the hotel, where we arrived at about 7:30 PM. We both felt like a drink, so walked down the beach a bit, but the bars were all packed to the point where there were no tables. In the end we went to a favourite of mine in the International Market where an excellent band was playing. Two Mai Tais and three beers later we headed back to the hotel where we both slept for over 12 hours.