As we left Chiang Khong on Monday, we were privileged to take a boat ride through the area affectionately known as the “Golden Triangle” where the borders of three countries intersect (Top Left graphic shows Laos in Pink, Myanmar in Green, and Thailand in Gold). Although we ran out of time to “officially” enter Myanmar on land, we were just a few meters from the border (Top Right). One of the more bizarre things we found during our short visit to a Laotian island is this snake-based liquor (Bottom Right).
Our short 2.5 days in Malaysia consisted of visits to Kuala Lumpur (the capital) and Penang (an island in the North).
One of the more fascinating things about Malaysia is its ethnic and religious diversity. It is a common occurrence to walk down the street and see Hindu temples, mosques, Christian churches, and Buddhist monasteries right next to one another. Some of our best food we’ve had was in Penang. A local place renown for duck rice (Top Middle Right) was my (Warren) favorite. Something called Taiwan roti was also a big winner (Top Right). This breakfast item consists of toast, peanut butter, sugar, peanuts, and probably some other magic elixir. The winner item for Melissa was a local dessert called Cendol (Bottom Right). This dessert features a coconut sauce with beans, ice, sugar, and green rice noodles. It tastes better than it sounds. Really.
The last stop was Singapore. What a change in environment! At many points we even forgot we were in South East Asia, since it was so modern and developed. We splurged for a five star hotel (Bottom right) and acted on a great recommendations for a nice Italian restaurant called “No Menu.” We hadn’t had Italian food for a long time and it was quite refreshing to have a Caprese Salad and fresh pasta (Top Left). We also enjoyed several versions of our local Malay favorite (Top Right) Char Kuay Teow – flat noodles in a sweet sauce with egg, bean sprouts and peanuts. We’re definitely sad to leave as we walked from our hotel to the subway station with our many bags (Right). Singapore was definitely one of our favorite cities was the perfect way to finish Southeast Asia.
Our remaining schedule:
3/27 – 3/29 Beijing, China
3/29 – 3/31 Huangshan, China
4/1 – 4/3 Shanghai, China
4/3 – 4/19 Taipei, Taiwan
Mel keeps getting a little sad that our trip is almost over – I have to remind her that we still have a good three weeks!
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