Even though it drives a certain travel companion batty, I love to take photos of flowers. Here are some of the flowers we saw in Malaysia. Next week I’ll continue sharing about the trip, including climbing Mount Kinabalu. Many of you have been following my training and knew that I was pretty nervous about this adventure–for good reason. But more about that on Monday. Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend!
One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez, is considered by many to be the author’s tour de force. It was published in Spanish in 1967. Since then it has been translated into thirty-seven languages, selling more than 20 million copies. The magical realist style is characteristic of the Latin American Boom of the 1960s and 1970s. Magic realism is a genre associated with Latin America and it integrates fantastic or mythical elements into realistic fiction. This novel catapulted García Márquez into international fame.
The novel is critical of Colombian history, from the beginning to modern times. García Márquez discusses several national myths as they affect the Buendía Family. This fantastic family endures many tumultuous events in Colombian history, including the introduction of the railway to mountainous country, the Thousand Days War, the power of the corporation, the United Fruit Company, the automobile, the cinema, and the military slaughter of workers who went on strike. The story never slows down and each time I thought the family couldn’t survive another catastrophe, another one was introduced.
José Arcadio Buendía, founds the town of Macondo. He and his wife, Úrsula, leave Riohacha, Columbia, to find a better life and home. His town is bordered by water. Cut off from the world, he creates this world according to his beliefs. Right from the start, the town and family frequently encounter bizarre events. Many generations of the Buendía family stumble upon these fantastic events and cope to the best of their abilities. The family, though, doesn’t seem willing to escape their bad luck, and most of the misfortunes are self inflicted. In fact, each generation repeats the same mistakes as the previous, perpetually causing hardships. On many occasions the way the family members deal with the hardships is humorous and entertaining. The gypsy, Melquíades, leaves behind a manuscript that no one in the family can decipher. During all of the turmoil, the manuscript is forgotten. Only one will discover the manuscript’s secret message.
The character, Úrsula, is a gem. She’s the glue that holds the family together and on many occasions she tries to get through to her irresponsible family members. At one point she shouts, “If you have to go crazy, please go crazy all by yourself!” This novel includes so many wonderful lines. One that really struck a nerve with me was said by a townsman who is leaving Macondo. “The world must be all fucked up when men travel first class and literature goes as freight.”
It has been a long time since I’ve read a novel like this. The writing is superb. The cast of characters are original and delightfully weird. While the storytelling may seem slow, it really isn’t. The author sucked me into the story and I felt like a slipped into the words and images and visited the magical city of Macondo. This is the first work that I’ve read by him, and it certainly won’t be the last. Salman Rushdie said it’s “The greatest novel in any language of the last fifty years.” I haven’t read enough novels from the last fifty years to second this endorsement, but I will say, read it. You won’t regret it.
This is my first submission for the Once Upon a Time Challenge hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. For more details on the challenge, please visit this page. This novel is also on my 1001 list.
Before we left for our trip spring started to make an appearance. When I returned this week I was stunned by the change in Brompton Cemetery, where Miles and I walk a couple times a week. I think it’s safe to say that spring has sprung in London and I almost missed it.
After saying goodbye to our friends and thanking them for a wonderful two days in Kuala Lumpur, we headed to the train station for the express train to the airport. I was thrilled to find out at the train station we could check in for our flight and check our bags at the Malaysia Airline desk. It’s always nice to get rid of our bags right away. When we arrived at the airport all we had to do was get through security and then find our gate. Everything was so simple and effortless. When we arrived in Kota Kinabalu our driver was waiting for us and the ride to the hotel was less than twenty minutes.
We checked into the hotel and took care of some details for the following day’s climb. Then we were free to explore Kota Kinabalu (the locals call it KK). The city is the capital of Sabah, a state in East Malaysia, and is located on the coast of Borneo facing the South China Sea.
Since we had a busy day planned the following day we decided to chill most of the day. And the best place to do that is along the water. The sights on our way to the waterfront.
We browsed through the Kota Kinabalu Handicraft Market, which used to be called the Filipino Market. Here you can find food, souvenirs, and handicrafts.
Then we located a spot to relax and to enjoy some cocktails while waiting for the sunset.
The following day, our ride was arriving at 6 a.m. The big climb has almost arrived. Yikes!
Just outside of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia you can visit the Batu Caves, which is where we went on our second day. The limestone that forms the caves is approximately 400 million years old. K. Thamboosamy Pillay (born in 1850), an Indian trader, thought the impressive entrance to the central cave would be an ideal place of worship. He dedicated a temple to Lord Murugan, the Hindu God of war and victory, inside the caves. In 1920, wooden steps were erected. Now there are 272 concrete steps. The hike up wasn’t too difficult. Be careful, though, the monkeys hanging out there will steal your food if you aren’t careful. We saw a few tourists lose their snacks, but they had a good laugh about it.
After visiting the caves we headed to the canopy walkway outside of Kuala Lumpur, which is part of the Forest Research Institute. Unfortunately it was closed for the day. However, we did go on a small hike since the group thought it would be good for me to get some exercise before heading to Mount Kinabalu for the big climb. It was a wonderful stroll, with some tough bits, but not too strenuous. We had a fantastic day and it was a nice close to our time in KL. The next day we had a flight to Sabah, one of the 13 member states of Malaysia, which is located on the northern part of the island of Borneo. After two great days with our friends, we said farewell, but only for a short time. We had plans to meet up for the last week of our trip.
Yesterday I posted about the threat to orangutans in Indonesia. Today I want to highlight their plight once more. I visited the AVAAZ website and saw that they have over one million votes. That’s great. Now their goal is 1,250,000. Let’s help them reach it. Below you will find more photos from my visit to an orangutan sanctuary in Sepilok, Malaysia. Soon I’ll tell you more about my visit. For now I hope you enjoy the photos below and if you have the time, please visit their site and sign the petition. Thanks!
We left London on the 26th of April and arrived in Kuala Lumpur on the 27th. After twenty hours of travel surprisingly we felt fine when our friends picked us up at the airport. However, I didn’t pull the camera out of my bag until the following day. We had two full days in KL and most of the time was spent catching up with our friends who we hadn’t seen in a year and enjoying wonderful food. This city has some great places to eat.
Since I’m still getting caught up on sleep this post won’t be long or coherent. Luckily last night I fell asleep around 7 pm. Unfortunately I was wide awake at 4 am. Miles was surprised when we took him on a walk before 5.
Below you will find some random photos from our first full day. My brain was on autopilot at the time, so I’m not sure I can give you too much detail. I do remember walking around and soaking it in. This is a vibrant city. Our time there was short, but I enjoyed every second.
Isobel and Gilly have a petition on their blog to help save the orangutans in Indonesia. A local Governor wants to cut down a significant portion of Indonesia’s untouched forests, threatening the lives and survival of the orangutans in the country. Please stop by the site and sign the petition. I recently returned from a trip to Malaysia and was fortunate enough to see orangutans in the wild and at the sanctuary in Sepilok. I want everyone to have that opportunity.
I can’t believe that the vacation we have been planning for over a year has come and gone. How does that happen? We got back from Malaysia late last night. The trip was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Now I am in the process of doing laundry, getting caught up on emails, work, and other tedious chores that I ignored for three weeks. It will take a few days to get caught up on everything, especially sleep. In the meantime I wanted to share a few photos from our holiday. Also, during my absence several new followers signed up. I wanted to say welcome and thanks! I’ll do my best to visit everyone, including my new friends, over the next week. Have a wonderful day!
Yesterday we watched the London Marathon from the Walkabout Terrace located next to the Temple Tube Stop. Usually I would share more information, but today and the rest of this week will be super busy. So without further ado, here are the photos.
I hope everyone has a great week. We leave for Malaysia later this week so I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to pop in on blogs and update posts. I’m hoping I don’t have to run around like a mad person all week, but that’s how it usually works out before taking time off. At least for me. I’m organizationally challenged and each time it’s a photo finish.