Letters From The Southern Hemisphere

malaka boats

Hey Hank.

We're now in Malaka on the coast below Kuala Lumpur, where a penthouse suite (or thereabouts) costs 20 US dollars (or thereabouts). Last night, I ran down the back alleys to the night market in KL and haggled with a woman for a bright, beaded bag for my lady until the woman gave up, exasperated yet smiling. Today, we wander down streets where local legend boasts about dogs which can only wag their tails up and down - there's no room to wag them sideways - and stand open-mouthed at the sheer ostentatiousness of the solid gold furnishings in slop houses. The river is silted, the city banks boast lines of 200 people all queuing to pay their low wages in. At night, trishaws drive directly into the line of on-coming traffic with no lights or protection. Each day we eat a stew more peasant-tasting than the last. The smell of my sweat has been transformed by the hot food and the car fumes. Malaka is a town struggling to pretend it likes the late 20th Century and not being very convincing at it. We like it here.

Cheers mate.

ET

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