Kuala Lumpur - Chasing Pavements

We were on the 23rd floor, of 51 if I remember rightly, and, to be fair, it was a nicely laid out apartment. Bedroom, open plan lounge, dining and kitchen with a separate office area with its own bathroom facilities. The sofa was nothing short of weird, though.

Jane was nervous, didn’t relish being the best part of eighty metres above street level, and her priority was to locate the fire escape. Grenfell came to mind. That made me think. Dangerous, I know, but if events took a bad turn it might just save my life. How do I escape if I am on my own.

Note to all hotel owners especially high-rise: spend time informing your blind guests of your plan to evacuate us; this applies to the UK as well as abroad. Don’t rely on signs pinned to the backs of doors.

In the end we came up with our own fire plan. I would never stay in the apartment on my own.

A treat in this vertigo inducing world was the rooftop restaurant. The staff were super friendly and were well aware of the meaning of the white cane. In the main, we have been keen to eat local cuisine, but if there is one criticism that can be laid at the feet of this establishment, the selection was too western, if you know what I mean.

Breakfast was an odd affair in that we had to go out into the street to another building altogether. No recognition of my white cane whatsoever here. Because of this we never seem to eat breakfast together. Jane always going off to fill my plate from the buffet first, me eating it before it went cold, her returning with hers just as I was finishing mine. The restaurant’s coffee monitor was on top form, though, ensuring my coffee mug never went empty. You can never get enough coffee!

We were a little way out of the city centre so, precariously it has to be said, made our way to the Petronas Towers.

I think we were both looking forward to a ride up to the observation deck. We had only booked two excursions prior to leaving Blighty, in a bid to avoid disappointment; Petronas Towers was not one of them. It should have been. It was full during the day. They did have room after dark but Jane did not think it would be that easy to negotiate me around all the obstacles that blocked the pavements after sunset.

What is it with these places? They had constructed impressively wide sidewalks but for some reason then allow all sorts of things to be, seemingly, dumped on them. Motorcycles appeared to be abandoned rather than parked, “A” frames advertising retail outlets’ wares vied for the most prominent position so each one seemed to step out a little further than the previous one and, the most excruciating of them all, the ubiquitous e-scooter. I realise that the latter is not exclusive to KL. You find the damned things everywhere and, when I say it looked as if the motorbikes were abandoned, these things were most certainly dumped. They are extremely dangerous. I cannot say what the rules are abroad for the reckless disposal of these things but, in the UK, the Highway Code prevents this from happening. I do not understand, therefore, why we need new laws introduced to unblock our pavements when we already seem to be well catered for. It simply needs the authorities to clamp down on the misuse of these thoroughfares.

Note to UK authorities: rule H2 of the most recent Highway Code states that only pedestrians may use the pavement. Pedestrians include wheelchair and mobility scooter users. This seems to be unambiguous to me so why do we continue to allow cars to park on pavements, the retail and hospitality industries to continually place obstructions on pavements and, my biggest bugbear of the lot, allow binmen to leave empty bins cluttering up the pavements, forcing legitimate users into the road, and who knows what fate. UK authorities: you have a responsibility to sort this out before someone is badly injured or killed.

Rant over and back to the streets of KL. We made our way to the centre and a terrific view of the twin towers.

First of all we walked around the green urban oasis, imaginatively named the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) Park. If the name isn’t that inspiring then the park itself is. One has a most fantastic view of the towers including the sky bridge linking the two. Given you are in the middle of an incredibly populus and busy city, walking around the park was serene. We found a little café, bought some coffee and cake and sat at a picnic table and took in the tranquil scene that surrounded us.

(To be continued next week)

Fan Bay Deep Shelter

Our visit to Kent just kept on giving. It is clear that the area has so much more to attract the history tourist.

I had never even heard of this place before. By the end of the day, a massive hole in my knowledge had been filled in. This is the site where, during the First World War, that’s right, not the Second, very basic concrete concave dishes, with the inner surface smoothed to a smart floated finish, known as Sound Mirrors, were installed.

They faced across to France, only just over twenty miles away. Amazingly, these devices, when connected to a run-of-the-mill medical stethoscope could hear flying machines approaching from across the Channel. Hats off to whoever even thought it a good idea to try. Their minds are clearly well advanced of the rest of us. Who knows how many lives these predecessors of RADAR saved. The Germans were clever Fokkers and had developed some impressive flying machines, airships and planes chief among them. It was most important that we found a way of alerting the immediate population of potential attack.

The extremely knowledgeable guide, also called Robert, gave us a fabulous personalised guided tour of the Deep Shelter itself. Donned with miners’ helmets, complete with headtorches, we made our way along these incredible tunnels carved out of the White Cliffs of Dover. I have to say, it was a very windy day with the occasional heavy downpour, so I was not aware of “Bluebirds Over.” Sorry to disappoint.

Just sometimes, amazingly, my white cane turns into a magic wand. Robert spotted us and suggested, due to my ability, or lack of it really, but he didn’t say so, he would give us a personalised tour.

It allowed us to take our time. It allowed me to touch as many of the exhibits or as much of the construction as I wished or needed. It was damp and to think soldiers used to bivouac down here. I realise, strictly speaking, this was not a bivouac because it had a roof. I, however, have never fancied staying in a tent let alone a bivouac so I take my hat off to these soldiers who barracked in the tunnels, 23 metres deep inside the chalk cliffs, 125 steps down and, of course, up, at the end, in conditions much worse than sleeping outside under the stars. Personally, I would be fearful of the whole lot collapsing in on top of me. The very reason I have never potholed.

Outside was worse, though, as the facility was within comfortable range of the German guns sited on the French coast. The unit based here during the Second World War operated the gun batteries who were taking potshots at the Nazis, as well as protecting the Straits of Dover from enemy shipping.

During the trek, it is quite a way from the Visitor Centre, we were afforded a bird’s-eye view of Dover Harbour; this is where Sean Bryant, in ‘Wish Dead List,’ to be released on 1st April next year, boards a ferry to go and meet the people traffickers on the French beaches. He meets Afghani migrant, Rosina Ali, and her horrific adventure begins. There will be times when she wishes she had stayed with the Taliban. Details of pre-ordering will be published shortly.

This was, in my mind, the highlight of our trip to Kent. I would recommend it to anyone. It is free to National Trust members.

White Cane Ratings
Attraction: very good; very educational - 🦯 🦯 🦯 🦯(4)
Accessibility: very good; personalised tour imperative - 🦯 🦯 🦯 🦯(4)