After a two hour air-conditioned bus ride for 24RM (about $8NZD), Whitney and I arrived in Kuala Lumpur. We reunited with TJ and Alli (our counterpart U.S. travelling couple) and took to the city to see the local attractions. Just north of the city, we visited the huge Batu caves, a Hindu religous site gaurded by a 40m high golden statue. We took the railway to Bukit Bintang, a shopping districtRead more
I feel like I've landed into civilisation again. Kuala Lumpur or as the cool kids call it 'KL' is an awesome fusion of East meets West. After Myanmar it's quite shocking to see huge high rise buildings, well maintained roads and more advanced infrastructure, as well as some actual traffic rules.🚦KL has a really strong Indian presence too; my hostel was located next to an Indian temple which always seemed to be a hive of activity. I also ate Indian food most evenings as that's what I could mainly find in the vicinity - a little taste of another place on the to go to list.
In the morning I wandered around the city, Chinatown area and an old colonial district with a cricket field - I'm not sure the Malaysians even know what cricket is do they? In the afternoon I went to see the famous Petronas Towers. They are really cool. The tallest twin towers in the world - extremely futuristic and impressive.
The following day I went to Batu Cave, situated a little out of town. It's a big cave with an enormous Hindu statue outside it (one of the tallest in the world) and a massive staircase that you climb to get to it. The cave was alright but it was clearly under construction or being renovated which took away the awe a bit. There were loads of monkeys here again too getting in the way of the workmen and climbing over the cement. I also went into a smaller Hindu cave that had some pretty poorly designed statues and an inexplicable staircase climb that offered literally nothing at the top. Nothing at all! I, and others were looking around trying to see if we missed something but no - totally pointless unless you count the exercise. Although a few people still took pictures up there in front of what?... I don't know. Anything for a selfie.🤳
In the evening I went back to the Petronas Towers to check them out in the dark. They are even more impressive against the night sky - like two giant silver rockets awaiting launch. After that I went with a few others to a place called the Heli Pad, it's a helicopter landing site in the day but they turn it into a bar overlooking the city at night - stunning, you can see the twin towers as well as the KL tower which changes colour and flashes every half hour or so.
After KL, I took a bus to the Cameron Highlands - a beautiful green hill station famous for producing tea. It's not unlike parts of the English countryside to be honest but perhaps higher than most parts and a bit hotter! My hostel was literally staffed by volunteers one girl was there for just two days then left - anyone could wander in, it was a bit of a shambles but pleasent enough. I tried some of the famous tea too, it was pretty good. The guy doing the tour did not look like someone who was interested in tea and nature. He looked more like a guy that would kill you if you so much lightly brushed passed him, but turns out he was just a gentle giant passionate about flowers - never judge a book by its cover right!
The tour took us to a mossy forest too where the big scary man explained all about the plants and fauna in great detail - like a weird gardening programme. We then went to a strawberry farm (told you it was like England) and had some fresh juice which was very tasty. In the afternoon I went for a hike through the forest. There's about 10 trails here but I've no idea which one I did as the signage wasn't exactly helpful. In the evening I went to what appeared to be the only bar in town and played a bit of pool. A drunk Canadian guy challenged me, I lost unfortunately and he made me down a horrible shot as a forfit.
An early bus to the city of Penang now awaits in the morning.Read more
