Kuala Lumpur - Hold on to your Passport!

After Brendan and I walked to the Denpasar Airport together and said our farewells, I returned to my hotel feeling bored, alone and wondering when exactly I would meet my best friend again. I still had that night and the entirety of the next day to kill before my flight left the following morning at 6 am. I wasn't game enough to walk around that area alone after Brendan and I had done it earlier that day only to find it descended into slums about 200 meters from my hotel, so I had nothing to do. I walked to the closest convenience store and bought A LOT of junk food and resigned myself to the fact that I was going to spend the next 48 hours eating shit and watching fox-tel or lounging in the swimming pool. That night, and the next day are kind of one big blur. I slept in small broken fragments, and royally screwed up my sleeping pattern for the next few days, I just didn't trust the area. I would be awoken by dogs running and barking around the hotel, people yelling and screaming out the front and at one point the whirring of police sirens and flashing lights as they broke up a big brawl not 100 meters from my room. I was glad to get out of that hotel.



So I left at 4.30am, and walked down the dark road to the airport. I have to say if I felt uneasy at any point in Bali it was that night. There were beggars, groups of kids hanging out on corners and hordes of dogs running, fighting and following me. I didn't care what it looked like, I picked up an old piece of fence railing and if one of those mongrels came near me, human or dog, I'd beat them with in an inch of their life. Luckily I arrived at the airport with out being bitten or mugged, even if I did have to kick at dogs along the way or tell some homeless guy to kindly "F*** Off!"

After the brief issue I had with the immigration officers at the airport which I explained earlier I was on the plain and finally flying the Malaysia, where undoubtedly more adventures would meet me when I touched down and met Matt.



The flight was short, and hassle free, and when the food was served to the passengers I was happy that I had held back and not ordered the 'Cheese Dog' for breakfast, because it looked like vomit. Immigration was simple enough, but I mad the mistake of lending my pen to a lady in the line, and she never gave it back to me... So I couldn't line up and write, I had the to use the greasy, germ infested airport pens. Who knows who has touched them...

I met up with Matt who I hadn't seen since before I left for Bali, maybe two weeks or so before hand, and we bought tickets to a shuttle bus that ran into the center of Kuala Lumpur, where we would stay for the first few nights. The bus dropped us off unexpectedly at a road side bus stop, leaving us lost and totally confused in a place that we had no map for, or any knowledge of the area. We knew we were looking for China Town, but in this city that could have been any where. The two of us must have looked totally dazed, because another backpacker from the US came up and asked me straight out, "Are you lost? Follow me! My friend is staying China Town at a really nice place and it's not too expensive!"



So we followed this kind stranger through the streets, over bridges and down back alleys. We talked as we trudged on through the near forty degree heat, myself and the young girl up ahead of Matt by about fifty metres because his pack weighed 20 kilograms. I could tell at that time, that pack would kill him by the end of the our time in Malaysia. The girl led us to the hostel her friend had been staying at. It looked good to me, cool, somewhat tidy, plenty of people to talk too and cheap... Only $10 AUD per night. I was tired and ready to fork over my cash, put my pack in my room and explore, however... $10 was to expensive for Matt. So we left that hostel. After an hour of hot sun and terrible humidity we found a hostel suitable for his wallet. $6 per night. No toilet, running water... It was a crap shack through and through, but I was in no mood to argue, I just wanted to explore.

The first thing I noticed about the city was it looked a a lot like Melbourne, except busier and smellier. We first explored China Town, a long wide street, during the day the stalls tend to stay along the edges of it to allow traffic to pass through, however after 6pm shops are erected all over the road and it becomes an absolute maze of stalls and people. There was heaps of cool stuff, and cheap. I would love to have bought some had I not being aiming to keep my travel pack under 10kg for the entirety of my trip. It was funny how every one you passed tried to hassle you into buying their particular items. One guy tried to sell me DVD's and when I refused, pulled out a new pouch from his jacket and said, "What about porn?!" Tempting... But no...



The next day we went to the Petronas Towers shopping center to try and gain access up to the walkway that linked the two buildings, however the free tickets had run out. Apparently the only way to get them was to arrived before 7.30am, and I couldn't be bothered doing that, so I decided to walk to KL Tower, which I could see in the distance.. Much to Matt's displeasure. It wasn't far from where we were at the time... probably 10km. I had no idea how to get there, so I just walked, with Matt's persistent moaning about walking in the sun trailing behind me. In my experience the best way to explore a place is to just walk and experience what it has to offer, and I believe by the end of that day I had done just that. We arrived and traveled up to the highest level of KL tower, it gave us some awesome views of the city, and put into perspective how far we had walked. Maybe Matt did have a reason to complain after all.

The day after we decided to give the railyway system a try. They were small, and exceptionally crowded. The hot weather and humidity didn't really add to the situation, nor did the locals who kept looking at me, talking to each and laughing. Matt said I was paranoid, but I know they were talking about me...

The train ran a full circuit around the city, it was just a matter of getting on the right colored line. We looked in a lot of shopping centers, and I was lucky enough to find a Borders. All the books were in English so I bought some books to keep me busy on my travel. I forget I would have to pack them into my bag somehow, but I managed to later. I also noticed that clothes like Lee's Jeans and Timberland boots were really cheap compared to Australia or Japan. Next time I go to Malaysia I will defiantly take a bigger bag and buy a lot of things there.



We ate a lot of local cuisine in Kuala Lumpur, like noodles, rice, Indian type foods and meat dishes. I was cautious about eating from shops at the side of the roads, as I didn't want to get put in hospital for wolfing down Ecol i or Salmonella, so when in doubt I stuck to the safe things: McDonald's, KFC and shopping center food, or I bought ingredients and cooked for my self in the Hostel ' kitchen.'

A note to any one who is unaware: No matter where you go, when you eat it, or how you cook it... Toast is awesome!