Adventures in Kualur Lumpur

We safely arrived in Malaysia last Tuesday afternoon a little dazed and confused. We were up at 3.30 am to get our early flight from Koh Samui to Bangkok and from there to KL city. Arriving in a new place can be daunting and so far we've been sensible but exhaustion got the better of us and when approached by a friendly cab driver we just followed him, longing only to flop on our guesthouse beds! Now we have been warned only to get official airport taxis as there is a fixed fee so they can't rip you off plus they actually take you where your supposed to be and not where they'd like! However the warnings went out of the window and we followed this guy for what seemed like miles (KL airport is immense!) into a multi-storey carpark (alarm bells are beginning to ring!) and to a normal looking car with no sign that it was a taxi. He'd avoided anwering us several times when we asked him how much it was (should be no more than 70 ringett) when we finally got there he got out his home-made price list (laminated for extra effect) and told us it would be 250 R! We were just horrified, we were tired, carring really heavy rucksacks and had just followed him for about 300 miles! After seeing our shocked faces he obviously took pity on us and came down to 150. We just agreed, it was far easier! Let me tell you that extra 80R was worth it just for the entertainment! He was a real character and talked very loudly for the entire hours journey! He has a British girlfriend and told us how much he loved England but how expensive and cold it was. We also discussed everything from the Tsunami to David Beckham with him still shouting at approximatley 10 minute intervals " ahh England lovely but very cold, very cold brr!"
We eventually got to Number Eight Guesthouse in one piece, after visiting several others for directions! We were really pleased with our room it was comfy and clean and the GH chilled but efficient. Exploring Kualur Lumpur was lots of fun. Malaysia is a really mixed country, they are native malays, Indians and lots of ex pats, which make it a really diverse and interesting place. Also you aren't stared at quite so much as foreigners are not really of any interest! The bad news is it's a very muslim country which makes booze extortionate, one beer is dearer than a meal. After three pints in an Irish pub we'd spent most of our days budget. A bit of a shock seeing a we're used to big bottles of good quality beer for about 50p! There's lots of shoppping to be done and air con shopping centres are a haven from the heat and humidity. On our second day full day there we headed to the Petronas Twin towers, which are now the tallest in the world and the pride of Malaysia. You can go up and walk across the famous sky bridge connecting the towers and look out over the city which is fun. There was also a huge shopping centre, a science centre and cinema. So after our 15 minutes on the Bridge (that's all you get!) we went to see what the science centre was all about. It was so much fun! (It's really for kids) We had a wicked time, touching electricity thingies, talking to each other through an elephant's trunk, going on the dark ride, seeing a fake volcano explode and going on a helicopter simulator to name just a few! Then we went to the cinema to watch stomp the yard, which was great (lot's of very fit young black men dancing with thier shirts off!). It is really hot in KL, as hot if not hotter than Cambodia and there is a couple of huge thunder storms everyday! The city is so green and there are loads of birds and things, it's really clean too. On Saturday we went on a trip to the Genting Highlands. It's a city up in the hills which you get a cable car to right up these huge mountains. It's quite a big deal in malaysia because it's really cool up there, K.L was approx 34 degrees and Genting is 20! There is a casino and theme park. We lost a whole day's budget each playing blackjack (we were doing very well at one stage) with loads of Chinese people. Boy do they take there gambling seriously! This one old lady just kept shouting!
There were loads of Bollywood stars there for some awards show including Shilpa! The two older pakistani ladies on our trip talked to her and got a photo on their phones!
We walked to the KL tower on Sunday, another of KL's famous skyscapers. The observation platform was much higher and you can walk all the way round and see the entire city and off into the mountains. Yesterday we got the bus from Chinatown to that Batu caves, a huge Hindu shrine just outside the city where they have some ceremony once a year and thousands of people climb the 200+ steps with weights attatched to body piercings (ouch!). That was pretty cool, the caves are facinating. The monkeys are even better! They are so cute, but fierce and they know that people are scared of them and just seem to take great pleasure in torturing those who are most afraid! If you just act calm and normal they ignore you! We got back to the city did a bit more shopping, just to cool down you understand! Then we walked to Mederka Square, a bit boring and then went to look at a mosque where we had to don robes and headscarves! Very fetching!
Today we have arrived in Kota Kinablu, the main town in Malaysian Borneo and we can't wait to get stuck in here! We'll give you another update soon.

Adventures in Kualur Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia