Sun 30th May - There are two prominent structures on the KL skyline. One is the globally famous Petronas twin towers which we will visit tomorrow probably, the other is the KL tower. When I last visited the entry was about R15 I think for just the tower. Now they have abandoned that option and only offer two RM38 entry packages. Either the Cultural village or the jungle experience. Opted for the cultural village. It turned out to be a bit of a waste, as by the time we got down from the tower, we would need to wait over 2 hours until the next show so didn't bother. The mock village is a bit pathetic to be honest, especially if you have been to the real thing.
One of the special aspects of the KL tower is when darkness falls. The tower's observation deck levels light up and go through a sequence of colours accompanied by twinkling lights on the Antenna setion. Very pretty!
Mon 31st May - Early rise to get to the India Visa Centre to submit our Application, and first in the queue when the door opened. Now have a 5 day minimum wait to see if our application is granted. That out of the way, off to the Petronas towers. last time i visited i knew that you an only get up the tower if you arrivebefore 8am to get a free pass, so today's trip was only for Shiera to see them up close. no matter how many times you see this structure, you have to be amazed by it. A stunning piece of concrete, stainless steel and glass engineering.
In the evening we visited the infamous Bukit Bintang Walk. The entertainment area of KL. A nice meal at the Ship Inn then taxi back for 5RM.
Tue 1st June - Batu Caves. RM2.5 on Metro bus from BKK bank on Jalan Tun HS Lee. This place is amazing. I saw it from the passing highway on my last visit to KL and kept a mental note to come back and see it up close one day. A Hindu temple built into a large cave system, accessed up a couple of hundred steps. Once at the top of the steps you can go through to a temple at the rear, through a vast cave where it rains inside due to the water coming out of the rocks. There are three places to visit on the one site. The second can be seen from outside and another decorative cave, so we didn't go in but went to the last of the sites instead. A large green Monkey god structure stands alongside a fairly ordinary temple which was close.
After an Indian dinner we got the bus back to KL and went to the Central Market. A wonderful colonial style building full of great stores to while away a few hours in. Ranging from clothing stores to Asian artifact stores, we could have bought loads of stuff but will mark it up for our next trip when we might have somewhere to store what we buy. Right now it would be difficult for us.
Wed 2nd - Stopped at POS post office to check out how much it costs to package stuff abroad. They do a good system that is really only designed to cope upto 20kg, but the price isn't too bad. The main aim of our walk today was the area to the west of the city where many sights are located. First the state mosque. Unfortunately, it was closed at noon so couldn't visit as we arrived 30 minutes late. Next the wonderful Botanical gardens, followed by the Hibiscus gardens, Orchid Gardens and the Bird park restaurant for a coke float and watch the birds. It is described as the largest covered walk-in aviary in Asia. We could have gone into the bird park, but I though it a bit pricy at 42RM each, so didn't go in. Instead we walked to the Lake gardens past the observatory, which was also closed as we were about an hour late. Too much to see in one day to make it all in time. The final stop for the day was KL Sentral to check out train options for the following days, then got the KL Rapid back to Pasar Seni.
Thu 3rd - Pasar Seni to KLCC 1.6 RM. A major highlight for any trip to KL...a trip up the Petronas twin towers. You have to arrive early as entry is by free ticket and they run out quick at busy times. We arrive 8am and went up 10am, which was good timing.
I had been up here before but it is always a worthwhile trip. IT is the headquarters of the Malaysian Petroleum Industry and is a working building. Tourists are only allowed upto the 41/42nd levels to walk the 'Skywalk'. A great view of the city and the weather was clear so we were lucky.
Fri 4th - Visited the city of Putrajaya for the whole day. RM3.80 each way to Putrajaya Sentral from Pasar Seni on bus E1. Now most people would have got a taxi from Sentral bust station into town...not us...decided to head overland. Turned out to be quite a mission impossible at times...wandering through a soft squiggy landscape, tumbling down spiky grass embankments, but we made it and it was rewarding in a way as we got to see some nice things that I think no sane person would have seen!
Putrajaya is a superb city. Grand buildings, wide open boulevards and pristine clean. The seat of the Prime ministers office and two enormous mosques. The second soon to open to cope with the vast number of Moslem now living here. At the state mosque a jovial guide gave us a free talk about Islam and the mosque's history. Surprised that it was only 11 years old. We were actually about an hour late as there had been the Friday service here which pulled in an overflowing crowd of worshippers. Better that we were late though as we wouldn't have got in.
The city is split up into Precincts. The main Precinct 1 area is built around a large lake that can be navigated on an Italian style Goldola type boat. Pretty and worth it if you have the time. RM42 each, so not cheap and taking about 25 minutes.
We got to the top of the hill which overlooks the Precinct and relaxed for a while overlooking the view before the rains came in, so we headed for the bus to Sentral and headed back to KL.
Sat 5th - A lazy day after yesterday's outing. Little India late afternoon for the infamous street bazaar. Awesome choice of street food. Managed to make a call to the UK to catch up with my mum and sisters...She sounded so excited which was nice.
Sun 6th - Chores day today....Laundry. Had enough of that so walked to Bintang along Jalan Pudu and had lunch at Indian choosing place, then went to the enormous Times square mall to watch Shrek 3D (RM17). They had set up a Large scale board games on the ground floor so it was fun to see people throwing large dice around and running around an overgrown Monopoly board and playing large scale Jenga (the wooden block stacking game).
Mon 7th - Checked on India Visa and lucky we have had ours granted. They will hold them for 3 months after clearance and will be valid from date of putting into the passport. Then went to Australian High Commission by KLCC to ceck on the options for getting Shiera's Australian visa. Too late as they closed at noon. Sent them an e-mail instead.
Tue 8th Jun - Will leave Australian visa until after we get back from India. Departed KL for Cameron Highlands. Got local bus from Puduraya to Bukit Jalil terminal by National Stadium for RM2 each taking about 20mins...had cost us 40 Ringgits by taxi when we arrived....lesson learned there i think. Straight to counter 87 to buy tickets for the 10:30 bus to Tanah Rata for RM25 with Kurnia Bistari. This is a temporary bus station whilst Puduraya is being refurbished. It seems a chaotic place. Bodies running everywhere and ticket touts canvassing for business.
A steady journey out of Kuala Lumpur. Once the bus reached the Ipoh area, the limb began towards the Cameron Highlands. For around 40km the climb is almost non-stop. Beautiful for most of it, with sweeping views around every bend in the road. Malaysia is a major exporter of palm oil and plantations cover the landscape as far as the eye can see in places.
The bus was suffering with the aircon not working properly and the driver had to keep stopping to top up the radiator with water. A crack appeared in the windscreen that was a little worrying as i am sure it was growing as the journey progressed. The driver wittered on almost incessantly in Bahasa. No idea who at times as we couldn't understand him. Kept himself entertained anyway.
We arrived at Tanah Rata, the entry point for the highlands at about 3 pm....
More in the next journal folks....Sorry it is a bit brief in parts as we have been really busy.
