Arriving in KL i was struck by the size of it and some of the 'modern' amenities such as the monorail/underground system. This is certainly a city a world away from some of the places we had previously been. One of the most striking differences was also one of the most obvious and that was the number of skyscrapers and other high rise buildings, the most famous being the Petronas towers one of the worlds tallest buildings.
We arrived in the centre after a long taxi ride from the airport which we shared with a woman travelling from Australia. After being dropped off in town we managed to find our hostel which as it turned out was actually pretty good as well as being the cheapest we had managed to find. On our arrival we were shown around by John who very thoroughly showed us around and told us about the area. After settling in we headed out to meet our new Aussie friend to get some dinner. As we had no idea where to go we were reliant on our new friend who had been before. We ended up in the nearby market area in the nearby Chinatown where we had some noodle dishes that were tasty although i am still not sure what was in them.
It was quite nice to experience the hustle and bustle of a big city that we had not experienced for a while, probably since Bangkok. I always feel strangely at home in big cities even though i would not wish to spend a lot of time in them.
A lot of our time in KL was spent walking around pretty aimlessly getting a feel for the place or at least for the area that we were staying in. We explored the area around Merdaka square and the petronas towers. We took the underground to the towers and then in the cause of saving money we walked back via the KL tower. I have to admit that i did not go up, i am far too scared of such things! Sam did though so i did get too see the photos of the extended views all over the city, which i admit were impressive, but not that impressive that i felt i had missed out.
There was a lot going on in KL while we were there due to the Grand Prix which was being held there (in the nearby track). We went to one of the grand prix pre-event things held by BMW just next to the petronas towers, there were demonstrations of their cars and about all sorts of things about grand prix cars and drivers, it was especially good as it was free although it was a bit hot. Sitting directly in the sun i could almost feel my feet face melting and it was too hot for the cars too so we did not really get to see much. If only we owned a BMW then you got into the air con vip bit with free food and drink too!
After spending most nights not doing very much (due to the fact we were usually to knackered after walking around all day and also that we could not find much to do around where we were staying) we were suprised to get a knock on our door one night. This was an invitation to a party on the roof with free food, cheap beer (we never saw any cheaper anywhere else in KL) and music provided by one of the guys at the hostel. The music; guitar playing and singing gradually got more and more confused as the night drew on and he was not the only one who had a good night.
After a couple of days in the city of giant towers we left to fly to another malysian city but one altogther different. We stopped at kota bharu for a couple of days before moving on to travel to the much anticipated perhentian islands. We arrived at the jetty to take us to the islands after a drawn out journey in an ancient mercedes taxi which was late for the ferry but luckily for us the ferry was running late too. The weather was stormy and the sea was more than a bit choppy and this was pushing things behind. When we did get on board we did with all our valubles in plastic bags and ready to get wet- we had seen the bedragled state of the people who had just got off! It was soon time to leave the shelter of the harbour and move out into open water. From the start we were tossed atound and sitting on the sides of the boat we were soon drenched. The boat and our bodies often feeling the drop from crest to trough of the large waves. This jarring was definately not for anyone with bad backs, one of the older passengers looked to be in particular pain and unfortunately the journey took over and hour. It started off quite exciting but towards the end i think we all wanted off. After another 20 minutes or so of trekking across the island after being dropped off by another smaller boat and another RM4 we reached our chosen destination of long beach. I think it took others a bit longer in particular a couple of british girls dragging huge suitcases along the muddy and narrow jungle track- crazy! Now it was time to escape the rain and find somewhere to stay.
I was suprised to find that it was more expensive than i had thought but we got a nice room on a hill over looking the beach it had a bathroom and rare for the island 24 hour electricity. The reason we ended up on long beach was because it had the most facilities but unfortunately that does also mean the most people. It was more built up than i had been led to believe but then it has also obviously changed a lot since the people who recommended it to us in India had been. We spent our time just chilling out on the beach swimming Sam went diving, i signed up to dive but once again got hit by the curse of sickness and we took a boat and went snorkelling. The most interesting thing about the place was probably the people we met especially Vinod who was staying in the room next door. We were lucky that the next room along was also occupied by someone who we also got to know, john.
It turned out that Vinod (i might have spelt this wrong, i apologise in advance) was from KL and was having a short break from working hard for medicines sans frontieres. He told us all about his work and all kinds of other things and he invited us to meet up with him in KL when we got back saying he would show us around. Nights were spent watching movies or sitting around talking at the bar. There was also a fair bit of money spent eating in the restaurants (overall the food was all terrible) and buying nasty cheap vodka!. We failed to bring any alcohol with us due to a lack of planning and forgetfullness. This was a big mistake as it was more expensive and the stuff we ended up drinking was pretty horrible, definately leading to feeling worse the day after.
The island is so small and so with any news of a party there was quickly a crowd made up of what seemed like the whole area, at least this seemed to be the case at the party they had at our accommodation. It was a good laugh, very busy, very load and with some very crazy dancing!
I have to admit i was bored though after being there a week. I don't think i am a tropical island kinda girl. I start to feel a bit trapped and impatient, i am not the kind of person who can just sit on the beach and sunbathe. The swimming was good, at least it was until i got caught in a rip and ignored the rules it felt like there was definately cause to panic! (although i know it is the thing you are not to do) and i had to be rescued by sam, after that i was not so keen on swimming. So when it was time to go we were definately ready although some people staying there had gone for a week and were still there months later. We got back to kota bharu after a nice calm but very fast boat ride and a very fast taxi. It was then decided to go for the slow bus to the airport after it was an hour late and the bus was still not there i have to admit i was a little worried we would miss the flight. So just as i was trying to force Sam to get a taxi it arrived and we did get to the airport on time despite my misgivings! next time i will just keep my mouth shut!
So after a quick flight we were back at the KL airport, which as i think i mentionned before is not particularly near KL.
