Laura writes:
Hi guys, well, arriving in Malaysia was a relief after Thailand. As soon as we got off the plane, the first thing we noticed, was how easy and organised everything was. The services provided were a luxury in comparison. A cheap shuttle bus service was also provided from the airport to the main train station in Kuala Lumpur, where we were supposed to catch a train to Chinatown to check into the Backpackers Inn where we had booked a room on arrival at the airport.
Everything went very smoothly, that is until we were about to catch the train, we had been at ease on the bus, but as the time given to have arrived at the accomodation was rapidly approaching, we were anxious to work out and make our train connection. We made for the train station very efficiently, but then, all of a sudden to my horror, I realised we had forgotten our backpacks in the luggage compartment of the shuttle bus! Time to panic! We fought our way through the crowd of people back down to where we had been dropped off, only to find that the bus had gone. We were approached by employees of the bus company, and after explaining what had happened, they immediately contacted the bus we had travelled on. To our relief, we were told that the bus was scheduled to come back in 20 minutes as it had to drop off more people at the station. Once the bus arrived, we experienced joy and relief to find that our backpacks were still there!
Well, the Backpackers Inn was a challenge, especially on the first night, after that we pretty much got used to the place. It was interesting to say the least! It was a dingy place with no windows to the outside. All room windows faced the short and narrow internal corridor which headed to the shared toilets or the reception, tv room and computers at the other end (very noisy until about 1.00am!). It was a strange atmosphere where people would stay out all night and the corridor light would stay on, but at around 8.00am it was turned off just when others were waking up. This made it very confusing and disconcerting for us, especially when we didn't know if it was night or day. On our first night, we were woken up by the noise outside our room, and after cursing for a short while as we thought it was 3.00am, we realised it was already 9.00am and people were getting up.
Chinatown, where we stayed was interesting with its distinctive smells, especially the sewrage drains while walking past them; this had also been common in Thailand. The street stalls, mardets etc. were also similar to those in Thailand, but with their own individual characteristics. Something that drew our attention wasthe fine mist that was sprayed over street stalls where fruit and vegetables were sold, or in restaurants in front of fans (perhaps to keep people cool).
One of the highlights of our short trip to Kuala Lumpur, was while taking the 'hop on hop off' bus. It was the last journey for the night and we were the only two people on it. At one stage, the person accompanying the bus driverasked if we wanted to stop to see the monkeys. We couldn't pass up the opportunity. It was well worth it! All over the foot paths and on the fences, trees and street light poles, were monkeys of all sizes. Some swinging from tree to tree, it was quite a sight! We even got to feed some of them. One of the females was also carrying a baby and some monkeys were even trying to get on the bus. As we continued on our bus journey, the bus reached a street that had been cut off to traffic. The bus driver must have spent 10 minutes trying to turn this very long bus in a very narrow street with cars parked on either side and a deep, steep sided creek/drain. Pretty scary and exciting stuff! It must have also drawn the attention of people walking past, as a lot of them stopped to watch.
'Eye on Malaysia' was also interesting. This was a festival we got to see on our last night in Kuala Lumpur celebrating the year of tourism in Malaysia. Here we got to see an impressive laser show or laser theatre using fine water spray and laser to project images.
