Hi everyone,
Well, the adventure has begun... in Kuala Lumpur. I arrived at 6am yesterday morning, and was greeted by a slightly worrying sight... every staff member was wearing a mask, and giving out forms to sign saying that we weren't suffering swine flu... no masks for us or anything!? Not that I'm particularly worried about getting the dreaded swine flu, but if they are worried, you'd think they'd at least give us a mask to wear too!
So I got into town by train and then went to find the monorail station. Getting myself only slightly lost, I eventually found it, along with the billboard for the Taken movie... something you really want to be reminded of while trying to find your way!
Arrived at my hostel an hour later... very sweaty (after walking around the same little area that whole time trying to find it!). It is a very cute hostel, in a pretty good spot, now that I know where I am! :)
I went for a marathon walk to find china town that afternoon, it was worth it. I couldn't get any photos inside the market because it was just too chaotic and packed. I was too busy holding onto my bag so it didn't get swiped. There were hundreds of stalls selling every "genuine imitation" you could think of. I managed my first bartering experience and got pair of DC sunnies and a wallet for RM75 (about $25). Made it back and was in bed by 8.30pm (my excuse was that it was 10.30pm in Australia).
Today, I went on a half day city tour, where we got to see lots of shops they wanted us to buy stuff from, but we also got to see a few cool things (i'll explain in the photos captions).
After that, I went to Little India with an Australian couple I met on the bus, Bob and Bev from Adelaide. Had a great Indian meal there, and then they took me to Central Markets where I had a foot spa by fish! Crazy I know, you'll have to see the video (above) and photos to believe it, but apparently they eat the dead skin away from your feet and improve circulation, leaving them smooth. 10 mins for RM5, bargain!
By the time I got back, it was too late to make the trek out to visit the Batu Caves... next time I guess. I want to see Malaka tomorrow which is a 2 hour bus trip out, so that will be a whole day's worth.
KL is a pretty easy city. It is pretty clean, and was surprised by the lack of homeless and begging here. I guess after the Philippines, it was a surprise. Lots of hawkers on the street, offering taxis, massages, but they are easy. It is quite hot and humid here, would be over the 30's each day and doesn't really cool down overnight. Luckily our room has aircon. I've seen a few tourists here, but not heaps, a very diverse crowd, lots of Muslim women in their head gear, Indian men, and other asians. The guide said today that KL has a population of 7 million, with only 2 million of them Kuala Lumpian.
Well that's is it for now... having a great time, met some great people at the hostel, everyone is willing to start up a conversation, which is really good.
To see the photos of KL, visit this link... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020802&id=219300161&l=52a6c9f0f7
xoxo
