KL arrival D1 and 2

 

A non stop plane journey sounded like a really good idea back in July when I booked it...

Now, however in the midst of a 13 hour flight, I would have killed for a stopover. Turns out that the available movie list was fairly poor and having worked my way through 2 films already, it was slim pickings from then on. 

When you don't sleep on flights the hours go by very slowly, punctuated by the welcome breakfast/coffee/dinner rounds.

The food was pretty good however, the breakfast waffles particularly so... but still 6 hours to go. Worse was the fact that a bit later in the flight, no coffee service due to turbulence so one less thing to take up time! 

Eventually, after an absolute age, we landed on the Malaysian tarmac and bleary eyed disembarked the plane, into 28 degree heat and blazing sunshine. Dare I say it, I was already too warm. 

Maria (who I worked with many years ago) and Tom were waiting for me at the airport and when I first saw them, it was as if no time at all had passed. All of us older, me a lot less slim (6 months of inactivity will do that) but no lack of conversation points to be going on with. Friendships like that are invaluable. Maria had been suggesting I come and stay with her for many years and I had finally got it together to do so.

Its nice, having travelled solo for much of my life, to occasionally travel where you are met by friends to help ease you into the way of things. Maria and Tom kindly took me to get money, SIM card and showed me around their local area. The tourist thing had started! 

Malaysia seems an interesting Hodge podge country, a melting pot of many different people's, languages and faiths. A mosque on one corner with a church on another and a Buddhist temple in between. 

My first impressions were good. Clean, organised, it reminded me of in parts the USA, with its shopping outlets and no corner shops, and Singapore, clean cut with apartment complexes and gated communities. 

I started learning my first words of Malay... please, thank you and good morning being a priority. 

Maria and Tom live about 1 hour south of the city and as we toured around some of the interesting sites, it seemed a pretty peaceful place, with parks and green areas dotted around between the housing and shops. 

The shops showed the cultural influences, from the British occupation influence with signs in English, to the Chinese or Indian influences. English is widely spoken, which makes it easier for me to get around. Signs and instructions are also in English. Still no excuse not to learn a few words of Malay! 

The heat even in the evening had not dissipated and I almost wished for rain... almost! It had cooled slightly though and Tom took me to the canal which runs through their gated community in the hope of spotting a monitor lizard. No luck tonight, though I did immediately get acquainted with one type of local fauna... the mosquito was already preying on me, drawn to me as usual like a moth to a flame. I saw one lizard, scuttling along the brickwork into Maria and Tom's neighbours house but that was it. Still only the first day. 

Needless to say by about 36 hours of being up and about, I was done in and gratefully sunk into my nice room... too hot to sleep despite the air con and then crashed!

Day 2... Boots on the ground! 

I woke up late, at least by Maria's standards 😁 Tom had already gone out for a swim in his local pool before it got too hot and Maria had clearly been up for a while. Coffee and breakfast whilst we continued catching up with news. Then I was introduced to Malaysia's anawer to UBER. Grab was exactly the same and in no time at all, I had the app and had requested a driver to take me to the nearest train station, which would then convey me to central KL.  It was peak time however, so it took another 17 minutes for the driver to arrive. Maria had kindly provided me with a packed lunch (leftovers from last night's  excellent dinner) and I filled up my bottle of water, realising that I would deffo has to buy another large bottle given the temperature of the day already.

We had spent a bit of time last night discussing the plan for the rest of the week. Where was good to go and what to see. The only thing I really had as a must see was the Batu caves, which if you went at the right time, you could see the bats flying out. I also knew that there was a high chance of finding a snake or 2 there as they sit up high in the caves and snatch the bats out of the air as they fly out. However, there was a big festival at Batu caves so today was not the best day to go as there would be thousands of people there. So today, which also happened to be the last day of Chinese New Year (year of the snake, no less), I would head into the city and see as much as possible.

For me the most interesting part of any foreign city is not the main landmarks, but things like the local markets and other everyday places. It gives a better flavour of the country. That said, of course I had earmarked the Petronas towers and the telecoms tower, to tick off a landmark or two. A visit to some of the different religious temples was also a must do as well.

So my grab arrived and I was conveyed to the nearest station of the LRT. here I then had to navigate the ticket machines (they only took 1 and 5 ringiit notes, I discovered). A hours journey into KL cost me about 60p! It really put the Reading to Paddington fee of £30 to absolute shame.

The tickets came in the form of plastic tokens which you touched onto the pad at the barrier at the beginning of the journey and placed into a slot in the barrier at the end. The train came within 4 minutes, clean and punctual, all for 60p!

The hours journey flew by quickly, the mainly flat terrain dotted with high rise apartments, almost villa like housing and green spaces. Some of the high rise housing blocks were run down and dishevelled, showing some of the poorer areas. These sat next to high rise office buildings, gleaming in the sunshine. The juxtaposition you find in many cities. 

The LRT is conveyed up on high tracks, way above the houses and roads. Clearly well planned out, these rail networks stretch in all directions around and through the city.

I arrived at KL central station and immediately headed to Chinatown where there was a local market. Stalls selling handbags and watches, fruit stalls with fruit 3 x the size of the fruit in England., strange fruits such as snake skin fruit and Dragon fruit. Chinatown was still decorated everywhere with lanterns for Chinese new year and there was a hustle and bustle about the place. Not many obvious tourists about either, which I always like! I got asked if I wanted a new watch about 4 times, but resisted whilst pointing to my Garmin.

The onto the central market, which had a few more tourist type shops, stalls selling juices, food stalls, all kinds of things. 

Did I mention it was very warm? 

Sweating already, I jumped in a small shop to buy a large bottle water... 80p.! So cheap.

My next destination was a mosque. The minarets stretching upwards. A short walk conveyed me there and on arrival, as expected, there was a dress code. I was wearing shorts but had prepared and pulled out of my bag the zip off trouser legs. In seconds my clothing compiled with the rules. I figured that they would provide me with a head covering, as most places that have visitors do and sure enough, I went in and was dressed with a purple head covering. I didn't look much like me anymore 😂

The mosque was interesting and there was a guide there who spent a good few minutes explaining the 'family tree' for Christianity, Judaism and Islam, which was informative. The mosque was beautifully decorated and gleaned in the sunshine.

Then back out there, headscarf off and into the sweltering heat of midday. 

My next tourist trap to tick off was the telecoms tower, 7th highest building in the world. I decided that although the train was tempting, it would have taken me just as long to walk to the station as it would have to the tower, so I set off. Feet moved slightly slower in the hear than they had this morning and I wound my way to the park where the tower was... only the entrance was hard to find and I had to circumnavigate the park before finding the entrance at the base of quite a hill. Up and up it went, steps galore and by now I was starting to wilt. Eventually I arrived at the base of the tower and continued up the escalator to the ticket office. 110 ringiit. Extortionate by Malaysian standards but I was here now. So I paid and joined the queue for the lift. The ride up was short but my popping ears confirmed the height we had gained in a short time and I stepped out once again into the sunshine to be greeted by such a view. Boy were we high up. 

KL stretched below me in all it's modern concrete glory. The Petronas towers just about visible through the haze. I wandered round the full circle, my eye catching a mosque here, a palace there, a nature reserve all the way over there. I picked out landmarks I had seen, and some I now intended to go. It was quite a view, although not the view I usually prefer to see!

Down in the lift again, past the 'have your picture taken' Booth and back out, boots firmly on the ground. Where next? Having seen the Petronas towers from up high, it was now time to get up close, a must tick off my list place. Once again, quicker to walk there than to a station, my legs may not have agreed on that one, but they had very little choice.

The streets were busy and noisy and full of traffic as any big city is, and by now I was getting a little fed up of the crowds. But it had to be done. As I drew up. close to the towers, there was that feeling of excitement at ticking another landmark off the list. But then I realised that up close wasn't exactly the best view. Below the towers was a small garden and it stretched back from the towers enough to get a good photo or 3. Then I felt it was as good a place as any to sit and eat my pre prepared lunch so I sat in the shadow of the towers enjoying noodles. My legs were glad of the break as they were approaching 20000 steps and all on concrete which is never pleasant! 

I decided, whilst having lunch that I wanted to visit the hindu temple near Chinatown. I had seen the highly ornate roof from the train and wanted to see it up close. My legs however were moaning so I decided to give them a bit of a break and headed for the nearest station for a 3 stop trip back to the very centre of KL. 

The trains were great though, frequent, on time, clean and as I noticed in this one, had carriages just for women which meant I got a seat if nothing else. It was enforced too, with the station guard shooing out one bloke who had dared to stand just over the line! 

I arrived at the temple and once again converted my shorts back to trousers before paying a very small amount of money to have my shoes put in a box for safekeeping. 

In I went and an explosion of colour greeted me. Bright blues, yellows, green and reds adorned all the statues and pillars and floor. It was like someone had spilled skittles everywhere. The carvings on the roof were also amazing and must have taken a lot of time and skill. It was truly amazing in it's detail. My favourite temple so far!

By this time, it was getting late (my lunch had been around 1530) and so I decided to wend my way back to Maria's house. Once back at the station nearest their house, I ordered a Grab and then sat and waited. The good thing about being foreign here is that when you sit, people strike up conversation. In this case a young lady who was interested in my tattoos and ear piercing. It passed the time chatting to her... but I also was trying to keep an eye out for the grab as I wasn't 100% sure where it would stop.

Eventually it turned up and I said goodbye to the lady and delightfully jumped in to an air conditioned car!

Boy was I tired. 

Walking through cities has to be twice as exhausting as walking through jungles and I still wasn't acclimated to the weather, beautiful as it was.

I was glad I had done pretty all the main stuff in the city today as it now meant I could find stuff slightly more in keeping with me for the rest of the days, I. e less people, more nature😁

I was not the most conversational when I got back and fairly soon had to beg my leave as my eyes were struggling to stay open. It had been a good day but I feel better is to come!