Kuala Lumpur
The 14 hour non-stop flight with Air Asia went so slowly. We
were too excited to sleep, and filled the journey with books, numerous
in-flight meals, card games and a PSP we loaned for a few hours. Anyone who has
flown long distance with Air Asia will know how cramped and uncomfortable those
planes are, and as usual, I ended up with chronic pins and needles from trying
to sit in weird positions, and a lurking threat of restless leg syndrome.
Eventually we arrived in KL, around 5am. Getting off the plane, the first thing
I noticed was the smell and humidity of the air. It was like stepping into a
tropical jungle. By this point we were crazily exhausted, but tiredness was
setting in. We strolled through immigration, then camped out in the airport,
knowing the shuttle bus to the city wouldn’t be running for a few hours.
Strangely, Josh had a problem.
Whilst in Paris, sitting under the Eiffel Tower eating crisps and watching all the tourists take photos and drink wine, Josh appeared to have been bitten by a snake or something. He had two bite marks in his ankle, which started seeping puss and became really sore. By the time we had got to KL airport, he could barely walk! Which meant, of course, I was carrying most of the luggage, whilst holding him up simultaneously. (He still has a scar from it). By the time the shuttle buses were running, we were exhausted, grumpy, arguing about the location of the hostel we were booked into, and intimidated by what may lay ahead. As soon as I sat on the bus, I was out cold, until we reached the bus station, and set out looking for our hostel. Walking through the streets of KL, we felt like we had stepped into another world. Our senses were shaken by the new smells and sights of the city. Strong incense perfume scents were paired with the pungent smell of sewage, the spicy aroma of roasted chicken, and the hot humid air around us. We were terrified. I was convinced I would be mugged, or someone would try and scam us or rob us. When we got to our hostel at 9am, we went to bed. So much for staying awake and getting over jet-lag quickly. It was the first time we had slept in a room to ourselves in over a month (it was 2 quid for a private room, as opposed to the 15-20 Euros a night we were paying for dorms in Europe), and we slept deeply until 7pm. Waking up in the evening, we decided to go for a stroll and get some food. I was actually scared of leaving the hostel at night, and had no idea what to expect, but when we did, it was amazing. Deep in the heart of Petaling Street, Chinatown, there was so much food on offer! As well as anything you could ever want to buy. After about an hour of to-ing and fro-ing, we settled for a little street food cafĂ©, and opted for two giant bowls of chicken noodles. It was amazing. For about a quid or two, we got the most immense bowl of food imaginable. The chicken was tasty and tender, the noodles were simple but gorgeous, and the atmosphere around us was incredible. We ate every last forkful, and set out wondering the town. We didn’t last long; tiredness overcame us again, and we were in bed by 9pm! We didn’t get up until 1pm the following afternoon.
Malaysia is a seriously underrated country. Most people don't bother visiting because they find it dull or boring or other similar reasons. Most of these people have never been, they just hear this from friends. It is not dull whatsoever. It is one of the most amazing, colourful, interesting places I have ever visited.
Whilst in Paris, sitting under the Eiffel Tower eating crisps and watching all the tourists take photos and drink wine, Josh appeared to have been bitten by a snake or something. He had two bite marks in his ankle, which started seeping puss and became really sore. By the time we had got to KL airport, he could barely walk! Which meant, of course, I was carrying most of the luggage, whilst holding him up simultaneously. (He still has a scar from it). By the time the shuttle buses were running, we were exhausted, grumpy, arguing about the location of the hostel we were booked into, and intimidated by what may lay ahead. As soon as I sat on the bus, I was out cold, until we reached the bus station, and set out looking for our hostel. Walking through the streets of KL, we felt like we had stepped into another world. Our senses were shaken by the new smells and sights of the city. Strong incense perfume scents were paired with the pungent smell of sewage, the spicy aroma of roasted chicken, and the hot humid air around us. We were terrified. I was convinced I would be mugged, or someone would try and scam us or rob us. When we got to our hostel at 9am, we went to bed. So much for staying awake and getting over jet-lag quickly. It was the first time we had slept in a room to ourselves in over a month (it was 2 quid for a private room, as opposed to the 15-20 Euros a night we were paying for dorms in Europe), and we slept deeply until 7pm. Waking up in the evening, we decided to go for a stroll and get some food. I was actually scared of leaving the hostel at night, and had no idea what to expect, but when we did, it was amazing. Deep in the heart of Petaling Street, Chinatown, there was so much food on offer! As well as anything you could ever want to buy. After about an hour of to-ing and fro-ing, we settled for a little street food cafĂ©, and opted for two giant bowls of chicken noodles. It was amazing. For about a quid or two, we got the most immense bowl of food imaginable. The chicken was tasty and tender, the noodles were simple but gorgeous, and the atmosphere around us was incredible. We ate every last forkful, and set out wondering the town. We didn’t last long; tiredness overcame us again, and we were in bed by 9pm! We didn’t get up until 1pm the following afternoon.
Malaysia is a seriously underrated country. Most people don't bother visiting because they find it dull or boring or other similar reasons. Most of these people have never been, they just hear this from friends. It is not dull whatsoever. It is one of the most amazing, colourful, interesting places I have ever visited.
There are some wonderful sights, and plenty more weird ones.
Every alleyway if filled with unusual sights, shrines, rats, cages crammed with
chickens, cats and other animals, beggars, and children. Malaysian food was my
favourite food in Southeast Asia. Mee Goreng and other simple noodle dishes are
cheap, filling and delicious. We found a split of Indian and Chinese food in
Malaysia (most people are from India or China) and I thought the Chinese
variety was hugely better.
In Petaling Street, we did some serious haggling with locals
for fake, genuine, practical and bizarre objects, clothes, perfumes and more.
Someone told us that they give you a bag which is coloured according to how
good at haggling you are. I can't remember the specific colours, but for
example, blue might mean you got an awesome deal, and black means you suck. The
general rule was that whichever coloured bags the South Koreans had – avoid
them! They are notoriously bad at haggling! We spent a week or so in KL which
was MORE than enough - it's a really small city. Little India was a cool place
to hang out, I had an authentic henna tattoo, Josh enjoyed trying loads of
different curries and spicy meats. We also loved the huge shopping malls, where
we could hang out for hours, just to appreciate the air-con, and get out of the
hot streets for a while. We spent longer than we planned in KL, simply because
it took us a good few days to get over the jet-lag. We were glad to leave,
looking forward to some beach time. Little did we know, we would be back sooner
than we thought with emergency visits to the British Embassy…
No comments:
Post a Comment