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Published: October 7th 2007
We arrived in Kuala Lumpur after a six hour bus ride from Singapore. We were lucky enough to be given front row seats on the top of the double decker bus allowing us to get some really good photos and views of southern Malaysia. We reached the city at 10pm and were dropped at a random corner on the edge of the city, needless to say we were completely at a loss as to where we were and what to do. Just standing on the corner we realized how easy it was for us to get a cab. Within seconds we had numerous cabs pulling over to offer us a lift (after spending time here we found out that cabbies are so willing to pick up westerners because they are able to charge double or triple the price then they would a local).
We crawled out of our bug inffested cab hoping to get a room at one of the recommended hostels. After seeing the delipatiated rooms Ashley made the decision that they were suitable enough for one night at the price of 19 ringgits (about 5 us dollars). However when she went to pay she realized she must of misunderstood
Malay flag
Malays are very patriotic, there were flags everywhere...even buildings painted the colors of their flag.the original price quoted, in actuality the room cost 90 ringgits. Completely shocked and disgusted that someone should be expected to pay that much for peeling paint, cement floored dungen Ashley made yet another decision...as it was now almost midnight they would instead spend the night in the ritzy hotel (almost the same price as the hostel) across the street and attempt to find somewhere cheaper in the morning. At the buffet breakfast the next morning we were terrified to see a sign in the restaurant stating that "Excessive waste would not be tolerated and additional charges would apply." As usual Ashley's eyes were bigger than her stomach, after attempting to stuff herself as mush as she could, so as not to be deemed wasteful by the locals, Alex reluctantly (maybe not so reluctantly!) had to finish Ashley's plate. We sadly left the nice hotel and attempted to find a cheaper hostel or guesthouse. Much to the enjoyment of a local cabbie we had him take us around the city while we looked at accomodations. Being as pushy as they are the cabbie kept suggesting other hostels for us to visit, at a small fee, and Alex being as easy
Feeling Guilty
After spending the night in a ritzy hotel we woke up the next morning and looked out the window . going as he is had us go and see all of these. Becoming increasingly stressed Ashley snapped and insisted on going back to the hotel immediately.
Alex not wanting to give up insisted that we take a walk up the street. We ended up finding a great little guesthouse just a few doors from our hotel. The guesthouse, called Sarang Bang, was run by a very kind and cute Korean family. Alex befriended the only employee of this family, a timid Malay guy. We are sill unsure if he actually understood anything Alex was saying, but he nodded and smilled anyway.
We decided to spend our first day in Kuala Lumpur just exploring the city and getting used to everything. This proved to be easier said then done. While attempting to get a map of the city or locate the tourist centre it seemed all the locals were unwilling to give us information and instead wanted to sell us tour packages. This was probably the lowest point of our trip so far as we walked around in the afternoon heat and sun, lost and with people calling out to us attempting to sell us stuff. Ashley was ready to book
Our hostel
Our hostel was the blue and white building and our room was the open window. her flight home and probably would of if she had found a travel agent. Sensing Ashley's mood Alex decided it was time to get tough with the cabbies and force them to take us to the tourist centre...and nowhere else!!!
Leaving the tourist centre full of information we were finally able to enjoy ourselves. We spent the next few days visiting the Petronos Towers, KL Tower, Batu Caves, several markets, even more malls and getting used to the squatting toilets and having to pay for toilet paper. Our original plan was to only spend 3 or 4 days in Kuala Lumpur, however we ended up enjoying it so much that we ended up staying 8 days!!
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Karen & JP
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Hey Guys...
You are doing such a great job with the blog. It's great to get to see what you are up to...looks like you are having a good time : ) Can't wait to see more.