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Published: September 27th 2009
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We took the short bus journey from Melaka into the bright lights and skyscrapers of KL. We had prebooked our hostel based on a reccommendation from Dawn and Alli. The hostel was called 'Back Home' and was convientially located on the outskirts of Little India and in close proximity to all major attractions. The hostel was only a short walk from the bus station but we still managed to indulge in a McDonalds McValue Lunch before we made the trip. Arriving in new places can be somewhat overwhelming at times as we have no idea where we are, however we have found that the 'home comfort' and generic surroundings of fast food outlets help ease culture shock and help find our bearings (well thats our excuse and we are sticking to it).
The hostel exceeded all exceptations; brand new with super modern facilities, including a rain shower, soft matresses and a huge plasma screen tv with countless numbers of DVDs to select from - this was a travellers dream and well worth the few extra Ringits. On arrival we were warmly greeted by the hostel staff who introduced us to fellow travellers and chalked our names up on the dorm
Back Home II
Warm welcome. room we were sharing. This warm, friendly, family atmosphere continued throughout our stay here.
On a first evening we headed to the SkyBar. 31st floor of the Traders hotel based on yet another great suggestion from Dawn and Alli. We arrived around 7pm just in time to catch the last few minutes of daylight and observe the KL skyline as the sun set and KL was cast into complete darkness. The drinks were a little pricey but with entry into KL tower costing 38 ringit each and a glass of vino costing 26 ringit - there wasn't much competition as to what activity we would be engaging in. In addtion to the being able to soak up the great views of the city in a fablous bar (so swanky it even had a swimming pool running down the centre) it was an opportunity to put on some nice clothes and shed our traveller look for a night of slight induldgence; even if we could only afford one glass of wine!
After an amazing evening we ate our free breakfast in the hostel and made plans with a few others to head to the Batu Caves, a short taxi
Monkey Business
This little chap was checking us out from above as we took a short cut through an alley on route to collect our laundry. ride out of KL, for the day. The entrance of the caves is guarded by a magnificent Hindu statue and an army of miscievous coke addicted monkeys. We made our way to the top of the caves climbing the never ending staircase and eventually reaching the top to a small Hindu Temple. The temple was nice but the rubbish that surrounded it took away from the spirituality that this place should have excuded. The rubbish was collected by the devious little monkeys from the bins, from the offerings left to the temple and even straight out of the tourists hands - as we were soon to discover for ourselves.
As we were discussing just how anticlimatic the labourious trek to the summit was Eric, an American guy staying at our hostel, reached for his Gatorade only to be aggressivley approached by one of the sugar junkie monkeys. Eric was forced to surrender his drink and our primitive primate cousin leaped up into the caves to try and work out how to unscrew the top. At this point we should have learnt our lesson that the resident monkeys would go to extraordinary lengths to satisfy their sugar cravings. However the
Petronas Towers I
View from the Sky Bar, 31st Floor, Traders Hotel. sight of Phil, another resident in Back Home, cracking open an ice cold coke was enough to tempt us into purchasing one for the climb down.
As we made our way down, our coke cans glimmered in the sun sending a signal to the monkeys of our sugary purchase. Phil was the first victim. One of the monkeys jumped on his shorts removing the can directly from his hand. It proceeded to pour its contents out onto the ground and then lapped it up with great vigour. It was at this stage that I, Sarah, suddenly lost interest in the tin of coke and insisted that Chris carried it for the rest of the trip down.
After successively negotiating our way past the monkeys and coke can in tact we headed back to the hostel. One of our regrets in China was not going to a Karaoke Bar (KTV) and so that evening we managed to rally a group together and headed off to Red Box Karaoke.
The KTV place was amazing, we had our own private booth and a vast selection of every cheesey pop tune that you could imagine, all of which we sang -
badly. Cheesy music and beer. What more could you ask for from a KTV place; a fruit platter, a cake, nibbles, a buffet, sparklig fruit juice? Bizarrely this place ticked all the boxes. We sang until the sun came up and headed 'Back Home' our voices a little horse and our bellies full of cake.
Our karaoke adventure ended KL on a high. Next stop, The Puala Kapas, the long awaited beach island retreat that our city beaten bodies had been craving.
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