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Happy Birthday
Not a bad location for a party.The flight from Hanoi to Kuala Lumpur, KL from here on in, was uneventful other than the amusing sight of Hanoi’s main international airport check-in which was more like Tenerife airport during my holidays as a kid rather than an ‘international hub’ as they claim. After you check in, huge queues despite having checked in online, a little man pops up and picks your bag up off the carousel and walks off to another part of the airport, will we ever see them again? Doubtful. We paid the extra couple of pounds for Air Asia’s ‘Hot Seats’ which usually results in a row to yourself. Nice on a 5hr flight.
We landed in KL and, hold on a minute, are we still in Asia? It was remarkable, as soon as we stepped out of the airport a couple of things were missing (luckily not our bags), no tuk-tuks and a distinct lack of horns permanently honking La Marseillaise - weird. But as was soon to become clear KL is Asia as Asia is likely to be over the next 25 years. Like a lot of cities KL airport is quite a way outside, but a bit like Stanstead, the low
cost carriers use another airport which seems nearer to New Zealand than the city. Unfortunately this puts a couple of hours onto your journey to KL and scuppered us in what we were mainly here to achieve. We hadn’t originally planned to visit KL this trip, we were supposed to go to Borneo (Sabah) for 4 weeks but we have had to give up 10 days of that trip because of the difficulty in getting a visa for India. Almost every other country will issue a visa within 1 or 2 days, India needs something like 7 working days, ridiculous really. The good news is that it does give us a chance to visit the Malaysian Peninsula. KL accommodation isn’t cheap, in fact KL isn’t cheap in anyway but I guess that’s the price for being in the 1st world again. So we were back out of hotels and into a little hostel, Matahari Lodge, near Chinatown & Little India, basic but clean, with extremely helpful staff and ultimately provided what we needed.
Our first full day in the city, we kicked off the India visa process and then set off to explore. It was Chris’s birthday, so being
Happy 29h
Twenty Twenty Fifth more like ... 29 (!!!!!!!!!) he obviously wanted to do something memorable and in KL that really must be a trip to the Petronas Towers, which is quite simply, one of the tallest and most magnificent building(s) in the world. They are quite a statement of Malaysian ambition, which is quite clearly being realised. You can only go up as far as the Skybridge and it’s free but you have to get there early to get tickets as only 1400 are handed out each day. We collected our tickets for later that afternoon and set off to view this magnificent pair from the outside (rude comments at this point would be too easy). In the basement of the towers is the Suria KLCC, a 5 story complex that was quite clearly shopping heaven for Lisa and Chris even enjoyed it too. A whole floor full of Chanel, Jimmy Choo (genuine), Bvlgari, Versace, etc was avoided like the plague but with Chris settled in at a great coffee shop (after the obligatory piece of birthday cake) Lisa went in search of Monsoon & others for a couple of hours in heaven.
We then headed off to KLs’ other impressive structure. At 421m the
Entrapment?
Catherine & Sean were a bit more subtle .. Menara KL (or Kuala Lumpur Tower) is the 5th tallest telecoms tower in the world and offers a great 360 degree view of the city and the surrounding area from its observation deck. For us it was a great way to orientate ourselves, checking out the places we wanted to visit and as we enjoy exploring cities on foot making sure that distances aren’t ridiculous. When you are up there, checking the panorama, you realise that KL is not only a huge city but also it’s not very full, yet. The huge glass structures and towering hotels and apartment blocks are interspersed with single story dwelling and there is also a surprising amount of undeveloped land, forests and parks. Around the base of the tower they even have a 10 hectare rainforest reserve that is serving as a lung in the middle of the city. Amazing.
Soon it was time to head off back to the towers, a 15 minute walk in the searing, humid heat. At the base of the towers you sit through the obligatory Petronas Corporate “we’re great” video that gives you a bit of back ground then it’s off to the lift to be whizzed
Twin Peaks
No funny comments here up to the Skybridge. The towers and the Skybridge came to world attention when Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones Larkin Douglas cavorted around it in ‘Entrapment’ at the turn of the century. The towers stand 452m above street level and there are 88 floors. The Skybridge crosses at floors 41 & 42 and that’s as high as us mere mortals can go (unless you’ve got the odd oilfield you want plumbing, then the Sky’s the limit). The architect, Cesar Pelli, who also designed the Canary Wharf Tower, has produced an inspiring diamond and star design that remains to this day the tallest twin towers in the world. The view is easily surpassed by the KL Tower but as an awe inspiring piece of modern architecture and magnificent engineering it’s up there with The Empire State, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the others that we’ve been lucky enough to see on this trip.
Chris’s birthday would obviously not be complete without a pint of the Irish Nectar so that evening we set off to Bukit Bintang, the backpacker district, in search of his pressie. Another bar called Finnegans not only provided the Guinness but at 3 for the price of
View from the Top
Loads of green, but for how long? 2 (or 6 for 4) and with pie & chips on the menu, 29 was celebrated in the usual fashion. A slow, late, delicate start reminded us how long since we’d had a ‘session’ and how out of practice we’ve gotten. Must put that right. We spent the day exploring some of the other parts of KL that we hadn’t seen, Chinatown & Little India, complete with knock-off markets and exotic food stalls we walked a lot and hopped on and off the KL - very easy, very cheap and very not integrated - public transport system.
After a few days, well months, in the stifling humid heat of South East Asia we decided that a few days in the mountains would be most welcome so we headed for the Cameron Highlands. Getting out of KL isn’t easy at the moment, the temporary main bus station is 45 minutes outside the city and once there it’s a bit of a mess with shed loads of touts trying to persuade you that their bus is really super, super VIP. We had pre-booked seats and yep the bus was great with excellent legroom but unfortunately our seats were in the back
At the top
we thought the next bit would be easy. row and in Asia that should be avoided at all costs. We bounced around, often completely leaving our seat, for the next 4 hrs. Our minds were briefly taken off the bumpy trip as we were trolling along the motorway a huge line of luxury sports cars from Porsche’s thru Bentleys and even a Koenigsegg came belting past like something from the ‘Fast and Furious’ (or the ‘Cannonball Run’ for you oldies). Shows there is certainly a few quid sloshing around in Malaysia. As we neared Tanah Rata, our home in the Cameron Highlands, the mountain valleys opened up and all up the side of the valley were the tea plantations that brought wealth and fame to the region. We fell off the bus, a bit battered and bruised, and booked our return ensuring seats in the middle next time, lesson learned.
Our home for the next few days was the cool, mellow and relaxing Fathers Guest House, actually more of a hostel than a guest house, with dorms and shared facilities, it came highly recommended and is very popular with fellow travellers of every nationality. We explored the town (5-10 minutes max) then planned our trek for the
Natures Beauty
Funny what can catch your eye next day, all sorts of advice was available but none very detailed so we plumped for following a couple of trails up the mountain to the east of the town. The beginnings of the many walking trails that leave the village are never easy to find, whether that is trying to say if you can’t find the start you’re too stupid to safely walk the trail or whether it’s a ploy to persuade you to employ a guide or go on an organised tour I don’t know but once you have found the right track you simply follow the flat(ish) bit through the jungle. One of the regions claims to fame is the mysterious disappearance of Jim Thompson, the American ‘father’ of the Thai silk industry, who disappeared while out for a stroll, presumed killed and dragged off by a tiger, this wasn’t mentioned to Lisa before we set off!! The first part of the trek was quite an uphill slog but apart from a few really steep slippery bits you almost didn’t notice, so captivated are you by the serenity and wonder of the jungle around, the sounds are a symphony and every step you see a new flower,
Nice ending
but we didn't want to stop plant or bird, often with wonderful colours or shapes. It’s probably nothing new to locals but us ‘grockles’ were mesmerised. Finally we reached the top of Gurung Beremban and at 1812m the top was a welcome relief. Just the easy bit down now. OK did I say easy? What I meant was just about the most treacherous, steep, slippery, arduous descent that either of us has ever undertaken. There were a few points on the climb down where it seemed that we were stood at the top of a near vertical drop. Numerous times we slipped, tripped, fell or slid, actually spending more time on our arses than our feet, this wasn’t the pleasant afternoon stroll we planned. With a huge sigh of relief we finally we reached the bottom and not even the sight of a beautiful waterfall in full flow could deflect us from our goal of sitting down somewhere with something very cold to drink and very nice to eat. Later that evening we found a more definitive trail guide to the area which describes this trail as, “A very tough, difficult climb taking 3 hours or more. Should only be undertaken by experienced, very fit trekkers
Treat
Well did anyone think she'd resist? and needs physical preparation beforehand”. We’ll probably use Google before the next trek!!
We awoke the next day stiff as boards and with Lisa demanding drugs by the bucket load, (only Ibuprofen Matt, your Mum hasn’t changed that much). So rather than do the sensible thing and rest we decided to set off on another trek, albeit checking the descriptions for the phrases “tough”, “difficult” and “likely to result in death”. We chose to walk up trail 10 then take the girly trail 11 around the 1st mountain rather than over it. After the inevitable where the hell does it start and loads of blank looks followed by useful advice by helpful locals we found the trail and surprise, surprise, it started off pleasantly shallow and remained that way. A few treacherous crossing of landslides and blocked rivers besides we spent a very pleasant few hours admiring the jungle flora and fauna before emerging onto a road that wasn’t there on our map. Actually it was, we had just taken a wrong turn somewhere and got lost, oh well, as this inadvertent diversion brought us out right by a strawberry farm (another of the regions specialities) selling fresh fruit
Magnificent
The symbol of the new KL as well as delicious ice cream to go with it, we decided that rather than retrace our steps to conquer the peak we were aiming for we’d sit down and scoff some lovely stuff. Nice.
By this time Chris’s knee was persuading him that enough was enough so we hopped on a local bus back to the village and into a cafe for the pot of Cameron Valley Tea and Scones and Jam. While the pot of tea was delicious and most welcome, the cream tea, which Lisa had been dreaming about for a few days, fell woefully short of either Abbotsbury or The Ritz. Shame really but maybe Malaysia isn’t as English as it tries to be. That night we were reminded we were in a hostel rather than a hotel when a load of straggly haired hippy wannabees murdered a few Oasis & James Morrison classics accompanied by an out of tune guitar and the de rigueur bongo drums. Why oh why oh why do inconsiderate idiots do this? At least if you are going to have a 5 hrs singathon it might make sense to learn more than one verse of each song.
All too
Through the ages
KL tower, Petronas & the colonial clock tower. Nice. soon our stay in the cool climate of the Cameron Highlands was over, it’s a great place to visit and despite the difficulties a very pleasant place to do some walking an enjoy Malaysia. It’s also got a nice golf course in the middle of the district for those looking to pursue a more leisurely few days. An uneventful and far less painful bus ride deposited us back in KL for our last couple of days waiting for the Indian bureaucracy to complete its painfully slow process. So a little more about Malaysia while we wait. It’s very English, but that’s more recent. Located at the junction between East and West, its recorded history dates back to the first century, Islam became a major influence during the 1400’s and remains so today. The Portuguese were the first European colonial powers to establish themselves in Malaysia, capturing Malacca in 1511, followed by the Dutch. However, it was the British, who ultimately secured their supremacy across the territory that is now Malaysia. A fourth phase of foreign influence was immigration of Chinese and Indian workers to meet the needs of the colonial economy created by the British in the Malay Peninsula and
How high?
Supposedly the tallest flag pole in the world. Borneo. The effect of this immigration is keenly felt as you walk around KL, especially in the areas poor travellers like us tend to camp. On August 31, 1957 at 9.00am, Tunku Abdul Rahman read the Proclamation of Independence and declared the Malay States of Malaya "with God's blessing, shall forever be a sovereign democratic and independent state…" Freedom had been won peacefully and very swiftly Malaysia & KL has established itself as a shining example of what can and probably will be achieved by the region over the next generation or so. The small ‘Colonial’ district with the world’s tallest flagpole in Merdeka Square, and the famous Royal Selangor Club remains as a reminder of, or tribute to, its colonial past but the city is most certainly now Malay beyond anything else.
Finally we received notice that the might of India’s civil service had deemed us worthy of visiting them so with one full day left we visited 2 jungles, one ancient & one modern. The Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve is quite remarkable, slap bang in the middle of KL, in fact the KL Tower mentioned earlier was built there. It’s been officially preserved as a forest since
Cheeky Monkey
At home in the middle of the city 1906 but obviously the trees are a snadge older than that. It’s the only tropical rainforest still standing in a city and the essence of it has remained intact as nature intended. We walked into the visitor centre and immediately Chris got told off, apparently he hadn’t been sufficiently careful when opening the door and he’d let a naughty monkey into the centre, who then proceeded to try and hide itself by placing a cloth it was carrying over its head - using the philosophy of I can’t see you so you can’t see me - sweet. We then left and walked along a few of the lovely forest trails and pretty soon we were reminded that it was a forest by getting bitten to hell and back. So we swiftly exited and headed for the 2nd jungle, the KLCC shopping complex down the road, so Lisa was able to spend a few more moments caressing the colourful fabrics at Monsoon before we said goodbye to this mecca. Did I mention those well known Asian stores on show, Next, Debenhams, Marks & Sparks, you can see where their growth is coming from over the next few years. With a quick
Masjid Jamek
a beautiful place of worship stop at the pharmacy to get bug sprayed up we trekked back to Old Jungle and finished exploring. We even managed to see another monkey who casually sat on the path in front of us not worried about our presence and even posed for a few photos after some encouragement. Beautiful, we hope they manage keep the developers hands off of it.
Malaysia so far is looking good and we have enjoyed the diversity it has to offer and after coming from Vietnam, which is slightly less westernised, Lisa was over the moon with being able to enjoy Dairy Milk again. The only down side - rain, rain and more rain. Every afternoon since we arrived the heavens open and the deluge is only dwarfed by the tremendous light show with brightens the sky. This is not rainy season, but according to the hostel staff, Malaysia is having more rain now than it did then. Well we didn’t sign up for rain and we have had enough of it. So as we post we are, hopefully, off to the India visa shop then the airport for our flight to Borneo, via Singapore. Sweet as.
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curly
non-member comment
wow.
Stunning views a ripe mix of wild life and then some very clever architecure, uumm is there any more of that chocolate cake that u r brandishing.