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Published: November 10th 2008
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Hostel
Backpackers Travellers Lodge - pretty swish eh?!!! 6th November 2008 - CITY SIGHT SEEING!!
After a couple of hours kip on arrival and a good shower I felt loads better and we were ready to explore Kuala Lumpur! We headed first to the rooftop garden of our hostel (Backpackers Travellers Lodge) for breakfast. Rooftop garden sounds swish but don't let it fool you.....think metal tables, concrete and not a lot else. Nice enough though and convenient!
We then bought a 'KL Hop On Hop Off City Tour Bus' to see some of the signts. This did exactly what is said on the tin....lets you hop on and off as many times as you want through the day at different spots in the city and valid for 24 hours. Stop number 8 was right outside our hostel so we just hopped right on!!
We went past a few places of interest listening to the audio and eventually got off at the King's Palace. We were told it was like Buckingham Palace but I didn't think it was quite as grand from what we could see. The view of the house wasn't the best though but with the guards at the front the set up was pretty similiar.
The next stop was Merderka Square. This was a place where you could see some British Influence. There was a marble circle showing the exact spot where the Union Jack used to fly before the end of the colonial rule, some 1800s style buildings and a St Mary's Church. There was also big building with a clock on which I would describe as a 'poor man's Big Ben'. Still cool to see though!
Our next stop was at the 'Petronas Twin Towers' which are the tallest twin buildings in the world. Very impressive and we would have liked to go up them but tickets were limited and neither of us fancied queuing from 6am to get them. The view from the outside would have to do!!
Fourth stop was at the KL Tower. This is the 4th tallest building in the world and I went straight to get my ticket to the observation platform. Nat took a bit more persuasion to go to the top but some gentle coaxing and emotional bribary forced her hand! The views of the city were amazing and this was definitely my favourite part of the day!! We then headed back to
the hostel on the bus and took in some more sights along the way.
That night we headed to China Town.......apparenty you could get anything you wanted there!! 'Anything' was a very exaggurated description...you could get sunglasses, sports shoes, watches, bags and T-shirts all of which were described as 'Real Copies'.......an oxymoron if ever I heard one....Love it!!! The market was mad! Every 2 seconds we would get stopped...'watch lady?' 'bag lady?' etc etc. The best thing to buy was a designer tissue box cover but unfortunatley I could not fit one in my backpack! Real shame!! After a good walk around it is safe to say that all we got for our troubles were a few mosquito bites!! After the nightmares of the market it was time for some much needed sleep!!
7th November 2008 - LAKE, DEER & A MONKEY AMBUSH!!
After breakfast on the rooftop garden we hopped on the bus again. We made a short stop at the station to book our train ticket to Singapore (good job too....sold out for the night we wanted!) and then waited for the bus again. Our 24 hour time limit was up and the bus still hadn't
arrived but we tried our luck anyway and luckily they let us on! Once the lady realised though she spun us a web of lies to get us off the bus early...she even told us all the deer at the park had all been moved to the zoo!! Scorpian Woman she was!!!
Our first stop in the park was the Dinosaur fun section. Strictly for children but being big kids we thought it would be ok!! The slides were awesome!! From there we wandered at our leisure around the park and eventually found the lake. Everything was very green and very scenic...beautiful and especially when you notice that it's smack bang in the middle of a city! I was at my happiest strolling around the lake....easily pleased some may say!!!
As we passed the deer park we had a look just to check and realised the bus lady had lied!! Tut Tut! We first saw some mousedeer in cages and then turned around to see loads of deer walking behind us on the hill. Only one stag amongst them all....that boy must have been in his element....lucky thing!!! We headed towards a bridge at the far end of
the hill so we could cross and get a closer look. As we stepped on the bridge loads of bloody monkeys came out from the trees onto the bridge. It was like 'Billy Goats Gruff and who's trip trapping over my bridge?!!!' It was pretty daunting with all the monkeys swinging around especially as there was no park keeper or anything to help us if they jumped on us.
After weighing up the situation we decided to risk it and headed over the bridge. The monkeys were fine and didn't fuss and it was nice to see them in their natural surroundings rather than on a lead or in a cage. At one point a big fat one came up at speed behind me.......I put my camera away sharpish after that....monkeys....can't trust them!!! Then, on our way out of the park, I heard more scuttling. I looked to my left expecting to see another monkey but what I saw was a mini crocidlie climbing back into some underground piping. So so glad I didn't dip my foot in the lake earlier if thats where the momma was hiding!!
Following the lake we walked to the National Mosque. Not
really my cup of tea and I waited outside whilst Nat got all robed up! I felt like I was waving bye to my child who was going to join the convent as she walked up the stairs. Weird!!! From their we made our way back to the Chinese Market (near our hostel) and for the last part of the journey we even managed to blag a free taxi ride!! Bit fishy...I reckon they must get vouchers/coupons like the tuk tuk drivers in Thailand!! Still....good for us!!
That night was spent in the Reggae Bar for cocktails and having food in China Town. We were even entertained with magic (or christmas cracker tricks) whilst we ate!! Not bad for our last night in Malaysia!!
8th November 2008 - CITY LIVING AND FISH SPA!!
We decided to spend our final day having a browse around the sity. Loads of shops and city life to see so we strolled at leisure stopping only for icecream. (Scared I am going to turn into an ice cream on this trip.....note to self....must cut down!!!) Shopping looked good but on our budget we were limited to window shopping. Became more like torture after
In Reggae Bar!!
We wanted the tree lit up in the background but stupid ladyboy who took it failed to turn the camera around!!! a while and once we had seen enough of the city we headed back to the hostel for a while.
Later in the afternoon we took another stroll and found the Central Market. I wish we had found it earlier as it was cool and full of touristy things and cool crafts. The best part though was the fish spa. We paid for 10 minutes and had to dunk our feet in a fish filled pool. As we did all the fish swam around our feet and nibbled at them to get hard/dead skin off. It was so weird!!! It didn't hurt but it sure did tickle and I was laughing all the way through as were people watching me! I didn't like it when they nibbled at the toes though! Very weird sensation as you could feel them nibbling but no pain!!! I reccommed it for the fun factor...and my feet felt better afterwards!!
Once our feet had taken as much as they could we headed back to the hostel, picked up our bags and set off for the station. Another overnight train beckoned!! We seem to be old hands at them now!! I had my fingers
crossed for no early wake up calls and no one with snoring problems!!!
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