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Published: January 28th 2009
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(Day 298 on the road)It is raining. Let me say that again: It is raining here in Kuala Lumpur. Unbelievable. It has been a very long time since I last experienced rain. To be precise, it was when I was trekking and camping in the Japanese mountains back in September, over four months ago.
Reaching Kuala Lumpur however from Ko Tao in Thailand was a long journey. I had completely underestimated the time it would take me. I had taken a quick glance at the map and figured it would take me about 10 or 12 hours. In the end, it took 30 hours (ferry, wait, night train, day train, wait, bus), and I arrived here thoroughly exhausted. I found a nice hostel right in the heart of Chinatown, the perfect place to stay as Chinese New Year is just around the corner.
Apart from the rain, Malaysia greeted me with three things:
1) A 90 day visa free stay. Compared to all the other countries in the region who either charge a lot of money for the visa (Vietnam for instance) or just give you two weeks (Thailand since December 2008 when arriving overland), this is very nice
and actually made me feel welcome here.
2) Mineral water! This might not sound too spectacular, but I honestly cannot remember when I have had mineral water the last time. All the water in the last few months has been purified water, meaning waste water that has been treated with chlorine and UV rays to make it drinkable again. So mineral water without the chlorine taste is a very welcome change indeed.
3) Speaking of water: I have also had my first hot shower for at least four weeks here in KL, which was quite nice after endless cold showers in Myanmar.
I spent a few days walking the streets and relaxing in my cosy hostel (Pudu hostel), most of the time with Dutch Irene who was also staying there. I also spent a morning at the local hospital, as for the last six weeks now I am battling with very persistent neck pain. The doctor gave me some muscle relaxant and pain killers, but said it was nothing serious. I hope it goes away soon.
After that, it was time to pick up Jawad up from the airport, who is coming over for a three week holiday.
I had promised him a proper welcome with flowers and balloons but could only find flowers, no balloons. But I guess it was nice anyway. It has been almost one year since we last spoke face to face, and it is good to catch up in person rather than per email. We spent another two days in the city, caught a bit of the Chinese New Year celebrations and went up the famous Petronas twin towers for a great view across the city. Then we decided to head north towards the tea plantations in the Cameron Highlands.
Next stop: Tanah Rata (Cameron Highlands, Malaysia).
To view my photos, have a look at
pictures.beiske.com. And to read the full account of my journey, have a look at the complete
book about my trip at Amazon (and most other online book shops).
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Steve
non-member comment
Hi Ben I must congratulate you on your travel blog. It is one of the best I have read. I am also addicted to travel. I have just come back from my third trip, in the last twelve months, to Thailand. I like it very much and am trying to learn Thai. Like you I have had a few adventures. I was very interested in your comments on lao and Vietnam. They do confirm what I had gathered from my reading over the last months. I am getting together a rough itinerary for my next trip and was going to include Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. But I think I shall restrict it to Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. If you get back to Thailand you might like to have a look at Khao Sok National Park .(older than the Amazon and with, reportedly, greater bio-diversity)- stay at Art's River View lodge - recommended Also, Mae Sot, on the Burmese border with one of the worlds great road trips south (about 4-6hrs) to very rugged national Park and where some excellent trecking can be organised. All the best and I shall follow your exploits. regards from Western Australia Steve Keeling