3 days in "The Muddy Estuary"

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Day 1

We took 6 hour train from Singapore on Malaysia KTM (train company). As we only booked it two days before we ended up having little choice about the type of seat we got so in the end it was second class superior or something to that effect. When we got on the train I could only guess it’s about 30 years old (easily) and there was a funky smell. For some reason we also booked rear facing seats meaning we were travelling backwards for 6 hours – not the best for looking at views and the countryside but boy did it make me fall asleep so it’s all good! The journey went quick for me but as I cannot write for John but only gauge on what he does or doesn’t tell me, I reckon it was painful for him, he didn’t get a wink of sleep and had the aisle seat….

Beside us were some funny characters but one family in particular stole my heart. There were five children – 3 boys and two girls just with their mother. It kind of reminded me of times when we were young because the poor mother had only sorted one of them out and another would want something or run to the other end of the train or more times than not coax their brother/sister to join them in a cunning plan of deviousness. All the while the poor lady (who may I add was probably near to our age) could only shout down the carriage to them (as she had a little one who was about 18 months and had the best smile and laugh around, so infectious!). Thank god for iPods that’s all I’ll say. When we finally pulled up to Kuala Lumpur Sentral station, the littlest one peed all over her and the floor, it was an experience trying to negotiate the reach for two backpacks while avoiding a slip onto a urine soaked funky smelling train floor!

We made our way to our hostel, Reggae Guest House 1 which is in Chinatown, using the overground light rail system her in KL. We had fun trying to figure it out but in the end we got there safe and sound to be greeted by a lovely man keeping the hostel going. He gave us an intro to the hostel, some food vouchers for the Reggae Bar next door and (a few quickly drawn circles on a map) tour of the local attractions. After all that we decided to just chill, get freshened up, post the Singapore Blog before heading to dinner.

Dinner, let’s just say was not my favourite meal so far. The street we ventured up had a real sleazy feel and both John and I were uneasy being there or eating there plus the eateries were not up to scratch if you can imagine what I mean. We grabbed a quick bite (I was all of a sudden not hungry after a few tastes of mine :P) and while we did a traditional “Lion” show took place right beside us which was good to see, lots of drums and carnival type lion costumes were all out!

We strolled along some shopping stalls and John bought a pair of sandals for himself, after that we came back to the hostel to plan the day tomorrow and I fell asleep, oops!!



Day 2

Today we got up and made plans for moving on from KL in a few days (researching trains/planes/accommodation etc.), had some breakfast (the standard breakfast in these hostels seems to be bread with a choice of butter, jam, peanut butter and yes the last one wins every time for me).

After that we headed to the Batu Caves. These are 13km north of KL which we reached by Komuter train. The caves are a Hindu place of worship and are AMAZING! There are numerous little praying temples but the main attraction is the world’s largest Murugan statue at 140m high. The second attraction is the 272 steps you have to climb to reach the main cave, the temple cave, which houses a temple dedicated to Lord Muruga. It was a tough climb but we did it with profuse sweatiness at the top. Inside the cave there are lots of shrines, two praying temples, monkeys who have a serious temper and some stalls selling souvenirs (this really takes away from it all). On the way back down we spotted a woman (on the official pilgrimage/religious trail) climbing up all the steps on her knees and it looked so tough. Of course there were lots of characters and scenarios, two young brothers racing and when the little one beat the other, the taunts started from the top, the breathless (who looked like fit people) stopping after every 10 steps and all those people there to do their worship (lots of elderly ladies and men with their heads painted yellow). In a few weeks the main festival of the year will be held there where up to 1 million people will come. Some of the males will take part in very painful acts i.e. carrying metal frames up the steps via body piercings. I would it that would be an experience!

After the Batu caves we were sweaty and smelly so we came back to the hostel before heading out for dinner. First, we took a stroll down Chinatown’s main street called Petaling St. I was lucky I fit down there, it’s basically stall after stall packed in together with a TINY walkway in between for all us browsing tourists to squish by, if it’s a cheap handbag, souvenirs or watches you are after this is the place to go! We had a lovely dinner in a Makanan restaurant chain. Yummy spicy fried rice and a set meal of fried chicken boiled rice, egg, crackers and a spicy sauce. It was really good and only cost about 5 euro! We were fairly full after it, imagine 5 euro!

On the walk back to the hostel, John had an interesting conversation with a Malaysian man who approached us. He was 84 and didn’t look a day over 60. A lovely man who was just wondering where we were from and how we were getting on but also to see if we had any children! He proceeded to let us know that children are a person’s wealth; he had 9 and 19 grandchildren. He advised John to have at least 3 as each child is easily worth a million so he would be very wealthy then. John agreed to work on it, anything for money eh??? Don’t worry by the way, there’ll be no working on it!!!!

We headed to the hostel early as I was calling home etc. Tomorrow is another day and we are going to head to the city to see the final few sights!



Day 3

We had a relaxed morning before heading to the Petronas Towers. The buildings are really nice to look at but I was somewhat underwhelmed by them – they didn’t look that high?! We were hoping to go up the sky bridge but they only sell a certain number of tickets per day so we couldn’t do that! We had a quick stroll into the shopping centre but left swiftly as it brought back the memories of Singapore (queue Prada, Tiffany’s and the like). All was not lost because there is also another viewing point at the KL Tower which is a large telecommunications tower (and they say the view from there is better anyway). We walked to there from the Petronas, sweaty and red-faced we arrived a while later. The view was nice but KL isn’t the prettiest city in the world to view from a height. It’s very different in that it has pockets of high rise buildings here and there. It was good though because we could see the Batu caves and Chinatown where we were staying.

After the KL tower we decided to try a taxi ride which cost €2, we got dropped off at Merdaka Square. This is a square dedicated to remembering Malaysia’s independence from British colonial rule which they only received in 1957. It was clear that there was some sort of festival/sports day being held in the square so it was bustling with girls soccer, graffiti artists, gladiator type duelling (remember those large blue and red stick they fought with in the TV show on a Sat evening). There was then a sport we haven’t seen before or recognise. It looked tough; basically one man would take on four others on a pitch. I think the goal was to touch one of the four men and then make it back to your own half to your team but this rarely happened as the four you take on basically do anything to get you to the ground. One poor man received a bad shot to the face, bloody nose alert!!

After Merdaka Sq., we went to Central Market, a lovely little place with handmade wooden baskets, every pashmina in the country, souvenir t-shirts and oh yes an amazing food court. For the first time since we came to Malaysia the food was divine! So we had extras… I played it safe enough with a sesame chicken dish, John had a fried rice dish then we tried a Mee Curry. That’s the trying over and done with, no need to eat it again, yuck!

Our time is almost up in KL, we packed up bags in the evening before heading out for a wee snack in an Indian place. It was also yummy but I can now say my hygiene standards have dropped and I will probably begin to eat anywhere. At one point as I ate my garlic naan, a dirty tea towel was flung from one end of the room to the other, just missing John’s head, so yes I’m settling in now😊

Overall, I got used to KL by day 3 but it just lacked something, definitely not one of my top cities to have visited but we had lots of interesting experiences here anyway!

Off to a Malaysian Island called Langkawi in the morning on a flight, no accommodation booked so let’s see how that goes!

Ciara x

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