Chapter 10: Kuala Lumpur

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May 26 - June 2

Puala Langkawi --> Kuala Perlis --> Kuala Lumpur

We’re leaving Langkawi and heading for the capital. The last big city we visited was Bankok, some eight weeks earlier, hence the prospect of walking around skyscrapers seemed as attractive as lying among palm trees. The plan was to catch a ferry going to Kuala Perlis and then a bus going straight to Kuala Lumpur. Easy.

We missed the ferry. There was another one arriving shortly but that left us with very little time to catch the bus. On top of that the ferry was late and even when it finally arrived it took the eternity for people to embark. After reaching Perlis we still had to find the bus station and, depending on whom we asked, it would take anything from fifteen to twenty minutes. The people had been embarking for half an hour before we finally headed out. The whole process was going so slowly mainly because someone had a great idea to assign a specific seat to every ticket holder (like it made any difference, the trip was less than one hour long) and everyone took their time to make absolutely sure they’re sitting were they were supposed to.

At that point we were sure we would miss our ride. Then we met this guy from Belgium who was going to KL on business. He assured us we would make it on time to catch the bus. After getting off the ferry we followed him to the bus station which turned out to be…literally just around the corner. Who in the world would need 20 minutes to walk twenty meters? The man just laughed and said that if we ask a Malay any questions concerning time as a rule of thumb we should divide the answer by four.

After reaching KL we headed straight for Chinatown. It compromises mainly of few very narrow streets and it was extremely crowded with people and stalls selling all sorts of things.
What amazed me the most was that I had so many friends over there. “Hey my friend, shoes”? “Hey, my friend, a watch?” “My friend, food?” “Friend! Friend! Friend!...”. When did I meet all these people? Anyhow, we got a room in a Chinese hotel, which seemed comfy enough but it was lacking…windows. We enquired about them in the reception and learnt that sure, there are windows but only in the more expensive rooms. Wow, never thought that such an obvious thing like a window can be a commodity. We’ll do without windows then. (sorry Bill!).

The KL was a great. Sort of Bangkok light – cleaner, less chaotic and easier to negotiate due to great public transport system. And, contrary to what our guidebook said, walking actually could get us anywhere and not necessarily turn into a “sweaty mess”. At that’s how we got around most of the time – by walking.

Those into shopping would be in heaven here – a couple of gigantic malls (one had even indoor theme park with a rollercoaster!) offered great shopping experience.

However, all tourist attractions, historical spots and shopping malls aside, there was one thing that took the cake, all the sweets and cookies your local candy store might offer. Actually two things – The Petronas Twin Towers. Standing almost half a kilometer tall, this amazing architectural feat is without a doubt the most spectacular building of modern architecture I’ve ever seen. No matter how many times I saw them I always could not help myself to stand in awe. They looked incredible, especially after sunset. Amazing!

Unfortunately going to the top was off limits for visitors. The highest point one could go was the bridge level, hardly in the middle. We skipped this part; the view from the telecommunication tower provided much better view over the city. Maybe next time we’ll give a go.

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Photos

Petronas Twin Towers. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [May 2008].
Petronas Twin Towers. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [May 2008].

Petronas Twin Towers. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [May 2008].
The glorious Petronas! All the credit for taking this picture goes to Lily Summers from Shanghai who was nice enough to take the picture with her camera and then email it to us. Hard as I tried, I couldn't capture whole towers with my camera. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [May 2008].