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Destination: Kuala Lumpur (KL) Number of Days there: 5 Population: est. 4 million
Our Best of: PETRONAS Towers at night, strolling through the wet market in Chinatown, Little India despite the jet lag
One thing unexpected: Took in the New Batman movie one night
Times we took the: Bus: 2 Train/Subway: 7 Taxi/Car: 0
Estimated KM walked: 18 - 20 Times we were “lost”: 3
Where we stayed: Tune Hotel - 96 RM/$30
26 days after leaving Denver, we wave a final goodbye to family and board the plane bound for Kuala Lumpur. Forty hours later we arrive into Kuala Lumpur International at 7:50 am two calendar days later without a hitch. It always seems to amaze me that we have never had one problem with an international flight (yet of course) and quite often have a problem with domestic flights, but I think I have covered that at nausea so I digress. One thing of note is the Singapore airport has to be one of the nicest in the world and certainly the nicest we have ever been in. Complete with spas, a swimming pool, nice hotel rooms (so we hear), carpeted throughout (Tracy feels this makes an airport so much more comfortable feeling) as well as free massage chairs and lounges not to mention free Internet, this place has it all for the weary traveler. Sleeping in this airport will probably make some of the hostels in the near future seem like the bottom of the barrel.
Day 1: Cricket anyone?, Little India and little night market
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Day 2: All the stories that oil can buy, Towering Skyscrapers and my favorite pastime
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Day 3: A quick stop in Vietnam, some Cultural learning and I bet I can guess where you got those shoes
Since we have pretty much decided to move Bangkok/Thailand after Vietnam, we needed to get our Vietnamese Visas here in KL at the embassy. It’s a little more expensive, but not prohibitively, so we went ahead anyways considering the cost implications of waiting around in Thailand for one would be far greater than tacking on an extra day in KL. With the formalities out of the way for the moment, we headed over to the National Museum. Not really worth the visit in my opinion. The video of the Grandpa telling the kids about Merdaka (Their independence day) was a little funny in a cheesy way and it shed a little light on the past history (Portuguese, then Dutch, then British all had a finger on Malaysia at one time or another) but otherwise a waste of time. In its defense, only half of the whole museum was open so perhaps when it is all open it will be worth it. After making a few wrong turns, we made our way over to the Islamic Art Museum. A definite upgrade from the history museum, the art museum was organized really well with separate rooms for each area of art (ex. Tapestry, Guns and Weaponry, etc.) The Architecture room was my personal favorite with all the important and famous Mosques in the world in scale sized models. It’s amazing that the main Mosque in Mecca can hold over 1 million people! We left the Museum and made our way up to the national mosque just in time for…visiting hours to be over. Still got a decent look at the outside including the one large minaret, largest in Malaysia. We then decided to walk back up to the other main Mosque – Majid Jamek but it too was closed to visitors. Alas the Mosques will wait for another day to explore. With our cultural windows of opportunity closed, we decided to duck down into Chinatown for a little “shopping” excursion. One of the many positives to having everything you own on your back is that the next thing you buy also goes there forcing you to think twice about that handmade this or that. Window shopping becomes the norm and actual purchases become rare. I certainly don’t mind this aspect but Tracy feels slightly different. After wandering through the Central Market and taking in a few regular, but still ornate, temples we begin our walk down the famed Chinatown market that runs the length of Petaling Street. There is but one word to describe it – chaos. Arriving there on the earlier side, 6:30pm, many were still setting up their wares. The ones set up were packed with potential shoppers and the ones not were filled with metal scaffolding with shop owners frantically putting the pieces together. Down what little path there is to begin with came more blue containers holding all the junk and precious treasures one could ever hope for. There was no real stopping and becoming trapped between a shop going up and a shop still on wheels running down the path was common place. One thing about this market that
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Day 4: Chinatown Pt. 2, Batu Caves, third time’s a charm and we get lazy already
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Now here’s where Chinatown and a lot of markets redeem themselves – the wet market. To find this little area of any market, follow the locals early in the morning, turn down the dingiest, darkest ally, go past that and there it will be in all its glory. This is where the magic really happens. These merchants mean business. Armed with machetes, clubs, hatchets and sometimes even the smallest of paring knifes, they wield their tools of the trade as if it were an extension of their arm itself. Chopping up chickens and separating the bones from the meat and skin, Pork butchered down to bacon, fish sometimes clubbed to death right there (at least you know it’s fresh when it’s still twitching!) and then promptly filleted. You might wonder where the refrigeration is (none), where the bleach to sanitize with (I have never seen any), and gloves…surely you gest. Fish are sometimes on ice and that’s about it. And yet this is where most people and restaurants come to shop on a daily basis. The reality is that entire market will sell out in the day; nothing is carried over to the next. Fresh slaughter/caught and cut all in the same day or two. Who needs refrigeration when the chicken (yep right underneath there) will be making its way to the top of that coop real soon and find its way to
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Day 5: The visa, the crafts, the card, and the bus
We arose on day five and made a return trip over to Vietnam to retrieve our visa. I truly believe that they do absolutely nothing with your visa application until you return on the date you paid to have it ready. Honestly, what could possibly take three days much less seven? They have the stamps; they swiped our Passports on day one. Are they waiting three more days to see if we do anything drastic? Perhaps we commit some sort of crime in that length of time that we would otherwise not commit? Whatever the reason for the slight hassle, we hear Vietnam is well worth it and are definitely looking forward to visiting in November. Since we have some time to kill, we run down to the crafts market. Not expecting too much, it ends up being quite rewarding. Not only did we get to see local artisans carving on some wood or making scarf’s and sarongs, but the market also housed the best meal we have had so far. Down in the basement in the corner (and I believe it was also called the Corner) had the best Nee soup and only about $1.20 to boot! We finished that off, grabbed some fruit and headed back to the Hotel to wait for the package. Not only were we waiting in KL for our visas, but we also were waiting on the Debit card to be sent to us from Capital One. Word to the wise – they certainly have the best deal for international travelers that we could find (no ATM fees, 2.75% interest earned + miles, and practically unlimited use of the card) but plan on jumping through numerous hoops to get it. We signed up over a month and half prior to departure date, and still had to have family send us the card via FedEx. A huge thanks to Dad and Darlene for making that happen along with Uncle Danny for keeping us in the loop via e-mail. The card arrived with about an 1.5 hours to go till the last bus out of town.
For more pictures of Kuala Lumpur please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/28401320@N03/sets/72157606470329233.
We load up and pull out, card and visa in hand, to our next destination…the Cameron Highlands for a little cooler (temp wise) vistas.
3 comments:
So jealous! Hope you guys are having a blast!
Jason and Tracy I am living vicariously through you both! The pics are amazing, wish I was there (if I was I would have to chase Emma, she would be trying to catch a monkey!)
awsome pictures J&T really makes the naration come to full view. Its almost like being there! I hope you continue finding kick ass places to experience, and share with all of your fans.
Love Justin @ Mother
PS. wHERE jealous as well
Love Yall!!
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