After just over 2 weeks at home, I’m back in the warmth of the equator.
I’m not sure I felt entirely ready to be heading back, but then I also didn’t feel ready to come home at Christmas – I suppose that’s what happens when your hearts in two places. Lucky enough to feel at home in both – but it also means you’re always missing the other.
To break up my travel a little (and since I’d already missed classes for the day by the time I reached Kuala Lumpur on Friday) I spent two night in Kuala Lumpur. Having flown through the city several times I was excited to actually step outside the airport!
Upon arriving on Friday night I decided to brave public transport instead of getting a taxi. I’ve not really mastered public transport in Sumatra yet, but the underground style MRT in Kuala Lumpur was very straight forward and hopefully my success there will encourage me to try and brave the public busses in Indonesia again soon!
By the time I got through immigration and took the two trains needed to get my to my hostel, it was pretty late. Luckily there was a fantastic vegetarian Chinese restaurant just over the road which was open! Having eaten the “spicy vegetarian special” and a weird jelly kind of drink (which apparently was intended to help with the spice – which it did) both of which were chosen for me be a very keen waiter, I headed back to the hostel and had a quick dip in the pool before heading to bed!!! Only in Asia can you get a hostel with a pool for £7 per night!!
Saturday morning came very early due to jet lag- I don’t remember the last time I felt that awake at 5am! I headed out to watch the sunrise from the famous Batu Caves. It was still dark when I arrived and I took a few moments at the bottom of the flight of stairs to appreciate the peace of the place – at that time of day I think I was the only tourist there – everyone else was there to pray.
It’s a pretty long walk up the stairs and I took it extra slow as I didn’t want to disturb those who were still praying at the top! The stairs themselves are pretty incredible – painted every colour you can imagine! At the top the temples are almost as spectacular as the cave that they are based in! The caves really are something else – you could fit a whole village in there to comfortably live! I wonder whether anyone did ever live there.
After wandering around and watching some kind of ceremony, I headed back down the stairs – now in the sunlight! Upon reaching the bottom I discovered that my mobile data wasn’t working – meaning my directional skills suddenly had to drastically improve! Luckily I managed to find the station and head in the right direction.
My next stop was the PETRONAS twin towers – which were a very impressive sight. I had planned on going up them, but having seen them up close I decided that going up them was probably similar to going up the Eiffel Tower – as if you get a very impressive view but you can no longer see the very landmark that makes the city so unique! Instead I wandered round the park next to the towers – which gave me a much better view of them.
After this I headed back to my hostel for a quick nap (turns out I don’t enjoy 5am starts) and then headed back out to the central market in KL. If my bag hadn’t already been packed so full I think I would have ended up with a lot more clothes!!
Following this I popped back the hostel once more – time for a swim! I then headed out to Alor street for the evening. I had been a little unsure about this adventure as I was tired and the easiest route was to walk – which can always be a bit unnerving in a strange city after dark. But I was so glad I mustered up the courage to go! Every single type of (Asian) food you could imagine crammed into various stalls in one street – going on further than the eye can see! The energy of the place was so welcoming that I stayed much longer than planned.
I went the full length of the street before opting for Thai food! I probably should have tried Malaysian, but finding veggie options can sometimes be a struggle! The table next to me were some sort of birthday party. I was very impressed that their food arrived still on the cooker.
Instead of a birthday cake- they had a durian with a candle in. Then everyone on the table received a durian. I’d been speaking to one of the party and so he offered me some durian and wouldn’t take no as an answer. I can now confirm that somehow durian actually tastes worse than it smells!
I had a lazy start by the pool this morning and then attempted to find a post office to send a postcard (unsurprisingly I did not manage to find an open one since it’s a Sunday!). I’m now sat at the gate in Kuala Lumpur – back to the jungle life!
Sampai jumpa! Xo
Rosie Roams 