Abstract

Kuala Lumpur quickly became my favorite place in Asia. This city had everything you could ask for and more. The atmosphere was good, busy but not overwhelming. We spent 5 nights in a super hotel in the middle of Chinatown with the best view ever from our window. It was easy to get around by public transport, but we did a lot of walking to get to the different places. Not because we had to, but because walking around and watching daily life was entertaining in itself. Kuala lumpur has the tallest buildings in the world (Petronas Towers from the film Entrapment), lots of ultra modern shopping centers, exciting markets, nice architecture, good museums...as I said earlier, just about everything!

Day 33 - July 29

The bus arrived 06.00 at some bus station. We had no idea of our exact whereabouts and neither had any of the other backpackers, who all got busy checking the Lonely Planet guidebook for info. We asked a taxi driver to show us on the map and were told that this was the Putra bus station on the outskirts of the city. A guy travelling alone suggested that we should share a taxi with him to Chinatown. We thought this sounded like a good idea and eventually we managed to negotiate a total price of 10 RM for all of us.

The taxi dropped us of in the middle of Chinatown where a lady immediately approached us to ask if we needed a place to stay. All of us followed her to a nearby building where she showed us the rooms. It was cheap (25 RM for a double room), but not very impressive, so we decided to look for something better.

We didn`t have to walk far before coming to another backpacker place. While we were standing outside, two American girls came out and we asked them what they thought about the place. They said it was okay except that they had been bitten by some bugs during the night and were now itching all over. We continued our search for a place to stay.

We asked at many hotels but none of them had any vacancies. The problem was that so early in the morning no guests had checked out yet. This was the first time in Asia that we had come across full hotels. In Thailand we usually felt like we were the only guests at several places.

It felt like we had walked for a very long time and the backpack was getting heavier by the minute when we finally saw the Hotel Lok Ann. They had a room available at 70 RM per night and borrowed us the key so we could check out the room by ourselves before deciding.

The room was on the 3rd floor, and I immediately found a dead cockroach on the floor, fortunately only a small one. Even though the room was a little run down, it was very big, clean and had a curious shape. Besides we had a really great view of the Jalan Petaling street market from our window, so we decided to stay.

We went downstairs to pay for one night in the beginning. The Chinese guys in the reception were happy about this, and told us that the room was ours as long as we wanted it. In Malaysia (at least Kuala Lumpur) they seemed to have a system where you don't need to reserve a hotel room for a specific number of days. Instead you get to keep the room until you explicitly tell them that you want to check out.

Since none of us had slept anything on the bus, we were really tired. Jan Arild went straight to sleep but I took a shower first. We slept until about 11.30, which really did wonders for our energy. It was time for some breakfast and we went out to find somewere to eat. To make things easy we went to KFC, even though I was starting to hate the place and the smell of chicken.

We hadn`t made any plans, so we just walked at random through the streets we thought looked interesting. A place called Central Market was situated not very far from Lok Ann. Inside we found a food court with a booth specialising in fresh fruit juice. Their apple juice was very good, although perhaps not quite as good as at Cathay.

After having walked for a while, the people around us changed from Chinese to Indian. It turned out that we had walked all the way up to Little India. On the map it had looked rather far, but in reality it was only a short walk. Here they had lots of cheap fabric shops and I decided to come back and shop before leaving Kuala Lumpur (KL). We eventually found an Internet cafe which charged only 4 RM for 60 minutes and spent some time to reading and writing e-mails.

There were lots of shopping malls in the area and we stopped by some of them to have a look. There was supposed to be a cinema inside one of them, but it turned out to have been shut down. To get home we took the LRT, a metro system that looked very futuristic and ran partially on elevated tracks. However, none of us could remember the name of the station closest to Lok Ann, so we ended up getting off at the wrong stop, though still within walking distance from the hotel.

At the hotel we relaxed for a while before going out to find somewhere to have dinner. Eventually we ended up in the food court on Central Market and had a complete meal for a total of 10 RM for both of us! On the negative side, the food wasn't very good, but at least it was our cheapest dinner on the whole trip!

In the street called Jalan Petaling, right outside our hotel, the market opened every night around 17.00. There were all kinds of booths, selling all kinds of stuff, in particular pirate copies of watches, sunglasses, football shirts, VCD's and computer software. We walked trough the market before returning to our room for the night. Unfortunately, a guy was selling techno music and he stood in our end of street, right outside the hotel, playing the same songs over and over again very loud. We named him "Musicboy" and made a plan to buy all his tapes the next day so we could have some peace and quiet in our room :-) It wasn`t really that terrible, but we were quite relieved when he finally stopped playing and went home around 23.30. After that we almost instantly fell asleep.

Day 34 - July 30

Woke up at 10.00 to catch breakfast at the nearby McDonald's before they stopped serving at 11.00. Their breakfast meal is quite reasonable, in fact it's one of the few decent things they serve.

Today our plan was to act like real tourists and see all the typical tourist attractions like the Petronas towers and the Telecom tower. Since this might become a strenious day, we stopped at the Central Market to build up our strength with some fresh fruit juice.

The Telecom tower rose above all the other buildings, so we decided to walk towards it and use it for orientation. Quite close to the tower we came past a park and decided to have a look around since it looked quite nice. There was an information center were you could learn about the animals and trees in the park and we got a nice map also. It turned out that the tower was on the other side of the park, so we eventually walked through the park to get there.

There was no queue to buy tickets (8 RM p.p.) so the whole thing went fast and suddenly we were in the elevator on our way the 421 meters up to the top of the fifth highest TV tower in the world. You couldn`t walk outside, though, but had to stay behind the huge glass windows inside, which didn`t really bother us. We spent about 40 minutes on top, taking lots of pictures and filming from all directions. We could even see our hotel from the top!

From the park we walked towards the Petronas Towers. They were also easy to find. Being the tallest buildings in the world, they are hard to miss :-) On the way there we stumbled across the KL Aeroflot office. Our return flight tickets had to be reconfirmed within a few days, so we decided to drop by their office with the tickets tomorrow and get it over with.

There was a long line of people waiting to get into the towers, so we decided not to bother. After all, the view would probably not be very different from the view from the almost equally high Telecom tower. However, it was very hot this day so after having taken some pictures outside the towers, we decided to check out the KLCC, a gigantic shopping mall next to the towers. We looked around inside for a while before starting to walk home again.

To get home we chose the Sultan Ismail road. It was supposed to be lined with all the most expensive hotels and shopping malls in K.L. And it was! However, the malls all had an expensive and exclusive look, so we didn't feel like spending much time there. On the way back we also dropped by a tourist information office to get some information on things to do in KL. The staff was very helpful.

We got back to the hotel around 18.00. I was quite sore under my feet after all the walking today, so it was good to be able to relax for a while. Later in the evening we walked around looking for a restaurant to eat dinner, but eventually ended up with taking advantage of a great deal at Sharky`s. We got two pizzas for the price of one, bought some drinks at 7-11 and smuggled everything up to our room. The meal was actually very nice!

Later in the evening we went to the night market outside in Jalan Petaling. Jan Arild had lost his sun glasses, so he bought a new pair. We had earlier found out that a VCD was not the same as a DVD, but we were quite sure that we would be able to play them at home anyway, so we bought 6 brand new movies at a total cost of 30 RM! Had a shower before we went to sleep. Slept very well that night also.

Day 35 - July 31

Didn`t get out of bed until after 10.00. Ate the usual breakfast at McDonald's and then went to Central Market to have our daily dose of fresh fruit juice.

Our plan was to visit the "Petrosains", a Discovery museum inside the KLCC mall. Not wanting to walk all the way up there, we took the LRT to the KLCC station. The metro train was really fast and efficient. On the stations there were electronic boards giving messages like "Next train in 64 seconds". Unfortunately, the museum turned out to be closed today as it was Monday. This is, of course, quite common for museums, but we had sort of lost track of which weekday it was. Anyway, there was nothing to do, except come back another day.

Having come all the way up here, we decided to check out the cinema. They turned out to show lots of new movies not yet relased in Norway, so there was much to choose from. We chose "Stir of echos" and bought tickets for the 13.45 show. This gave us lots of time to walk down to the Aeroflot office and reconfirm our tickets before the movie started.

The reconfirmation system is a completely unnecessary arrangement in our opinion. All it does is create a lot of extra work both for the passengers and the airline. Anyway, the Aeroflot staff easily took care of everything. It started raining on the way back to the mall, making it less attractive to do some outside activities. Inside the mall we found a big book shop and spent most of our time there until it was time for the movie. Bought some popcorn and something to drink before the movie. Both of us thought the film was very good. (Strangely, it never made it to the cinema in Norway, but was only released on video.)

For a snack we went to a Japanese place that sold crepes with different fillings. It was cheap and also tasted very well. It had now stopped raining, so we took the opportunity to go for a stroll in the park outside the towers before taking the LRT home.

We relaxed in our hotel room for a while before heading towards little India. I wanted to check out some fabric shops and there were particularly many of them in this area. Unfortunately, most of them were either already closed or about to close, so in the end I didn`t buy anything.

There were lots of people out in the streets even though the shops were closing for the night. It`s nice the way people don`t go home in the evenings but stay outside and talk to each other or have a meal in one of the sidewalk restaurants.

On the way back we walked past an Indian sidewalk restaurant where the food looked very good, so we decided to sit down and have dinner here. It was very nice sitting outside in the night, watching all the different people walk by and enjoying some great food. We both got a big tray filled with different types of Indian food and lots of nan bread.

We found some new streets that led us home past Central Market. Unfortunately, the market had already closed, so we had to settle for a milkshake at McDonald's instead of fresh fruit juice this time. Before returning to the hotel we went through the street market at Jalan Petaling one more time.

Back at the hotel we relaxed, showered and made plans for the next day. "Musicboy" stopped playing early that day (23.00). It was almost a miracle! Slept well all night.

Day 36 - August 1

We got up early as we had big plans for the day. First we were going to visit the Discovery museum at KLCC which had been closed yesterday, and then we wanted to find some cheap fabric shops and make our mother proud. After the usual breakfast at McDonald's we went straight to the LRT and rode it to the KLCC station.

We spent a lot of time in the museum which turned out to be very interesting and educational. The main topic was oil, how to use it, how it was made etc. There even was a "time travel ride" to get in and out of the museum. They had an exhibit on other oil producing nations, in which Norway was represented. It is always interesting to learn how other people see your own country.

About 14.00 we left the museum and went to have something to eat, ending up at the Japanese crepe restaurant once again. The crepes were delicious, but very difficult to eat in a "normal" way.

Jan Arild always wants to visit the universities of the various cities. He had found a station called "University" on the LRT map, which we therefore assumed to be located near the university. We decided to go there before returning to the hotel. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the "University" station, there was no university in sight, and according to a guy who worked at the station it was not within walking distance. We didn't bother waiting for the bus, but instead went back to our hotel and relaxed for a short while before going out to find some fabric shops.

The street market outside the hotel was open and we went through it on our way. We also stopped by a shopping mall without finding anything of particular interest. There was a Burger King close by and for simplicity we had our dinner there. It didn`t taste very well, but at least we had a good view of fruit sellers that were arranging their fruits in very neat pyramids.

After a bit of walking we found a big fabric shop with lots of cheap and wonderful fabrics. Spent a lot of time in there and came out with enough fabrics to last me a while! I was now in a shopping mood, so we decided to visit Little India and see if I could buy some more. However, in the end I didn't buy anything because I started thinking that I had to carry all this fabric around for the rest of our travel, which is quite heavy when you have a lot!

From Little India we went to a food court and had some fresh apple juice to drink. After that Jan Arild wanted to check his e-mail, but unfortunately the cheap Internet cafe from three days ago turned out to have closed early. We took a taxi to Central Market and spent about an hour at Cyber Adams Internet cafe instead. On our way back to the hotel we stopped by 7-11 to stock up on water. Jan Arild wanted a small meal before going to the hotel, so he bought a hamburger (2RM!) at a small booth on the street. He remarked that it was amazing that people in this little booth, on the pavement of a busy street, could make hamburgers that were far superior to what McDonald's and Burger King were offering.

Back at the hotel we called home to say that everything was fine with us, and to tell our mother about all the fabrics I had bought. She was very pleased with my purchases! Had a shower before going to bed.

Day 37 - August 2

This was our last full day in Kuala Lumpur and we had planned to make the most out of it! It was going to be a "culture day" with lots of visits to museums and parks. We had the customary breakfast at McDonald's, and this time I counted four cockroaches running around on the floor, which I didn`t find very appealing. Fortunately, after the first few days at the New World Lodge in Bangkok, we had more or less managed to completely avoid cockroaches. l

We took a taxi to the National museum. It was okay, and the best part was the exhibition on the animals of Malaysia. We had some fresh apple juice before going to find the Deer park and the Bird park, which were supposed to be close by.

While walking we suddenly discovered some big stone sculptures hidden between some trees next to the road. After a closer look we found out that the sculptures were two mega size hens. They were very nice and it seemed like a shame that they were hidden between all these bushes and trees. At first we couldn`t figure out why the hens were there, but soon we saw the bird park and found the connection. The hens had probably been next to an old entrance to the park, and then they had built a new entrance and forgotten about the hens.

The Bird park itself was really fascinating, a lot more fun than I had expected. It was quite big and pleasantly designed with nice small paths to walk on. Some birds were in flying around freely while others were inside large cages. Something funny also happened there. We were in the Hornbill section of the park when Jan Arild noticed a Danish family who had been on the Perhentians at the same time as us. I didn`t recognize them, but they knew us because they said "Hallo" on walking past us. Isn`t the world a small place?

After two hours in the Bird Park we had seen enough feathers and decided to walk across the road to the Deer Park. Entrance was free and the park had lots of cute deers and a few other animals as well. However, it wasn't very big and it didn`t take us long to walk through it.

There was also an Orchid Garden across the road from the Bird Park, and we decided to visit that one as well now that we were in the area. We didn`t stay there for very long though because our feet were tired, and judging by the colour of the clouds, it was going to start raining any minute.

We took a taxi down to Central Market because the driver didn`t know our hotel. When we were only a few blocks from the hotel, the rain finally started. On coming inside, lightning and thunder began as well. It was very dark outside and we were happy to stay inside relaxing and really enjoying the weather.

A little over 17.00 the rain stopped and we went back out again. We had to get bus tickets to Melaka for tomorrow. The bus company Transnational had a ticket booth at Central Market where we went to buy tickets. However, for some unknown reason they didn`t sell tickets to Melaka at this office, but told us to buy them at Puduraya bus station instead. We decided to buy the tickets later and just take the LRT to KLCC since we were close to an LRT station.

At the mall we bought cinema tickets to "Big Momma`s House" at 18.55, which gave us one hour to get something to eat. We had kebab with fries at Gyros Kebab in the food court. The film was reasonably entertaining but very predictable.

From KLCC we took a taxi down to Puduraya. Inside was a lot of small booths which sold tickets to anywhere. It was very confusing so we just bought the tickets at the first counter we saw selling tickets to Melaka. This company was called Citizen Travel and their bus should leave at 08.30 tomorrow morning.

We walked through Jalan Petaling for the last time so Jan Arild could have a hamburger and I could have a last look. Jan Arild found the newest Liverpool FC shirt and bought it for 22 RM after some bargaining. Despite being a pirate copy, it looked very authentic.

Back at the hotel we packed our backpacks, showered and went to sleep.

Day 38 - August 3

Got up early, packed the last things and went to the Puduraya station. My backpack was quite heavy now, mainly thanks to all the fabric I had bought!

We were as always early and therefore had lots of time to find the platform from which the bus was supposed to leave. We waited until 0830 but the bus never showed up. All the buses left from under the station building and the air was terrible down there. With 20-30 buses standing still, yet keeping their engines running, everything was grey from pollution so it was not a place you would want to spend much time. The bus eventually arrived 20 minutes late and stood at the platform for another 10 minutes before leaving at 09.00. A guy went round the bus collecting our tickets and giving us new tickets which said departure time was 09.00! A smart way of making sure that the bus always runs on schedule :-)

Bye, bye Kuala Lumpur...for now!

I slept most of the 2 hours and 15 minutes it took to get to Melaka. On arrival at the bus station in Melaka, Jan Arild knew our location on the map. Since our backpacks were so heavy now we decided to walk to the nearest hotel recommended by Lonely Planet. Unfortunately, it was full so we went further up the street to the next hotel we saw. This hotel turned out to be dirty inside and looked really shabby, so although the backpacks were heavy, we decided to try our luck elsewhere.

"The Gold Leaf Hotel" was strongly recommended in Lonely Planet so that was our next try. Our expectations were raised further when some old chinese guys stopped us on our way there and recommended exactly that hotel to us. At first we didn`t see it because the entrance was so small, but eventually we got to the reception. The woman in the reception was one of the nicest hotel people we met on the whole trip. They had a room with bath for us and it was very cheap also at 45 RM.

Unfortunately it was on the 5th floor with no elevator, but as we were climbing the stairs I decided to look at it as a bonus exercise. The room was quite okay. We even had a veranda with a view over the busy street beneath us.

We rested for a while before setting out to explore the city. The hotel was just a short walk from the city center and on our way there we stopped at a cafe to have a late breakfast. We then walked around at random just to get an impression of this historic city. There were certainly many traces from the colonial years. The city was nice enough, but not quite as impressive as I first had imagined it would be. Unlike in Penang, the trishaw drivers were quite persistant in their efforts to drive us around, which was quite annoying, reminding us somewhat of tuk-tuk drivers in Bangkok.

We visited the People`s Museum where they had an exhibition on "beautification" practices in different cultures. It was interesting because the texts and explanations were good, but unfortunately some of the "beautiful" things were absolutely disgusting. One thing I found strange was that tribal cultures in Africa, America and Asia could get the same ridiculous ideas about "beauty" independently of eachother. Still, after a while all the blood and misery made me feel sick, so we decided to leave.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped to have a fresh apple juice each in a restaurant by the riverside. Suddenly we noticed something big swimming in the river. At first glance it actually looked like a crocodile, but it turned out to be a big lizard. Soon we saw many of them. Facinating!

Back at the hotel we decided to travel to Singapore the next day. We were a little tired of travelling, finding hotels and carrying the heavy backpacks around. We felt we had already seen much of Melaka and we wanted to get to our last stop, which was Singapore, as soon as possible. To be sure of getting tickets on the bus to Singapore the next day, we went to the bus station to buy them early. We got two tickets to a bus that were to leave at 09.00 the next morning.

To see as much of Melaka as possible that day we followed a recommended walking tour through Chinatown and the city center. It took quite a while but was very nice. We took a lot of pictures and and saw most of the sights in the city. After we had finished the long walk we felt like relaxing in a cool place. From Bukit St. Paul ( St. Paul`s hill) we had seen something that looked like a mall, but we weren`t quite sure. We went to check it out and it was indeed a mall :-)

We needed something to eat and eventually opted for Pizza Hut. I was so thirsty that we had to order a a whole pitcher of Mirinda Orange. Around 19.30 we went back towards the hotel. In the streets outside the hotel a lot of hawkers had appeared, many of them specialicing in VCD copies. We had a look and Jan Arild bought another VCD. Back at the hotel we relaxed and showered. Both of us had sore feet now.