Malaysia...Hannah and the Batu Caves

By sheer luck my friend Hannah was also travelling in Malaysia while I was there. She was on her way home when I met up with her in Kuala Lumpur. If you ever want to meet a friend in K.L. I do not recommend meeting up at the Petrona Towers. After an afternoon of near misses we finally passed each other near the subway. We then set off in search of beer to catch up on what we'd been up to for the past five years. That night turned into a tiny bit of a bender but we blamed the downpouring of rain that kept us safely dry in the bar. We stayed until the super drunk and overly philosophical owner closed shop and kicked us out into the rain. The next day being her last in KL, we met up early and set off for the Batu Caves just North of the city.

These caves are a popular Hindu Shrine that hosts an annual Thaipusam festival. I read all about this festival on the plane, having just missed that years fun and it was definitely a place worth going to. From the pictures and articles I read about the caves, people walk out to these caves from downtown KL and then climb the 272 (I counted 271 1/2 stairs) often carrying something with them (read coconuts hooked onto naked bodies) for good luck the next year.







The newspaper said there was close to 2 million people at the three day festival but when we were there it was quite empty. In the pictures Hannah is clearly upset that we couldn't claim the march up to the top as exercise. Admitedly we didn't make it to the complete top of the caves. Once inside the main cave area there were way too many monkeys for our comfort (I love Hannah for hating both monkeys and rats, I didn't feel so stupid having someone else jump at their sight). They were guarding the last set of stairs and each attempt we made to get past had them skuddle closer to us and we ran away in terror.


After the caves Hannah used her bargaining skills to get a cheap cab back into the city. The one Taxi driver was very impressed with her haggling skills and told me to never marry the woman because she'd take everything. Having her with me was perfect to head into to Chinatown to haggle down prices on some cheap fake goods. Unfortunatly all the stuff there was the same crap knock of goods that you can get here in Korea for about the same price so we just window shopped.


The last picture of Hannah before she had to set off for the airport and her long journey back to England. It was great hanging out with her and made for an excellent break up of my solo trip.

Malaysia...Pulau Langkawi

I flew into Langkawi on my third day in Malaysia and had three great days resting up on the beach. The only reason I left was to meet up with Hannah in K.L but once she confirmed it as being the best place she'd been to on the mainland I booked a ticket back and stayed here for the last six days of my trip. Langkawi is a Northern island just next to Thailand, the government made it a duty free zone so it's very affordable. This beach here was the busiest but the worst on the island. It never got deeper than my waist and tiny baby jellyfish were everywhere making it a tingling swim.


Right near my first hotel was a "living museum" that basically just acted as a way for farmers to capitalize off of tourists by opening up their rice paddies. In the main building there was also a day spa along with a Thai restaurant that looked out over the green fields.


The cable car park and peak were definitely the highlights of non-beach activities. The coolness of the peak was exactly what I needed after a Dutch guy twisted my arm into drinking with him the night before.


My favorite resort on the island a cheap simple place run by the nicest German lady. The beach was a two minute walk through the woods and was much better than the beach I spent my first three days at. A quieter, deeper, jellyfish free beach that was definitely my favorite on the island.


The worst place I stayed in on the island. It was right on the beach, had lots of people to watch and a restaurant no more than five steps from my patio. Sounds great until you opened the door and there was sand everywhere and the place had locked in smell of backpackers. I had been having such good luck with places on the trip that I assumed this last place would be great. It wasn't but it also wasn't so bad especially when having a cocktail and watching the sunset each night.

One of the only pictures of me on the trip. This is the owner of a restaurant I used to frequent. Jason is super kind and had loads of advice about sights on the island. The other pictures are our Jason and his wife and in the other are some of the other chatty locals that used to hang out at the restaurant's bar.

Malaysia...Kuala Lumpur

I had a fantastic time in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur was a city I quickly got comfortable with. I roamed the streets until I got "overly sweaty" (read dripping sweat from more than just the head and arms...not a pretty sight) then I'd duck into almost every tourist trap the central part of the city had to offer to cool off. I visited the Petrona towers everyday first for the awe then for the city's best airconditioners.


The largest covered bird park in the world...aka the stinkiest fowlest place to go if you really don't care too much for birds park.


Lake Park is a great place to get away from the crowded streets of K.L.


I loved exploring all around the park, but once I saw the monkey crossing sign I knew I'd better leave. My critical eye sees nothing cute in monkeys. Carolus Linnaeus made a huge mistake not classifiying them along with rats, sure they have thumbs but those just make stealing things that much easier.


Around Merdeka Square, the first picture is what Kuala Lumpur is named after the two rivers meeting up.


Flowers, flowers and more flowers.