This is a somewhat intentionally delayed blog about the last stop of our SE Asia trip, Kuala Lumpur, a.k.a. KL. KL is a fairly modern city. The most obvious landmark are the huge Petronas Towers, which stand head and shoulders above the next closest buildings. The towers are also spectacularly lit up during the night.
We arrived in KL during the afternoon of August the 18th after a whirlwind day of travel from Phi Phi Island to Krabi (by boat), quickly to the airport (by car), and finally to KL (by plane of course). When all was said and done it took us about 8.5 hours to make the entire voyage. A large portion of that time was spent sitting motionless in one of KL's notorious traffic jams. Our taxi driver actually backtracked about 15 minutes on one highway after running into a jam only to run into another one on the next highway. It took awhile but we eventually made it. When we finally arrived we checked into our hotel, had a quick workout, and then headed out to find some grub.
We took a taxi to a street called Changkat Bukit Bintang which is virtually incomprehensible when you hear it come out of a local's mouth. There were a plethora of dining options and we settled on a little Italian restaurant with an open air setting. The meal was a much needed relaxing end to a long day of travel. We were planning on heading out to a night market afterwards, however, it started into a complete downpour towards the end of our meal so we decided to just catch a cab back to the hotel as it was already getting late.
Cabs in KL are interesting. On every single cab there is a sign on the outside that reads "This is a metered Taxi. Haggling is strictly prohibited." That really sounds great, it's just not the way things work. Unless you are catching a cab from a place where the location hails it for you, such as a hotel for instance, the baseline price will be 10 RM or Malaysian Ringgit. There is about 3 RM to the USD. There is sometimes room for bargaining but most of them don't put up with much and would rather shut the door and move on to someone else. However, virtually all of our KL taxi drivers were extremely friendly, striking up conversations with us and pointing out landmarks as we drove by. One man even showed us his secret hiding place for his money so if someone tries to rob him they would only get the small amount of change he has out, in which case he said "It wouldn't be worth it they should just try to rob a bank". We also took the opportunity to ask this driver about why no one uses the meter and why it isn't enforced. He simply said the Police do not bother with these small things, two of his sons were police officers by the way. So at $3.3 USD per pop KL taxis aren't always the cheapest option.
We started Thursday morning by going to the KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Center) to get some coffee and a little breakfast. The KLCC is basically a shopping mall complex located at the base of the Petronas towers. Here we were able to see the towers up close and personal. I felt that the towers had a different feel then most sky scrapers. As compared to others I have seen they were much wider up their entire height. That combined with their side by side design and connecting bridge about halfway up actually does not make them seem extremely tall. The Sears Tower, for instance, seems very tall and slender. However the KL towers actually overtook the Sears Tower as the worlds tallest structure for a short while. After this it was off to the Indian Embassy.
For those of you unaware of the situation, India put out a new set of guidelines a short while before our trip which forbid re-entry into India within two months of leaving the country on a tourist visa unless permission for re-entry was granted. So we were off to seek our permission. When we finally got to the embassy on the other side of town we waited in line for awhile and then spoke with one of the consular employees. She informed us that this was a two day approval process and we simply had to fill out an application and come back in two days. The problem of course was we were hoping to leave the city in about 28 hours. She said we should come back tomorrow at 11 and she would see what she could do. This wasn't comforting but it was the best we could do!
After this we set out to see some of the sights. At this point I think it is worth mentioning that it was Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, during our stay in KL and the country has a heavy Muslim population as well as a large number of tourists from the middle east. Apparently August is an extremely hot month specifically in Saudi Arabia and many Saudis come to KL to cool off. This didn't mean much to us except that there was a much larger number of Muslim people and restaurants were either extremely slow or even closed during the day. Anyways, after the embassy we first went to the central market. This was a little higher class market than we were use to as it was indoors and air-conditioned so we enjoyed a good hour of strolling around looking in all the small little shops.
Afterwards, we headed for the most photographed location before the construction of the Petronas towers, the Sultan Abdul Samad Building. This was actually originally a British building designed by a British architect who had recently been influenced by travels in Africa and India. After this we took a quick stroll to the national train station and on the way we saw this...
That is fresh roasted lamb by the way...
The train station was really a detour on the way to the national mosque and the Islamic Arts Museum. The national mosque is quite simply what it says it is. It is a very large structure capable of holding up to 15,000 people. Its main roof is actually an 18 pointed star and has a single very tall minaret alongside of it. After a quick stroll by the mosque we entered the Islamic Arts Museum. The Islamic Arts Museum houses a large collection of art as well as historical artifacts from Islamic artists and cultures. The main highlight for us however was the amazingly ornate domes. The domes
are so incredibly detailed that afterwards I zoomed in on the center of a photo on my computer and it looked computer generated. It was late in the afternoon at this point so Lauren and I headed back to the hotel.
Later that night we went to KL's version of Sky Bar to celebrate the end of our trip! KL's version was much more vertigo friendly and was basically on the doorstep of the Petronas Towers. It is a pretty Chic place to be when the city is lit up. After this we were tired. We headed back to rest in anticipation of a busy day of travel, hopefully at least, on Friday.
Friday morning we checked out of our hotel and put our luggage in storage. Once again it was off to the KLCC to grab some coffee and breakfast. This was a little more of a casual morning and we ended up at the Indian Embassy full of prayers and hope! Upon arriving I made eye contact with the staff person who had helped us the day before. Her eyes didn't spell surprise or panic the moment she saw me so that seemed good. She motioned for me to wait as she helped some others. After about 30 minutes of patience and more prayer she signalled us over to the window that said "CASH". This was indeed a good sign as the permission required a small fee. After the fee was paid and another 20 minutes of waiting we were called to the window, our passports were stamped and we were on our way! Thank you God!
We did eventually make it back to Bangalore that day, though it was after a long drive to the wrong airport and a rushed trip to the right one. We are safely and happily back in Bangalore!
When all was said and done we spent 84 total hours in travel related activities such as lines, airplanes, taxis, and more lines throughout our trip of SE Asia. The trip was truly the trip of a lifetime filled with fantastic experiences, sights and smells! Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support. More from India soon!
Aaron
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