Bali-Kai: Kuala Lumpur

So my flight on to KL was totally uneventful as well. I even managed to get like 4hrs of sleep on the plane. One thing that was pretty unusual are the swine flu precautions, at both Abu Dhabi and KL Airports all passengers hat to pass through a thermo checkpoint to screen out people with raised temperature:

And we also had to fill out this health declaration form before entering the country. In KL you can see a lot of people wearing face masks in public right now, especially in stores and the subway. Kinda gave me an uneasy feeling at first.

The toilet at Abu Dhabi Airport I wrote about. You can't really see it in the picture but the whole room was dripping wet...

Approach into Kuala Lumpur... Oil Palm plantations are everywhere around the airport, you basically dont see anything else...

So from the airport in KL I took a bus to KL Sentral, the central trainstation here. The airport is actually pretty far outside of town so it takes almost an hour to get there (in non rush-hour traffic) but the bus ticket is only RM 10 (2€) so that's okay.

My first tropical rainshower came down just after I had checked into my hostel and it didnt stop pouring down for like an hour. It was really insane how much water came down in that short period of time. You could really see the water in the river rising by the minute. That river is Klang river by the way and its one of the stinkiest, nasties rivers I have seen so far... not nice at all.

Pasar Jalan Petaling (Petaling street Market) in China town was right across from my hostel so I went to check it out. Nothing too special though. Tons of stalls selling all kinds of fake watches, bags and stuff and the usual food stalls you have on every corner here. Anyway there were what seemed like a bazillion tourists passing through and people trying to sell stuff. One Indian guy tried to sell a tiny plastic buddha statue (5cm high maybe) to me for RM 50 (10€) and I was offered "really good fuck" twice... pretty funny.

I fell asleep around 10 that night but at 1 I woke up bc my arms were covered in itchy mosquito bites... I sucked big time. Because of jetlag I lay wide awake until 5am reading and killing at least 25 mosquitos. Not too good a night.

Went to check out some of the temples in the Chinatown area this morning. I didnt go into the Hindo temple bc, everybody in there was wearing pants and shirts and I didnt feel dressed appropriately but this Buddhist temple was frequented by all kinds of people so I just went in. The inside was filled with smoke and fumes as they people were burning huge stacks of incense sticks and sacrificing food and flowers to different gods. Some people were also burning colored paper in a chimney because this is supposed to bring them prosperity.

Afterwards went to Merdeka Square (Independece Square) to check out some of the ancient colonial architecture.

These bikers dont really respect traffic lights and all pass between the standing cars... you really have to pay atention to not get hit by one and I am always looking to the wrong side because in Malaysia you drive on the left. Sucks!

Jamek Mosque sourrounded by palmtrees

As it was friday afernoon all the muslim men headed to the mosques for the friday prayers. But apparently the mosques dont have enough space so there are prayers on all sidewalks and even streets around the mosques as well... pretty impressive.

Some were even praying in Mosque Jamek subway station...

This is how you get drinks to go on the street here. This is mango lassi from an Indian food stall in the street. So delicious! Generally the food here is just amazing. I had super delicious Indian breakfast today (Roti with Daal, Flaky pancakes with lentil curry) for RM 2 (0,40€) and great Chinese lunch/dinner (Noodles in Sauce with barbecued pork, minced pork and wan tan soup) for RM 5 (1€).

In the afternoon I met with Foo Cheong, I guy from the local AIESEC committee here in KL. I had written with him on facebook before and he went with me to show me around the city.

We first went to the Batu Caves just outside the city. The caves house a Hindu temple and are the site for the annual huge festival of Thaipusam. In front of the caves they built a giant statue for the Lord Murugan.

To get to the Cave you first have to climb some 300 steps. I was melting in the afternoon heat..

But the cave itself is really impressive. It's huge! You cant really get that in a picture unfortunately...

After Batu Caves we took a train to KL City Center (KLCC) with the unavoidable Petronas Twin Towers. Very impressive building!

We then went inside to ask if we could make a reservation to go up to the bridge between the towers the next day but we got lucky as there were two spots still free in the last tour group of the day so we got up without standing in line at all. Awesome! The view from up there was not that impressive though because you are only at 1/3 of the hight of the towers and visibility was low due to fog/rain.