Kuala Lumpur
The Equator hostel is a great place to stay. If you’re heading for KL and want a cheap bed, check it out.
The very helpful girl at the hostel gave me a map and a suggested itinerary for the day. First item on the itinerary was a quick trip on the monorail. KL appears to be the only city to have built a monorail and made it into an apparently viable public transport option, unlike those other great cities of Sydney, Seattle and Springfield.
I went a couple of stops and, following the directions I was given, headed towards the KL tower. About half-way there, I ran into the taxi driver that had driven me in from the airport last night. He was very friendly and told me that his daughter was heading to Melbourne to work at St Vincent’s Hospital. He then asked me if I had any time to talk with him about my country. This set off a red scam flag but I had a feeling he was on the level. I told him I was a bit short on time as I had to catch a flight in the evening, which was partially true, and continued on towards the tower, feeling a little bad about not having given him my time.
I soon arrived at the KL tower, the third-highest tower in the world, and the only one surrounded by a tropical jungle, as they kept repeating at every possible opportunity. What they didn’t mention was the fact that it also boasted what must be AJ Hackett’s lamest ride, a horizontal flying-fox along the side of the carpark – presumably they wanted to operate a bungy off the side of the tower, like they do in Macau, but this was all they got. They also had a “Winter park”, complete with Santa – come on guys, it’s February!!
I then headed over to the mighty Petronas Towers, the highest buildings in the world (on a technicality to do with the aerials, apparently, which make them officially higher than the Sears Tower in Chicago), until Taipei 101 was completed in 2004. Apparently a building in Dubai is about to claim the honour when it is completed soon. After a disappointly bland lunch in the adjoining shopping centre, I then wandered out into the large park, heading for the nearest underground station. Here I met my taxi driver again, and he didn’t repeat his earlier question, so I was convinced that I’d made the wrong call at our first meeting. He did take this photo of me though, and we parted again on good terms:
In the park that spread out from the Twin Towers, there was an awesome wading pool and children’s playground, which I wandered through on my way (I thought) to the KLCC underground station. After wandering for a solid twenty minutes, throughout which I was wondering why the signposting to this station was so poor, I actually found myself at the next station up the line. Why don’t tourist maps print scales on them?
Anyway, I caught the train a few stops down to the Jamek mosque, where the Imams were making lots of noise on the PA. This is quite a picturesque mosque, though the stormwater drain (which I’m guessing was once a river) next to it doesn’t do it any favours.
Next stop was across the drain to the Sultan Abdul Samad building, which housed part of the colonial administration, and the adjoining Dataran Merdeka, or Indepdence Square, where Malaysian independence was proclaimed in 1957. I then headed down to the old train station, where our train journey from Singapore had terminated when I visited here with my Dad and my sisters in the early ’80s. This is a beautiful, islamic-styled building which is sadly looking a little unloved these days.
I caught the monorail back to the hostel and after some internet and a shower, set off for the airport. I got as far as the monorail again when I realised that I’d left my phone charging at the hostel, so I jumped in a cab and had him take me, via the hostel, to Sentral station. He turned out to be the single worst driver in the world, so this was a pretty hairy trip, but we got there in one piece.
Rather than catch the slow bus, I decided to shell out a little extra for the Ekspress train, which goes to the “Main terminal” at the airport. Once there, I got a taxi around to the LCCT (Low-cost carrier terminal), a ten minute journey for which I was charged some £7. The journey goes around three sides of the rectangle that is the airport compound, and I smell a bit of a scam here, especially as once we reached the LCCT, I could see that the Main terminal was just a few hundred metres away…hmmm. I became even more suspicious later when they started making announcements that there were no taxis available, and everyone would need to catch the bus around to the main terminal to go anyway.
Anyway, despite the LCCT being nothing more than a tin shed, there was a free wi-fi signal, so I amused myself online until my flight was called