Malaysia (Part I)

Kuala Lumpur

The 1st class coach was amazing! It was 5 hours of pure luxury! Its called Aero-travel because they offer you the same service as being on a plane. So, we got to our seats, which were huge big leather jobbies, and fully reclined with leg and foot rests and were then waited on for the next 5 hours with meals, drinks, magazines etc. There were even screens to watch films on!! Well impressed, especially considering it cost us 15 quid each!

So, we got to KL in great shape, which was good because it was crazy the moment we left the coach! A taxi driver met us and took us to the Chinatown district where we were staying. He gave us a brief city tour en route so we could see the Petronas Towers (second biggest in the world) and KL Tower and then told us that you couldn't actually drive through Chinatown as it is all pedestrianized. Hmmm, we weren't sure if we were being scammed or not... so, we said that was fine and just drop us as close as he could. Well, he did and it wasnt a scam. It turned out that the road our hotel was on was the same one where the night markets took place. And it was now late afternoon and they were setting up for the night markets so the roads had been closed and it was CRAZY busy! So, we left the taxi and towing our bags in a suffocating heat tinged with lovely smog, headed off towards the masses. After about 10 minutes of walking through the crowds and every stall holder trying to get us to buy something and then nearly tripping over some guy lying on the floor bleeding from his face... we eventually found the hotel. And it was ace! We had a brilliant location and the hotel was really quiet, clean and had cable TV! Yipppeee :)

So, we dumped the bags and headed straight back out into the night market, which without the luggage was one of the funniest things we have experienced. Crazy just doesn't cover it! The stall holders are funny and desperate to get you in and will say just about anything to attract you! However, when Trace saw the bags on offer they didn't need to say too much really ; )

We spent an ace few days in Kuala Lumpur, exploring the city, Chinatown, the colonial district and Merdeka square, shopping in the huge malls, eating lots of tasty meals in the food courts and visiting the amazing Batu caves with the biggest (seen in the pic below) having 292 steps to climb, little wild monkeys jumping about and a temple inside...crazy!

It was also the place where we managed to get rid of Stig of the Dump and find Matt again! Yes after 10 months of not cutting his hair or buying any new clothes (The pockets on his shorts were being held together by safety pins!), Matt bought a whole new wardrobe and had his 'best haircut ever' including a head and neck massage all for next to nothing. We came away feeling like we'd stolen it all, as with everything we do here because it's just so cheap!

Cameron Highlands

We left KL on Thursday morning and headed for the cooler climes of the Cameron Highlands, which is famous for it's tea plantations and 'afternoon tea'... nice! We stayed at Father's Guest house - a cosy little place on a hill above the main town of Tanah Rata. We booked into a tour of the area the next day which included; a tour of a chinese temple, rose centre, local market, strawberry farm, honey farm, tea plantation and butterfly centre, which was actually just a place that housed various kinds of creepy crawlie things such as Rhino Beetle as modelled by Matt, Cat-Eyed Gecko as modelled by the lovely Trace and Scorpions... as modelled by neither of us!!!

The journey through Malaysia continues with a bus journey and ferry crossing to the Island of Penang...