Kuala Lumpur

After a miserably long day of traveling, I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, or KL as it is affectionately referred to as, exhausted and hungry. There is something about the endless hours on a bumpy bus to make you not want to eat at the often sweltering roadside bus stops with food screaming "stomach bug", making you really question how you will feel after a half hour down the road. I enjoy adventure and adventurous food, but not when faced with five hours spent driving through vast stretches of jungle, not a soul in sight.

Steps away from the bus station was vibrant Chinatown




Home to cheap food and accommodation, we found a spot to lay our heads for the night and sought out some food, settling on some simple fried brown noodles. Quick eat and then back to the hostel to sleep an uninterrupted-by- honking horn sleep.

Its hard to describe a city like KL. It is home to one of the tallest buildings in the world, The Patronas Towers, that scream of power and wealth,



yet at the same time, it has trash all over, and peeling paint on many of the buildings around the town.


I can say however that it is a bright city, screaming of a specific KL culture and life. You see a difference in the buildings, a mix of old and new



To the scooters, all over buzzing about town



To the endless supply of street food in any and all neighborhoods






Under the guidance of the ever handy 'Lonely Planet', we made our way just outside the city to the Batu Caves, a pilgrimage site for millions of Hindus in January and February. Outside caves you are greeted by three unusual things. One-- a 43 m tall statue of deity Muraga, standing bright in the summer sun




Two-- a set of 272 steps to the caves



And three-- local monkeys who can lead the way



All the way to the top



At the top was an impressive view of the city



With very cool 400 million year old limestone cave walls






After the decent down, we made our way back to the city to discover the national mosque,




A modern building, and one of the biggest mosques in Malaysia.










It was a long day of trekking about, and we just barely squeezed in a quick last meal in Chinatown with some friends. While Jackie and I played it safe with a noodle and rice dish each to share



Our friend ordered the pricey and controversial shark fin soup



He let me have a bite and it was alright, but a bit goopy for my liking. Interesting to try, but I'm pretty sure I won't be forking out the cash to at a whole bowl myself. With that and a night trip to the towers....






We headed back to the bus station to take us on a night journey to a new destination-THAILAND