Monday - Kuala Lumpur

The flight to Malaysia was very smooth and incident free as it gave methe opportunity to sleep which was much needed considerning i'd been up for 30 hours at this point having had to get up so early to leave Cairns. Walking from the plane to the terminal gave me my first indication of what the weather was going to be like, as it was very warm, very humid and raining slightly. Immigration was very simple and before long I was sat on the pre booked bus to head down town. The scenery out the window of the bus was of housing development and lush green jungle spreading as far as could be seen. KL Sentral is the main transport hub for if city and very busy with huge bustling crowds everywhere, trying to get busses or trains or monorail links. It seemed though as if everything was written in dual languages, so I had little trouble finding a ticket machine. I spent 30 minutes starving hungry and very bored with the next train display which showed a time for the next train, flashed when it reached the time then displayed a new time all without a single train entering the station. The later it got, the less defined the lines to enter the carriages became, one of the most impressive things i'd spotted when I got into the station. Eventually fed up of lie useless information available I forfeited my ticket and headed over to the rapid train station, and within minutes I was at my destination in the heart of chinatown looking for my hotel. I'd read a review which had said it ever looked the market, but that was a understatement! The market was a huge number of densly packed stalls with barely enough space to walk between them. Eventually I spotted the sign for my hotel but had to walk 100m past it before being able to cross and get to the side it was on, hidden behind a stall. The room was basic and had the most interesting shower design i've seen but plug sockets were Uk standard so I was able to get all my electronics charged. I headed out for dinner, and spent about an hour and a half just walking round in circles marvelling at it all. Just as I had decided to return to a back street food vendor who looked the most interesting because of the box of frogs and box of crabs sat outside, when an innane comment to a random guy next to me led to a conversation and ultimately my own tour guide for the night. Straight away I knew I was onto a winner when he said bars and clubs he'd leave for the coconuts to show me, all he could offer were sights and sounds id not find mentioned in any guide book. Although he had already eaten, he took me to an underground cafe which only people who worked or lived in the area knew about. Amazing good food and about a 3rd of the price i'd have paid in the markets, after food if showed me round past the city mosque, the bird garden and some of the more interesting parts of the city before we got on a bus and headed out to an area of town that if tourists knew about would be forever changed. It took nearly 2 hours to get there, but if pointed out how 4 different cultures all lived there, malaysians, chinese, indians and polynesians all together in harmony. The jungle was right along side us with bout 20 different types of frog croak filling the air. After a short walk he made me look away to the left, until we reached a hill side cafe for curried pancakes and the most refreshing orange juice ever. But this wasn't why he brought me all the way out here, no the real reason was the view. Oh what a view! From the las vegas style casino complex out on one side at the top of a mountain all the way across the brightly lit city below, the twin towers and famous buildings lit up vile christmas trees. Such a site. A few minutes walk into the jungle behind would have led me to a secluded waterfall, true jungle paradise from all the story books but too dangerous to visit at night. It was here that he offered his hospitality for the night, and I accepted eager to experience as much as I could about this fascinating culture.