Trying to decide what to expect from this city, we got to putting together what we knew about it, and adding a few details via Wikipedia.
First of all there are the two factors previously mentioned, the two recent places we have visited and there relative cultural similarities. Following that, in my mind came the important fact that it is home to the Petronas Twin Towers - which I knew had been until recently the tallest buildings in the world. Definite cool factor.
Beyond that, Wikipedia informed us that at something like 1.6 million residents, it was something near 2.5 times the size of Seattle, our happy home town. Compared to our Seattle-metro area, roughly half the population.
When we arrived we were pleased to find that the hostel we had booked was just a few short blocks from Sentral, the main bus terminal. BackHome hostel had a lot to live up to. We were on a streak of great ones, and happily, we weren't disappointed.
Great friendly staff, comfortable clean facilities, and free breakfast that while on the spare side with coffee and toast along with fruit on some days, was welcome. Well branded and decorated, with a nice play of natural wood surfaces on heavy steel framing, it passed Krissy's critique with flying colors.
Kuala Lumpur itself (often abbreviated even in speech as KL) sadly was a little
bit of a letdown.
Not quite managing to hang onto its cultural heritage and character, nor make it to that modern city feel of Singapore or other places we've visited on this trip (Sydney comes to mind at a similar size, but clearly a modern city), it languishes somewhere in-between, to it's detriment.
Despite this, we found more than enough to occupy our four days here, and here are some of the highlights.
Our first night despite the weariness of a travel day (Which for the uninitiated, despite primarily sitting for hours on end while bussing or otherwise traveling around, is exhausting. Part stress of packing then checking out and making it to the mode of transportation, then the uncertainty of how exactly getting off the bus will lead to arriving at the only sometimes booked place to sleep, and part lugging around our bear-minimum load of roughly 70lbs of luggage.) it was a Gymnastics finals night in the Olympics, which given our separation from most news and world events became important to us to follow at least that one event, in order to keep some connection with "the real world". That in mind we went to hunt down a place to enjoy that, and if we were lucky perhaps a beer also!
And we did.
We found The Reggae Mansion - a Hostel/bar not far from our own, with a WONDERFUL rooftop that had the Olympics on a big-screen projector, cold beer, and decent food! We enjoyed the warm night air, and our refreshments, along with our first views of the city's iconic towers.
That in mind we set out the next day to check them out. As I described much of KL is uninspiring at best. Even the nicer 'golden triangle' neighborhood was hardly worth any distinction. The Petronas Towers, however, deserve every superlative that could be thrown their way. By day, the towers themselves are majestic, rising into the oft-foggy (benefit of the doubt there - more likely smoggy) heights, they are simply incredible. By night, they far surpass that inadequate word - they are radiant. Like two shinning silver pillars rising to dizzying heights, the impression may be unsurpassable. At the base, is a wonderful complex including some beautiful gardens and a magnificent fountain, and really a very nice shopping mall. It's not the pure-luxury of Singapore's Marina Bay Sands, nor even Bangkok's Siam Paragon, but that didn't detract from it. While certainly none of the haute brands would miss a place here in Malaysia's premier shopping destination, it also included the far more worldly 'every mans' shops, and even the staple of cheap southeast-asian cuisine, their unique food courts.
It happened to be Wednesday night, where the resident Starbucks offered 2-for-1 drinks, and so we treated ourselves, for my first time since leaving its and our hometown 11 months ago. Yum!
The rest of our favorite adventures took place outside of the city. One day we headed out to the Batu Caves, a site where the local Hindu people have been worshiping since at least 1890 - and being over 400 million years old, likely much longer.
Another day we had a great time visiting the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Center. While it isn't the number one place in the world to have a good experience with elephants, it's near the top of the list. The team that runs this facility isn't nearly so well funded as similar ones in nearby Thailand, but they do the best they can with what they have. We really appreciated their honesty and willingness to reveal this weakness. And yet, a few lucky people each day, get a chance to interact with these massive and majestic creatures in ways that simply don't happen outside of this part of the world. Krissy and I both treasured the opportunity to get into the river with a baby (Still far heavier than us together!) elephant and help bathe it, and even climb on its back and scrub it's head and shoulders! The best thing here is that in a region where everything is monetized to scrape every last dollar from visiting western tourists, this facility doesn't charge a penny. It's all run off of donations. Bravo! We happily contributed what we could, and wished it was more.
Next stop? The Jungle! A few days of trekking through the oldest jungle on earth, in search of elusive creatures such as elephants, tigers, and panthers. Oh my!
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