How to escape the heat in KL

The best way to do this is by staying inside malls, which are always very air-conditioned. Here not as much as in Bangkok. In KL, I was never freezing, even in short clothes. It was the perfect indoor temperature.
So, I basically spent two days inside all the different shopping centers of KL. There are so many that you easily could fill a week with just walking through malls.

A whole building full of electronics (Low Yat)

I also learned that sometimes you can buy a metro coin to your final destination even with having to change trains somewhere. But not even the Malaysian people could tell me for sure when I had to do what. You probably have to pay twice when there is a dotted line.
I wanted to rest my foot a little and not walk too much. This didn’t work out too well the first day since I think that you see so much more of a city by walking and so I walked and walked and walked.
Plaza Low Yat really is a place just for electronic devices. I got lost inside Sungei Wang Plaza because it’s like a huge bazaar on several floors. Finally, I ended up at the Pavilion, the newest mall in town. It contains brand stores on the rather expensive side but I liked it for Tokyo Street (a section with only Japanese stores) and all the international restaurants. Surely not the cheapest place to eat in KL. But the place to go if you crave a good European beer, sushi, Spanish, Japanese, Turkish or Mexican food (the guacamole there was really good!). There even was a salsa bar, which I unfortunately discovered too late.

Pavilion

Despite all the walking, I think my foot is healing properly.
The second day, I spent more time sitting in restaurants eating, drinking fruit smoothies or tea and writing post cards. The funny thing was when a Malaysian family asked me whether they could take a picture of me writing the post card. They thought it was very cute that I still do that. Well, I love receiving them and so I think I should keep up sending them too. Plus, when I send them home, I can always look at the places I’ve been to hanging on our wall 🙂
After two more days in KL I was slightly worried that not everything would fit inside my backpack. However, I seem to have a very good packing system because it was no problem.

mmhhhh

Before I left Switzerland, I packed everything into separate plastic bags, sorted after themes (things I need to sleep, towel and bathing suit, proper clothes, used clothes,…). Like that, I just have to grab the right bag from the backpack without searching for too long. In addition, I left some space in the beginning and I brought a few things I knew I wouldn’t bring back home, like sun screen bottles and toilet paper. So, I actually gained more space to buy new souvenirs over time 🙂 I just hope nothing breaks until I’m home.

sushi again and again 🙂

Alone in the Taman Negara forest

Due to Hari Raya, there was only one place to eat breakfast. So, that’s where I got my three slices of toast with jam, a fried egg and tea. They were out of watermelon which would also have been part of that set but apparently they ate all the fruit during the feast last night. Anyways, if there was something wrong, slow or missing Hari Raya was the excuse. It was past 11 when I finally made it on the other side of the river. I could have joined a guided group but they only stayed on one path, are too loud and therefore scare all the animals away and they can’t take a break when they like. So, I wandered off on a path myself. I thought I’d just do a circle up to Bukit Terisek and then walk back to the canopy walk (it was only open from noon to 4 that day, due to Hari Raya. Usually it’s open in the morning already). My guide book said that it would only take me 45min to get to the summit. The first 45min was all on a wooden walkway and I then realized that I probably started the circle in the unusual direction because I reached the swimming hall first. There were a few children in the water with their parents but first of all, I forgot to bring my bathing suit and second, the brown red water didn’t look too appealing to me. It was very clear but just such an odd color.

I walked on, unknowingly that I would not see any more people for quite a while. At an intersection I took the path to Jenut Muda because it looked closer (it was extremely hot and hard to walk already) and because the wood path only continued in this direction.

I thought that it might be smarter to stay on the safe path. However, sometimes it was impossible to stay on it and then suddenly it stopped altogether. I must have been walking for an hour at least and therefore I thought I should be on the peak soon. It got quite steep too. Therefore, I decided to go on through the forest. There was an obvious and official path but I still felt somewhat uneasy, walking through the jungle all by myself.

Sometimes it wasn’t possible to stay on the walkway

Luckily, I didn’t see any scary animals. Only a few bigger lizards, butterflies and colorful birds. Spider webs but woohoo, no spiders 🙂 After about 30 more minutes, I finally reached a wooden walkway and it announced 800m to Bukit Terisek. I was very glad to see a father and his son walking towards me. I asked them whether the view was worth the walk up here and they said probably yes, but they didn’t make it because the son had trouble breathing. But at least they could tell me that from now on, I’d meet many more people because all the groups are walking up these stairs. And so I crossed about 50 people in different groups, all looking at me with pity, knowing how hard the way up was. Under normal climate conditions, this would probably have been a walk a 70 year old could do. But in this heat it’s just exhausting. I finally made it up there and enjoyed an ovomaltine bar under the shade of a tree with a quite stunning view over the valley.

I then realized that there was a second look out point and that I’d have to walk another 5 minutes to get to it. Luckily, the group I crossed the river with this morning now reached the summit too. The guide encouraged them to walk to the second point and his speech luckily also infected me. Surprisingly, the two kids from the Netherlands (probably around 6 and 8) were still running and full of energy. They didn’t seem to feel the heat. The second view point was even nicer than the other one and I was glad I came here. That’s where I’d have arrived if I had done the big circle through the forest.

Now, I had to walk back the same way until the point where my forest path met the wooden walkway and from there continue on to the canopy walk. Now, it was me who was encouraging the overheated and exhausted people on the way up. A nice surprise awaited me at the canopy walkway because the nice German couple I met on the bus to the national park and two guys who slept in the same dorm at Father’s Guest house reached the entrance to the walk at the same time as me. We were the only people there and there was no sight of the long queue everyone warned us about. They had been in the park since 9am and it actually took them so long to do the big circle walk. They said that the part near the view point was extremely steep and they wouldn’t do it again. But, on the other hand, they saw a snake, which must have been quite exciting. We were lucky anyway, that the forest was dry and we didn’t meet any leeches. I only saw dead ones.

We did the canopy walk together (5 RM). I think it’s a must do when you go to Taman Negara, just for the fun and the adventure of being so high up in the trees (40m and the bridges move a lot when you walk on them, so nothing for people who are afraid of heights). Unfortunately, they were doing maintenance work on part of the walkway and so we had to leave it at an exit somewhere in the middle. By that time, our stomachs told us to get something to eat, so we walked back to the start of the paths.

After another delicious sandwich at the resort, we took the boat back to our side of the river. I planned on simply drinking tea and updating my blog but when I got back to the Masheer chalets, the family was there eating the Hari Raya food. They started talking to me and made me try all kinds of cookies, rice and meat. The cookies looked colorful mostly tasted the same but the cooked food was very good! They said I could come back and eat more even if they weren’t there but once I was hungry enough for dinner, I didn’t want to exploit their hospitality and therefore walked to the one open food stall with seating area again. It had rained heavily while I was in the bungalow and I realized how lucky we were that the paths were so dry today. When I was on the way to get my dinner, I hardly needed an umbrella anymore.
I was actually looking forward to rice now but they ran out of it two people ahead of me so it was brown noodles instead. Which was alright also. I sat at a table with a couple from France and two girls from Germany. At informal places it’s very easy to get in contact with people:)

When I walked back, I saw some of the jeeps for the night safari. They were overly packed with people and I couldn’t imagine that it was safe to sit on the roof of a jeep without really being strapped to it.
I pre-packed my backpack once more – by the way, Taman Negara is the first time I was really glad not to have a suitcase. But I think at all the other locations I’d have been fine with a trolley suitcase too. A new travel day full of incertitude because of Hari Raya would come soon.

How about a cup of tea?

The people at the hostel recommended us to have breakfast at a food place just down the road of the hostel below plastic tents. Very warm hearted deaf people were working there. We had to write on a paper what we wanted to eat but they also tried to communicate with us about more than just food. It was very cute! And the pancakes (more like crêpes) with fresh strawberries were good and cheap!

Breakfast place

Typical view in Tanah Rata, not exactly the green tea carpet valley I expected

Afterwards, I walked to the tourism office, where I had booked the basic country tour (25 RM). I just wanted to see the tea plantation anything else would not have been necessary. But alone it’s hardly possible to go to the plantation and therefore I didn’t have any other option. We were on a spacious bus with about 20 people and a nice guide that spoke clearly but it sounded very well learned by heart. I felt like on a tour in Turkey, where you have to go to carpet and leather factories if you want to see a waterfall. First, we stopped at the butterfly farm, which was an additional 5 RM. It was worth it though because they also had other insects and reptiles. I loved the walking sticks and leaves because they looked like creatures out of the Neverending Story. Plus, I saw my first alive scorpions. They even took some out for the visitors to hold up but I wasn’t too set on touching the sting of one of these animals.

Do you see the walking leaf? It actually climbed from the right branch to the big one when I took the picture

 

Then, we went on to a strawberry farm. Just a quick look to take pictures and then enough time to buy something at the restaurant or in the shop. The freshly pressed strawberry juices looked too delicious and they really tasted the way they looked 🙂

Viev from the back side of the tea farm

Afterwards, we finally reached the tea plantation. Here also just a quick stop to take some pictures. Then, we could walk through the factory, which was interesting but only took a few minutes. It strongly smelled like tea though, the whole time. Of course, there was another shop and a restaurant with a beautiful terrace from where we had a view over a tea valley. Very pretty and the picture every tourist is going to take 🙂

Then, the tour wasn’t finished. We drove on to the rose garden, which also would have cost another 4 RM. I didn’t go inside, since there already were pretty flowers at all the other places we had seen today and the ones who went inside said I didn’t miss anything.

Another stop (with a shop) at a bee farm and then a short stop at a Buddhist temple before we got back to Tanah Rata. I first had lunch at Rosette (they had chicken with ginger and spring onions, which was so delicious in Cambodia). Afterwards, I thought I should show my foot to a doctor. I’ve had a blister for more than a week now and two more from the hike to the waterfall and they seem to get worse every day. And I’ll need my feet for surfing in Bali! Moreover, a very nice British couple on my tour told me that their daughter, who is a doctor, told them that the hospitals in Malaysia are very advanced and that if you got sick in SEA, you should do that in Malaysia. So, I thought better show it early enough because my foot really started to hurt. I walked to the 2^nd clinic I found because the first one was closed. There were many woman and children in it (some smiling at me) that I thought this might not be the right place for me. I asked a woman who looked like a nurse (they were also wearing head cloth but she just looked more official than the other women), whether I could show my foot to a doctor here. Her eyes became big and she said “Not here, this is only for mothers and babies, you have to go to the hospital.”

So, I walked the 1,3 km to the hospital (I felt like in Africa, where the people have to walk really far to get to the well or a doctor). Wasn’t a very pleasant walk on a hurting foot, although I passed a really nice park and walked by the road that would lead to the Robinson Waterfall. At the hospital, I wasn’t really sure where to go but there was something that looked like a counter. I had to tell them what was wrong (I’m glad they spoke English and took me seriously) give them my passport, pay 15 RM and take a waiting number. Then, I sat on a chair next to some other patients and waited for my number to show up. At least I could watch some Asian soap opera on a tv. Then, I could go to a room where they measured my pulse and blood pressure. Afterwards, I had to wait for my number again until finally, a room with a doctor was free (I think a couple in the tv show got divorced 3 times during the time I was waiting). But actually, I didn’t have to wait that long. I showed my foot to a doctor and he decided that it was infected. A nurse cleaned it properly and he gave me a prescription for some antibiotics and other medicine. I had to walk to the interne pharmacy, where I had to take a number again. 5 min later, I received 3 kinds of tablets, all for FREE!!! Included in the visit. How advanced! In Switzerland one tablet package would have been more than 15 RM!

I still had to go to a pharmacy in town to buy gaze pads. Good that I went to a doctor that day because the pharmacy would close for the next three days because of the festival.

Then, I went to relax in the room for a while. Sandra was there too and so I later accompanied her to meet some other Germans she had met on her tour. They wanted to meet in front of Starbucks (I had to laugh when I saw a Starbucks next to all the local shops) and since they weren’t there yet, we profited from the 2 for 1 Ramadan coffee promo 🙂

When they arrived, we looked for a restaurant where we could eat Steam Boat (fondue Chinoise). We found a good place on the back side of the buildings behind the central area. The dinner was delicious and the German couple extremely nice! Therefore, we decided to go for a drink after dinner (although I wanted to go to bed early, since my bus to Taman Negara was leaving at 8am the next day). Now, it was probably about 18 degrees but we were all freezing. It’s no fun to be on vacation and feeling like you are at home.

I finally got into my bunk bed and actually partly used the thick blanket over my sleeping bag that night 🙂

KL, the little sister of NYC

In the morning, I was still too hot. I felt better after a shower and breakfast (as much toast and jam and coffee or tea as you like). Everyone in the hostel seemed to know each other, they said some guest stay so long that it’s like a family. Someone told me about a nice waterfall near KL. I might go there tomorrow. Today, the Batu Caves are on my plan.

I walked through Chinatown for a while and tried not to go into too many shops because I rather wanted to do that in the evening. I tried to find out whether it was better to take a bus or a train to the caves and in the end they told me that the bus I needed to take only ran in the afternoon and it would cost 3 RM. So, 3 Belgian girls and I tried to find the train (not metro) station. It’s very close to my hostel and there they told me that I had to cross the road to get to it. But there were no signs (only to the metro). But once we crossed the road without knowing where we’d get, we saw the stairway to walk to the ticket booth. It only cost 1RM to go all the way to the last station. We just missed the train and had to wait for about 20min but there were benches and fans.

The train then was like heaven. The air-con is turned up very high but doesn’t make you freezing 🙂 That’s why, when we arrived at the Batu Caves, I’d almost have liked to stay on the train and just ride back and forth. But my sense for exploring was stronger. It was a 3 min walk towards this huge rock just towering in the otherwise flat surroundings. You can’t miss the big golden statue at the beginning of the stairs. It was mesmerizing, standing at the starting point of about 350 steps, leading into a big cave. There were three lanes you could walk in and then go up the stairs. I thought I’d have to buy a ticket somewhere but you could just walk up. I couldn’t believe this place is still free! Phew, it was HOT. Not a day to exercise. Just take your time looking at the monkeys (don’t go too close or they get aggressive) and enjoy the view of what you’ve already accomplished. I saw quite a few people not looking too well anymore because they were too hot. Luckily, I had a coke with me 🙂 At home, I don’t like coke but here it seems like “a coke a day keeps the dizziness away” :).

I finally made it up to the top and always kept bumping into the same people again. The girls from Belgium and an American and Chinese guy. I walked through the cave and up into the second, smaller cave, with a temple inside. Beautiful Indian girls were standing inside, waiting to receive a blessing from the monk.

I then slowly walked back down. The steps are really small and the stairway very steep. Anyone who doesn’t walk carefully really must like hospital tubes. I wonder whether people got hurt already.

The typical animals you see in Malaysia

Back down, I wasn’t really hungry but I thought I should eat something. Unfortunately, there was only Indian food around and so I thought I’d try that again. I came to the conclusion that I still don’t like Indian food. But I only managed to eat half a portion anyways, since I just cannot eat any warm food in this heat. I didn’t step on a scale but my pants start falling down, so I think I’ll have to do a serious weight gaining program when I get back 🙂 And I’ll just stick to ice cream and fruit for now.

I tried the bus again because it would have taken me directly to Petronas Towers but it was a waste of time and energy because it was still not running. So, I just walked back to the train station and took the train and then the metro. When you buy a metro ticket and you have to switch the train somewhere it’s different to any other city in the world with a metro system. You have to buy the ticket for the first train, complete the first leg, go out of the building at the place you have to switch trains, buy a new ticket to your final destination there. I’d have bought a ticket to my final destination at the first machine and would have ended up paying double if a Malay hadn’t pointed this out to me.

In my guide it said that you could visit the bridge between the Petronas towers for free if you get a ticket in the lobby of the 2^nd tower. However, they just laughed at me and said it’s 80 RM to go to the bridge and the top. Later in the park, I met a friendly Malaysian woman who also told me to go to the bridge for free. She was very surprised to hear that it costs now. Quite a high rise from 0 to 80…

It didn’t seem worth it to me and so I just went inside the shopping mall in the tower. Wow, again. Huge, with many designer stores and of course food and cinema again. Here a 3D movie cost 23 RM. I didn’t go see one but the world in this city is so small, that I bumped into the American and Chinese guy from the caves again while they were waiting in line at the counter.

I walked around for over an hour, just because the cold air felt soooo good. Then, I went outside again, to the back side (ugh, now the heat was even worse than before I had the pleasure of being in an a/c room). There is a beautiful pool with fountains and behind it a park with rainforest trees and you have a really nice view on the towers. I wanted to see the towers lit up when it was dark, so I went for a walk to the KL tower. It looked like a really good area to go out in the evening, with pubs and restaurants.

When my feet began to hurt, I decided to go have dinner back in the Petronas towers. I sat next to a nice man from New Zealand who taught at U Mass and now at the university in Malaysia. Will be my first contact when I get a profile on a teacher’s network page he told me about 🙂 (I’m always on the lookout for a job at an international school in the US :)).

After dinner, the towers and other buildings were shining brightly against the dark night sky. It was beautiful! It’s impressive if you stand in front of such a huge building during the day but during the night it’s even more glorious.

I sat down to watch the fountains, when David (from Kuala Lumpur) started talking to me. He told me that there would be a fountain show with lights and music at 9pm and that I should wait for that. Somehow, the 50min passed really quickly while we were talking about the differences between Europe and Malaysia and beer. The show was nothing spectacular but I am still glad I watched it. Then, David insisted that he could be my guide the next day. I actually didn’t really want that since I already had some things in mind, which I wanted to do but no matter what I said, he wouldn’t back down on his offer.

He also made it clear that he didn’t have any wrong intentions. “Just pen pals and if I ever come to Switzerland you can show me your city.” He seemed nice and didn’t really look like he could hurt anyone, it was just a little weird that he WANTED so much to spend the day with me. I told him that I wanted to go to the waterfall because I thought that this way, we could just meet after breakfast and spend half a day at the waterfall and then both go our ways again. We set a date for 9.30 at the bus stop the next morning.

I took the metro back to Pasar Seni, passed by a KK market to buy water and then went back to the hostel. My feet wouldn’t let me stop at the Chinatown booths anymore.

I now had the room to myself, so at least I could point the fan directly at me. But it was still way too hot. I need a window. Before I went to bed, I wanted to get a tea in the kitchen. So I rode up to the 4^th floor and there were so many hostel guests eating, cooking, talking, playing the guitar or watching tv. I’d have loved to stay up there for a while but I was just too tired.