Hopping On and Hopping Off in Kuala Lumpur

After an easy five hours on a problem-free, comfortable public bus from the Cameron Highlands, we arrived on a street near the central bus terminal in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, a city of minarets and skyscrapers.  On a recommendation from Daniel's Lodge in the Cameron Highlands, we snaked our way through the busy city streets to the Traveller's Inn in Chinatown, with rucksacks and side bags in tow. 

For 11 RM/ bed (about $3-4), we booked two beds in a dormitory box that managed to squeeze in four bunkbeds.  We spent our first afternoon and evening getting lost in this cultural mix of a salad bowl city.  We walked along the dirty Sungai Klang (river), and stumbled upon an odd, yet humurous nightly hobby of Kuala Lumpur youngsters.  Upon reaching a large intersection, we noticed at least a few hundred fancy motorbikes lined up in what seemed to be an orderly zig-zagged fashion along barricaded streets.  The drivers and passengers were all in their 20s and looked as if they were waiting for something.  What's going on?  We asked a nearby security guard.  "Young people with spare time.  Nothing.  They do this on weekends."  Huh?  All of the sudden, police cars buzzed through, and motors revved, and off they sped down the main street at km/ hour that make you gasp.  We stood and watched, not believing that this was just a nightly hobby.  More fancy motorbikes showed up at all corners of the intersection, as if being directed by an invisible conductor, revving their engines, and ready-set-go!  Racing, bored, showing off, whatever the reason, this completely unsafe hobby of theirs was culturally fascinating and hilarious all at the same time. 

The next day, our one full day in this fabulous city of mosques, temples, colonial remnants and high-rises, we paid 38 RM for a 24 hour "Hop On Hop Off" ticket.  We picked up the bus just outside our hostel in the center of Chinatown.  And just as the name denotes, the ticket allows us to hop on and hop off at any of the over 40 tourist attraction stops along the circuit.  Not only is the bus fabulously air-conditioned, but they also provide informational headphones in multiple languages that at the press of a button will provide the tourist with exposes on neighborhoods and buildings that you pass by.  Excellent!

Our first stop, a kind of mandatory stop - "Five minute break for photo-taking!" - the palace.  Typical photos.  One one of Bridget and I standing on either side of the uniformed guard on an ancy horse.  And one of the long road leading to the palace, which you cannot visibly see from standing behind the gate.  Ooh, la la.  Of course.

Second stop: the Lake Gardens.  This was the area we had tried to get to the night before, and decided instead to just get lost around KL, as the locals says.  We hopped off and found ourselves in the hibiscus gardens; hibiscus being the national flower.  Beautiful, but not what we wanted.  We wanted to find the lake, which we never did.  Dammit, what's wrong with us?  We just can't seem to get it together enough to navigate ourselves around Malaysia, both literally and in every other possible figurative meaning, such as communication and eating.  Simply put, Bridget and I are awkward in Malaysia!!  That's our Malaysian trip slogan.  Yes, go us!  (More on this later.  In another post.  Promise.) 

So, after twenty minutes of waiting at the Hop On Hop Off bus stop in the searing heat, we hopped back on to ride a full circuit, because we can, and because it's air-conditioned on the bus.  That's right, we rode it all the way around again, past Chinatown, past the palace, through the Lake Gardens once more, and finally decided to make some moves at the Islamic Museum (or "Muzium" in Malay).  Upon entering this grand, modern, important-looking building, we realized the admission fee of 12 RM was just out of our budget, as Malaysia is draining our wallets.  Perhaps noticing the disappointed look on our faces, the reception man questioned our delay in buying tickets, and when we admitted that the admission price was just out of our budget, he offered this: "Student tickets are 6 RM."  And his smile had a glimmer.  So, he let us in as students.  B and I both agree that not only does he love his job, but it's important to him for us to see this museum; he's proud.  Love it.  Well worth it.  Our favorite bit of the museum was the wall labeled "Remembering Palestine," a timeline of the Palestinian people and the forgotten land, with beautiful, historic photos embedded in the wall. 

Hopped back on the bus!  Love this bus.  Rode it to the KL Tower, which had a jaw-dropping admission fee of 38 RM just to go all the way up.  How dare they!  Forget that.  So, instead we re-upped with some coffee and Indian roti.  Back on the bus, back to Chinatown (We're in Malaysia, by the way, in case you forgot with all this talk of Islamic Museums, Indian roti and Chinatown.)  We grabbed some good, cheap Chinese street-food grub, and then washed it down with a nice cold one - one large Anchor beer between the two of us - on Petaling Street in the center of KL's Chinatown.

What about the Petronas Towers, you ask?  The famous Petronas Twin Towers?  Haha, well, get this... it's Monday.  Our Hop On Hop Off excursion took place on Monday; that's just the one day of the week that our Kuala Lumpur trip fell on... and of course, Mondays are a public holiday in Malaysia.  So, when we booked our flights from here to Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia (the island of Borneo), we made sure to leave enough time in the morning to get to the Petronas Towers skybridge, back to get luggage, and to the airport.  Well, "awkward in Malaysia", right?  Things didn't quite turn out as planned, but then.... but then.... we got lucky! 

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