Some rambles about our rambles: Kuala Lumpur

Colourful sky our first evening in KL

Our hotel in Kuala Lumpur was right in the middle of bustling Chinatown with all of the markets and shophouses. In the evenings the road below the hotel, Jalan Petaling, was so full with market stalls it was hard to get out. The whole street is covered by a canopy so even (that should be especially) during a storm with rain pouring down, the market is still full of people after a bargain or something to eat. The rest of Chinatown is equally full of life; the roads are impossible to cross with cars squeezing into impossible spaces, bikes cutting up the cars and buses charging through anything in their way; if you can find the sidewalk you have to dodge the odd broken drain cover, food cart or motor bike taking a short cut; and the smells on the street careen unevenly from sweet and intoxicating to rotten-rodent-left-behind-the-freezer via exotic and mysterious in the space of 20 yards.

Somewhere in there is our hotel

Some of the markets were open late into the night

One of the many food stalls that create an obstacle course on the side walk

This tea room in China town had a great historic atmosphere

and also amazing food

Next on KL's mixed up menu; Little India is about 10 minutes walk from Chinatown and has some really colourful architecture and tasty eating options. We tried breakfast, lunch and tea curry options on different occasions and I have to admit I may have had curry twice on one day. I miss KL already.

Colourful Hindu temple in front of bland new office block

After getting all cultural (and sweaty) exploring the beautiful and atmospheric temples in Chinatown and Little India we decided to have a day cooling off at one of KL's super shiny malls. Coming into the modern, manicured surroundings of the mall and surrounding gardens showed yet another side to KL. There were families enjoying every kind of food you could hope for (Aimee had Pizza I went for the curry again), kids hanging out spending their disposable income on the latest fashions, security guards vetting potential shoppers into exclusive stores and outside an even wider mix of people relaxing in the tranquil gardens under the shade of the Petronas Towers. The Petronas Towers may not be as new as the first time I saw them but the stainless steel is no less gleaming, they look like they dropped from space. If the malls and building projects are anything to go by, then the Malaysian economy is moving in the right direction.

So very shiny; KL's Petronas Towers

Park behind the towers and the central business district

Inside the mall of the future

The towers look even more space age when illuminated at night

Us goofing around with shiny park decorations

After our day of modern luxuries (we even got to the cinema) we decided to get all cultural again and visit the Hindu religious sights at the Batu Caves. The caves are now very easy to visit as a modern light rail line runs right up to the bottom of the steps making it an easy 30 minute journey from KL (and cheap, it cost RM3 return). It was a steep sweaty climb to the caves but the view and temples (and monkeys) were worth it. All of the Hindu temples we have visited have been very vibrant and the Batu caves were no different, there were crowds of devotees making offerings at the various shrines and temples in the complex that gave context to the colourful sculptures and paintings. At the foot of stairs up to the caves were several more colourful temples, flower sellers, restaurants and even a sacred cow who appeared to be enjoying all of the food and attention that was being laid on for her.

One of the huge statues at the entrance to the caves

The main cave space

Detail on top of one of the temples

Very cheeky monkey

I am still trying to get the perfect image of a flower seller stand, they smell amazing

After this already epic post I will save the interesting city of Putrajaya for the next post. I will sign off with a few more images of the interesting sites we saw around KL.