(by Miller)
Arrived by overnight train…at 5:30 in the morning from Butterworth, the Penang/Georgetown connection. Due to schools’ holiday, it’s high tourist season and the hotels are just filled to the brim. Annie, being the dutiful scheduler she is, had suggested we make a reservation as we would be staying in the capital. Good call! We arrived at the Backpacker’s Inn at 6 a.m. and were told we didn’t have beds. This was the cheapest place in town by far so to change hostels was going to cost us. After insisting we’d emailed and talked to “Stevie the Wonderhost” (seriously, that’s how he signs his emails), we went for breakfast and to mull things over.
After noodles and salty porridge, we returned with our battle faces already on but the desk dude showed us our very own email and said our beds would be ready at noon. Shortly after, another backpacker walked in who’d been trying to get in for 4 days… not really sure how she didn’t get in.
We had two days to kill and really only one night as we were headed to Singapore on a deadline. After pursuing the guidebook yet again, we set off in search of the butterfly gardens, the planetarium, and the national museum.
Malaysia is definitely the rogue contender in this trip. The Georgetown experience was great and KL was as good or better with its attractions. Our hostel was in the heart of Chinatown and there was food galore. Slurpees in hand, our first stop was the planetarium. Yes, we LOVE stuff like this and I was a little more than just disappointed when the sign said it was closed for renovations. Along with 85 shrieking school kids, we braved the information lobby, which listed Malaysia’s celestial conquests. (Annie’s note: The staff thought we were DORKS…because we were the only non-chaperons above the age of 12.) Apparently, Russia made the open call and of 10,000 initial applicants, 1 made it through and was sent up as part of a crew in 2001. The dome movie was playing, called SOS Planet. It was a lovely, air-conditioned 45 minutes in which Annie and I recovered from the overnight train. The polar bear danced, the snake slithered and we learned about the importance of not littering…as I said, there was air conditioning.
The museum is definitely a must see. It was accidentally mistaken for the train station in the 40’s and bombed so it’s rather new in comparison to some of the other government sponsored establishments we’ve been to. They had just redone it also so there were new installations that had opened only a week ago. An English-speaking woman greeted us and introduced herself as a volunteer guide so we jumped on that ship. She took a group of us on a lovely 45-minute tour around the two floors of exhibits, explaining the history of colonization and industrialization. Fascinating, and the best part – admission was 2 ringet… That’s about 70 cents.
We walked back past the Islamic library, the national mosque, and the Islamic arts museum. Islam is the national religion and though there have been several clashes in recent history, the mix of cultures is tolerated if not celebrated by most. We didn’t go in but it was just another demonstration of the prominence of religion in the national image.
Walked around more that night and grabbed dinner, chicken and rice. Drank a few beers on the curb and went to bed. Our train to Singapore was the next night so after leaving our bags in the common area, we hopped on the metro to one of the biggest tourist attractions in KL, the Petronas Towers. Petronas is the Malaysian petrol giant and these towers are the largest in the area, largest in the world until Taiwan trumped them. These towers are also the home of a 6-story mall. Yes, a shopping mall, in full Christmas decoration. We were in shock and before we knew it, 6 hours and a lunch at Chili’s had passed and it was time for our overnight train to Singapore.
Kuala Lumpor, lots to see, lots to eat, friendly people and great public transport. Go.
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