We are currently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and enjoying it very much. It is a lovely city and although it has 1.7 million people, it is much cleaner with much less chaotic traffic and visible poverty than Jakarta. It is easy to get around, either by walking (we have a central location) or by using their LRT system which moves people around the city quite effectively.....passengers don't have to perch themselves on top of crowded intercity trains like we witnessed in Jakarta. Celebrations have already started for Chinese New Year (Monday) so we have decided to stay an extra two days to get the full experience. The year of the Dragon (power. prosperity and success) has everyone very excited around here. Every day, wherever we go, there are decorations, dragon dances and mini-parades. It should be a wild time tonight as midnight approaches.
One of our first adventures here was to visit the Batu Caves on the outskirts of KL. There are three large caves with Hindu shrines and they are allegedly guarded by a 150 foot protecter. Suspecting he wasn't very mobile for such a big man, I faked going right and easily got by on the left side even with my artificial knee. My own personal opinion is that the real deterent to entering the caves are the 272 steps up a steep incline. They put up more of a defense in the afternoon heat and took their toll on some weakened souls who never made it to the top. For those that did make it up to the caves it was an incredible spiritual and visual experience, one that should not be missed by anyone travelling here.
Yesterday we walked around the city with our first stop at Merdeka Square (Independence square and colonial architecture). Then we hiked over to nearby Chinatown where the large street market was bustling and the fabulous food smells from the street vendors seduced us into stopping into a food market for a tasty lunch. The food here is quite good.......Indian, Chinese and Malay..........and very cheap with generous servings. Being a Muslim country however, alcohol is very expensive especially wine which is ridiculously priced ($50 for a $15 bottle back home, with the restaurants charging even more). Fruit drinks and mineral water are inexpensive though so we are refreshing ourselves with those, and I suppose cleansing our bodies before abusing them again in Thailand.
Today we are going to walk around the Lake Gardens area, a huge inter-city park with many attractions. And then we might want to have a rest so that we can stay awake until midnight!
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