Melting

Considering I wasn’t even planning on going to Malaysia, I really enjoyed my time there. Melaka was a nice town to start my travels in Asia, since Singapore didn’t really count. If I had started in Kuala Lumpur I might have been a little overwhelmed. KL is a nice bustling city with plenty to do, though the pollution does get to you. What I really found wonderful was how the three major ethnic and religious groups, Malays, Chinese and Indian with their respective religions, all seemed to live in peaceful harmony together. It was common to see a Malay businesswomen in headscarf walking along with her Chinese colleague, or groups of Chinese eating at an Indian restaurant. I found that very refreshing, and hopefully my short time there gave me the correct impression. The Cameron Highlands were also beautiful, and it was nice to spend a cool few days among the forests and tea plantations. Taman Negara was okay, but if you are short on time I think it could be missed, unless you are doing an overnight hike to a hide to spot animals. The Perhentian Islands are spectacular, and hopefully they will continue to stay undeveloped and relatively inexpensive. Penang was disappointing, but I wonder if I had stayed away from Georgetown on the beaches, that my opinion might have changed. I’d really like to head to Sabah and Sarawak, into the Borneo jungle to see wildlife, and to climb Mt. Kinabalu. That will have to be on my next trip.

Here is a short list of some prices for you fellow travelers, or just the curious. The exchange rate while I was there was US$1= RM 3.67.

RM 17 Small private room with fan, no A/C with share bath in Melaka
RM 35 A/C single room with share bath in KL
RM 19 4 hour bus ride from KL to Cameron Highlands
RM 8 Dorm bed in Cameron Highlands
RM 85 Full day tour in Cameron Highlands
RM 9 Banana leaf meal in Indian restaurant.
RM 12 Beer in restaurant
RM 6 Simple Chinese meal (meat with rice)
RM 85 Chalet in Perhentian for two, no A/C with fan, bath and mosquito net
RM 27 8 Hour Overnight bus from Kota Bharu to Penang
RM 1.5 Local bus to Penang Hill

Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, is a sprawling city of 1.5 million people. Huge skyscrapers, most seemingly with names of banks on them, loom in the center of the city, surrounded by endless neighborhoods of Malays, Chinese and Indians. Petronas Towers, the huge two towers which pulled rank on the Sears Tower as the highest building in the world, only to be overtaken by Taipei 101 in 2004, is the city’s pride and joy. A sprawling complex of offices, apartments, and shops, surrounded by huge fountains, parks and a mosque, it is never quite out of sight. It disappears around a corner, only to appear a second later in between two other buildings. The two towers, linked by a skybridge on the 41st floor, is I think the main tourist attraction in Kuala Lumpur, but somehow stupidly so. This city, with hectic Chinatown and fragrant Little India, plush gardens and a swirling mass of people dodging cars, has so much more to offer. [read on]