Kuala Lumpur

Ok, he's my last post from Asia... I can't believe my time here is already coming to an end. And it might get cut short... I only have 26 minutes left. If I go over the 30 minute mark I have to pay 2 more Ringgit (about 66 cents and might not have enough for the cab to the train station in the morning).

It seemed like so long ago that we arrive, but it was just over 48 hours ago on Sunday. After our 1 our bus ride into the city we took the monorail to the 'Golden Triangle' to look for a hotel - we didn't want to go stay in Chinatown (a cheaper location) since the Lonely Planet says many of the places there have bedbugs. We left the first place since not all of us wanted to stay in a dorm room. The second place we stopped at seemed good.. The Lonely Planet had recommended it, there were spacious lounges on each floor with tvs and couches and breakfast was included in the approximately $8/night/person cost. It sounded great!!! We quickly dropped our bags in the room and headed out to a night market.

My first impression of Kuala Lumpur was amazing. There you are, walking down the street and you can see a KFC, a Malaysian food street vender, a woman wearing a burkah, a buddish monk and an Indian woman dressed in a sari. All with 10 feet of each other. This city seems to take multi-cultural to a new level! And, it blends the old with the new well, yet seemlessly. A Sony billboard hangs over a street market, an old mosque is overshadowed by a modern skyscraper and you don't think twice about it.

When we got back to go to sleep, though, our impressions of the hotel room suddenly changed. The beds lack sheets (besides the basic one covering the mattress) and blankets, the window (overlooking a main street) is as thin as paper and the AC fights a loosing battle all night long. It was too late to change our minds, though. We told ourselves that we would survive. The first night I slept using my towel as a blanket. The night I used a scarf I had bought. Neither worked all two well. You know its bad when you dream of the US Embassy giving you a clean towel, sheets and a blanket to use in the hostel (I know, weird dream). We managed to sleep well none-the-less, though.

Monday we explored the city. The first thing I learned was the city is a lot smaller than you might think. I was guiding with the map and when we could cover an inch (on the map) in 1 block I knew we would not be needing to use the public transport. We visited the national mosque (you forget that Malaysia is a Muslim country) and the National museum (learning about the countries diverse roots!) before we split up and I headed to the Islamic Arts Museum.

Today we headed to the PETRONAS Twin Towers to get tickets to go up on the sky bridge. We ended up being a lot farther back in the line than we had expected and got tickets for 6:15 PM in the afternoon... This completely threw a wrench in our plans since we had been planning to get out of the city in the afternoon. I went to the visitors desk and asked for any suggestions on things to do in the city. Before I knew it they were waving us in to go up to the sky bridge so we could use our tickets then and then be able to use the rest of our day (it was 10 AM). In the afternoon we headed to caves that contain a Hindu temple.

We have definitely been getting tired. I bumped into a group from Texas today and was talking to them about our trip. I said that if we weren't headed home tomorrow we would need a couple of days of R&R at the beach. Traveling for this long wears you down. I think I'm starting to get sick and definitely need a couple of days to sleep in. Because of this, we decided to go to the movies last night. We saw Killers.. Not what I would consider a good movie at all, but it was a break in an air conditioned place. I'm looking forward to a day when I don't WANT to take a cold shower simply because its my one time all day that I actually get to be cold.

So, here I sit with 13.30 Ringgit (about $4) left in my wallet (excluding the amount I'm about to pay for the internet) and getting ready to catch a cab at 5:30 AM to the train station so we can get on a bus to the airport where we'll get on a flight to England. I don't think we'll be concocting any crazy travel plans at camp again this year, but who knows..

Oh, and just to show how cheap this hotel is... I asked if they could call a cab for us at 5:30 AM tomorrow. The guys said they had no numbers of any taxi companies. I asked if I could look some numbers up online. He said ok. I asked if I would have to pay. He said 'of course'. I gave him a look. He let me use his computer. I looked up the numbers. I gave them to him. He said staff aren't allowed to use the telephone. I had to go use the payphone outside. AND THEN I cut my foot on a piece of glass in the stairwell. I told the guy that he needed to clean it up if they were going to ask people to take their shoes off inside. He said the cleaning lady would come in the morning. I stared at him again. He went to get the broom.

Anyways, I've used 33 minutes. They better not ask for the 2 ringgit (60 cents) more.. I'm not going to pay. If you're reading, check back in a couple of days. I think I might do one more post, and I promise it will be interesting!!