hi folks,

since tuesday i'm in kuala lumpur (or KL as it is called here) ... but before telling you from KL let me make a short revision from Thailand

i stayed there for 4 weeks and except of Phuket, everything was great ... Phuket is masstourism in total ... thank godness i only stayed there for 2 days, so i didn't waste too much time on this place ... if you want to go out in phuket, you will be offered several prostitutes for sure ... i even saw women talking to men, who had their wives/girl friends with them .... they don't really care about that .. and they are always estonished if a single man doesn't want to have sex with her ... and i saw also very often old men with young thai girls ... nearly every man over 50 had a young girl ... so if you want to go out in phuket you have to go to banglar road (that is in Patong beach, the most famous place there) ... there are pubs, nightclubs, discos, bars and of course many prostitutes ;)

but as mentioned above, thailand is definitely a gread country with nice people and a great countryside and wonderful beaches ... and for us european people it is a cheap country ;)

so, but now i'm in KL ... the first days i saw, of course, the petronas twin towers and i went to the skybridge in the 41st floor ... going there by elevator is for free, but you have to go there early, because there a limited tickets for the skybridge tours, which start every 15 minutes i think (starting from 9 am) .. under the twin towers, which are actually the second tallest builing in the world measuring 452 metres, there is a big shopping centre ... there a malaysian guy talked to me, and as always, when i mentioned my home city, someone from his family (in this case his sister) wants to visit vienna .. i shall tell him some facts about vienna etc. ... but this guy was ok, after half an hour he left and he didn't want me to go to his house and family

so after the visit at the skybridge (the view there is amazing) i went to the next tower, the KL tower ... this is the 4th tallest telecommunication tower in the world, and there you can go to a platform in 276 metres ... as this tower is built on a hill you can look down to the petronas twin towers ;) (by the way, our vienna donauturm is the 13th tallest telecommunication tower in the world)

the next day i went to a cave near to KL, the so called Batu Caves ... there is a big cave where the entry is free and a dark cave, where you can only enter with a tour guide (costs 35 ringgit, about 8-9 euros) ... i enjoyed such a tour and as i was alone i had my private tour guide .. i got a helmet and a lamp and then we visited the cave for about 30 minutes ... lots of bats and other insects live there, and even a dog stays in the cave and followed us ... i saw the dog eating a dead bat and my guide said that he always eats such things because he never leaves the caves ...

in the evening i walked through china town (where my hotel is situated) ... you can buy there everything you want from a t'shirts to watches, cameras, food etc.

the next day i decided to go by bus to putrujaya .. this city will become the government site in 2010 and is not grown over hundreds of years but built since some years ... they almost finished the city, the prime minister house, a big mosque, the palace of justice, the finacial department etc. .. all these buildings are finished and look great ... different styles of architecture are mixed in this city and everywhere you can find a park, a garden ... this city is also called the garden city because of the many green spots there ... and a big lake is also there where you can make a cruise ... when i was there (it was friday) nearly no one was on the street ... because everyone was in the mosque praying ... i felt like in a ghost city ;) as it was also rather hot and humid i decided to go back to KL after about 2 hours walking through the city

yesterday i went to genting highlands, that's about 50 km northeast from KL ... i planned to stay there for the weekend, but finally after 2 hours there i left this city because i didn't like it there ... you go to this entertainig city by cable car and have a great view over the highlands and the jungle ... but this was the best, at the top of the mountain there is a big skyscrapper and inside you can find luxury hotels, casinos, pubs, restaurants, a theme park ... like a big shopping mall ... and this i didn't expect ... moreover i was the only non asian guy there, so i felt a little strange there ;)

in the evening i met a german guy in my hostel (i moved from my hotel to a hostel because it's much cheaper) and we went to a big 2 floors pub/disco ... was quite fun there although the prices for drinks are like in austria (or even slightly above) ... we met there some malaysian guys and girls and they did invite us immediately to some drinks ... so we saved some money ;) in general, malaysian people always make easy friends with you .. they do invite you to their house and family etc. but you have to be careful ... the german guy followed one malaysian guy and he got something to eat and spent some time there and nothing bad happened, but you never know ... i also had the chance to go with a malaysian guy, he gave me his cell phone number and was really nice and helpful and finally he wanted me to call him but i didn't do that ...

so, that's it, i will stay till tuesday in KL and then go by bus to melaka (malaysias oldest city) and then straight to Singapur and on friday night i fly to australia ... i'm really looking forward to go there and to dive in the great barrier reef

cu soon,

christoph