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Kuala Lumpur time baby!
My milling about on islands had temporarily come to an end and Dale and I made it to our next city which also happened to be in a new country, KL in Malaysia. It was here we remembered what an actual city looked like, it had real buildings, road markings, traffic lights that were actually adhered to and everything!
We spent the next few days exploring the city and equipping myself with a brand spanking new camera! We went up the KL tower, it's the third-ish highest observation tower in the world and the views from it were extremely impressive, most people used the telescopes provided to view far and wide....me and Dale however are not most people and used such devices to watch golfers fluff their shots and, in a slightly frowned upon way, admire the lovely ladies sunbathing around some of the roof top pools across the city. The man who used it after us looked at us and was amused!
After the sky tower we ventured over to the KL twin towers (shown in Entrapment-good film!) which are a nearly unbelievable feat of engineering, so so impressive, they almost don't look real. Very cool and worth a gander (I uploaded a picture)
As impressive as the city is we were ready for another adventure, we found this in the form of a 3 day excursion into the jungle! And not just any jungle, allegedly the oldest in existence, Taman Negara.
We arrived by bus then long boat and immediately embarked on a night trek where snakes, scorpions, lizards, bloody large spiders and an assortment of other cool and fairly terrifying insects came out to say hello. Ange our guide assured us though that non of the poisonous insects, animals and plants would kill us, just make us very sick, rash up, lose a limb or something trivial like that, this needless to say didn't put our minds at ease.
The next day we hit the jungle canopy on a questionably secure rope walkway a good 45 meters high in some places, good fun but there was less animal activity than we had hoped for but some unbelievable views out across the national park, very very cool.
It was the boat ride that took us up river through the rapids where the jungle came to life, we saw monkeys playing by the river, kingfishers both blue and brown, fishing and some sizeable iguanas rocking it across the water to the other bank. The boat took us up to the last aboriginal tribe that were permitted to hunt in the national park, here they showed us how to make fire, blow darts and we learnt about there traditions, hunting techniques and way of life. We were then allowed to have a go with the bad ass blow dart guns. After a pitiful first attempt I showed I had a respectable aim! The only thing that tarnished the authenticity of the visit was when we met the chief and he was wearing billabong swimming shorts and a rolex, apparently gifts from previous tourists, still the overall traditional appearance took a blow.
On the return journey our long boat pilot decided it would be great fun to get us all wet, I saw the funny side but the Bulgarian couple in front of us (not equipped with swimming attire) had a far different opinion when they took the brunt of several waves in quick succession, A cheeky stop at a small beach with a rope swing let us all get properly wet......apart from the bulgarians, still sulking, and a frenchy who tried and failed to make the water, instead managing a less-than-graceful faceplant into the sand 2 feet short of the water, it was one of those, you know you shouldn't laugh....but it was really really funny!
Me and Dale also decided to replicate the iguanas and set off across the river for some exercise (the fact that 5-6 foot lizards were roaming the waters occurred to me much later). This seemed like a brilliant idea as the most exercise I have done in the last 3 months is probably picking my nose! A brilliant idea indeed, until my fitness ran out which was exactly 4 and a half strokes in, it was then a fairly worrying battle against the current. I made it though with great relief until I realised I had to go through the whole bloody ordeal again to get back! Our pleas to ange, our guide, to pick us up were simply laughed at so not only did we have to struggle back we had her mocking us as well.
The evening was spent with beer in-hand (much more preferable to exercise!) teaching a Japanese student, named Hideki, with limited english vocabulary, inappropriate phrases and learning from him a Super Mario drinking game, it's absolutely genius!
On our return to KL we purchased fake yet credible Malaysia football shirts and headed to the stadium for a world cup qualifier against fierce rivals and neighbours Singapore. Thinking back on it, the notion of turning up and buying tickets on the door is nothing short of insanity but our previous ticket acquiring attempts pre-jungle trek had proved unsuccessful. We did however soak up the atmosphere outside the stadium and were photographed with countless groups of fans (we were literally the only two westerners in Malaysia shirts, no mean feat in a 90000 capacity stadium)
Accepting the inevitable, only after attempting to bribe a radio station for tickets that had already been won, we decided to cut our losses and head to a bar to drink and watch the game on a big screen. The aggregate result was unfortunately 6-4 to Singapore with three red cards over the two games and some seriously biased refereeing. Not ideal but walking through the city with all manor of vehicles and pedestrians cheering us for supporting Malaysia was comedy. The evening took us to a reggae bar, I use this term lightly as the closest the music came to reggae was Lady Gaga. It did produce however some amusing sights throughout our stay, a highlight being a monobrowed Indian complete with backpack turning flailing around like a madman into an art form completely in sync with the music! Truly an inspiration to me, another flailer!
With Dales remaining time dwindling far too quickly for both our likings, it was on to Singapore, the 7th country of my travels to date. Our initial impressions, arriving at night, were very good, another impressive major city, especially all lit up. We then fell out with the city in a fairly major way as, tired from our journeying, it took us 3 hours a phantom hostel booking and a good few miles of walking with our bags on to find accommodation, it serves us right I suppose for arriving on a Friday evening with nothing sorted, but still very silly!
The next day, Dales last! Was spent exploring the city on foot, we also went on a London-Eye-like observation wheel, allegedly the largest in the world with some more breathtaking panoramic city views. The evening, one that had to be monumental, as the last remaining member of the wolf pack and my longest serving travel companion to date was saying fair well, was to a club called Zouk. Supposedly the 9th best night/venue in the world (don't ask me how this is decided). It was fairly impressive though, our entry fee allowed us access to three clubs all of which had something different to offer, I spent a silly amount of money on alcohol and danced like an idiot, nothing new there but the DJ and laser shows were something a bit special.
With Dale gone, been a pleasure travelling with you sir, and another chapter of my travels ended I am eagerly awaiting the next adventure. This blog has been penned in the waiting lounge of Singapore Airport where I am awaiting an airborne vehicle to take me to Borneo! Exciting times!
Thanks for tuning in again. Hope you're all well and it was an enjoyable read.
Luke. X
- comments
N and G Great read Luke, have you found any new travelling companions yet? Take care. Lots of love N and G xx
tom wright good read mate glad your having fun. p.s entapment good film
Dale Carroll Read this from start to finish with a smile on my face, good times! Was an honour travelling with you too pal. Enjoy the rest of your travels. Keep in touch and take it easy.. Keep up with the blogging x