Monkey Business in KL

Kuala Lumpur is full of small, hidden communities, but also seems to boast a large cosmopolitan vibe at the same time.  Malaysia is comprised of, not only Malaysians, but large populations of Indian and Chinese ethnicities.  Due to my brief skimming of the 'Malaysia' chapter of my Rough Guide and virtually no Asian history growing up, I had no idea that this country was primarily Muslim.  The women cover themselves head to toe and wear the traditional head scarves, which seems unbearable considering I'm wearing skirts and tank tops and still dying!  Lucian and I ventured to see the National Mosque, not far from Chinatown.  The architecture was stunning but it certainly wasn't a place we could roam around and explore.

We ventured up the road a bit and found an orchid and hibiscus garden.  The hibiscus is the national flower of Malaysia and Lucian took some beautiful pictures as we walked around for a while.  Along the road, there was an aviary and a butterfly house which we steered away from, seeing the large tour busses and noisy children running around.  Fighting the heat, we continued toward the Malaysian National Museum where it was a guarantee for A/C.  The museum was quite nice and within an hour, I was an expert on the indigenous, colonial, and modern Malaysia...not quite, but I feel better knowing a few facts about the country before leaving.

That night, we took the light rail to the Petronas Towers, which were quite stunning at night.  They are currently the tallest twin towers in the world, but since Lucian grew up next to the Space Needle, I had a feeling he was slightly unimpressed.  The Petronas Towers are the symbol of Malaysia and gift shops EVERYWHERE have mini statuettes ready for you to take home.  Reminds me of the Eiffel Tower...

We went inside and came face-to-face with a very large shopping mall (ugghhh).  The bottom floor was filled with luxury stores that I had no business being in with my capris and backpack.  The food courts here were incredible though.  I had to walk around 3 times or more before I was ready to order some food.

The next day we hopped on a monorail, (people actually this one, unlike Seattle), and headed toward Bukit Bintang to explore a little bit.  It was a nice part of the city and it seemed like this is where the professionals flocked for jobs.  Eventually, we decided to check out a CouchSurfers meeting on the other side of town so we scouted that out.  We walked around for a good hour before we figured out where we were and found the restaurant where the gathering was being held.  We walked by but ended up not sitting down...let's just say it didn't look like our type of crowd and the restaurant looked overpriced and presumptuous.  The neighborhood was interesting though and I'd like to go back if there is time.

Today we visited the Batu Caves, care of Jeni's advice, and we had a great time.  They are these limestone caves set into this large cliff face where Hindus go to worship.  I will try to post some pictures later since we took A TON of them today. There are 272 stairs to the top, which seems like a lot, but I had prepared myself for a lot more!  As we climbed the stairs, Lucian pointed out the monkeys perched about and I reached into my bag to pull out some peanuts.  One overly eager monkey ran over, snatched the bag out of my hands, and ran away.  I felt really stupid.

Once inside the cave, it's pretty spectacular, but it's hard to get into the moment when so many people are there, children are crying, and there's a guy selling postcards at the entrance.  As we climbed to the very top, there was a HUGE group of monkeys and this time I used some sense, opened the bag, and poured some into my hand before getting close.  They are extremely friendly and for the most part, very cute.

We ate at a vegetarian Indian restaurant afterwards and I really enjoyed it.  The heat was unbearable today so we took a long nap after the cave exploration.  We might try to get to Pelau Panang tomorrow or the next day which is up the west side of Malaysia and sits on the coast.  I'd love to see some more beach!