Inevitably on the wild, disorganized,brilliant ride that is backpacking you’re going to get bottle-necked and spend more time in one location than you ever thought possible or even appropriate.
That time is now. That place is Kuala Lumpur. If we haven’t yet reached our threshold of tolerance for “KL” than God knows we’re butting elbow to elbow with it. The bus from Singapore arrived here Monday Oct 19th and it’ll be Sunday Oct 25th very shortly by my watch and we’re still here. But more on that later…
Compared to the chicken buses of Sumatra, the luxury coach from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur might as well have been Road Bus One (i.e. Obama’s Greyhound). Our bus had reclining seats worthy of first class. It was on time. It smelled like (3rd world) roses. Our driver drove like his eyes were open. And the roads might as well have been paved with gold.
<– Malaysia ~ Singapore –>
The only (slightly) uncomfortable part of the 5 hour trip was the Godzilla-like 4 year old in front of us who hadn’t t yet grasp the concept of personal space.
Within 30 minutes of finding accommodations I set out on foot, a man on a mission. Top priority: a shave and a cut. For $2usd a pleasant Indian fellow in Chinatown put straight razor to my neck made my face feel like an egg. Minutes later I would comically overcome language barriers with a rather androgynous Malay hair stylist to bring my hair style back from the ’70s.
Kuala Lumpur ~ Some cities just possess that undeniable vibe…that energy. You walk outside and the air is electric. New York. Paris. Tokyo. Syracuse. They’ve got it. KL, well…can’t say it does.
The skyline is iconic thanks to the world’s 3rd highest telecommunications tower and those instantly recognizable Petronas Towers.
The shopping is on par with Singapore but a fraction of the price. The eating is a funky hybrid of Indian, Malay, and Chinese. The city is sprinkled with lovely little parks and mosques. All is well…then you get to the people. I remember one guy not smiling at me in the whole of Indonesia (the ‘mobster’ in Jakarta). I remember only one smile in KL over the last 6 days. Not to say the people are inhospitable, its just…well, they’re kind of bland (which is kind of the overall reputation of Peninsula Malaysia). But hey, they do have some ass-kickin’ly tall buildings which kind of makes up for the lack human charm (kind of)…
So back to the original question: 7 days in KL, why so long? Well, because when we leave the relative comfort of this overly western Asian city we ain’t coming up for air for quite some time. Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam…untold transportation hardships…untold what-the-hell-did-I-just-eat…untold where-the-hell-are-we…untold who-the-hell-knows…it all begins the moment when we pack up and leave. Recharge your batteries before the next leg. Enjoy the calm before the storm. Buy what you need. Ship what you need. Acquire what is needed.
Acquire what is needed. In our case that means two separate visas for two separate countries. Devin is headed to the country of Laos to hang with a friend for a few weeks. She flies out Tuesday. I fly out Monday afternoon at 2pm for a country that will be unlike anything I’ve ever seen or experienced in my life.
My destination is home to the world’s longest running military dictatorship.
My destination is Myanmar.
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