We have arrived in Kuala Lumpur (KL) and wow, compared to the relative serenity and relaxed vibes of Bali, arriving into KL has been like a slap in the face from someone waking you up from a deep sleep.
We started off the day pretty early, had a quick breakfast, packed and tidied up. I had one last dip in the pool. We were going to miss the villa for sure. We got to the airport to find that our flight had been delayed by an hour, so we had a nice long lunch at a Wolfgang Puck restaurant at the airport and then headed to KL.
KL airport was a bit of a mission to navigate - we left the plane directly into the airport, walked the full length of the departure lounge and then boarded a bus to get to another building which is where passport control was located. A bit all over the place, but we made it in the end.
We grabbed a 'Grab' taxi which took about two hours in loads of traffic - there had been an 8 car pile up on the main road between KL and the airport. No one appeared to be hurt, thankfully.
We arrived at our hotel, checked in, dumped our bags and decided to head out for dinner. We thought we would hit the big city lights and check out Bintang Walk. This is to KL what Picadally Circus and Leicester Square is to London. It was fairly nearby and we thought we could just have a quick look, a quick dinner and then head back. What we landed in was one of the most intense city centre atmospheres I have experienced. There was a crossing similar to the Shubuya Crossing, the streets were super crowded with people spilling out onto the roads. Small food stalls and market traders on the streets. A full rock band had set up on a street corner with their audience packed like sardines around them (slowing down traffic). It was all the buzz of Tokyo without the clinical organisation. What was noticeable was the mix of cultures, ethnicities and religions in this melee of people. There were Arabic restaurants (one of which had an enormous queue), with Arabic music pumping out, there was a Diwali display and fountains outside the main mall and there was a busy China town road leading off of the main drag. It was absolute carnage (in a good way I might add).
We headed into one of the malls to escape it and have some dinner - after our time in Bali it was quite the adjustment! We opted for a Hong Kong restaurant for a quick feed and then we thought we would call it a night to make sure we were well rested for a busy day tomorrow.
As we left the mall, the crowds had thickened even more. It was incredibly lively. It was busier than Glastonbury Festival!
The road was at a standstill and so we thought we would walk in the direction of our hotel to hopefully find a quieter spot for a taxi to extract us. We wandered along what we thought was a side street, but it turned out to be lined with bar after bar after bar - many of which had live bands playing which was pretty decent. We snaked our way through it and found a spot for a taxi.
We arrived back at the hotel but just missed out on the opportunity to have a swim in the rooftop pool that has a view of the skyline. I really didn't mind. After that assault on the senses, I feel like I need to sit in a dark room!
Our noble steed.
Happy Diwali!
Two peacocks in front of the fountain.
Two idiots in front of the fountain.
A sprawling sea of humanity.
The band on the street corner
Chinatown
bar street. Similar, I imagine, to Magaluf…
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