Posts with tag 'Malasyia'

Kuala Lumpur, First Impressions

After about 26 hours of traveling, me and Ian have finally made it to Kuala Lumpur. The journey was long but fine. We spent the night in a boat which was mad choppy but we had beds so we could sleep. When I say beds though, the whole floor was like one big mattress with loads of pillows along it. If the boat was full it might have been slightly uncomfortable but it was fine. I slept nearly all the night. From the mainland then we got a mini bus and a bus. Both were nearly empty so we had loads of room and again slept loads. I reckon of the 26 hours I might have been awake for 4 of them.

The first thing I noticed about Kuala Lumpur is how amazing it is. Massive buildings that normally you would be in sheer awe of but for the spectacular Petronas Twin Towers. We arrived at 1 in the morning and these things were lit up like Christmas trees. So amazing. They are 1,482.9 feet tall and were the tallest buildings in the world until 2004 when Taipei 101 beat it. Me and Ian went down to take some photos of them when they were lit up but of course they turned off all the lights and we lost them! We eventually saw them again but will have to wait until the next time we come back to take night photos. Will take some day time ones tomorrow though.

Its hard not to be impressed by the city as well although so far we have only have gotten a very small taste of it. Its fairly nice to walk around and is probably my favourite city so far. Will have to see what the day brings but hopefully it wont disappoint. It seems so relaxed and apart from being asked if we'd like a taxi, whilst looking at a map, we have gotten absolutely no hassle. Some lady boys did try to entice Ian though. Think my red pants scared them off! I'm definitely glad I left the islands though because if missing this would be a pity. I hope Jonny and Joe have time to get here and give themselves some time. Our plan now is to try and come back to spend another night here on the way back. Will have to see how it goes though. Anybody who is traveling through SE Asia, if you don't see this city at night, you're missing out. Completely different to every other city.

SE Asia, A quick guide

Right here is my guide/advice/review for SE Asia....

We arrived in Bangkok and spent 2 nights there. We stayed ages away from Khoasan road the first time we were there which was a huge mistake. You're stuck in traffic for hours then if you want to get there and it's where most of the stuff is happening too. We went into T.A.T to book our hotel the first time round and while we were there we booked trekking in Chiang Mai and our trip into Lao. If you wanna do it that way then thats fine but they will over quote you so haggle with them. I would advise not booking a place until you've seen it first. You can book something when you get to a place. We got the Vietnam visa sorted there too which is a must because you need it before you go to Vietnam. The second time round, we stayed on Rambuttri in a place called the Orchid Guesthouse. It was reasonably priced quiet location and near to everything (parallel to Khoasan).

In Chiang Mai, we stayed in BMP Residential which was nice, had a pool, was close to town, and organised the trekking. We got a VIP bus up there which was savage. Talking to other people who've been trekking I'd recommend going with the BMP Residential, they're the only crowd who spend a night at a waterfall, from what I gather (thats the 3 days 2 nights option). That for me was one of the highlights of the trip. Outside of Chiang Mai there are other places to see but I'm not sure of where or when.

From there we went to Chiang Kong to catch the slow boat. No matter what anyone tells you, you get you're visa at the border. If you do get the slow boat bring cushions the seats are uncomfortable. Lao is a gorgeous country but we spent the time on the tourist track. Tubing in Vang Vieng is decent but to really experience Lao I think you might need to get off the tourist track a little, I'm not sure how easy that is though.

Vietnam was the same as Lao, we just stayed on the tourist track. Around Hanoi there's Hao Lon bay (check spelling) and Sampa which we didn't see and are meant to be good. You can buy a bus ticket from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh for US$34 which lets you stop off in a few places. You can get suits in Hoi An but apart from a decent beach there is nothing else there. Hue looked nice but we only spent a couple of hours there. There are plenty of tours available but it might be best to see how much of the time you spend in a bus though. We didn't do anything. There is nothing in Nha Trang, maybe diving but Kho Tao is meant to be better.Stay a night or 2 and get drunk but don't waste too much time. The islands off the coast are meant to be nice, again we never made it there. Ho Chi Minh is cool. Its a good city and the tunnels are worth a visit along with the war remnants museum.

Kho Phangan is Ibiza but 10 years later. Full of English and Irish with nothing to do but get rotten drunk on a beach. Its good for a couple of nights but you need to be there long before the full moon to get anywhere. We were there 5 or 6 nights before. We stayed on the sunset beach which I think is close enough and far enough away from the action. Need to ask Jonny though.

Indonesia for me was the best place and the only thing that comes near it was trekking. The people there are amazing. We stayed away from Bali but there are the Gilli islands and Lombark in that general direction that we wanted to go to. We went to Sumatera, stayed as little as possible in Jakarta. If you only have a short period of time then Sumatera is you're best bet. If you want to climb a volcano the go to Berastagi. That place is amazing, the food, the people, everything. Around there as well is Lake Toba and Ketambe which we didn't get to see but heard great things about. From Sumatera we went to Bintan island. This place is a 2 hour boat journey from Singapore so you should make time for it. We stayed on Trikora beach in Yasin Bungalows, which is easy to get to. I would recommend going there during the week because a lot of people from Singapore go there for the weekend. I really recommend making time for the place.

KL is a really nice city and worth a visit but we didn't spend long enough there so I can't tell you completely what I make of it. I did like it though. Singapore is only good if you want to shop. After everywhere else in Asia it'll seem made expensive and drink is extortionate, even compared to Irish prices.

Any questions about anywhere, leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer....

Brian