Kuala Lumpur makes me want to walk around with a surgical mask over my face. Kelsey and I spent one more night and day in KL after returning from Borneo, and we wandered around the city in smog so thick we could barely make out the skyscrapers that were 500 meters away. The overwhelming heat and the trash in the streets only intensifies the smothering air. We wandered Malaysian streets for the eighth day in a row, turning heads and dodging catcalls. From the moment we stepped off the plane from Sandakan, I already couldn’t wait to get out of KL. But fortunately, we found some great things about the city through a little exploring.

First, we found the Reggae Bar. We stumbled into the backpackers’ hostel/bar/restaurant down the street from ours late on Monday night. They played only Bob Marley music and had his face painted over and over all over every wall. Obviously, I was in heaven. Not only did we get to listen to reggae all night, but we also found that Ladies Night is every night, so we got super cheap drinks… including our first Bucket – a Bucket = a pail you’d use to build a sand castle at the beach, filled with 6 shots and mixers, for 25 ringgit (that’s just over $1 per shot!).

 

Buckets and Bob Marley

We met some new friends at the Reggae Bar – Ollie from the UK and Jon from Washington DC. Ollie was on the last couple days of his traveling, but Jon had just gotten to KL and after chatting, realized we have pretty much the same route planned out for the next couple months. So, new travel buddy!

After a late night, we slept in and explored a bit more of the city on Tuesday. We met Jon and went to the National Mosque, which wasn’t that cool, but I got to wear this pretty cool outfit.

Kels and I at the mosque

Later on, we all hopped on the free city bus to another part of the city – Bukit Bintang. When we got to Bukit Bintang, it almost seemed like we turned the corner from the slums into a miniature version of Times Square – skyscrapers, billboards, high-end shops, incredibly westernized. We walked down Jalan Alor, famous for its street food, and ended up at a little stand where you can pick out skewers of fish, meat, and veggies and they boil or barbeque them right in front of you. We feasted on chicken, duck, bok choy, broccoli, string beans, dumplings, and even tried some BBQ stingray.

Me, Jon and Kelsey at Bukit Bintang

Our last stop was the Petronas Towers – some of the tallest twin towers in the world. The courtyard was filled with tourists posing for photos. When we got there, I couldn’t stop staring. I probably ran smack into about five people because I was just walking looking straight up. Some of the most amazing buildings I’ve ever seen, and even more amazing lit up at night.

In awe of the towers