where in the world is matt

Again a considerable lack of updates since Tao due to their having been no real change from lying around on a beach or diving or drinking in the same places. Tao is one of those places that I love and already want to be back there, I think diving is still in my blood, along with all the nitrogen that’s buzzing around my brain and its started niggling at me when I’m not there. But the plan is to return before the end of the adventure and do some more diving there, as well as pick up a few things left there.

From Tao the trip was a night ferry to Surat Thani where we were bundled into a minibus at 6am and taken to Hat Yai and put on a larger bus that would take us the rest of the way, the remaining 18 hours of it…

The stop at the border was beyond a joke, the least organized ive ever seen. 9 booths and people queuing for miles back, of course we picked the one line that the man either hated his job or was so so bad at it that I think we were there for nearly an hour and a half before even being allowed to leave the country. From here the bus travelled another five minutes before stopping for the arrival to Malaysia cards. Some day someone will invent a far more efficient system to travel around Asia…

In the 6 years since I was here last the visa system has changed and from 60 days, you now get 90 days for free in Malaysia. Pretty good if I knew of somewhere to spend this much time. Being on my own now and a little older the country was my proverbial oyster and so Kuala Lumpur was to be an interesting experience as ive never stayed in it as a tourist rather with family. Its alot more expensive. Drinking wise anyway, food and accommodation isn’t too bad and it’s nice to get some proper Chinese food, in particular getting some bakwa (a kind of Chinese jerky) which is hard to come by back home.

Currently staying next to Chinatown at a place called Le Village. A backpack vibe hostel (?) that has the rundown student feel to it that makes it quite a popular place, sometimes with rather strange people (you know who you are with your linen pants, om tattoos and dreadlocks..) but the prices are flat rate to similar buildings around the area, currently paying around £3 for a twin room so it’s cheaper than the Thai islands but around average for other places.

So far KL isn’t quite as I remember, as a city it’s beautiful. The road network reminding abit to much of home. And it’s very clean, to the point that it seems clean of people. For the capital city it seems the populous isn’t with it, irrespective of work. The first main day was spent with a visit to the Petronas towers, too late to venture to the 41^st floor for the glass bridge, but still by day and night it’s amazing to see lit up across the skyline. At the base is the KLCC, a shopping centre that caters for the richer clientele with the high price brands and one of my favourite book shops, for which I’m not allowed to touch because I spend too much money…

The best way to get there is of course the LRT; the rail system around KL is one of the best in the world I feel. It’s so efficient you can miss your train at least 20 times and still not be late to anywhere. It’s clean and cool and worth paying the 10RM to travel around for the day not even going places. A short walk from Chinatown and you get dropped off right at the base of the Petronas towers.

The second day was spent with an extensive walk to the KL bird park which boasts to be the largest free flight atrium in the world, whether or not this is true I don’t know because Singapore claims to have the largest bird park in the world. Perhaps if they joined forces they would have some unstoppable bird city. We can but dream. It was impressive and makes a change from the caves/temples/waterfalls around the rest of Asia, but it actually is abit to far from. The city is lovely but not for me, in the next couple of days the plan is to head back up north abit to the Cameron Highlands to get some trekking done in some of the oldest rainforest in the world. Finding transport is a different story entirely with very few travel agents around, oh how I wish for the ease of Thailand.