Ally in Bali: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Under my current visa, I’m limited to sixty days in Indonesia at a time. Sixty days had passed since I’d arrived back from Richard and Tara’s wedding in Macau as of November 24, so I was about to turn into a pumpkin that day.

Work was willing to pay for a same-day round trip to Singapore, but since I’d already been there (albeit briefly), and it seemed so ridiculous to get on a plane for two hours just to turn around and fly right back, I decided to spend the weekend somewhere new. I thought about visiting Borneo, Timor Leste, or even Australia, but in the end decided on Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It’s a direct flight from Bali and I’d never visited Malaysia, nor did I know much about it.

I knew so little, in fact, that it wasn’t until I was greeted with “Petronas Welcomes You Home” at the airport that I remembered it was the Malaysian-owned oil company Petronas that infamously planned to build an LNG export terminal in precious salmon habitat on the north coast of British Columbia. It turns out Malaysia is a much wealthier country than I had presumed. Kuala Lumpur boasts an extensive transit system involving several rail lines, and its skyline is dotted with massive skyscrapers like the famous Petronas towers.

Ugh.

I obviously did not take this photo, but this should give you an idea of how big KL is.

I had grand plans for my weekend in Malaysia: getting out of the city, hiking through the jungle, and exploring some of the unique wilderness spaces that Malaysia has to offer. Instead, I flew into the city with the beginnings of a cold and the third week of GI issues. I pretty much just wanted to turn around and fly back to Bali like work had offered to do in the first place. Sigh.

I guess that’s a huge perk of travelling alone though - you can go completely at your own pace and not feel guilty about affecting someone else’s experience. Everyone I met and spoke with in Kuala Lumpur was a bit shocked that I was travelling solo - “No friend? Alone?!” Asked taxi drivers, waiters, chatty passengers on public transit. “Yes, alone,” I’d say, and smile. It’s a nice feeling, and I understand why so many people are big fans of travelling solo. I haven’t had much experience with it, seeing as most of my travelling has been linked to work or study and has inherently had networks of communities and travel buddies built in.

So, because I was feeling pretty crummy, I took things rather easily for the weekend, just doing one or two activities each day and then hiding out in my tiny hotel room to watch Netflix in the evenings (which felt glorious; my internet in Bali blocks Netflix). A summary of my activities:

Day One:

Arrive in Kuala Lumpur. Figure out taking the train into the city. Stare out of the window the entire ride.
Check into adorable hotel.
Do a bit of work (it was still Friday after all).
Eat amazing Middle Eastern food for dinner (yes, I chose to eat falafel instead of Malaysian food, go ahead and judge me – it was delicous).
Start watching Stranger Things Season One.

This is what the lady at the drugstore in the airport recommended for my cold; "Sanjin Compound Prescribed Watermelon Frost." I did not buy the watermelon frost, though I am still quite curious about it.

The streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Day Two:

Pack up my stuff and check out of the hotel (I’d only booked one night and it was full on Saturday) and take an Uber to the Batu Caves just north of Kuala Lumpur. Fun fact, my mum travelled here when she was in her early twenties!
Walk up the many steps and admire beautiful caves and Hindu shrines within.
Buy a ticket for the restricted “Dark Cave,” go on a cave tour and nerd out on cave ecosystems.
Visit the Ramayana Cave, which is filled with larger-than-life figures depicting the story of Ramayana.
Watch the monkeys steal snacks from tourists.
Decide to take transit back from the caves, spend an hour waiting for the train. Eat potato karipap as a snack, chat with a group of Zimbabweans who are also waiting.
Make a new friend on the train.
Check into new hotel.
Watch several episodes of Stranger Things.
Visit the night markets and explore Chinatown, eat interesting food.
Early bedtime!

Batu Caves - Murugan Statue

Batu Caves

Learning about spiders in the Dark Cave. Most of this cave system is blocked off to the public and is only accessible to researchers. NEAT-O!

Caves are cool!! And difficult to photograph!

Hanging out, waiting for treats from tourists.

One of the locals.

Hanuman statue near the entrance to Ramayana cave.

Ravana's army attempts to wake Kumbakarnan in order to wage war against Rama.

Ramayana caves or Lord of the Rings?

Disco lights = definitely not Lord of the Rings.

Snoozin like Kumbakarnan.

This adorable Japanese couple had an instant translation device. He'd ask questions in Japanese into the microphone and a robotic woman's voice would repeat the questions in English! They were mostly curious about where I was heading next.

Karipap (curry puff) - yum!

Can't escape selfies anywhere!! ... we actually had a really nice conversation though.

All sorts of choices for dinner at the night market!

Day Three:

Wake up to news that Agung has erupted once again - hard to say how intensely, the pictures just show it churning out more ash.
Panic slightly. Flights appear to still be running but decide to leave extra early for the airport that afternoon.
Watch an episode of Stranger Things in order to relax.
Spend the morning in a bit of a haze, having skipped breakfast (bad idea).
Meander through the Central Market and surrounding markets but find them uninspiring.
Become quite sweaty and sapped of energy but can’t find a decent looking restaurant.
Visit the Textile Museum, where I find a little café that could not have been more perfect: filled with textiles and trinkets, lit softly, cool and breezy, playing soothing music in the background.
Order hot lemon honey water and immediately feel like I’m in heaven; enjoy a delicious meal of beef rendang and coconut rice.
Rejuvenated by the café, I wander through the Botanical Gardens and National Museum. Museums seem to be filled with lots of mannequins.
Get on the train to the airport, and arrive at three hours early for my flight.
Learn that all flights to Bali have been cancelled.