Shelley's Birthday Trip (Part 6) - Malaysia

On Monday we departed for Malaysia and landed in Kuala Lumpur that evening.  The airport is quite a distance from downtown but the taxi wasn’t too expensive.  We were not sure what to expect here but it turned out to be full of highs and lows.  Our accommodation really sucked, but when you travel on a budget like ours, you can’t really expect too much.

The "must do" thing to do in KL is the Batu Caves.  A series of caves and cave temples in Gombak, Selangor just outside the city. It takes its name from the Sungai Batu (Stone River), which flows past the hill. The cave is one of the most popular Tamil shrines outside India, and is dedicated to Lord Murugan (Tamil God Murugan Tamil).

We arrived before sunrise and were given almost exclusive access to the whole place!  Apparently the crowds really get going around mid morning...

We spent time exploring the city and saw places like the Petronas Twin Towers and the KL Gardens. We have decided that Malaysian people put a huge amount of effort (and money) into building things, but put almost NOTHING into maintaining them... time and time again we found worn out and broken sidewalks, escalators, elevators, and buildings.  It could be so much more! That said, like everywhere else we have been on this adventure, we made the most of it.

  

One highlight was when we found a small family fun restaurant just down the road from our (rundown) Hotel. It was called Briyanai Village Restaurant.  Shelley tried their specialty dish and LOVED it! The family who runs the place made us feel like family while we were there... it was a nice respite from our busy days...

We took a LUXURY bus from KL to Johor Bahru.  What fun! This bus had a double deck and we all sat upstairs, with a lounge, galley and washrooms downstairs.  We were served a meal by a steward and the driver was referred to as "the captain".  The trip was about 5 hours and we arrived relaxed and happy. (Photo credit)

The best part was still to come.  This was our last stop before going back to the boat so we took advantage of a $100 voucher that we were given from hotels.com because of some booking difficulties we had.  We booked into a BRAND NEW luxury hotel! Not only that, our voucher covered most of 2 nights in an upgraded suite.  Wow!

We did some shopping and Shelley bought me a birthday present from the music store just down the road.  I now have a battery powered amplifier for my ukulele... I’m like a rock star now... I also got the coolest haircut EVER.  An Indian man cut my hair with extraordinary precision then massaged my head and neck leaving me feeling better than I ever have after a hair cut.  All that for $6 ($5US) including a tip!

Shelley bought a bottle of "local" whiskey for $9 ($7US). If she doesn’t go blind, we will consider this a win.

One more 2 hour bus ride and a short Taxi ride and we are home on Blowin’ Bubbles.  Thank you for staying for the whole story.  This may be our longest series post ever.  If you want to see more pictures, check out our Instagram account. @svblowinbubbles.