Kuala Lumpur 🇲🇾

Now I am sitting in Kuala Lumpur in an Indian restaurant and have no Wi-Fi, so I'm starting to type.

I have already spent two nights here and thanks to Lisa's recommendation, I found a good hostel where I feel comfortable and have already extended my stay twice.

I took a bus from the airport towards the city and realized that my goal of exploring more civilized areas will be achieved. KL is huge and one thing that stands out is that all ethnic groups from the surrounding countries are represented here, but currently the Indians, or rather the Hindus, are particularly noticeable. It's Thaipusam Festival, which means a multi-day ceremony is taking place and people are pilgrimaging from the temple in the city to the Batu Caves (about 13km) to bring their offerings. Religious stuff, you know.

I also visited the caves yesterday. With a German couple, which is better than being alone, but I'll spare you the details. Overall, I already think they are among the most boring people in the world. The caves themselves were quite impressive, but it's incredibly crowded due to the festival, which also provides a lot of things to observe.

In addition to various temples inside and outside of the cave, there is a 43-meter high statue of Murugan (son of Shiva). If you are in KL, you should definitely check it out.

Of course, there are also monkeys climbing around everywhere, trying to steal things and doing what monkeys do.

The next destination is the Rooftop Top Bar, which turns into a bar in the evening from a helipad. What fascinates me: there is no real barrier, just some bands and 4 meters of space to the edge. That's Asia for you, in Germany you would probably need some kind of permit to prevent people from falling off.

Definitely a top address and a good alternative to the expensive well-known options. However, being 154m above the ground can't compete with the Petronas Towers at all.

We will at least visit them from the outside and watch the light show in front of the towers. You can do it, or you can skip it. The Twin Towers are still impressive!

Now I am on the bus shuttle to the airport and flying to Penang/George Town to get closer to Koh Lanta, as I mentioned before! Many thanks to the nice gentleman who had to perform his prayer, including washing, at 6 o'clock in the morning in our room instead of just going out and doing it there. After all, there are only 5 other people sleeping in the room. I don't want to disturb anyone in their way of practicing their religion, but please don't disturb me in mine, which is called sleeping! 😏

Yesterday we also visited the Eco Park, right in the city. So it's like a jungle in the middle of the city.

Our freedom was limited by the monkeys and we couldn't enter the mini zoo or the KL Tower. The world won't end because of that. But after the nice monkeys helped themselves to two French people's belongings, I didn't want to have the same experience.

In the park itself, I found 70 Ringgit (~20€), which I was quite happy about and at the same time had another karma situation. Because in Vietnam, I lost 500,000 Dong (~25€), which could mean at the end of the day: I shouldn't lose it, anyway.

In general, I can only recommend spending a few days in KL. There is all kinds of Asian cuisine, and I mainly ate Chinese food, which was really good quality. Many Indian restaurants were closed due to the festival. The Backhome Hostel also played a big role, with a movie room, courtyard, free tea, etc. It is definitely one of the best hostels I have stayed in so far.

I would also like to note that Lisa and I have signed the lease agreement! 🎉❤️ And the hostel has also contributed a lot to its success due to its good infrastructure.

The nightlife is not really noteworthy, beer is quite expensive, and due to the fact that Malaysia is a Muslim country, it didn't feel like the right place.

But if you are traveling in Southeast Asia and simply don't want to have excessive chaos, it's great here!