Kuala Lumpur and Siem Reap.

We've finally got a good internet connection and some time to use it, so below you can find a photo update with a couple of pictures from Koh Tao, Penang and Cameron Highlands. After that we've been in Kuala Lumpur, which was a vibrant and very developed city, and now we're already in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

We had only two and half days in KL, so we had quite a busy time catching everything we wanted to see. First day we strolled in Chinatown and Pasar Seni (Central Market) browsing all the beautiful and fake things for sale, and the Colonial Core to check out some of the majestic old buildings. Unfortunately then it started to rain, so we dropped by in Little India for quick curry dinner and then took the metro to Malaysia Tourist Information Centre for a cultural dance show. Unfortunately their brochures were out of date, so the dance show was not anymore on the day advertised. We ended up taking the monorail through the Golden Triangle back to our guesthouse in China Town and having an early night.

On the second day in KL we headed outside the city to Batu Caves, a Hindu shrine dedicated to lord Murugan and decorated with 43-metre high statue of him. The main cave was enormous, and it would've been interesting to see during the Thaipusam festivities just a few weeks earlier.

The steps leading up to the cave were crowded with monkeys stealing everyone's food, and we got some quality pictures of them.


Our final day in KL we met up with family friends who took us around the area and talked extensively about Malaysia. We first visited KLCC, the modern city centre with tall skyscapers, and the beautiful Petronas Towers (but not the Skybridge as tickets had sold out) located there. For lunch we ate the best food we had in Malaysia, which is a feat as all the food there is so delicious! Most of the afternoon we toured Putrajaya, the new administrative capital where the recent years have brought impressive ministries and monumental bridges crossing the artificial lake. We had seen pictures and wanted to visit, but I have to say that it would've been impossible to carry out on foot as there was no sidewalks or public transport to speak of at all. The day was topped off with the Blue Mosque, local coffee with kaya (coconut jam) sandwiches, a beautiful Chinese temple and another delicious meal. We were very delighted with the day and how much we could see and learn!

Next morning we flew from KL International Airport to Siem Reap, as we had found really cheap flights from Malaysian Airlines (although everyone expected us to fly AirAsia or some other budget airline). The service on the plane was perfect, and we were positively surprised by the efficiency of Siem Reap airport visa services. I think it took me longer to fill in the form than them to process it! From the airport we headed to our "hostel" and were positively surprised (once again) to find three-star-hotel-quality at hostel prices (12USD for a double with A/C, own bathroom, hot water, TV, spacious and in impeccable condition). So we warmly recommend staying at Siem Reap Central Hostel!

After relaxing night and day we met up with some of the Boyfriend's family who are here for one week to see Angkor Wat, and then we proceeded to relax a bit more. So after we had properly relaxed we had an afternoon tour of the Tonle Sap lake and one of the many floating villages. The lake is very important for providing floods for the rice and lotus fields, as well as numerous freshwater fish. The size of the lake fluctuates five-fold between the dry and wet season, and the people who live on floating houses (and farm fish under them!) move around for the calmest spot. We also saw a floating kindergarten and a school with playgrounds on the top, but unfortunately too many kids not at school but begging for money with various ruses - snake around his neck floating in a vat for an interesting photo, or a massage completely unasked for. After mentioning the kids and the not-so-well-off locals, it feels bad to say that then we watched the sunset in hammocks on a boat beers in hand and that was pretty relaxing.


Yesterday we finally headed towards the Angkor archeological park. The area is huge, and after a ten-hour tour we still saw a tiny fraction of it all. The temples are amazing, the sun is pretty hot out there, and the water bottles seem to empty up very fast! I don't think I can really summarise everything we saw (and plan to see in the next few days), so here's a couple of pictures.

Copyright of all pictures: Boyfriend.