With the formalities dispensed with we crossed into Malaysia and repeated the procedure on the outskirts of Johur Bahru. We entered Malaysia and for the next 4 and a half hours we passed through an almost unbroken series of palm plantations. The odd village or tea plantation broke up the otherwise continuous tree line. As we approached Kuala Lumpur the skies clouded over and darkened. A storm broke and soon the clouds were dumping sheets of water over the city. Motorcyclists and moped riders crowded into every petrol station forecourt for shelter to escape the rain. The famous twin towers came into view. The slender Kuala Lumpur tower and the iconic Petronas towers stood high over the city centre. The bus was headed to the Pudu Raya bus terminal in the centre on the edge of China town and I had picked out some cheap accomodation in an adjacent street.
I nipped round the corner from the bus station and in a couple of minutes found the guesthouse. It was in a quiet street tucked away from the busy thoroughfare that is Pudu Raya. It was cheap - 35mr (eu7) and spotless. Just before reaching the guesthouse I managed to raise the ire of a small gaggle of old woman. They were Hindus and unwittingly I was about to walk across the front of the entrance to the local Hindu sancturay as they were preparing for a ceremony. I was trying to stay under cover as it was still raining quite heavily. I saw an awning over a verandah just ahead of me which looked like the perfect place to shelter from the rain and began to mount a couple of steps on to this lovely marble paved surface. Women began to shout at me. When I looked at them I thought they were hawkers trying to sell me something so I didn't pass any remarks of them and kept going. Then they all started shouting at me angrily. I looked back at them and they were gesturing and waving at me to get away from where I was. I stopped but I couldn't understand what I was doing wrong. I couldn't see anything, there was a grille covering a 'shopfront' beside me. Puzzled, I looked again at the women They were still going at me. I looke back at the grille and then saw through the gaps a very ornate sanctuary inside. Yikes!! "Oh Jesus!!" I gasped and got out of there back into the street in double quick time. No sooner had I arrived in Kuala Lumpur than I was creating sectarian divisions, defiling sacred Hindu ground. I nodded solemnly by way of apology and got away from there before they started to throw their stockpile of coconut husks at me.
As the storm closed in again I decided to lie down for a while until the rain had eased. By early evening the skies began to clear and I went out fr a look around Chinatown. First impressions of the place were that it was a much more crowded city than Singapore. Certainly in China town that was how it felt. I emerged into the rush hour. The streets were narrower here. Tall buildings towered above the streets. A skytrain ran 30m above the centre of some of the main thoroughfares. The large concrete pylons supporting the tracks above forming a concrete canopy above the streets. Adding to the sense of clutter traffic clogged roads while people walked quickly along the footpaths.
As I wandered through Cinatown an indian guy came up to me and said hello. He told me he'd show me where little India was. He said he like white people that they hace done good things for him. I thought "Hello, whats the story here?" He didn't seem threatening so I went along with him to see what would unfold, suspecting money would arise at some point. Sure enough after a little small talk he began his sales pitch. He said he would be a friend to me at which point he produced a small ceramic Buddha which would bring me riches and eternal good luck if I bought it, rubbed its belly........ and believed! He told me to take it and try it. I replied that I didn't fancy fondling a little fat guy and I certainly didn't think I'd get rich from it.... and no, I wouldn't be buying any Buddhas this evening. In the blink of an eye my Indian friend exited leaving me with garbled directions to Little India and a vague indication of where it lay with a sweep of his hand.
As it got dark I went for a look at the Petronas towers. They are situated in a nearby quarter known as the Golden Triangle. This is Kuala Lumpur's upmarket district where all the designer stores and the hippest bars and restaurants are located. The Petronas towers soared above all. Lit up in the darkness they looked spectacular, gleaming in a white light nearly 500m above the neon lit streets below. This area of Kuala Lumpur, like Singapore dripped with money. While, for me, Kuala Lumpur wasn't quite as impressive as Singapore, nevertheless, this is an attractive city with money behind it.
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