Oompa Lumpa slipped in Kuala Lumpur

We arrived in plenty of time for our flight with a cheap airline called Air Asia (similar to Easy Jet). We had bought bargain tickets as we didn't really fancy the lengthy journey from Siem Reap to Bangkok and we didn't bother to read the terms or conditions. On arrival our bags weighed in at a hefty 42kgs but we were only allowed 15kgs each so we were told we had to either pay $4 per kilo that was over or we could remove some things and put them into hand luggage. So off we went to the middle of the concourse to rummage around our dirty laundry, ditch any toiletries that we could and to remove as many heavy items as possible. We had to do this twice to get our bags down to 32kgs and they allowed us to carry the rest on as hand luggage even although there were only 30 people actually on the flight.

The rest of the journey was fairly smooth and we arrived in Kuala Lumpur on time. We had to get some money and as the ATM's on the ground floor weren't working an "employee" decided to show us up to another level where the machines were all in working order. It turned out this guy was actually a tout who wanted us to pay 20 pounds one way in a limo into the centre. We sidestepped his bargaining powers and managed to get a return journey for the same price from the airport taxi company. Then we were off and unlike the rest of the South East Asia the roads were straight and smooth - the first that we've been on since Australia in September. We were whizzed into the city to the Golden Triangle district in about an hour and were deposited at the Pujangga Homestay.

We went for a wander after putting some laundry in and went to one of the many huge shopping centres that KL has to offer. This place was filled with every electronic gadget so you can imagine Chris's delight. When we left the heavens had opened and there was a major downpour (you would think that by now we would remember to take our jackets) so we headed into a friendly Chinese restaurant for dinner. We waited for some time before the rain eventually died down enough for us to make a dash for home going undercover as much as possible. The only problem was that my trainers aren't very good in the wet and this along with tiled pavements was a recipe for disaster. Well the inevitable happened and I slipped down some stairs walloping my back and hitting my head in the process. I don't know who got the bigger fright Chris, the guy trying to help me up or me!! Round 1 to the Berghaus trainers.

On Saturday we decided to head up towards the Petronas Towers which is the second biggest building in the world standing at a mere 452 metres in height. The day had started off very grey and we went into the shopping mall beneath the towers in the hope that when we resurfaced the sky would have brightened. This place was huge with loads of designer stores and even a Marks & Spencers (although the stock was poor in comparison to back home). The weather was much the same when we came out so we headed to an Indian Buffet where I had a great Mutton Curry.


At night we walked to China town which had a market and we opted for a canteen style place for dinner where Chris had some noodles and I had some beef and rice from different stalls. A small can of beer in the shops cost about a pound (four times the cost in neighbouring Thailand) we're not sure if this has anything to do with Malaysia being a mainly Muslim country. So we realised that drinking in a bar was going to be expensive, we went to an Irish bar and got a pint of Guinness and a Corona which came to around 8 pounds, well we savored every last drop of those drinks before heading back.

The following day we went more window shopping only this time we managed to buy Chris a pair of sandals. We then went to one of the biggest shopping malls I have been in since Houston called Time Square. This place had an Imax Cinema, indoor fairground with a rollercoaster, thousands of shops and several department stores including Debenhams which covered over 4 floors. We spent several hours here before booking our bus tickets onto our next destination.

For dinner we headed to another excellent Indian buffet with mutton curry all round. My problem is that I don't know when to stop ladling the delicious food onto my plate and I ended up rolling out of here stuffed. Chris says I've not to mention the Clyde v Celtic game and please note that if anyone mentions it, it doesn't count as we are overseas.

Monday saw us doing a 15 minute trek with our bags to the bus station and we even managed to get on an earlier bus. The bus was the best that we have been on in all our travels, our seats were like huge armchairs with large armrests in between. They were so big that there was only enough room for 3 seats with 2 on one side of the bus and one on the other. So we settled back and enjoyed our 5 hour journey to Penang.