Kuala Lumpur

Although the name suggests that the Malaysian capital city is actually full of little Australian bears that work for Willie Wonker (or is it only me that thinks that), rather disappointingly it wasn’t! It was actually a modern vibrant place where different cultures from all over Asia join together. Mosques and temples are surrounded by huge new shiny sky scrapers and deluxe mega malls, Indian and Chinese street markets cram into small streets and bustle away 24 hours a day, the old city centre is a colonial district made up of European and Islamic architecture and the new heart of the city centres around the Petronas Towers – formerly the world’s tallest skyscraper and an absolutely mad building! Predictably inside it’s base floors are fancy shops whilst the actual towers are home to some of the biggest global companies in the world and the national petrol company. At night the tower is just like one huge Christmas tree lit up against the dark sky and glowing gracefully for all to see for miles around. We didn’t actually go up into the towers to the middle viewing platform as it seemed a bit like Paris and going up the Effiel tower to get a view of the city without a view of the most iconic building in it!?!
Wandering around KL is a bit like wandering the streets of Singapore, hot and sticky, so it’s never too long before you are craving ducking into a shopping mall to get some cool air! Problem is this invariably ends up in spending lots of money – the number of times I had to drag Shona out of Gucci or Prada, kicking and screaming because she wanted another bag! KL was only a transit stop until we’d found cheap flights/train/bus onwards – it took 3 days but finally we managed to get on an Air Asia (Asia’s Ryanair equivalent!) flight up to Southern Thailand for £20, so flip flops and beach towels at the ready Thailand here we come.