First 3 Days in Kuala Lumpur

On Tuesday the 26th, instead of going to Bangkok as I had originally planned I decided to stay in Kuala Lumpur (KL) Malaysia due to flooding in Thailand.  The trip by train took 8 hours, I arrived in KL at 3 pm.  The train ride did allow me to see a little bit of the Malaysian country side.

Most of the country side seemed to be one giant palm tree plantation and it literally stretched all the way from border of Malaysia to Singapore to KL.  Using my superior googling abilities I found that Malaysia is the 2nd largest producer of palm oil which is harvested from the fruit's pulp.  Apparently they have cut down a lot of virgin rain forests and replaced it with palm tree plantations.  The little bit of the rain forest I did see was very dense, you could barely see 3 feet in front of you.

I think they cut down some native forests to plant more palm trees.

Here are the valuable trees.

After 8 hours KL comes into view with the iconic Petronas Towers.

After arriving in KL, the trip to my hotel was very easy and convenient since it was right near an LRT station which is their above ground inner city rail system.

I have been very tired for the last couple of days, I think I was dehydrated and jet lag finally caught up with me so I got a lot of rest and did really explore KL too much yet.  Today I did go out and see Merdeka Square where Malaysia's independence was declared. It was nothing really special.  Also did the China Town walk from Lonely Planet books but it was hard to complete it since lot of the streets don't have signs with their names on it like we do at every corner.  This makes it really frustrating to navigate the city.

My impression of KL so far is that it's a mix between ultra modern buildings with some old neighborhoods that seem a little run down.  The traffic is more congested and less orderly then Singapore and the general street cleanliness also not as good.  I still do like this city so far because it does have more character, when you go to Little India, it really does feel like your in India.

Merdeka Square, a former cricket pitch.

LRT tracks, there are only 4 underground stations in KL, most are above ground.

I know where I am having dinner.

Buildings with Islamic Architecture.

Temple in China Town.

Street shops in China Town.

I plan on visiting the Petronas Towers and Lake Gardens area in the next couple of days. I will update then.