Malaysia by my lonesome

I had been sick the past couple of days in Chiang Mai so I was mostly sleeping and drinking vitamin drinks up until I was supposed to leave.  I had already bought a night bus ticket to take to Bangkok to then catch my flight to Kuala Lumpur but I felt super crappy...I decided to book a morning flight to Bangkok instead and get another good nights rest instead. I was getting nervous about traveling by myself for the next two weeks, especially while sick!


As I am flying over Chiang Mai and I am leaving it for the last time for awhile, I know I will be back. It was such a huge part of my life in Thailand and one of my favorite places in the world. I feel very lucky that I got the chance to visit so much and really get to know it. I can't wait to visit again in the future!


This was definitely not my finest traveling times...It's times like those that I lose all of my traveling confidence and wonder what the hell I think I'm doing! So, I arrive in BKK around 1:30 pm, head straight to the BKK storage to switch my bags, I switch to a smaller backpack, put more podcasts on my phone, thinking my flight is at 6pm and I have all the time in the world. Then, I finally decide to check my flight info and see I should have left at 7:10 am. What. An. Idiot. I grab a cab and head back to the airport and explain to them what happened but I have to buy another flight...of course. I wait in my third long line only to be told that a one way (since I still have my return) is $150!!!! I would just skip Malaysia, since the universe is telling me not to go, but I have to be out of Thailand by Wednesday because my VISA is expiring. ugh. Super pissed at myself. How long have I been doing this again?? Rookie mistakes. I eventually made it to my guesthouse in Kuala Lumpur and passed out from stupidity. dumb.

My first day I headed to the Central Market, which is an ancient market that has evolved into a bustling destination.

Next, I took the metro to some famous Hindu caves in the mountains. There are special cars for women only, this Muslim thing is sooo different than anything I have ever experienced!

When I got to the caves, I immediately walked to the entrance and snapped a few pics before heading up the bajillions steps to the caves. There were those asshole monkeys everywhere, I steered clear while other tourists tried to touch and feed them.

There were different beautiful Hindu temples in the caves and was really pretty seeing some of the jungle come on around the temples.

After heading back to KL, I walked to the National Mosque! After getting lost a few times, I found it and also found it closed for non-Muslim tourists! 

There was a huge chart saying when we could go in and when we had to be out, I now had a free hour to explore.

I started walking and ran into the Islam Arts Museum of Malaysia. It was beautiful. All of the ornate decorations and tile from the Ottoman Empire! I walked around the museum and saw beautiful artwork and pottery before heading back over to the Mosque!

Yay!

A queue had started by the time I got over there, we all took off out shoes, and were given purple hijabs before going in.  Wow, it was pretty. Blue and white everywhere.

The main prayer room was huge! On Muslim holidays, they had pictures, it is filled to the brim! We weren't allowed inside the prayer room unless we were Muslim.I even tried to use the bathroom but it is also reserved just for Muslims.

That night I headed to the Petronas Towers! They were some of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen! Weird, but true! They just glowed. I went to see a movie there, The Host, (the book was better) but the interesting part was that they edited out all of the kissing scenes! The actors would lean in and then the music would skip and it would flash to them leaning back out! Censorship, who knew?!

The next day I went up the Petronas Towers! First was the Skybridge on the 41st floor.

The Skybridge was so cool because the movie, Entrapment, was filmed here! I could almost see Catherine Zeta-Jones scaling it from the window.

 Then we took the elevator to the 86th floor, the lookout from one of the towers. It was really breathtaking and from one angle you see the top of the other tower and the Kuala Lumpur Tower in the distance. The Petronas Towers used to be the tallest building in the world before Taipei 101 was built. It was a little weird because they call them the Twin Towers, a little too close for comfort...

I decided to spend a few days in Penang before leaving Malaysia. I took a bus and the drive was beautiful. Tons of jungle, palm trees, and limestone mountains. I walked around Penang and Georgetown for hours! I saw tons of churches, mosques, the Town Hall, Fort Cornwallis, the Ocean!

 Mr Cornwallis.

Malaysia was a lot different than everywhere else I had visited. It might have also been because I was traveling alone but I definitely didn't feel as connected to Malaysia as the other countries I visited. I really liked all of the different cultures living together there but I was very excited to get back for one last week in Thailand. :-)