Friday, 16 - Jul - 1993

No problems were encountered at the Thai/Malaysian border and we set off about twenty minutes later. At the first service station, a half-hour break was taken to exchange currencies; the then exchange rate was THB 1000 equivalent to MYR 100 Malaysian Ringgit. I changed THB 324 and a £20 travellers cheque (at MYR 3.6/£1) and ended up with just under MYR 100. Feeling hungry and cold, I bought some fried rice and green beans, and put on my jeans.

We arrived at Butterworth at about 21:00. After crossing the road to the departing bus stop (something resembling a café) I discovered three black grease marks on my jeans, presumable from the few lumps I noticed on my backpack, which, I suspect, originated from the previous minibus. Tant Pis!

The bus for Kuala Lumpur (K.L.) arrived and I climbed aboard and took seat 14. As it was quite cool inside, I had to put some more clothing on. The seats reclined, with an extra rest for the legs appearing from under the seat. We departed at 21:45, and I prepared for as much sleep as possible; I was very tired.

Saturday, 17 - Jul - 1993

The bus arrived at K.L. at 06:15. On alighting from the bus, I noticed many taxi drivers offering their services. However, all I wanted to do was get my bearings and get to the Backpacker's Travellers Inn, at 60 Jalan Sultan, (in China Town). After chatting to a girl traveller, it was obvious that we were looking for the same place, so we ended up sharing a taxi (MYR 8 (£2.22)). It turned out that our destination was literally a few hundred metres from the bus stop! We were well and truly ripped off!

I took a room with a fan for MYR 25 (£6.94) per night, with the intention of spending two nights there. After having had a shower, I headed out into the city to find a bank. Fortunately, there was one just around a corner, with an ATM that accepted VISA. Suitably armed with a few more Ringgits, I set off for the railway station to find out the fare from K.L. to Singapore - MYR 34 (£9.44). The bus station was next on the agenda and the price was MYR 8.50 (£2.36). So I booked for tomorrow (Sunday) night's journey because, by now, I realised that there wasn't much to see in K.L. and I might as well use the overnight bus instead of paying MYR 25 for the room.

With time to kill, I started walking around, and to my amazement, discovered some spectacular looking buildings (including the railway station and associated buildings, and an Islamic mosque) as illustrated in the following images.

Photo MY-001	Photo MY-002	Photo MY-003	Photo MY-004
Photo MY-005
Photo MY-006	Photo MY-007	Photo MY-008	Photo MY-009

Photo MY-005 is a wide-angle view of the Stamford College/Maybank Tower Roundabout before the building of the Rapid Transport System.

To keep the weight of my luggage in check, I sent some T-shirts (weighing 1.2 Kg) back to the U.K., costing MYR 40.50 (£11.25), together with postcard number 5.

As night fell, K.L. took on a different appearance! The illuminated buildings were quite something. So, too, was the Central Market. As an added attraction, the Kawasaki Motorcycles Owners Club (KMOC) had a live show going on.

Back at the hostel, I got talking to a guy who knew a lot about Scuba diving. He suggested I do it at Port Douglas; to the north of Cairns. I then popped out for a Big Mac, fries and Sprite (5.24 MYR (£1.45)), before retiring, absolutely shattered.

Sunday, 18 - Jul - 1993

After a good night's sleep, I was up and ready by about 09:00. As it was cooler in the lounge than outside, I stayed in the hostel. Talking to another guest traveller, I described my proposed itinerary. He suggested I didn't stop at Jakarta (because of the city being polluted), and instead go directly to Bali.

At about 16:00, I checked out and went in search of the Hard Rock Cafe (HRC). I finally found it at 17:00, in a very sweaty state; it was very humid! As it happened, I had arrived at the start of happy hour - buy one, get one free! So I ordered a Carlsberg and got two! I feel that I could easily get thoroughly pi$$ed here, during the hour, and it wouldn't cost very much!

The HRC is located at 2, Jalan Sultan Ismail, next to the Concorde Hotel, to the north-east of China Town. This area has got to be the more-affluent part of Kuala Lumpur, as the Hilton Hotel and Club Med were also located nearby.

After ordering another Carlsberg and a double cheese burger, I left at 19:45 and took a comfortable stroll back to the bus station, passing the Telecom Centre.

Two other backpackers joined the queue for the bus to Singapore. We boarded at 22:20, but I had no seat number. I ended up having a seat by the window, after which, a very large Malaysian guy (a body builder?) sat next to me. The bus departed at 22:50 and my fellow passenger quickly fell asleep, intruding into my space!

Monday, 19 - Jul - 1993

We made a stop at 02:00 for about thirty minutes, where I bought two bottles of water for MYR 1.50 (£0.42) each. At 04:00 I was awoken with the instruction to leave the coach as we had arrived at the border with Singapore. "Take all your belongings with you" we were told.

Related Links: ------------------------ National Mosque of Malaysia Railway Station Sultan Abdul Samad Building