Kuala Lumpur

Us in the airport, still looking pretty presentable

The orient. Heavy hot humid air. Feeling sticky from the moment of arrival. Spices and undefinable aromas filling the nostrils and the heart.

We spent the first three days in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur.

Petronas Towers, KL, worlds 4th highest towers

Like any capital, KL is a busy modern metropolis of skyscrapers and hurried life-style. Unlike most other capitals though, KL's "parks" are actually millions of years old rain-forest. In a small guided tour to a patch of this jungle I got instantly eaten up by mosquitos and the next day one of my hands was completely swollen up and almost immobile. That was our first lesson of this trip- nature is never far away in Asia and in no place can one be "safe".

Another experience that shook me up came from the tiny zoo immediately after. Holding a snake around our necks to make a photo. Having a snake phobia since youth my instant thought was- no, are you mad!? Yet fear exists so we can over-come it.Taking a deep breath and giving an agreeing nod to the little boy, I felt the snakes dry muscular tail curve around my neck and placed one hand near its head to hold it. I probably didn't breathe for the entire time, stiff as a post, not moving a muscle. Understood how afraid we had been only after the snake was safe away back in its box, because both our legs were shaking a bit and we were a bit out of breath. But I was more than happy to have taken a small step towards over-coming the phobia.

Me- sweaty, eaten up by mosquitos and heart racing with adrenalin

Yet another lesson was learning not to be paranoid against people robbing us all the time. Yes- S-E Asia is famous for its constant scams and triple prices for tourists, haggling, being hassled, and being treated as a cash machine. Kuala Lumpur however seems to be a subdued mix of eastern lackadaisical attitude and western civility. Our first instinct of course was not to trust the taxi drivers telling us the train has already finished for the night. Yeah right- and our hotel has burned down and the only available option is a five star hotel that they get commision from. Not so, Malaysian people seem to be friendly, smily and trustworthy and every time we doubted their words, we were forced to admit our mistake after.

On the whole the stay in KL was extremely enjoyable. Yes- everything was very pricey in S-E Asian terms and we over-streched our budget immensely. But it is a city we will go back to with pleasure for sure.

We couldn't wait to leave everything Western behind us though and get to the real part of the journey.

Hille