Wednesday 10 June 2009

Bangkok & Kuala Lumpur


My first Asia experience since ages started in Bangkok. After arriving at the new airport I took a bus into the city. Unfortunately it was rush hour and in Bangkok that means everything stands still. Almost three hours later I found a nice hotel near the Shukumvhit street. I’ve spent the rest of the evening strolling around in the neighborhood and recovered from my coffee hangover some hours before. In an Indian quarter I had a nice shisha with mint tea and the evening was perfect. At the next day I had my AirAsia flight to Kuala Lumpur. After a rapid drive to the airport I just wanted a quick check-in and then wait for boarding. The check-in area was a big surprise for me – numberless people waiting for check-in and queuing in long lines. It took me almost 45 minutes waiting for service and I was just able to get the flight in the last minute. After two hours flight I arrived in Kuala Lumpur. The first what I recognized was that sign system is existent but very inefficient. Many signs just lead to nowhere. It took ages and asking many peoples how to get to the city.

Kuala Lumpur is a nice little city (1.5 mill people). The twin towers dominate the scenery of the city and the radio tower close beside is almost as tall as the towers! The inner city is connected by a monorail and every important place can be reached in walking distance. China town and Litte India are the two important quarters beside the touristic places around the Bintang street. What always amazes me is authentic Asia food. Not the crap we get to eat at home! The interesting thing here is that the shops close already down at 22:00. In Bangkok life on the street is much longer going on.

Because Kuala Lumpur is a rather small city Melaka will be the next city tomorrow. It’s an important city and in former times very famous for trade. Probably after Melaka, Singapore will be the next station.

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