Boring Places...

Again several days passed since my last post. I was not idle and have been travelling several hundred kilometers. But let me retell you the highlights of the last few days.

On the day of the visit of the Petronas Towers three of my roommates and I and up the television tower in the evening. What a waste of money. To many reflections to get a good shot at the night in KL.

Von 20100602-KualaLumpur

Von 20100602-KualaLumpur

The next morning I was scheduled to go to the Batu Caves a place of hindu worship. But I heard that there will be public holidays in Malaysia and we will have problems getting our tickets north. I went for the ticket hunt and secured a ticket to the city of Ipoh, the culinary capital of Malaysia, nowhere else will you get so many different dishes and cheap at that than here.

I spent the rest of the afternoon walking through chinatown and relaxing in the hostel, before finally leaving the next morning to Ipoh. The teksi (taxi) driver was a strange kind of guy. He got me to my destination, but the conversation was strange. While telling him, that I probably won't come back to KL and that I am going to Thailand, he prised Thailand as a place where the girls are cheap, young and beautiful. I wonder if this is the only reason why people go to Thailand. There are definitely no beaches, temples and other sightseeing stuff.

What I really like about asia is the easy way everything is handled. I arrived to early at the busstation and prepared myself for a one hour wait. As it was the bus leaving an hour earlier still had a spot free and the guy at the counter changed the time on my ticket with a pen. I was on the bus to Ipoh.

One of the comments of my hotel on hostelworld.com was like this: The hotel is nice, but Ipoh is Ipoh.
I soon found out what this means. There is basically nothing todo except eating. The holidays urged me to get my ticket to my next destination Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands. After that I was bored. Even the internet in my hotel was not working. After complaining the owner sent me to McDonalds for the free wifi. How brainfucked is this? Being in a McDonalds while the culinary wealth of South East Asia is sitting next door. Sometimes I really wonder if I will pass the next sanity check.
When the night fell I did the only thing worthwhile in Ipoh: Visiting a night market. All in all it is pretty stupid. I just know that I won't buy a thing, because every little bit wants to be carried and I so don't like the idea of additional weight. Then why am I fighting myself through all those sellers who hope, that I am an easy target?

Yesterday saw the end to my Ipoh excursion. I was on the bus to the Cameron Highlands. The weather is like Germany in many ways. 10 to 20 degrees Celsius, tends to feel rather german to me. The cold is a reason why many Malay prefer to go here on their holidays. I have never seen so much Stop and Go on the road since arriving in Asia.

After finally reaching Tanah Rata I went looking for accommodation. I have made the error to book my hostel for sunday night instead of saturday when I was arriving. The first thing in the information center was buying the ticket to Pulau Penang, my last official stop in Malaysia, before crossing over to Thailand. The next thing the lady behind the counter said: No, kind Sir we can't help you with your hotel room. You need to walk in and ask for yourself. They will say to us that they are full in person You will have more luck.

I left my luggage and went for the hotel. I was lucky after five minutes I had my room for 240MYR (60€). I went back to fetch my luggage and wanted to thank the sales lady. I waited while she served another customer.

lady: Sorry, Sir. Everything is full because of the holidays.
customer: can't you make some calls to inquire for rooms for me and my family?
lady: No, Sir. You need to ask the hotels yourself, if we are to call the hotels just say that they are full.
She spotted me then.
lady @me: Did you find a room?
me: yes. 240MYR for a double room.
lady nearly shoking: You heard the man, Sir. 240MYR for a double room. Every hotel is full.

I so don't get it, why the price means everything is full. But I think I had made a deal. The other hotel rooms I found on the internet would have cost me from 400 to 500MYR. Ok. I am a Backpacker but I am still rich compared to a lot of people here.

Now a good nights sleep later, I am sure that I will get better hotels in Germany for 60€ a night. But what the heck. I had a roof above my head. I will be at the cheap backpackers tonight and finally having a look at Tea and Strawberry Plantations here in Cameron Highlands.

By the way. I am sitting in a Starbucks for the free Internet. Definitely better atmosphere than the McDonalds.