Are we there yet? Wait, where is "there"?: Passing through Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...

Talor: I was really looking forward to Kuala Lumpur. We had been there before, but only for a couple of days going to and returning from Vietnam. I remembered Chinatown, where we had stayed, to be a fun and lively place with plenty of good cheap eats. That was two years ago when we weren't on a “budget”...

We had a nice comfortable flight on Air Asia, and took a bus to the outskirts of Chinatown. Got off the air-conditioned bus, and we were immediately reminded of how brutally hot and humid it got there. In just the few minutes it took for us to get our bearing, we were already soaked in sweat! And compared to laid-back Laos, the congested streets, the noise, the smells and the traffic was overwhelming, but we needed to find housing so we took a deep breath and walked towards the heart of Chinatown.

There were no shortage of accommodations, but unfortunately, what we found in our price range was pitiful... tiny windowless cells with shared baths for about $15 and rooms with a window that looked out into a dark alley and a skanky bath for $20... UGH! Even when we decided to up our budget and look at nicer hotels, the rooms were claustrophobic and musty. We finally settled on the Hotel Lok Ann where the gruff old man at the front desk showed us a decent-sized room with a window, a bath and AC for $18. It wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination and the plumbing was iffy, but it also had some funny retro furnishings that made it kinda fun.

Went out and visited our favorite noodle shop for a curry laksa (noodle soup in a spicy curry broth with pork, fried tofu and clams), and it was just as good as we remembered it! In fact, Chinatown and, especially Petaling Street with all of its vendors selling knock-off everything, hadn't changed a bit. There was something nice about being in familiar surroundings. We snacked on pork buns, curry puffs and fruit as we walked around in the heat remembering...

From our window, we looked out onto a liquor store/bar right across the street. We had wanted to go have a drink the last time we were in KL, because it seemed like a cool divey old man bar right on the sidewalk, but we didn't get the chance. So when it rained buckets the following night, we ran across, grabbed a couple of seats and ordered a bottle of Chinese rice wine, which was cheaper than beer. Booze is expensive in Malaysia because it's mostly Muslim and gets heavily taxed. Anyway, we settled in and spent a fun evening chatting with some of the shady characters in the joint, and watched the interesting array of kooks, drunks and tranny hookers walking by. The sour owner, who turns out to be a nice old man, was always either throwing someone out or keeping someone from coming into his bar, while his wife rang up the purchases. It was a fun night.

After another day of unbearable heat and torrential rainstorms, we decided to head to the East Coast where it supposedly has beautiful beaches, great diving, a relaxed vibe and a lot less traffic. But first, a quick stop in the town of Melaka, a couple of hours south of KL...

Erik: KL was a bit of a shock to the system. As happy as were to be out of smoky northern Laos, we weren't ready for the noise, heat, traffic and prices in this big city. KL's saving grace is the great variety of cheap street food to be had, and we weren't disappointed on that front. I was quite frustrated at the price of beer, though. It costs about three times the price of a big bowl of noodles for a small bottle of beer! The rice whiskey at the liquor shop/bar was an affordable alternative, and a fun diversion. Definitely some iffy characters in there, though. We spent a good hour chatting and buying alternate rounds with a couple of indian guys who in the end refused to tell us their names – as if that were on a need-to-know basis.

After a couple of days, we were ready to leave, but first we had to brave the gauntlet of Puduraya bus station, where you must dodge and weave through the thousand of fellow travelers and bus hawkers grab you as you search for buses going to your destination, trying to get a commission off of your ticket – and all the while your ears being assaulted by other hawkers screaming out bus destinations at the top of their lungs. We were definitely looking forward to a more quiet and peaceful Melaka.