Kuala Lumpur

The Journey from Koh Tao took 27 hours, it began with a night boat sleeping below deck on rows of tiny beds laying shoulder to shoulder. The bus journey was more comfortable and once over the Malaysian boarder a storm wrapped around us, there was a lot of lighting, flashes more than every second as if there was a strobe light hanging from the clouds. We checked in to Reggae Mansion on the edge of chinatown, it is the most comfortable and luxurious accommodation I have stayed in all trip. The building is massive and kitted out with its own bar, gym, pool, cinema room, courtyards and interconnecting bridges. Our room was a 24 person dorm (the cheapest room) After entering the code on the frosted glass door it swings back revealing a big open space with seats running down the centre, either side there are rows of cubes one stacked on top of the other, inside them is where you sleep. It’s a nice cocoon and you have your own mirrored cabinet, power supply and light.

Exploring the inner workings of this city is exhausting, the heat here is on a different level to Thailand and it’s the humidity that really gets to you. One of the first things you notice is KL is a wealthy city, it has a mix of high rise and low buildings, the latter a mixture of neoclassical and art deco facades, a throwback to British rule. An underground and monorail system allows quick transport the city. Tropical vines growing up from the drains and between cracks in curved concrete bridges, fast food outlets everywhere you look. I think Malaysia is the first step in a staggered ascent back to the western world, but I don't think I'm ready to surface just yet. We visited the Iconic Petronius towers (the tallest twin towers in the world) it’s steel façade looks like shiny coins stacked on top of each other. One of the evenings we had drinks with a few friends from the mansion at a Skybar. The Night was stormy with low wispy clouds but the Petronius bathed in white light shone bright through and was repeatedly framed by lightning forks touching the city.

I came to Malaysia knowing very little about it but trying to unearth more I discovered the majority of the cities faces are made up of Malayans, Chinese and Indian. Malayans actually make up barely 50% of the population and one of the countries proud distinctions is that it welcomes other ethnic groups and they have a right to practice (but not preach) their own religion. Malaysia is an Islamic country and here religion and politics are deeply entwined. A Malayan is born a Muslim and cannot change religion and it is against the law to try and convert them, every citizen must carry around cards stating their faith, the government keeps a watchful eye on all media, censoring and prohibiting whatever they see fit. There are strict rules and laws on how to live and what to do with so many police enforcing them; for example the parks next to the Petronius Towers are lush and inviting but as soon as you take one step on the green to enjoy it you are whistled down or when I got told off for showering with the windows open. However Malaysia often appears to contradict itself, just enter one of KL’s enormous and plentiful shopping malls (one has a rollercoaster running round the ceiling) glittering names like Gucci, Topshop and Mark’s and Spencers greet you, they all have prints of western woman in lingerie displayed on their windows just like back home. This seems goes against Malaysia’s modest culture, yet there is clearly there is a market here and so I am left bamboozled; With one hand Malaysia seeks to uphold it’s tough laws and strict Islamic principles, but with the other it grasps and embraces modernity and western culture to a greater extent than any other Asian countries I have travelled to. I haven’t spend long enough here to grasp things fully with my opinions strung together by my own experience and facts from a handful of locals but Malaysia is fascinating county and it will be interesting to see how it responds to the ever increasing influence of westernisation.