Being in Kuala Lumpur really seems to be a mild escape back to the western world.  KFC, McDonalds, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Subway, and so many others are to be found on just about any block.  Although, I can’t say we have visited any of them.  We spent a nice couple of days in Kuala Lumpur heading checking out the Petronas Towers and KL Tower.  Locally the Petronas Towers are called the Twin Towers.  At one point they laid claim to the tallest building in the world.  They are an impressive sight to see with their design based on Islamic art.  We didn’t go up into the towers as it was pretty pricey, but just down the road there is the KL Tower which is the seventh tallest communications tower in the world and is taller than the Petronas Towers (because it is on a hill).  The KL Tower gives you an amazing 360 degree view of Kuala Lumpur.   While in Kuala Lumpur, tons of people were streaming into town by the bus loads as it was the end of Ramadan.  At this point nearly everyone walking around the city was a tourist and at times you were shoulder to shoulder down the sidewalk.

(KL Tower)

After a couple days in Kuala Lumpur we headed back into central Malaysia to visit the famous Cameron Highlands area.  Cameron Highlands is a montane forest area that has an altitude ranging from 3500-6000 ft. and boasts a broad range of flora.  The area is home to many tea plantations, strawberry farms, and plant nurseries.  On our first day we jumped on a local bus to head about 5km north to see the BOH tea plantation.  This might not have been a great idea, as the traffic was so bad from everyone still being on holiday because of Ramadan.  Once we made it to our drop off we had a 3.5km walk to the plantation up a winding single lane road.  It was amazing looking out into the valley and seeing all the tea plants.  Along the road we could also see beautiful flowers everywhere.  This was quite the escape from the city.

(BOH Tea Plantation)

After we toured the BOH tea plantation we started our trek back to our guest house.  Unfortunately for us that meant we would have to walk through the regular afternoon rain shower.  It already had been a bit cloudy so after getting a little wet it was a bit chilly.  While walking back we strolled by the many strawberry farms, plant nurseries, and few cactus houses.  This entire area is just a natural green house for growing just about anything.

(A little strawberry farm)

That evening we were exhausted from the day and sat down to enjoy some yummy naan, dhal, and curries.  As we were just finishing up our food four people sat down at the table next to us and one of them immediately started talking to me.  When he found out we are from the U.S. he got super excited.  He was a 22 year old from Pakistan visiting two of the others who were also Pakistani, and the fourth was a lady from the Philippines.  This was the first time this guy had met someone from the U.S., as it was the first time I have gotten to talk to someone from Pakistan.  He was super nice and immediately got started about how terrorist make his country look really bad when it isn’t.  For most of the Pakistani population get really upset with the terrorists and wish Americans would understand that. Side note: looking back at this conversation with him it was almost at this very time that Pakistan had opened fire on India during a cease fire.  He explained how most of the people are very simple people and it seems that a vast majority of them don’t really know what is going on in the country.  Megan noticed while he would look at her and listen to her, he had a hard time directly talking to her, as he would direct questions about her to me.  The other two, who had been living in Malaysia for awhile, talked to Megan easily.  While we talked, which ended up being for a couple of hours, he insisted I eat with him from his plate.  He was very insistent, and I found out later that it would have been very disrespectful if I didn’t.  Megan spent most of the time talking to the Philippine lady, who was so energetic and bubbly it seemed like she was on speed.  She worked at a hotel as housekeeping to send money back to her children and parents in the Philippines who she hadn’t seen in four years.  This was definitely one of those fun and interesting cultural moments.

The following day we lounged around a bit in the morning and decided to head out for a small trek to a waterfall and see if we could see some more jungle flora.  All around town there are small trails that make for some very scenic hikes.  During the hike we stopped every few feet to take pictures of some other flower, tree, or fungi.  I think we were like excited little kids running around with cameras.

The next day we were back on the bus for Kuala Lumpur.  Most of our time before our flight to Borneo was to be used to research out the rest of our S.E. Asia trip and get ready for South America.  While we did get to do this, we spent maybe a little too much time in the shopping district.  I ended up caving, go figure, and buying a netbook (Thinkpad X120E) to help keep some of my programming/IT skills fresh.  At least that’s what I keep telling myself.  We also had to pick-up a new tripod for our camera as the other was junk.  We did go out a couple times after sunset to see the Petronas Towers at night.  There is a huge park next to the towers and it made for an amazing viewing area when the towers were lit up.

(Petronas Towers)

Before heading out we also had to make a day trip through the Botanic Park.  This was most rewarding, especially the orchid area.  I think most of the pictures tell a better story.