Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Yesterday when we went to the tourist infomation centre in Melaka Town Square we were reassured that there was no need to buy a bus ticket for KL in advance as buses ran hourly all day on many different bus companies. Today we took the local bus 17 back to Melaka Sentral only to discover that every single bus was booked out back to KL! The only option was an additional late service that had been added which was departing at 9pm getting into KL around 11pm! We had already lined up accommodation in KL so we thought we would just wait for the late bus...9 hours in the bus terminal made us glad for the free wi-fi at McDonalds and the fact that Melaka Sentral is one of the only airconditioned bus terminals in Malaysia.

We slept like logs which was great before a quick lunch in Chinatown. Later we checked out some ideas for forward planning and decided against the overland route to Thailand given reports of trouble in the southern provinces and near the Malalysia/Thai border. Instead we are now going direct to Phuket on AirAsia the day after tomorrow. We enjoyed another great cheap meal in Chinatown for dinner before calling it a night. Tomorrow we will explore KL.

Exploring KL day. Started off from our hostel in Chinatown and headed north to the Menara Kualar Lumpur tower which is atop the 10.5 hectare rainforrest which serves as the city's 'green lung'. We didnt go up the tower but instead went on a free 45 minute guided tour through the 3 million year old rainforest. Afterwards we continued toward the Petronas Towers and golden triangle precinct for a stop and a drink. Sweltering heat during the afternoon so I was a welcome relief to get back to our air-conditioned room. We had a reprieve from Asian food for one night and enjoyed a pizza for a change. Stopped by the internet cafe to print our flight and hotel booking and then to bed.