Chapter 1
Day 1
Reaching for the tropics
My trip started in the early September, when I decided to leave for a trip. It was a very hot September day, and in my office everything was so quiet. No sounds, the phone was still, the computer had its low humming and the sun from my window was feeling burning on my skin. The office was empty and I could hear nothing but the voices of the far people from outside. It was 12 months that I wasn’t traveling. This year much happened and I didn’t have the chance to leave for a trip yet, but I kept on thinking of far and exotic destination, daydreaming, and wishing to be there all the time. So, in an effort to spend my time doing the thing that I love the most, doing traveling related things and reading about travels, I checked the price for a flight. It was in that moment. Exactly in that moment that all changed. When I clicked “Milan MXP to Bangkok” and the result was 500,00 Euro (tax inclusive) with the perfect timetable of my dreams, that I decided that it was a sign. The “Travelers Fairies” were sending me a message. I had to leave, and I took the chance.
After that I bought the tickets, that were meant to take me from Milan to Bangkok via Bahrain the day 28th October and to take me back, on the same reversed route, the day 17th November, I started to plan my trip. All along the year I gathered information about places that I wished to visit and those that I wished to see again. Among them, there were Philippines, Malaysia, Sulawesi (Indonesia), Laos, Viet Nam, Hong Kong, China, Burma and Thailand. It was hard to pick which places were suiting my trip at the best, but Airasia came to help me in this hard task. In fact, the low cost schedules, while matching them, allowed me to decide the cheapest and best timetabled route. At this point, after having decided the route, I had to make all the rest up, and time felt like speeding up, and soon was the time to leave.
It was 6.00 a.m. of the 28th October, when the Pullman left Genova in perfect time and after a 3 hours driving, through the North of Italy, we arrived at the airport. During the trip, I considered that I was after an year of stress, tensions and upsetting. So, it felt nice to leave all that behind. It was while considering all that, that my MP3 player started to play “I’m feeling Good” and I think that it was absolutely an appropriate soundtrack for those moments.
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Reeds driftin' on by
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good
I'm feeling good
We arrived at the airport in perfect time, it was 9.00 in the morning. I got my backpacks, and I went to the departure lounge. I had a seven-hours-long waiting before me. This wasn’t my longest waiting ever, but I can’t hide how boring it was. Listening at the MP3 player, reading top-to-down a full magazine about history, watching people passing by, checking, re-checking again and check one more time the flights timetables, then I started looking at people guessing where they were from, where they were going and what work they were probably doing (yes, that guy looks like a retired suq salesman, that other guy is a business guy from Germany, that guy is a professional in-airport-nose-picker from USA, that guy looks like an hitman from the Rio favelas… Better to stop staring at him), until the boredom took over me and I fell asleep on my backpacks. I don’t know if it was more me looking like a hibernated bear, of me hugging my backpack like it were a Teddy Bear. Or we were looking like a hibernated bear hugging his favourite Teddy Bear. My boring waiting reached a turning point when the Gulfair, finally, like a mirage into a desert that looked pretty much like an airport, opened the check-ins and I checked my backpack. Here I met Stefano, a single old-bag-carrier guy from Turin that shared with me trip to Bangkok. He was quite a funny and positive person.
The first flight left at 16.25 and we landed in Bahrain at 23.15 (local time). Among all the flights that I had in the previous trips, this was the worst one. I mean, it was very nice, compared at those that I took long time ago heading to USA or Poland, but still far below the standards of other companies that I took in my previous trips. But I can’t complain, you pay what you get. I took a cheap flight, and I’ve got what I deserved. Anyway, I’ll not complain as I was too happy of going for that trip.
I expected that the approaching to the Bahrain airport would be similar the one to Qatar. While approaching to Qatar by night it's easy to spot offshore oil rigs with the typical flame burning on the top. In Bahrain, the landscape was black. Then, all of a sudden, the city appeared below us. It was tidy, looked brand new with its perpendicular streets. The suq maze of street belongs to some fantasy as it was replaced by rational perpendicular streets planning. That night, with the clear sight, the city with its golden lights looked like a black velvet jewelery clothe crossed by golden and silver chains. It's luxurious, even from the sky.
As soon as we entered the luxurious airport, both me and Stefano were surprised to discover that our next flight was delayed of three hours. That means that instead of leaving at 2.30, it’d take off at 5.30. The reason of the delay was probably that in Thailand was going on a very huge flood, and in that days it was hitting hard on Bangkok too. Soon, started many scenes of desperation between the tourists as most of them, were losing their coincidences in Bangkok. As for me, beside being upset of the delay, I was relaxed as my next flight would be in the late afternoon, and I would have plenty of time to take it. All of a sudden, I reminded when I was booking the flights, and in the beginning, I was thinking to take a flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong with take-off at 16.30, but as I would land in Bangkok at 13.55 (original time before the delay), I was afraid that I’d have a too short window of time to take the coincidence, so I changed my plans for a later flight to Kuala Lumpur. I guess that, for one, I guessed right. The same Stefano was quite worried. His plans to arrive in Bangkok city and to meet his friend were crumbling for the fear of the flood. In a way or the other, thanks to a wifi connection, he got in touch with his friend and he told him to find a flight, or a way to go southward, to Phuket or some other place. Then, they’d get in touch some days later. I reassured him, telling him that in Bangkok airport there were many companies desks and he’d surely find a flight to Phuket or even Krabi.
I’m a caffeine addicted guy. The caffeine is a bitter alkaloid that act as a stimulant drug. It’s commonly found in Coffee, Tea and Kola Nuts. The average amount of caffeine in an espresso, my favorite coffee, is about 100 mg. This short intro about caffeine, is to justify somehow, the need that I had to take a coffee, and it looked like Stefano was feeling the same need too. So, I went with him to take a coffee along with a “Pain au chocolate” and a fruit salad, but when we were told the price in Euro, we were stunned. It was about 20 Euro! The same stuff in Italy could be about 8 Euro! Those guys in Bahrain must be totally crazy! We sat at a table, we kept on talking when we were joined briefly by an ugly, fat and sweaty Italian whorist. I didn’t like him. I think that he didn’t like me neither as I was talking about traveling and not about brothels. He asked about Thai cash (he called Thai money with the vulgar Italian version of “Penises”) and if we knew the local exchange rates, probably he felt the rush to run into some filthy brothel. So, after few failed attempts to talk about pay-for-sex, he said that he was in hurry as he had business that couldn’t wait and left us. I wonder if he was in line for a brain transplant and maybe some airport janitor found a dead cockroach to use as a donor. In the exchange, the filthy whorist, would gain a lot. Beside this guy, the caffeine jolt acted into a few seconds and soon after we were cheerful again (in spite of the expense). So, after a short stop at the bathroom, where many Arabian guys were showering themselves at the basins, turning the bathroom more like into a swamp, we took places at the sofas to try to sleep some hours, which became a very hard challenge. Thank to my new friend, we spent most of the time chatting about out adventures around the world, and he appeared like to be an expert about Brazil.
At 4.00 in the morning was broadcasted the Allah Akbar praying. I was sure that it should be at 5.00, but the clock shown 4.00. All people in a short time rose and the airport turned again far too noisy to relax. So, was still a short time left to wait and then we had our next flight.
The second airplane took off at 5.30 and landed in Bangkok at 16.55 local time. I was sitting far from Stefano. I was in the first line of the “Economy class”, with four seats in a row and three personal screens (that’s Economy Class). When I noticed this detail, I took my MP3 player and my “sleeping stuff” that means earplugs, eye mask and sedative in drops. Next to me was sitting Mr. Dutch Expat, Miss Thai and their son. They were quite silent people and when I asked a few things, they looked like they didn’t want to understand what I was saying. The food on board was a little worst than the one of the first flight, but the sleeping quality was much better (thanks to the sedatives).
The landing was nice and smooth and my arrival into the Bangkok airport was feeling like a coming back home. I stopped many times in the Bangkok International Airport, and she witnessed many of my wonderful trips, so I feel, somehow, bound to her. At this time, after the immigration, I said “Good Bye” to Stefano, with the promise to meet him again during this trip.
It looks like I’m not good keeping the promises.
As soon I went out the “Arrivals”, the nice smell of Thailand flew over me, and the familiar noises of the airport filled the air, announcements, people calling potential customers from their stalls, a low music and taxi drivers calling for possible customers “Hei Sir, Taxi?” or “Hwww, Tasy?” or just “Taxi?” miming the steering wheel with their hands.
No, thank you. Unless you can fly a plane.
I went almost running upstairs, at the Departure Lounge, where I had just in time to make my check-in for the next flight. Then, again through the customs, again waiting for a flight.
This time, finally in my beloved Thailand, I had a chance to take again one of my favorite coffees, a Black Coffee at the Black Canyon Coffee shop. I’m crazy for this coffee and any time I pass by Bangkok, I need to take one of those. The girl was so kind and the atmosphere so nice that made vanish the sense of feeling twisted after that trip. But in those moments, the MP3 player started the Thai song by the Venus Flytrap “Visa for love”
Visa extension for two years (If you prove alright)
If ya, ya wanna stay (Oh you won't be alone)
Visa for love
If you prove alright that's all
Visa for love
Thank you Thailand, you know me well.
After that I bought the tickets, that were meant to take me from Milan to Bangkok via Bahrain the day 28th October and to take me back, on the same reversed route, the day 17th November, I started to plan my trip. All along the year I gathered information about places that I wished to visit and those that I wished to see again. Among them, there were Philippines, Malaysia, Sulawesi (Indonesia), Laos, Viet Nam, Hong Kong, China, Burma and Thailand. It was hard to pick which places were suiting my trip at the best, but Airasia came to help me in this hard task. In fact, the low cost schedules, while matching them, allowed me to decide the cheapest and best timetabled route. At this point, after having decided the route, I had to make all the rest up, and time felt like speeding up, and soon was the time to leave.
It was 6.00 a.m. of the 28th October, when the Pullman left Genova in perfect time and after a 3 hours driving, through the North of Italy, we arrived at the airport. During the trip, I considered that I was after an year of stress, tensions and upsetting. So, it felt nice to leave all that behind. It was while considering all that, that my MP3 player started to play “I’m feeling Good” and I think that it was absolutely an appropriate soundtrack for those moments.
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Reeds driftin' on by
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good
I'm feeling good
We arrived at the airport in perfect time, it was 9.00 in the morning. I got my backpacks, and I went to the departure lounge. I had a seven-hours-long waiting before me. This wasn’t my longest waiting ever, but I can’t hide how boring it was. Listening at the MP3 player, reading top-to-down a full magazine about history, watching people passing by, checking, re-checking again and check one more time the flights timetables, then I started looking at people guessing where they were from, where they were going and what work they were probably doing (yes, that guy looks like a retired suq salesman, that other guy is a business guy from Germany, that guy is a professional in-airport-nose-picker from USA, that guy looks like an hitman from the Rio favelas… Better to stop staring at him), until the boredom took over me and I fell asleep on my backpacks. I don’t know if it was more me looking like a hibernated bear, of me hugging my backpack like it were a Teddy Bear. Or we were looking like a hibernated bear hugging his favourite Teddy Bear. My boring waiting reached a turning point when the Gulfair, finally, like a mirage into a desert that looked pretty much like an airport, opened the check-ins and I checked my backpack. Here I met Stefano, a single old-bag-carrier guy from Turin that shared with me trip to Bangkok. He was quite a funny and positive person.
The first flight left at 16.25 and we landed in Bahrain at 23.15 (local time). Among all the flights that I had in the previous trips, this was the worst one. I mean, it was very nice, compared at those that I took long time ago heading to USA or Poland, but still far below the standards of other companies that I took in my previous trips. But I can’t complain, you pay what you get. I took a cheap flight, and I’ve got what I deserved. Anyway, I’ll not complain as I was too happy of going for that trip.
I expected that the approaching to the Bahrain airport would be similar the one to Qatar. While approaching to Qatar by night it's easy to spot offshore oil rigs with the typical flame burning on the top. In Bahrain, the landscape was black. Then, all of a sudden, the city appeared below us. It was tidy, looked brand new with its perpendicular streets. The suq maze of street belongs to some fantasy as it was replaced by rational perpendicular streets planning. That night, with the clear sight, the city with its golden lights looked like a black velvet jewelery clothe crossed by golden and silver chains. It's luxurious, even from the sky.
As soon as we entered the luxurious airport, both me and Stefano were surprised to discover that our next flight was delayed of three hours. That means that instead of leaving at 2.30, it’d take off at 5.30. The reason of the delay was probably that in Thailand was going on a very huge flood, and in that days it was hitting hard on Bangkok too. Soon, started many scenes of desperation between the tourists as most of them, were losing their coincidences in Bangkok. As for me, beside being upset of the delay, I was relaxed as my next flight would be in the late afternoon, and I would have plenty of time to take it. All of a sudden, I reminded when I was booking the flights, and in the beginning, I was thinking to take a flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong with take-off at 16.30, but as I would land in Bangkok at 13.55 (original time before the delay), I was afraid that I’d have a too short window of time to take the coincidence, so I changed my plans for a later flight to Kuala Lumpur. I guess that, for one, I guessed right. The same Stefano was quite worried. His plans to arrive in Bangkok city and to meet his friend were crumbling for the fear of the flood. In a way or the other, thanks to a wifi connection, he got in touch with his friend and he told him to find a flight, or a way to go southward, to Phuket or some other place. Then, they’d get in touch some days later. I reassured him, telling him that in Bangkok airport there were many companies desks and he’d surely find a flight to Phuket or even Krabi.
I’m a caffeine addicted guy. The caffeine is a bitter alkaloid that act as a stimulant drug. It’s commonly found in Coffee, Tea and Kola Nuts. The average amount of caffeine in an espresso, my favorite coffee, is about 100 mg. This short intro about caffeine, is to justify somehow, the need that I had to take a coffee, and it looked like Stefano was feeling the same need too. So, I went with him to take a coffee along with a “Pain au chocolate” and a fruit salad, but when we were told the price in Euro, we were stunned. It was about 20 Euro! The same stuff in Italy could be about 8 Euro! Those guys in Bahrain must be totally crazy! We sat at a table, we kept on talking when we were joined briefly by an ugly, fat and sweaty Italian whorist. I didn’t like him. I think that he didn’t like me neither as I was talking about traveling and not about brothels. He asked about Thai cash (he called Thai money with the vulgar Italian version of “Penises”) and if we knew the local exchange rates, probably he felt the rush to run into some filthy brothel. So, after few failed attempts to talk about pay-for-sex, he said that he was in hurry as he had business that couldn’t wait and left us. I wonder if he was in line for a brain transplant and maybe some airport janitor found a dead cockroach to use as a donor. In the exchange, the filthy whorist, would gain a lot. Beside this guy, the caffeine jolt acted into a few seconds and soon after we were cheerful again (in spite of the expense). So, after a short stop at the bathroom, where many Arabian guys were showering themselves at the basins, turning the bathroom more like into a swamp, we took places at the sofas to try to sleep some hours, which became a very hard challenge. Thank to my new friend, we spent most of the time chatting about out adventures around the world, and he appeared like to be an expert about Brazil.
At 4.00 in the morning was broadcasted the Allah Akbar praying. I was sure that it should be at 5.00, but the clock shown 4.00. All people in a short time rose and the airport turned again far too noisy to relax. So, was still a short time left to wait and then we had our next flight.
The second airplane took off at 5.30 and landed in Bangkok at 16.55 local time. I was sitting far from Stefano. I was in the first line of the “Economy class”, with four seats in a row and three personal screens (that’s Economy Class). When I noticed this detail, I took my MP3 player and my “sleeping stuff” that means earplugs, eye mask and sedative in drops. Next to me was sitting Mr. Dutch Expat, Miss Thai and their son. They were quite silent people and when I asked a few things, they looked like they didn’t want to understand what I was saying. The food on board was a little worst than the one of the first flight, but the sleeping quality was much better (thanks to the sedatives).
The landing was nice and smooth and my arrival into the Bangkok airport was feeling like a coming back home. I stopped many times in the Bangkok International Airport, and she witnessed many of my wonderful trips, so I feel, somehow, bound to her. At this time, after the immigration, I said “Good Bye” to Stefano, with the promise to meet him again during this trip.
It looks like I’m not good keeping the promises.
As soon I went out the “Arrivals”, the nice smell of Thailand flew over me, and the familiar noises of the airport filled the air, announcements, people calling potential customers from their stalls, a low music and taxi drivers calling for possible customers “Hei Sir, Taxi?” or “Hwww, Tasy?” or just “Taxi?” miming the steering wheel with their hands.
No, thank you. Unless you can fly a plane.
I went almost running upstairs, at the Departure Lounge, where I had just in time to make my check-in for the next flight. Then, again through the customs, again waiting for a flight.
This time, finally in my beloved Thailand, I had a chance to take again one of my favorite coffees, a Black Coffee at the Black Canyon Coffee shop. I’m crazy for this coffee and any time I pass by Bangkok, I need to take one of those. The girl was so kind and the atmosphere so nice that made vanish the sense of feeling twisted after that trip. But in those moments, the MP3 player started the Thai song by the Venus Flytrap “Visa for love”
Visa extension for two years (If you prove alright)
If ya, ya wanna stay (Oh you won't be alone)
Visa for love
If you prove alright that's all
Visa for love
Thank you Thailand, you know me well.
Day 2
Kuala Lumpur
The airplane for Kuala Lumpur took off in perfect time. While booking the flight I was asked to pick my seat, so I chosen a seat next to the window. Next to me, was sitting a middle-aged man and then a Pakistani guy that soon after the take off changed his seat. Just after the taking off, I started to talk with the middle-aged man, which name was Tim. He was an expat from London that moved to live in Kuala Lumpur. He said that once every year he comes back in UK, but he always comes back to Malaysia earlier than he should. I can understand him very well. I mean, I love UK, but in my daydreams I’m an expat living in Thailand. He asked me about my trip and I shown him my “Red Book”. The “Red Book” is a booklet with handwritten annotations and hand-drawn maps (the way I draw boats gathered much success around the world, and it looks like my boats are real superstars now). He said that he was quite impressed by the fact that I wasn’t using some electronic gadget like a smartphone or an Ipad. I told him that I prefer to use something that doesn’t need batteries to be used, and he said that it’s strange that a young guy uses something so “old fashioned”. He said that he considered that I must love travelling very much if I make it “so personal”, even having a sort of “physical relationship” with it, handwriting my stuff in that paper booklet.
Yes, I do.
While getting closer to Kuala Lumpur he gave me many advice about the city, what to see, what wasn’t worth. By the way, some information that I found in an Italian forum (I wrote the internet address in the beginning of the Diary) were more updated than his information. Then, they appeared. The dark below the plane was randomly glittering with the houses and street lights. In a matter of minutes, the more and more lights were passing by, and then, they appeared. Two hugging silver giants, two crystal twins sisters holding by hand, two lovers under diamond and silver sheets. The Petronas Twin Towers appeared in all their beauty, huge and beautiful, to announce me that we were almost arrived. Tim interrupted this amazing scene talking again. He gave me his address, his mail and his phone number. He said that he hoped to meet me again for dinner someday.
No, I don’t.
Then, after the landing at 22.40 local time, we parted our ways. He met his friend that came to take him with a car, and I went to my Skybus that took me in Kuala Lumpur, at the Sentral Station (Sentral with “S” not “C” of Central). The first feeling was that the LCC Airport isn’t really big, but is quite nice and busy. The LCC terminal of the Airport is some kilometers far from the International Airport called KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport), while LCC means “Low Cost Carriers” Terminal, most of it taken by Air Asia. Outside the airport, it was very hot and humid. It wasn’t so bad, I mean, it was humid as it just stopped raining, and I loved that heat, and my memories went straight at the cold days that were in Italy at the same time. The bus terminal is just outside the airport and it’s quite easy to find the Skybus. I took my seat near some Chinese people, next a window, and soon we left for Kuala Lumpur. The drive is about an hour long and I’ve to say that, beside the very cold Air-Con, is very nice.
The music in my MP3 player was on again. The song that I remember in those moments was a very sexy song by Touch and Go “Straight to Number One”, that felt like a countdown to a welcoming place.
Let’s go straight to number one…
From the dark of the outskirts of the city, appeared the two hugging giants that watch over the city. You can see the Petronas Towers from many parts of the city, and at night, with their lights on, are easy to be spotted.
The Sky Bus left me at Sentral Station, but it was too late for the Monorail that should take me at the hotel, so I had to take a Taxi or “Teksi”.
The Teksi Mafia
While gathering informations about kuala Lumpur I’ve read about the so called “Teksi Mafia”, that it’s quite the same of the Phuket “Tuk Tuk Mafia”. In Malysia, Taxis have the compulsive order to use the taximeter, but non of them use it. Instead of it, they try to bargain to rip the tourists off. Moreover, the Taxi is the less suggested way of transportation seen the heavy traffic all around the city. In past were reported also aggressions to tourists that complained the inflated prices and that tried to picture the sign that invite the customers to not bargain and use the taximeter. The official suggested solution is to go to a Teksi desk and buy a voucher for a trip. So, you pay the right price at the Teksi agency and the driver can’t bargain. Hoping that he’ll not deliver you in the wrong side of the city because you used the voucher instead accepting to be ripped off.
As I learnt from various forums and institutional websites, I went, after a long stroll hoping to get the last ride of the monorail, which already left, to the Teksi Desk. The Teksi Desk is a stall where the Teksi Agency sells vouchers for the ride and you don’t have to bargain with the driver. It’s a good way to avoid a scam, and it’s still a good way to get yourself lost.
If the driver is a son of a bitch.
I went on the Teksi, I gave my vouchers and I told him where I was my hotel, in Jalan Sultan Ismail, near the Raja Chulan Monorail Station. He drove all his way, he shown me around, he looked quite friendly and was giving a lot of information. Then he stopped, he unloaded my bag and said “You see, the place is there”, then he jumped on his car, and speeded away. It looked like in the cartoons, when somebody runs away and leaves just a cloud of smoke.
It was a street, at night, in the middle of nowhere. Or better, surrounded by buildings. A street that I couldn’t find on my map. A street somewhere, in some place. At a first glance, it was a ghetto. I didn’t lose my spirit. I was on holiday, my first trip after fourteen months and nothing could stop me. By the way, I left my knife at home when I learn that it was forbidden to take it in Hong Kong and Police could take it from me. I started to walk down the street, on cracked pavements and broken drainage manholes, with the hotel voucher in an hand, the map in the other. I went down, walking, walking and walking. Checking all the side street, looking for that hotel, but nothing. The street was quite desert and all around were some no-so-nice looking guys. Actually, I never felt in danger while there, but, I preferred to find a shelter, especially because it was already late. So, I still tried to stop some guys to ask if they knew where the hotel was, but nobody knew how to help me. Everybody was extremely kind with me. Until when, keeping on searching came the 2.30 in the morning. At this point, I was too tired to keep on that way, and I entered the first clean-looking hotel, with the promise to search for my hotel the next day. They still had one room left, it was small, without Air-Con nor TV, but nice. I took it, not knowing that I was going to face a sleepless night in the heat of that room. It was exactly the same feeling of when I go at the Swedish sauna, but without the nice smell of wood. I guess that, if I spent the night outside, I wouldn’t had suffered that heat.
The next morning at 6.30 I was already up, showered and leaving the hotel. Now, in the day light, all looked different. A lot of busy people was around, the colors of the place were strong and the sun was burning. In short I learnt that I was in the Chow Kit neighborhood. From there, it was easy to find the Chow Kit Monorail Station, take a ticket and got to the Raja Chulan station where I found my hotel just outside the station.
The first day of traveling from Italy to Malaysia, in spite some small problems with the delayed plane and the scammer teksi driver, was really great, I loved it, and the second one just started in the best way. I was looking forward to this trip.
The night pictures of this group were taken another night in Jalan Sultan Ismail, I placed them here as I didn't dare to take my camera out of the bag that night but I still wanted to give an idea of how looks Kuala Lumpur by night.
Yes, I do.
While getting closer to Kuala Lumpur he gave me many advice about the city, what to see, what wasn’t worth. By the way, some information that I found in an Italian forum (I wrote the internet address in the beginning of the Diary) were more updated than his information. Then, they appeared. The dark below the plane was randomly glittering with the houses and street lights. In a matter of minutes, the more and more lights were passing by, and then, they appeared. Two hugging silver giants, two crystal twins sisters holding by hand, two lovers under diamond and silver sheets. The Petronas Twin Towers appeared in all their beauty, huge and beautiful, to announce me that we were almost arrived. Tim interrupted this amazing scene talking again. He gave me his address, his mail and his phone number. He said that he hoped to meet me again for dinner someday.
No, I don’t.
Then, after the landing at 22.40 local time, we parted our ways. He met his friend that came to take him with a car, and I went to my Skybus that took me in Kuala Lumpur, at the Sentral Station (Sentral with “S” not “C” of Central). The first feeling was that the LCC Airport isn’t really big, but is quite nice and busy. The LCC terminal of the Airport is some kilometers far from the International Airport called KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport), while LCC means “Low Cost Carriers” Terminal, most of it taken by Air Asia. Outside the airport, it was very hot and humid. It wasn’t so bad, I mean, it was humid as it just stopped raining, and I loved that heat, and my memories went straight at the cold days that were in Italy at the same time. The bus terminal is just outside the airport and it’s quite easy to find the Skybus. I took my seat near some Chinese people, next a window, and soon we left for Kuala Lumpur. The drive is about an hour long and I’ve to say that, beside the very cold Air-Con, is very nice.
The music in my MP3 player was on again. The song that I remember in those moments was a very sexy song by Touch and Go “Straight to Number One”, that felt like a countdown to a welcoming place.
Let’s go straight to number one…
From the dark of the outskirts of the city, appeared the two hugging giants that watch over the city. You can see the Petronas Towers from many parts of the city, and at night, with their lights on, are easy to be spotted.
The Sky Bus left me at Sentral Station, but it was too late for the Monorail that should take me at the hotel, so I had to take a Taxi or “Teksi”.
The Teksi Mafia
While gathering informations about kuala Lumpur I’ve read about the so called “Teksi Mafia”, that it’s quite the same of the Phuket “Tuk Tuk Mafia”. In Malysia, Taxis have the compulsive order to use the taximeter, but non of them use it. Instead of it, they try to bargain to rip the tourists off. Moreover, the Taxi is the less suggested way of transportation seen the heavy traffic all around the city. In past were reported also aggressions to tourists that complained the inflated prices and that tried to picture the sign that invite the customers to not bargain and use the taximeter. The official suggested solution is to go to a Teksi desk and buy a voucher for a trip. So, you pay the right price at the Teksi agency and the driver can’t bargain. Hoping that he’ll not deliver you in the wrong side of the city because you used the voucher instead accepting to be ripped off.
As I learnt from various forums and institutional websites, I went, after a long stroll hoping to get the last ride of the monorail, which already left, to the Teksi Desk. The Teksi Desk is a stall where the Teksi Agency sells vouchers for the ride and you don’t have to bargain with the driver. It’s a good way to avoid a scam, and it’s still a good way to get yourself lost.
If the driver is a son of a bitch.
I went on the Teksi, I gave my vouchers and I told him where I was my hotel, in Jalan Sultan Ismail, near the Raja Chulan Monorail Station. He drove all his way, he shown me around, he looked quite friendly and was giving a lot of information. Then he stopped, he unloaded my bag and said “You see, the place is there”, then he jumped on his car, and speeded away. It looked like in the cartoons, when somebody runs away and leaves just a cloud of smoke.
It was a street, at night, in the middle of nowhere. Or better, surrounded by buildings. A street that I couldn’t find on my map. A street somewhere, in some place. At a first glance, it was a ghetto. I didn’t lose my spirit. I was on holiday, my first trip after fourteen months and nothing could stop me. By the way, I left my knife at home when I learn that it was forbidden to take it in Hong Kong and Police could take it from me. I started to walk down the street, on cracked pavements and broken drainage manholes, with the hotel voucher in an hand, the map in the other. I went down, walking, walking and walking. Checking all the side street, looking for that hotel, but nothing. The street was quite desert and all around were some no-so-nice looking guys. Actually, I never felt in danger while there, but, I preferred to find a shelter, especially because it was already late. So, I still tried to stop some guys to ask if they knew where the hotel was, but nobody knew how to help me. Everybody was extremely kind with me. Until when, keeping on searching came the 2.30 in the morning. At this point, I was too tired to keep on that way, and I entered the first clean-looking hotel, with the promise to search for my hotel the next day. They still had one room left, it was small, without Air-Con nor TV, but nice. I took it, not knowing that I was going to face a sleepless night in the heat of that room. It was exactly the same feeling of when I go at the Swedish sauna, but without the nice smell of wood. I guess that, if I spent the night outside, I wouldn’t had suffered that heat.
The next morning at 6.30 I was already up, showered and leaving the hotel. Now, in the day light, all looked different. A lot of busy people was around, the colors of the place were strong and the sun was burning. In short I learnt that I was in the Chow Kit neighborhood. From there, it was easy to find the Chow Kit Monorail Station, take a ticket and got to the Raja Chulan station where I found my hotel just outside the station.
The first day of traveling from Italy to Malaysia, in spite some small problems with the delayed plane and the scammer teksi driver, was really great, I loved it, and the second one just started in the best way. I was looking forward to this trip.
The night pictures of this group were taken another night in Jalan Sultan Ismail, I placed them here as I didn't dare to take my camera out of the bag that night but I still wanted to give an idea of how looks Kuala Lumpur by night.