Our journey home started with a short hop on a rather bouncy plane (there was a lot of turbulence, I was watching the film ‘Interstellar’ and it felt like I was getting the 4D experience!) to Kuala Lumpur.
We stayed at the rather salubrious 5-star Shangri-La Hotel (got a deal when we booked in Feb) which is the exact opposite to everything else about our trip – opulent and palatial, but a nice treat when you can hardly walk from the mountain hike.
Bearing with the pain, we had a wander around the local vicinity. The hotel was very close to the Petronas Twin Towers, in the food court of which we ended up for dinner. It was extremely busy with locals and families so we thought this was a safe bet! After almost two weeks of rice and noodles we opted for some Malaysian fast food – burgers & chips (not MD or BK, a Malaysian joint, I hasten to add) and perused the shopping mall that is the part of the tower complex.
Back at the hotel we tested out their Jacuzzi, steam room and sauna to see whether that would ease the aches and pains from the mountain climb (we both looked like we’d aged about 40 years, the way we were walking). Sleeping was not a problem that evening!
Breakfast was a smorgasbord of continental, cooked English, Malaysian, Japanese, cereals, fruit, juices, Indian and Chinese; there was even a white and a dark chocolate fountain for your fruit!!! A massage was booked as the legs were so painful from the hike and there was chance to relax out by the pool until the time came. The ‘Rescue Release’ massage was described as customised firm massage treatment to focus on relieving muscle tension and stress where you need it most. Deep tissue massages in every sore place on my legs more like; the masseuse even found sore places I didn’t know I had! It did help ease the pain to a dull throb and enabled me to walk more human-like again though.
The Petronas Twin Towers are 452m tall with 88 floors and tower over the Kuala Lumpur skyline. A trip up them involved firstly travelling in a lift at 5-6m/sec to the 41st floor, 170m above the ground; here you can walk across the Skybridge, the double-deck bridge between the two towers. This vantage point provides great views of the city. After 10 mins, you are whisked up to the 86th floor, 370m above the ground to the observation deck, where views across Greater Kuala Lumpur can be seen, as could the thick layer of smog that hung over the city like a blanket. 20 mins allowed time to see the views as well as some exhibits that were present on the deck. Then it was back down again to conveniently emerge into the gift shop. All in all the process took about ¾ hour.
Kuala Lumpur Tower (abbreviated as KL Tower), a member of the World Federation of Great Towers, has an indoor observation deck at 276m above the ground and an outdoor Sky Deck, at 421m above the ground. Given that the theme of the latter half of this trip seemed to involve high altitude, it seemed apt to finish the trip with a visit to this. It is also located in 'Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve' (aka KL Forest Eco Park), a small patch of (virgin) tropical rainforest sited in the heart of Kuala Lumpur that still (allegedly) preserves many species and features of the original rainforest that covered Kuala Lumpur at one time. It is s one of the oldest permanent forest reserves in the country and covers an area of approximately 11 hectares. After admiring the night skyline from the two decks, we had our penultimate (non-noodle/rice) meal before leaving.
After an early smorgasbord breakfast the next morning, we left for Kuala Lumpur International Airport for our trip home. The final touch was a visit to the 'KLIA Jungle Boardwalk', an accessible trail to a minute piece of natural rainforest at the centre core of the satellite building in the middle of the terminal.
So, another trip has ended and planning starts for next year.
Until the next time, Selamat tinggal .
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