Beware of bag thieves - 20.03.2012
I'd stayed with a few friends in St Kilda up until my flight to Kuala Lumpur at which time everyone i knew had embarked on their journey home. It was 5am and joined by a cavalry of sleepy eyed backpackers armed with travel pillows and books i caught a bus to Melbourne International Airport. I'd had little sleep, but filled with the memories of times spent i pressed my face to the bus window watching the last Australian sunrise i'd probably ever see.
Airport rituals and a sense of worth
After a long flight and 2 bus rides through some of the more deprived areas of Malaysia i'd arrived in Central Kuala Lumpur.
The metropolitan area of Kuala Lumpur houses some 7.2 million people and most of the capital city still remains densely populated.
Although i tried not to conform to textbook backpacker trends and traits, its hard to pass up on cheap food and lodge, which is why i occasionally found myself loitering around the bars and market stalls of Petaling Street. Petaling Street is considered the China Town of Kuala Lumpur and its culture has adopted a shifty bartering system which applies to both purchasing pirated DVD's, fake designer goods or just a bite to eat. Most of the bars in the area also double up as guest houses, offering cheap mixed bed dorms. My hotel room overlooked the whole district were i watched the consistent flow of residents pass through the small streets in riot sized formations. They would browse the street side stalls owned by passionate clerks who would chant religious scriptures through megaphones in an effort to lure residents in before making the hard sell for mobile phone contracts or electronical goods, completely condemning tourists. The humidity in my apartment block was almost unbearable and i spent most evenings utilising the air con, covering the windows in sheets and towels to block out the overpowering street lights and using the subtle sounds of post rock to drown out the sounds of the busy, and somehow productive nightlife outside.
My travel guide considered the area i stayed to be majorly corrupt so i walked the streets super wary of theft and took all advice as a deceitful ploy to take my money. This was the first stop on my journey and the precautions i took were over the top, so i guess i was slightly worried about the fact i was alone and relying solely on the literature i had. After a night spent gathering information from some local nomads about town i woke up early to start a day of exploration. I took back roads to and from the city centre in an attempt to uncover the raw underbelly of Kuala Lumpur. As i wandered around aimlessly the Berjaya Time Square Mall and the Petronas Towers became my navigational point of reference. It starts to get dark around 19:30 this time of the year so i made the decision to embark on my intricate journey back to China Town, and after a failed attempt and infiltrating the tallest hotel in Kuala Lumpur to grab an ariel shot of the City i took a leisurely stroll home.
I started taking pictures of people sleeping on the street as it seemed a pretty common practice here, people pick there spot, do there laundry and sleep in the most obscure places. I attempted to photograph a man sleeping amongst a pile of cats down an alley at night but got chased off by him and his cats.
The day before i left Kuala Lumpur i decided to take a trip to the Batu Caves. The bus journey was long and i seemed to be the only westerner travelling this way which gave the bus driver an excuse to milk me for money. When i finally got to the Caves all i wanted to do was see the monkeys but was quite taken back by the size of the sculptures and statues. The stairs to the top were nothing short of exhausting. On the way back everyone seemed to be getting cabs back to the city, although foolishly i decided to find the bus stop that would take me home which seemed to be embedded in a shanty town. I waited here until it started to get dark, by this point i was surrounded by locals who did nothing but stare and circle me, i attempted to make small talk, with no response. Just as i started fearing for my life i spotted a bus coming my way, looked down at the numbers i'd scribbled on my hand and jumped aboard. The highlight of Kuala Lumpur was the Blue Boy Vegetarian Food Centre, it was an open air restaurant tucked behind some houses and the guy running it was wildly eccentric and wanted nothing more than for you to try his wife's fascinating vegetarian medleys.
I set an alarm for 4am to catch a flight to Cambodia, after many attempts by my taxi driver to take me all the way to the Airport i decided to take the bus from the bus station due to cost. I went for a bus company I'd researched the night before, there is a tendency for people to pose as coach drivers, collect money from you and run off here. The journey to the airport took 2 hours, preventing me from catching my flight. After a plea for help at the customer service desk i purchased the next available ticket to Cambodia. This left me stranded at Kuala Lumpur airport which i didn't mind too much as i had recently seen the movie The Terminal. Kuala Lumpur has 2 airports, 1 being for budget airlines and the other for more commercial airlines. I quickly got a shuttle bus to the fancier of the 2 to set up camp. After indulging myself on all the free food i could (samples, fast food ketchup, and a loaf of bread) i walked the sky bridge and found some benches that looked out towards the run way. Setting up a pillow and a blanket i watched the airplanes take off and land, which was mesmerising. The area however soon filled with families, so i took another walk around the airport now accompanied by a south african guy who was also waiting for a flight back to mainland China. We went outside and ventured to the top of a multi story car park to smoke were we ran into a number of guys from Bangladesh trying to sleep in between there shifts at the airport. They heckled us for smokes, and we provided as they seemed to be working all day and sleeping rough to provide for overseas families. Kuala Lumper Int' is one of the biggest airports in the world so i found a quiet spot and pushed 2 benches together creating a bed. I padlocked all my stuff up, attached the keys to my belt loop and slept for the night catching my flight the next morning.
Death seemed a bit dramatic
