Happy New Year (Part 3- Kuala Lumpur)

Kuala Lumpur was completely different from any place I have ever visited before: I'd never been to a tropical country, I'd never traveled in a Muslim country, and I'd never been to a major city that it so pedestrian unfriendly. It was definitely a new, and different experience.

That said, it was really interesting and still fun. We stayed in an old train station that had been converted into a hotel, which was across the street from the National Mosque (and were woken up more than once by the 6 am call to prayer). Despite the incredibly messy rail system, we did manage to see quite a few really cool things: the Petronas Towers (which were the tallest in the world until recently), the Museum of Islamic Art (very cool- highly recommended), the Batu caves (see below), etc.

Malaysia is a Muslim country, but an incredibly liberal one: large portions of the population aren't Muslim, it's not uncommon to see women in mini-skirts and tank tops, and you can find non-halal food fairly easily. On the other hand, there are special hours for non-Muslim visitors to the National Mosque (where I got to wear a very fetching head-to-toe robe), females definitely get stared at if they aren't fully covered, and general interactions have a different feel to them. It was fun, but there were definitely moments when we went to shopping in the more upscale areas just because they felt more familiar. Overall, it was a really cool, interesting experience- totally different from what I've done before.