This is where the slumming starts...
Trip Start
Jul 30, 2010
1
4
66
Trip End
May 29, 2011
Where I stayed
No. 8 Guesthouse
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Up early this morning to catch a flight to KL. As I didn't sleep all night as I guess my body clock is still adjusting – getting up early for once wasn’t a problem. One word of advice if anyone is planning on doing something similar and you bank with LloydsTSB: change bank, change to First Direct. LTSB are a pain in the @rse. Their phone banking is s l o w (which is a cost issue when you’re phoning from o/seas) and basically bloody unhelpful. Things that you can do online or over the phone with other banks is beyond LTSB.
Anyway up early to get to Changi T2. Claire generously gave up her window seat to me, a gesture that proved redundant almost immediately as it was p!ssing with rain and as we flew up thru’ the clouds SG and MY were rendered invisible by the cloud cover. This remained the case for 35 of the 45 minute flight. Once we had started our descent and dropped back down from 24,000ft the weather brightened up and we were greeted with the view of palm plantations as far as we could see with barely any primary rain forest left intact. As part of the Orang-Utan programme we’ll no doubt learn that it’s the destruction of the rain forest (amongst other things) that has led to the Orang-Utan’s present plight but as someone who hails from East Anglia I appreciate that people have to use the land to make money to survive and telling a developing country not to do what European farmers have done for centuries is hypocritical. I also appreciate the point that European farmers draining the land, cutting down forests and clearing the land didn’t lead to the extinction of one of humankind’s closest relatives. Whatever the argument the monotony of plan plantations across the landscape is saddening.
The expected hair-raising, one hand on the wheel, constantly on the mobile taxi-driving lunatic finally dropped us off at our first stop in MY; No.8 Guesthouse. Somewhat at the other end of the scale to R&F’s 5-star SG apartment, No.8 is in the wheezing heart of chaotic KL. Described in the Lonely Planet as a 'stylish’ guesthouse with ‘boutique-hotel quality bathrooms’ I can only assume that either a) the author has never been to a ‘boutique-hotel’; b) the author never actually went inside one of the cells in No. 8 or c) the review was written 3yrs ago and the owner of No.8 hasn’t done one iota of maintenance since the review.
In the afternoon took a bus-tour around KL. Same kind of tour as the hop on/hop-off tours you get in London. As it was getting so damned hot we only hopped-off at a couple of stops, one the National Place (this actually means just outside the gates) and the other the Petronas Twin Towers. We’ll finish the tour tomorrow before our 24hrs runs out.
Back to No.8 Roachhouse to de-louse the room and catch up on some sleep. Tomorrow we get our programme joining instructions and will be taken to the house in the zoo where we’ll be working – This is where the trip really starts.
Comments
This makes great reading - keep it up.
I see the Lonely Planet guide is down to usual standards. If only those Orang-Utans would do an MBA, get a grasp of local property law and start their own plantation they'd fine. Which sort of leads onto dolphins - if they're so smart why didn't they invent cars, TVs, pot noodles... that sort of thing..
Great blog, Ian. Looking forward to your next installment.
glad you're having such a good time!
nice to read your blogs hope you are enjoying youselfs
Great blog Ian, nice break from the drudgery that is work. Why are the guards headless? Does this make them more intimidating?
Great photos!
Thank you - you're very kind.
The App that Claire is using for her photo's is an iPhone app called 'Shakeit Photo', whilst I'm using Adobe Lightroom which just about runs on the netbook