Showing posts with label dormatory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dormatory. Show all posts

Friday, 7 September 2012

Kathmandu, Nepal

I'm not going to post anything about Kathmandu, as my time here was fleeting; coming and going to Pokhara or the Everest national park. Not that I didn't enjoy Kathmandu though, I met some great people at Alobar1000, ate some fantastic vegetarian food at OR2K, drank unlimited coffee at the Himalayan Java cafe, greeted my sister and Dave with a placard at Kathmandu airport, got duped by the tiger-balm seller and did some hard-bargaining for Buddha's mother! All this coupled with general wondering around the streets, filling my lungs with the crazy pollution and, of course, the tourist attractions!

Buddy Steve's Everest snowboard in Sams bar - go see it!

Monsoon rivers of sewage!

Trinkets at the monkey temple



Masterchef Shiva cooks up an amazing curry in Alobar1000 

Prayer flags

Fake (Wild tiger) and genuine (tiger balm)

Kitty at the funky buddha


Helenas restaurant - the highest bar in Thamel

6am

Haircut sir!






Saturday, 14 July 2012

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Off the coach, using my Scottish companions previous KL knowledge, we headed for Bukit Bintang.  The place he'd been to before was full so we ended up in a place called i2inn. The room was tiny; you could just about fit the bunk bed in! The internet was dead, and when I mentioned it to reception they didn't want to tear themselves away from the cricket! The next day I checked out and moved to a 24 bed (yes, 24!) bed dormitory called Fernloft in Chinatown, which was MUCH cleaner, much cheaper (20 Ringgits), much friendlier, and the internet was good. If you're considering a stay in a 24 bed dorm be aware that at any time of the day there's always someone coming, always someone going, always someone awake, always someone snoring... you get the message. I strongly recommend earplugs and an eye mask!

Fernloft - 24 bed dorm
I like to walk around cities, camera firmly in hand. There's many great walking cities in the world, London being one of the best. There's normally enough to hold my attention from place to place but I didn't get KL. Roadwork diversions, building sites and endless main roads left me feeling bored. I know people that love KL so I've put it down to shell-shock after being on remote beach in Thailand, then the relaxed, small-town feel of Georgetown. One day I shall return, and love it!



Car fire
The Petronas towers: for years I've wanted to see them. They're such iconic objects that it's one of those 'am I really here?' moments when you arrive. Masses of shiny steel and glass soaring into the sky. The actual need for such things are questionable but you can't deny that they're an amazing feat of human design and engineering. I reluctantly stumped up the $18 for a visit to the top and the view was astonishing, but the tour a little clinical. I wanted to see the real guts, like the offices and working spaces. We were only taken to the plain top deck, then to the empty sky bridge.