My SEA Trip - Stopover in KL

I'm not going to lie - I work pretty damn hard. My job is both difficult and stressful, so a lot of people wondered why I would choose to run myself ragged in SEA rather than sit my butt on a Balinese beach for 10 days. I won't say that the thought didn't cross my mind, but the decision to go on an adventure through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam is one of the most rewarding ones I have ever made.

I love to travel but I have to admit that I'm not very good at it. I'm not the type of person who can live out of a backpack and hole up in rotten hostels for months at a time. I guess you can say I'm an "adventure light" type of person. Two weeks is just to my liking.

My first stop was to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It actually wasn't a stop at all, merely a layover. But with five hours until my flight to Bangkok, I decided to use my time wisely and do a fly by night tour through KL. If you think Kuala Lumpur is an accurate representation of other capital cities in SEA, you're mistaken. KL is clean, lovely and very very western. Once I convinced immigration to let me out of the airport (you have to have at least an eight hour layover normally) I took a high speed train to the central station of KL. Once there, I paid a taxi driver 50 ringgit (about $15) to spend a few hours showing me the sites. KL is funny - it was 6am so still fairly quiet, but in my mind it was a little too dead for a Friday morning. Until I found out that nothing opens in KL until 10am or later. Ah ha!

Having a personal tour guide is key to seeing the sites in a few hours. I not only got to view all the fabulous and beautiful parts of Kuala Lumpur, I got to hear all about the people, the culture and the religion. It was interesting to stop in KL first, because it is such a contrast to where I was headed. Malaysia is predominately Islamic, whereas Thailand and Cambodia are 90% Buddhist. KL is so cosmopolitan and organised, whereas Bangkok is incredibly frenetic and aggressive. I only got to spend a few hours in KL but I will undoubtedly visit again, preferably in the day time on the next trip!