24.5 Hours in Kuala Lumpur

It's 2:30 pm on Sunday, and I'm on the express train to the airport for our flight to Bali. Yesterday we arrived in Kuala Lumpur (KL) at 2:00 pm. Instead of an airport layover of a few hours, we decided to make it a day layover in Malaysia. Upon arrival we headed to the Brickfields neighborhood, or Little India, to browse at the market and fuel up with some delicious rice, curry, and naan served on a banana leaf and a mango lassi. Then we took the commuter rail to the Batu Caves, a sacred Hindu site.  The ride was so smooth enough that Neil even dozed for a few minutes.  We climbed over 300 stairs and observed Hindu priests and worshipers.  I was awed by the natural beauty of the cliffs, which emerge from the sprawling city that has expanded around the site. We then took the train back ($0.90 for the round trip) and made sure that we unknowingly didn't sit in the ladies-only cars on the train or break any of the rules of the train.  We found some delicious dinner and headed in fairly early so that we could squeeze in some sight seeing the next morning. KL Twin Towers, also called Petronas Towers, was our first stop.  As far as skyscraper design goes, the towers were refreshingly non-rectangular.  The architecture reminded me of a chedi from a Buddhist wat, incorporating curves and corners. When we arrived at the ticket counter, we learned that the tickets were sold out for the next four days.  So we walked to the KL Tower, which closely resembles Seattle's Space Needle. Here we were treated to a 360 degree view of a growing city surrounded by green mountains.  We had time for one more stop--Central Market--for shopping and lunch.  Here we found beautifully carved wooden items, endless scarves, sarongs, and pants, and some tasty lunch.  One more ride on the rail system wrapped up our quick tour of this skyscraper-filled city that feels quieter, less crowded, and more open than Bangkok.  A fun way to kick off our fall break!   Apparently, even Malaysia runs on Dunkin'