Kuala Lumpur (Sept. 6-8)

I fly into KL round 9pm Saturday night - and have no problem jumping on a bus, then a train to get to Chinatown. I meet a friend who helps me find a place to stay within a 5 minute walk from the train. By now it is 10, and it looks like the night is just beginning! (I guess it is Saturday night - its so easy to lose track of what day it is!) I join another traveller that is headed out for a night walk to explore the streets of Chinatown - which are packed! The main drag is closed to cars, and there are 4 rows of street vendors for at least 5 blocks. They are packed in so tightly, and everyone is yelling at you - trying to get you to buy everything from a Tiffany's bracelet to Prada sunglasses to Adidas shoes. I am sure its all real...haha. What in introduction to KL!
After walking for about an hour, I decided I had had enough. I headed to bed and decided to try and get out of the city the next day.
The next morning, I took a bus out to the Betu caves. They are about 13km north of the city, and you can see the limestone hills practically pop up out of nowhere well before you get there. There is a well travelled staircase to the top of the main cave (275 steps or something like that), with monkeys lining the rail! It doesn't take long at all to get to the top, and of course there is a little stand selling trinkets to tourists. Inside the cave are a couple Hindu shrines, and more monkeys! I heard they don't get mean unless you tease them and don't give them any food. Luckily people around me had enough bananas :) The monkeys would come right up to you if you had food for them - including a mom with a baby holding on for dear life to her stomach. They were so cute!
I hung out in the caves a bit and then decided to try the city again. This time I took a walk to the KL tower (very similar to the space needle, just a bit taller without such a beautiful view). After checking out the observation deck, I decided to walk back before it got dark (see, I'm being safe!) :) and check out Chinatown for dinner. I think KL is a fun city, with TONS of shopping - but I am ready to head to my yoga retreat in Bali. The next morning I meet some locals, create a business plan with them over lunch then head to the airport.