Kuala Lumpur, Days 1 & 2

Pouring buckets and trapped in front of one of the government buildings downtown. Motor bikes are really popular around town, so it was funny seeing all the people in suits who had forgotten rain coats ride down the street getting completely soaked.

During and after the rain there were rivers of water everywhere.

Some very detailed work.

Fresh off my 13,450 foot ascent to the top of Mt. Kinabalu, I arrive back in Kuala Lumpur for the last part of my trip, mostly to relax, check out the city, and take some photos.

The rain started and the thunder was looooud.

I started my walk that afternoon and shortly after a few really dark clouds rolled in. The lightning was pretty crazy, but tough to capture on film.

The architecture around KL had a lot of Arab influence.

For all of you who always wanted to know what Malaysian graffiti looks like.

The clouds began to clear and I continued my wandering, unfortunately running into this dead end street.

I finally make it to the tower by dusk, just missing sunset but still catching some great views of the city. Off in the distance are the famous Petronas Towers.

The storm clouds still off in the distance.

More Petronas Towers shots. Oh, there will be more. More then you ever could have asked for. Plus a few more.

I see this tower and figure that's where I'll go next. Of course tall objects always seem way closer than they really are.

Some building near my hostel where I stayed the first night in KL.

I get up early the 2nd morning and head for a walk to catch some early morning photos around town.

I didn't realize what was going on at first, but initially a handful of people went running by me when I was walking down this street. One guy tackled one of the other guys, and then the rest caught up, putting the guy in the red shoes in handcuffs and roughing him up a bit. I figured he must have stolen something, or that's what friends do to each other as a joke in this country.

Downtown KL.

You can't wear your shoes inside (everyone leaves them at the steps), but I figured I'd keep my distance and be a respectful tourist guy.

My silhouette.

I walk by this mosque and see that visitor hours had just started, so the guard let me walk around inside to take photos.

The bus station making my way back to the hostel. Shortly afterwards for lunch I met up with this older couple I had met the day before. Read all about the amazing story on blog.gregsdigital.com.

Definitely not the hostel.

There's a ton of construction going on around town.

Having enough of the hostel and figuring I'd rather spend the rest of my vacation in style, I decide to check into the Marriott.

I decide to check out the towers up close and get some late day / sunset shots.

The funky mirrored staircase between my floor and the lounge. A slight improvement over the hostel.

This was the view from the concierge lounge, with free food and drinks every night. Quality food and drinks at that.

Apparently the shorter circular sections that reach half way up each tower were last-minute additions to add to the amount of office space available.

Two tall, tall buildings.

More construction out back.

Down below there was the visitors center and a huge mall.

While they were technically the tallest buildings in the world at one point, it was really only because of the huge pointy spires on top.