This is downtown Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur
It’s unbearably humid, incredibly loud, packed with clueless tourists and avaricious swindlers, plus the putrid odours that waft through the air are a bit much…
Not pictured: Crowds, touts, putrid smells, traffic, or much of any interested at all… Probably because this was taken bloody early in the morning
And yet in spite of these drawbacks (or more likely because of them), Chinatown is a downright fascinating neighbourhood of the KL sprawl. It also happens to be a popular hangout for backpackers and cheap-arse tourists – such as myself – seeing as cheap-arse guest hostels and budget hotels abound.
Black ‘n’ white photos help create mood. And make over / under exposed shots usable. By the way, did you spot the man sleeping on the roof? Nutter!
The Monkeygirl and I resided in the neighbourhood for five days after I booked us I into a wondrous youth hostel with no windows, medieval toilets, and friendly cockroaches! Though our sleeping arrangements were rather rough, I grew to like Kuala Lumpur and it’s Chinatown.
The mash up of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and British cultures was one reason the place grew on me. (I’ve already banged on about my fascination for India’s religion of choice in another sub-par article, The Hindu Times, here on the Monkeyboy Goes.)
Another reason was the awesome street art in Kuala Lumpur. True, most of it is wanky tags, but scattered about here and there are some awesome pieces of art. Check out the few shots I have above.
Who are those guys? I’ve no idea. Hopefully someone will comment on the post and let me know. I do know that ‘Merdeka’ is ‘freedom’ in Malay
KL is just one of those places that I’d love to go, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get to. I’d love to visit though!
You should definitely check Malaysia out… I love it
KL was alright but turned me off when compared to the other places available in Malaysia. Chinatown and some of the Eco Parks are definitely worth a visit though. I enjoyed the story and there’s some nice pictures here.
Thanks Duke! Yeah, KL was cool, but compared to other cities in SE Asia, there’s not much to see.
Definitely seems like a place with a lot of character and maybe some grittiness too. Seems like a place I would like. Nice photos!
Thanks Matt! Chinatown is great! I loved it there, you should definitely check it out if you head back to Malaysia.
I didn’t make it to KL when I went to Malaysia, seems like it’s a pretty colorful place! I really like the layout of your site, btw. Nice work 😉
Thanks Nathan! I bought the layout from Theme Forest… I think.
Nice photos – some of which remind me a lot of Penang, Malaysia.
Happy travels ( :
Hi Liz! Thanks for the comment. Georgetown is awesome isn’t! I’ll be posting about that place soon… once I can sort my life out and actually write something.