For whatever reason, the minute we moved to Indonesia, Dustin started expressing his desire to visit Malaysia (don't most American 3 & 4 year old boys dream about visiting Malaysia?). With Grammie, Uncle Smelly, and Cristina visiting, he was finally going to get his wish! We set out to meet them in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Dustin was beyond excited (I'm sure some of his excitement had to do with the company we would be meeting there...not just about going to Malaysia).
After 24 hours of traveling, Grammie, Smelly, and Cristina landed in Malaysia and we immediately whisked them out to see the Petronas Towers (no rest for the weary out here!). The Petronas Towers are the 7th tallest buildings in the world. We took the elevator to the 41st floor to explore the sky walk between the two towers then ventured up to the 86th floor for a beautiful view of Kuala Lumpur.
Our second part of the trip was arranged through a tour group. We were told -
We will start the journey by visiting the Batu Caves Hindu Temple located at the outskirt of Kuala Lumpur City. These limestone caves are 400 million years old. There is a total of 272 steps leading up to the top of the main cave. Then we proceed our trip to main icons in Kuala Lumpur while heading to test real Malaysian Food. And now is time to Explore the Kuala Lumpur City. We drive past Bird Park "The World Largest Free-Flight Walk-In Aviary" through Brickfields, a colorful residential neighborhood just outside central Kuala Lumpur that's known as Little India due to the many Indian residents and businesses. We proceed to Kuala Selangor town in the quiet hamlet of Kampung Kuantan, site of one of the largest firefly colonies in the world. On the way we will drive through villages and plantations. On arrival at Kuala Selangor, pay a visit to the Silver Leaf Monkeys before heading to fireflies at Bukit Melawati. See the sights here then proceed for a riverside seafood dinner and finally to nearby Kampung Kuantan for a riverboat ride to witness the fireflies display.The highlight of the tour. Row upstream in a small un-motorised boat (tongkang) or to Bukit Belimbing (battery operated motor boat) in the quiet darkness to witness the blinking trees. This scintillating display of fireflies portrays an image resembling a flashing Christmas tree. The synchronized, rhythmic flashing is produced by the thousands of fireflies found in the mangrove swamp of Kuala Selangor River. After the visit to fireflies, then we can fit in a visit back to Kuala Lumpur City for a short Night City Tour - You can choose to visit the Sky Bar located on the top floor of the Traders hotel, around the hotel's pool. It is partially open and offers amazing night time views of the Petronas Towers or China Town A unique night market with a wide variety of imitation goods - remember to bargain.
And now, you have seen just as much of this tour as we have! After waiting in the lobby of our hotel for a few hours and several attempts to reach the tour company, we threw in the towel and headed to the hotel swimming pool. Later that evening, we were finally contacted by the tour company with apologies and assurances that we would receive a full refund (which we did). Being stood up put a little damper on the trip to Malaysia, but Dustin still says it was the highlight of our multi-country tour (even after snuggling up with tigers in Thailand). Maybe one day we will head back to KL and try again to see these mythical creatures they call fireflies, but I think our next trip to Malaysia will be to some of the other amazing places my Malaysian friends have told me about.
With Dustin's dream of visiting Malaysia fulfilled, he's now set his sights on...Paris!
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